Nintendo Switch

[HoshiChiri]

That's funny. People pay a premium for a thin svelte device. And then put these clodhopper cases on them..

 

I think it's more like 'some people pay a premium for a thin svelte device they have to replace annually because it breaks. Some people are forced to pay for a thin svelte device, then put a clodhopper case on it so it doesn't break'.

 

I put a basic thin plastic hard case & a screen protector over my S4 when I got it. It still works fine- I'm only considering replacing it because the CPU is starting to chug with newer apps. Plus the memory's all but full.

Edited March 28, 2017 by HoshiChiri

[Tempest]

That will be one thing in favor of the Wii U version.

Hopefully the Switch version won't have the horrendous load times.

[Flojomojo]

Sounds like we might have our first victim of media costs. Warner Brothers is apparently shipping Lego City Undercover on an 8 GB cartridge, with a mandatory 13 GB download. Wii U version was 19 gigs.

 

That will be one thing in favor of the Wii U version.

 

Because larger file size = better game?

Perhaps the Switch version has been optimized to take up less space.

[BillLoguidice]

 

Because larger file size = better game?

Perhaps the Switch version has been optimized to take up less space.

 

Technically, the Switch version is larger at 21 GB.

 

In any case, I'm NOT down with the idea of a cartridge requiring a big install, other than a game not practically fitting in the current 32GB ceiling. It's clear this game could easily fit in the highest capacity cartridge. This is a case where there's minimal advantage to having the physical media. Hopefully, that's not a trend, although, clearly given the higher costs and risks of putting stuff on cartridge, I tend to think this will be a common practice, i.e., using a less expensive, but low capacity cartridge, and requiring a big install to be paired with it. Fortunately, I wasn't that impressed by the original Lego City Undercover (which I still have and didn't play much), so I have no interest in this one.

[Tanooki]

I've mostly used bomb arrows on the blights as well, really no reason not to unless it was a situation where they're laid out and smashing the sword on them is faster then I'd do that. Also I did notice that too after running into the castle and picking a few things up including that hylian shield, and outside lands drops seemed to scale up in quality so the game must have some kind of digital benchmark in there that scales up which is nice for a reward.

 

 

I had something here about Lego, but did any of you see this? http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-03-28-fans-have-noticed-something-odd-about-lego-city-undercover-on-switch

 

The game may need up to 13GB of space, key word is MAY. They contacted the developer and WB states you can run the game off the card. So what's the deal?

 

This is their last update on it:

UPDATE 2.30pm: Lego City Undercover publisher Warner Bros. has provided us with this short statement on the game's cartridge version, which suggests you will be able to play without downloading anything.

"Players who purchase Lego City Undercover on Nintendo Switch at retail do not need to download the game to play," a company spokesperson told us.

We're still no clearer why the game's box states it requires an internet connection, or 13GB of storage, but the suggestion here perhaps is that at least some of the game is playable without downloading.

We've contacted Warner Bros. again for further clarification.

 

That said I think they still need to be ripped on for the $60 price tag, and it's not just Switch but all these remasters of a 5 year old game (PS4, etc.)

 

 

Also on the game size... Now I get the argument why the Switch version is smaller than the XBOne/PS4 but also keep in mind the Switch maybe using higher compressed data as well as 720p assets (or less scaled up like WiiU) while the other guys are using 900p/1080p level assets which eat up a lot more room.

Edited March 28, 2017 by Tanooki

[Schizophretard]

Internet connection required or 13GB? I'm not sure which is worse.

[Punisher5.0]

They may be trying the bs that that skateboard game did in the last generation where only a demo/tutorial mode was on the disc. You had to download the rest of the game to actually play it. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt until we know for sure.

[Tanooki]

WB appears to have yet again verified the physical version is all on there, but the download is misleading so it's smaller to grab it, maybe something works, but then it downloads the rest up to 13GB. Not sure what to make of the internet part unless that's what the assumption is, because if they're playing some Ubisoft crap with internet needed to verify 1 player gaming, they can figure a lot of people will tell them to suck it once they find out.

 

 

Forgot to ad, wandered into the mall to walk some, found they had Klonoa for $20 for Wii (it's a $35-40 game on ebay) but in a black case. Had one seemingly bad 1cm long scratch but I risked it, it works. I have a spare white case as the Super Mario Galaxy game I found for nothing over the weekend was a dud, so I'm set. I love saving so much. Most their stuff is overpriced probably since they do those sales. Tomorrow my almost new in box black Wii (with NSMBWii+SMG1 soundtrack) and added light blue motion plus controller arrives in one box, and a 'cheap' (luck) pickup of Metroid Prime Trilogy complete (steelbook release) as well. I'm feeling good about this. i'll have to budget time between it and the Switch, shouldn't be hard. I want to experience much of what I missed in the last 1/2 of the Wii life (Pandora, Last Story, Dragon Ball, etc.)

Edited March 28, 2017 by Tanooki

[Atariboy]

They just said that the game is playable out of the box without the day 1 patch. They didn't take it any further like confirming that the game could actually be played start to finish without it, although they did describe the patch as "small". Hopefully they don't mean 13 gigs when they say that, which would be one of the most blatant lies we've seen in a long time.

 

Likely something to that notice on the case insert, seeing that the Xbox One version without the day 1 patch is almost as big as the Wii U build's 19 gigs. Warner Brothers is likely being intentionally misleading to quiet the criticism, since it's difficult to envision a 19 gig Wii U download that essentially is as big or bigger on other platforms it's due to release on in a week, actually being just 1/3 that size on the Switch.

 

If not and they really did this good of an optimization job, good for them. But I'll believe it when I see it, instead of just taking them for their word and assuming that the file size disparity is all down to lower resolution textures here compared to the XB1 build.

 

 

Because larger file size = better game?

Perhaps the Switch version has been optimized to take up less space.

 

I wasn't talking game quality or optimization at all. Not sure how you got to that from what my post said.

 

Like my post said, I'm complaining that a game is quite possibly intentionally being shipped incomplete in order to allow Warner Brothers to ship it out on a cheaper lower capacity cartridge, with 2/3's of the game then having to be downloaded to finish the job.

Edited March 29, 2017 by Atariboy

[Andromeda Stardust]

Sounds like we might have our first victim of media costs. Warner Brothers is apparently shipping Lego City Undercover on an 8 GB cartridge, with a mandatory 13 GB download. Wii U version was 19 gigs.

 

That will be one thing in favor of the Wii U version.

Yeah that's absolute bull crap. This game won't even work out of the box without a broadband internet connection, much less in 20 years for that matter. It's also a slap in the face to people buying physical so they don't squander the internal memory. Switch cards supports up to 32 Gigs at launch, more down the road as media gets cheaper, so Warner Bros has no excuse for this. If I get this game, I'm gonna wait till it hits the bargain bin. I had Lego City Undercover on Wii-U and it was a great game, while I'd love to do a second play through in the future, I might pass on it out of principal if they're gonna pull this effing bull crap.

 

EDIT: Okay, so presumably it might work without a download? Did they only include half the game on the cart? So many unanswered questions here.

[Atariboy]

Might not be a problem, after all.

 

http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/03/28/wb-comments-on-lego-city-undercover-switch-download

 

While I'm prepared to think the worst, I'd be perfectly happy to be wrong like this comment strongly suggests is the case. I'd still be surprised at the file size disparity with the Wii U version though, since that's an impressive drop of 2/3's. Higher quality assets could explain the difference with the Xbox One version, but I wonder if they had a lot of duplicate content on the Wii U version in an attempt to combat the poor load times (Like many a PS3 title without mandatory installations did)?

 

And if that's the case, why was the eShop version still 19 gigs? I believe PS3 developers eliminated the fluff for the PSN versions, at least some of the time.

Edited March 29, 2017 by Atariboy

[Tanooki]

So they clarified which they shadily clarified earlier after the story first broke. Clearly it's a foul up and too late to go back and costly to reprint the cover art on the game which is a shame, even a lame sticker over it wouldn't probably be cost effective in their minds. Confusing, but whatever, if it's all there and works bug (or relatively minor aside) free great. As long it's not broken out of the box like Bomberman is or is as the bad art claims, there's no reason to howl at all. Then the only kind of question left is, how big is the game really, and is this a larger card or did they do the same insane compression Nintendo seems to employ on their handheld media for years now.

 

What size were the WiiU assets anyway put out at? I mean you could come up with some rational arguments here. If the WiiU used like 900p assets or even 720p, they could have gone lower but then scaled it up, not insanely lower but something where you really won't notice it due to the type of game it is. Maybe as you said just above--non duplicated assets to combat WiiU/PS3 poor load times weren't needed so it shrunk. Only way to find out, keep asking, or wait until some hacker decides to tear into it out of sheer curiosity.

[Schizophretard]

Might not be a problem, after all.

 

http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/03/28/wb-comments-on-lego-city-undercover-switch-download

 

While I'm prepared to think the worst, I'd be perfectly happy to be wrong like this comment strongly suggests is the case. I'd still be surprised at the file size disparity with the Wii U version though, since that's an impressive drop of 2/3's. Higher quality assets could explain the difference with the Xbox One version, but I wonder if they had a lot of duplicate content on the Wii U version in an attempt to combat the poor load times (Like many a PS3 title without mandatory installations did)?

 

And if that's the case, why was the eShop version still 19 gigs? I believe PS3 developers eliminated the fluff for the PSN versions, at least some of the time.

 

I don't see how the information could be so incorrect on the packaging to basically market the game as being an OUYA in cartridge form.

[Atariboy]

1.3 gigs is perhaps the size of the day 1 patch? Would explain how 13 gigs ended up there as a mistake.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Might not be a problem, after all.

 

http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/03/28/wb-comments-on-lego-city-undercover-switch-download

 

While I'm prepared to think the worst, I'd be perfectly happy to be wrong like this comment strongly suggests is the case. I'd still be surprised at the file size disparity with the Wii U version though, since that's an impressive drop of 2/3's. Higher quality assets could explain the difference with the Xbox One version, but I wonder if they had a lot of duplicate content on the Wii U version in an attempt to combat the poor load times (Like many a PS3 title without mandatory installations did)?

 

And if that's the case, why was the eShop version still 19 gigs? I believe PS3 developers eliminated the fluff for the PSN versions, at least some of the time.

VAriant collectors will go nuts over first print runs of this game with the incorrect info on the jacket.

 

 

 

I don't see how the information could be so incorrect on the packaging to basically market the game as being an OUYA in cartridge form.

Switch is not an "Ouya with game cards." The only thing the two have in common is they run on Tegra CPUs, and the one in the Switch is like four generations more advanced.

[Schizophretard]

Switch is not an "Ouya with game cards." The only thing the two have in common is they run on Tegra CPUs, and the one in the Switch is like four generations more advanced.

 

I didn't say it was. I was comparing the information of the Lego game packaging for that specific Game Card as being like an OUYA in cartridge form. In other words, like the always online "Here is a demo, alpha, piece of the game, etc. that you can get the rest of later" DRM locked down brick business model crammed into a cartridge instead of a console.

[Asaki]

What size were the WiiU assets anyway put out at? I mean you could come up with some rational arguments here. If the WiiU used like 900p assets or even 720p...

That's not really...a thing. Especially true for 3D games, but even 2D games don't really care about any sort of "native resolution" anymore. Things like HUDs or menus might be optimized for a specific resolution, but that's about it. Unless you're talking about pre-rendered cutscenes.

 

Things like textures and skins are going to vary in "resolution", depending on how often you see them, or how close you're going to be to them. Check out Breath of the Wild, they're using SUPER low resolution textures for a lot of landscape, but they've got a lot of "mega texture" (so to speak) style things going on, with really high-res detail maps that tile frequently, and foliage to hide other spots.

[BillLoguidice]

1.3 gigs is perhaps the size of the day 1 patch? Would explain how 13 gigs ended up there as a mistake.

 

Possibly, but I don't recall any company ever putting the size of day one patches on boxes. Also, I don't recall any day one patches actually being required for a game to work, just the usual requirement for connected features.

 

I have to think there's more to this story than a simple editorial error. I mean, that's a major screw-up that surely would have been noticed along the way.

[Tanooki]

^Agreed, they're either lying to cover their tracks or some chain of people were inclusively incompetent and put something on the box that was not correct. There really isn't any other argument for it as it wouldn't make sense to put a DLC (required download) warning on the box and then typo it on top now is there?

[Punisher5.0]

There was a small update released today for the system. Not sure what it was for but Atleast the first two updates have been small.

[Tanooki]

I'm sure Nintendo will write that it was for 'system stability' the same excuse since the Wii and DSi. They're covert about all of it unless they're adding features, even then sometimes that is too if they're priming up for something like say an added virtual console or the bones to allow streaming of some sort. It could be anything from that to seeing an exploit online and closing the door on it.

[Andromeda Stardust]

me thinks stability updates are simply closing exploit looqholes. They arent going to dghsclose under-the-hood stuff like that.

[roots.genoa]

It may have fixed this as well: http://kotaku.com/psa-if-your-switchs-internet-wont-work-reboot-the-con-1793695059

[Downland1983]

They just said that the game is playable out of the box without the day 1 patch. They didn't take it any further like confirming that the game could actually be played start to finish without it, although they did describe the patch as "small". Hopefully they don't mean 13 gigs when they say that, which would be one of the most blatant lies we've seen in a long time.

 

Likely something to that notice on the case insert, seeing that the Xbox One version without the day 1 patch is almost as big as the Wii U build's 19 gigs. Warner Brothers is likely being intentionally misleading to quiet the criticism, since it's difficult to envision a 19 gig Wii U download that essentially is as big or bigger on other platforms it's due to release on in a week, actually being just 1/3 that size on the Switch.

 

If not and they really did this good of an optimization job, good for them. But I'll believe it when I see it, instead of just taking them for their word and assuming that the file size disparity is all down to lower resolution textures here compared to the XB1 build.

 

 

I wasn't talking game quality or optimization at all. Not sure how you got to that from what my post said.

 

Like my post said, I'm complaining that a game is quite possibly intentionally being shipped incomplete in order to allow Warner Brothers to ship it out on a cheaper lower capacity cartridge, with 2/3's of the game then having to be downloaded to finish the job.

Actually, in this statement, Warner Bros was very clear that "the complete game" is on the cartridge at time of purchase. So, yes, you can play it start to finish without an additional download:

 

​"Players who purchase a physical copy of LEGO City Undercover on Nintendo Switch at retail are getting the complete game, and do not need to download additional content to enjoy the full experience. An internet connection is not required to play the game. The only internet connection suggested is to download the typical content update patch."

 

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/03/warner_bros_issues_full_statement_regarding_lego_city_undercover_install_confusion

[Atariboy]

I acknowledged that subsequent statement already.

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/258197-nintendo-switch/?p=3729339