Your predictions for the most under utilised aspect of the Switch?

switch_feature.jpg

Nintendo hardware often has interesting little features that go massively under used, or used only for pointless gimmicks.

As far back as the GBC there was an infra red port, the SNES had the super game boy, the N64 had the expansion port which led to the stillborn DD as well as the GB transfer pak, the DS had its touch screen which became shovelware, card games, menus and name entry after an initial burst of bad features (recall Castlevania ice sections and seals), the Wii had its remote dubbed waggle controls for a reason, the 3d of the 3ds ceased to be mentioned after about a year and "the Wii u".

Now that we have seen a few Switch games, got a feel for the hardware and can look to what is to come what then do you think the Switch will have as its equivalent? Will its joy cons be controls that can be detached to go into another holder, never to experience "HD rumble" or tilt sensors? Will handheld and docked mode be slightly different clocked versions of each other? Will its online services be the domain of score boards and DLC?

Edit. As many have mentioned the infra red camera is most likely to be the main one, if you want to skip that in favour of the second or third place ones then feel free.
 

Der_Blockbuster

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I dont understand this thread. This sounds to me like the Switch hasen't been released yet.
Hmmm? I mean the one with the different clock speeds. I don't understand what you mean by under utililized, I think it's common sense that the clock speeds vary depending on the resolution.
 
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Sliter

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the 3d of the 3ds ceased to be mentioned after about a year
come on I like much the 3D feature and I don't think we can call it " ceased" since it's dead started by western nintendo for some reason wanting to sell (again) a complex tecnology with huge features for kids too young that should be playing a "animal keyboard" or idk xp it was too unexpected from the main nintendo (japan duh) that time that it made they rework on zelda ALBW that was planned to some stuff only being able to be saw on 3D mode, and the had to change it or would be unplayable in 2DS ... the removal of feature wasn't because no one used, but because it was unsafe for the kids that they want to be their main public ...
similar goes for the DS touch screen .. I meab, they had pressure sensitivity that was ceased on DSi, this was really something I think no game ever used :v the touch screen as main play was a bit hurting in some games, others added a very nice feature :x I think is something to keep in, even with only one screen, extra button or shortcuts is the best pr o of it XD

but idk what to predict about switch, some people don't care about using it docked, others looks like don't even use it as "portable"... for me, I still can't buy one :T
 

rileysrjay

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As mentioned earlier, the infrared sensor on the bottom of the joycons. Also, I hope to see Nintendo's fascination with motion controls die eventually, as it seems to have rekindled with the switch. I'm fine if they're optional (i.e. breath of the wild or Splatoon 2), but making motion controls mandatory in a handheld Mario game is silly.
 

ShadowOne333

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...the DS had its touch screen which became shovelware, card games, menus and name entry after an initial burst of bad features (recall Castlevania ice sections and seals)...
I'm just gonna leave this here:
https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/3408/

Oh and by far the most underutilized thing on the Switch is the IR in the Joycons for sure.
This thing could be used as a Wiimote if I'm not mistaken, but oh well.
 

FAST6191

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Sounds like I am going to have to sideline the IR camera parts. Should have thought that one through a bit more.

I dont understand this thread. This sounds to me like the Switch hasen't been released yet.
Hmmm? I mean the one with the different clock speeds. I don't understand what you mean by under utililized, I think it's common sense that the clock speeds vary depending on the resolution.
When I get cynical about the switch people tell me it is early days and there is loads of potential in the switch and hundreds of games to come before it dies. As said years have not happened and said games are not out we are free to speculate, bonus being we even have the early days of the switch where some of the more exotic stuff gets to be seen and trends start to be set.

The clock speeds thing was more a riff on the "second screen"/asymmetric gaming concept that flopped hard last go around -- it was a talking point of e3 and while from a game theory perspective it makes a massive amount of difference we got little and less. There was a notice from Nintendo on how games can't be made such that they only play in docked mode (not the one I am thinking of but https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/02/nintendo-switch-will-support-portable-only-games/ ) but even with that I would still wonder how many are going to go there.

Nice. I had missed that one entirely, else it had slipped my memory if I did hear about it (and I do try to remember pointless/annoying touch screen affairs getting kicked in the head by hackers).

come on I like much the 3D feature and I don't think we can call it " ceased" since it's dead started by western nintendo for some reason wanting to sell (again) a complex tecnology with huge features for kids too young that should be playing a "animal keyboard" or idk xp it was too unexpected from the main nintendo (japan duh) that time that it made they rework on zelda ALBW that was planned to some stuff only being able to be saw on 3D mode, and the had to change it or would be unplayable in 2DS ... the removal of feature wasn't because no one used, but because it was unsafe for the kids that they want to be their main public ...
similar goes for the DS touch screen .. I meab, they had pressure sensitivity that was ceased on DSi, this was really something I think no game ever used :v the touch screen as main play was a bit hurting in some games, others added a very nice feature :x I think is something to keep in, even with only one screen, extra button or shortcuts is the best pr o of it XD

I think it was more that all the reviews and discussion I saw of the 3ds after about the first year seldom mentioned 3d and it was treated as a pointless gimmick or something which added nothing of great note to the experience. During that first year when (many) games fluffed it all the reviewers jumped on them.

As for the DSi it was such a non event that I neglected to include it... yeah I am going with that.
 

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There's a lot to tackle here. So far my Switch as a whole isn't seeing a lot of attention since there are no AAA releases out for it that'd grab my attention - this will change with the release of Metroid Prime 4. If I were to pick useless gadgets though, I'd say that the IR sensor is pretty silly and the 3D rumble is an easily overlooked gimmick. The NFC sensor is a distant third since its only purpose is to sell Amiibos when it could do so much more.
 

ShadowOne333

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Nice. I had missed that one entirely, else it had slipped my memory if I did hear about it (and I do try to remember pointless/annoying touch screen affairs getting kicked in the head by hackers).
There's also other hacks in the same vein for other DS games, like both Zeldas for instance, which make the games playable with the D-Pad and buttons instead.
Also, there is the hack I was port of which changes Dawn of Sorrow's anime portraits to something more akin to Kojima's gothic style, but that's enough self promotion :^)
 

FAST6191

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There's also other hacks in the same vein for other DS games, like both Zeldas for instance, which make the games playable with the D-Pad and buttons instead.
Also, there is the hack I was port of which changes Dawn of Sorrow's anime portraits to something more akin to Kojima's gothic style, but that's enough self promotion :^)
I am quite familiar with the various Zelda hacks, guitar hero (not that it is exactly the same) and star fox, and occasionally find myself pointing would be hackers of such things in the right direction, even if that mostly involves considering how it might play out for that game and linking https://web.archive.org/web/20110604163902/http://crackerscrap.com:80/docs/sfchacktut.html . That one however had sailed right by me.
 

Kioku

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If we are sidelining the obvious IR? Then the 2nd obvious choice.. The touch screen. While few games currently utilize it, there would be little incentive to force handheld or tabletop play.

Or the 3rd option? Voice chatting. The app will be used for a while, but the base will slowly dwindle. I've actually got it setup so I can use Discord on my PC and have game sound through my computer. While trivial, I see no reason to use the app outside of potential app exclusive content.
 
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JohnSheridan

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the DS had its touch screen which became shovelware, card games, menus and name entry after an initial burst of bad features​

This is absolutely wrong! Games like Theme Park, Advance Wars, Age of Empires, Anno, Locks Quest, Ninjatown, Sim City Creator or Civilization Revolution would be impossible without the Touchscreen. Or what is with Hotel Dusk, Professor Layton, Another Code or LifeSigns? Or all these cool Music games? Or the Mario vs. Donkey Kong games? Or the Crazy Machine games? Or Puzzle Quest?

All these games would be impossible for the DS! Specially all the strategy games on a handheld was mindblowing back in time! Plus: The DS was the very first gaming device with Touchscreen. I think: Without the DS we would have no Smartphones today.
 

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