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by Steltek 1322 days ago
Hang on there. I think the more accurate sentiment is "Nintendo hardware has lackluster graphics".

Switch is as much a console as it is a mobile device. Compared to an XBox, a Switch is a few horses short of a full stable.

Even the blockbuster Wii could only do 480p while contemporaries were doing HD.

What Nintendo does well is make the tradeoff worth it. Both the Wii and Switch make up for their reduced graphics by pioneering new ways of thinking about console gaming.

2 comments

The Wii gets a lot of hate for bad looking games. Deservedly so.

The example I like to give is the game GT Pro Series. It looked super rough even for the horsepower the Wii was packing.

However, the motion controls make that game among the most fun racing games I have ever played. It was great! I still play occasionally.

Well it's about perspective I guess. I understand the expectations for a home console, but especially between 2016 and 2019 Digital Foundry kept gushing about what kind of graphics the Switch enabled specifically on a handheld. Handheld gaming is not necessarily my preferred mode either, but I don't think the generalizations about Nintendo are fair - neither that their hardware is old, nor that their graphics are lackluster. For the Wii and Wii U both things are true, but for the GameCube and Switch I just don't think that's a fair thing to say.

The one generalization that is maybe fair is that Nintendo's design goals don't seem to satisfy all of the desires of enthusiast gamers, and are not aiming to satisfy them.