Nintendo Switch Catch-All 2.0

Veloxi wrote:

So guys. Ever since I started using the Pro controller rather than the JoyCons (thank you again Moggy), the battery life of the console itself has skyrocketed. I play it for maybe 30-90 minutes a day and let it sleep until it needs charging. I've not charged it in DAYS and the battery is still at roughly 60-70%. The Pro controller looks full still. It's amazing!

Interesting. I'm not surprised that there's a difference given the battery life in the Pro controllers vs. the JoyCons. I am surprised that it seems to be that pronounced.

Yeah I too am shocked. I charged it LAST WEEK, have played it a bit every day, and the Switch itself is only down to 65% while the indicator for the Pro switch has barely dropped, so it still looks mostly full.

I'm surprised the difference is that noticable.

I did some amateur math:

Switch battery capacity: 3570 mAH
Joycon battery capacity: 595 mAH

Switch battery life: ~ 6 hours on average
Joycon battery life: ~ 20 hours

Dividing capacity/life gives...
Switch power consumption: ~600 mA / hour
Joycon power consumption (pair): 52 mA/ hour

So playing with the Pro that isn't pulling power from the console battery shouldn't impact it's battery life by more than 10%.

I guess as the battery ages and it's capacity drops, that percentage will rise, but still....

But are the joycons only draining from Switch when empty or are they draining all the time to keep topped off?

You'd think it would be something in the middle but joycons are a disaster in so many ways I wouldn't be surprised if they are battery hogs too

Yeah, the Switch Pro Controller battery lasts an absurdly long time. That was one of the first things I noticed about it.

It was especially evident when I was swapping back and forth between PS4 and Switch games. The PS4 controllers would last about 5 or 6 hours. The Switch Pro controller was close to 40 hours on a full charge.

Stele wrote:

But are the joycons only draining from Switch when empty or are they draining all the time to keep topped off?

I'd have to assume the latter, since anytime they pull them off of the Switch they're always fully charged.

So now you've got three batteries instead of one slowly trickling away battery life, which means they're losing 3x as much charge over time. And I imagine the transfer between the Switch battery and the joycons' battery isn't 100% efficient either.

Still, even if we assume that that accounts for tripling the 10% that Jonman figured with his napkin math, it still doesn't quite add up to what Veloxi is reporting.

Is there another variable? Did Veloxi switch from a more-demanding game to a less-demanding one around the time he switched to the Pro controller maybe?

"3x" ignores the order of magnitude difference in power consumption between the switch and the joycons.

hbi2k wrote:

Is there another variable? Did Veloxi switch from a more-demanding game to a less-demanding one around the time he switched to the Pro controller maybe?

I've basically been bouncing between Diablo 3 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3.

Switch online now has missions for my Nintendo and new monthly avatars to buy with platinum points.

I got 400 points expiring in March so that's nice. Get me some new profile options.

Stele wrote:

Switch online now has missions for my Nintendo and new monthly avatars to buy with platinum points.

I got 400 points expiring in March so that's nice. Get me some new profile options.

I was wondering when this was going to happen. I've been dutifully logging into the DS eShop each week to collect points and always wondered why there wasn't something similar for the Switch. You've been able to collect points by logging in to the WiiU for years now as well.

Last week they pulled physical rewards from the My Nintendo service and I was concerned they were getting rid of it entirely. Thankfully the rewards are back and now we've got a new way to rack up (and spend) those points!

So since there's no specific thread for this game I'm gonna ask here. I've hit my first difficulty spike in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 with the Doctor Strange two-part fight. I'm in my mid-20s with my team (Deadpool, Ghost Rider, Daredevil, Ms. Marvel) but I keep getting slaughtered.

Anyone have any tips for this one? Should I go back and grind (how do I even do that)? Try another team? Any advice would be most appreciated, thank you.

Veloxi wrote:

I'd be more interested in a Steam Deck if 1. I didn't already have a Switch and 2. Valve had a better track record with their hardware. I totally believe the Deck will be abandoned within a year or two.

So yay Switch!

I'm not sure I understand the sentiment. The Link went away and became software that can run almost everywhere. The Controller still gets software updates. The Index has been on the market for multiple years, and is still for sale.

*Legion* wrote:

Digital Foundry put out a video on this a couple weeks ago, after putting some time into a number of Switch cloud games.

Their verdict, as I recall: Control kinda worked OK, most games were really not very good.

The bizarre thing is that Hitman 3 has a Stadia version and Xbox Cloud streaming to compare against and somehow the Switch Cloud version is the worst looking of the three.

Veloxi wrote:

I'm in my mid-20s

Yeah I keep telling myself that too.

Oh I'd rather be in my late 40s than mid 20s.

Kurrelgyre wrote:
Veloxi wrote:

I'd be more interested in a Steam Deck if 1. I didn't already have a Switch and 2. Valve had a better track record with their hardware. I totally believe the Deck will be abandoned within a year or two.

So yay Switch!

I'm not sure I understand the sentiment. The Link went away and became software that can run almost everywhere. The Controller still gets software updates. The Index has been on the market for multiple years, and is still for sale.

A quick Google search says

Has Steam Link been discontinued?
Valve quietly discontinued the Steam Link in November 2018, in favor of supporting its software-based Steam Link application for mobile devices, smart televisions, and a software package for the Raspberry Pi.

So does the original Steam Link hardware work still?

As for the controller - well the cheapest on Amazon is $86 used and over $150 new. Which makes me think it is no longer made by Steam but I can't find that on the Steam page. If they are not making new ones then it is effectively dead. Yes they can support it for a long time but without new ones it will not really grow.

The Index still is sold but is out of stock so I guess it is still around.

However I think the idea that Valve doesn't have a great track record with hardware is pretty valid.

Yeah they did a big $5 clearance on the Steam controllers a while back. That's when I finally got one.

farley3k wrote:

So does the original Steam Link hardware work still?

Not only does it still work, it is still getting software updates.

The Link hardware was just a small Linux box running the Steam Link app. They discontinued the hardware because tons of other small devices came out that were powerful enough to do the video decoding, and had the gamepad support, to do the same thing. So they just expanded the reach of the software from beyond their own box to a ton of different hardware devices.

But the consequence of that is that the software updating that keeps the Raspberry Pi Steam Link app current is maintaining the original Steam Link hardware as well. They simply make a build of the Linux Steam Link app for the SL hardware and release it, and they still do, continuously.

As for the controller (...) If they are not making new ones then it is effectively dead. Yes they can support it for a long time but without new ones it will not really grow.

Same idea here. Valve took the Steam Controller's software customization, turned it into Steam Input, and made it support ALL Steam-supported gamepads. So the tweaking you could only do with a Steam Controller originally, you can now do with an Xbox One gamepad.

You want a "new" Steam Controller? It's called the PS5 DualSense. Touchpad, gyro, it's all there.

But again, the result is that years after the hardware stopped being made, the Steam Controller is getting software updates, because every Steam Input update and fix is an update and fix for the Steam Controller.

Someone can pick up a Steam Link and Steam Controller now and they'll have up-to-date software that includes features that didn't even exist when those pieces of hardware were discontinued. Most people won't because they can just pair an Xbox controller to a Chromecast and do the same thing, but the old, discontinued Steam hardware maintains feature parity.

Bad track record? I'd call taking features, expanding their reach to everyone's hardware, and still maintaining software updates with the old hardware to be the exact opposite of a bad track record.

The only truly abandoned Valve hardware was the Steam Machine. Every other piece of hardware works like it came out yesterday, with software updates that very well may have come out yesterday.

TIL I should be selling my Steam Controller that's just gathering dust. $200 on Amazon

Veloxi wrote:

Oh I'd rather be in my late 40s than mid 20s.

I'm not yet in my 40s, but after some of the stupid sh*t -- and bridges I burned -- in my 20s, yeah... don't want to go back. The adult brain takes awhile to develop, and hindsight is a hell of a thing

Jonman wrote:

TIL I should be selling my Steam Controller that's just gathering dust. $200 on Amazon :shock:

Why? Is it super sought after now that the Steam Deck is out? I bought mine a year ago for literally $12.

Jonman wrote:

TIL I should be selling my Steam Controller that's just gathering dust. $200 on Amazon :shock:

No doubt. Mine is still NIB in the closet.

-BEP

Is the new Kirby game doing some amiibo functionally?

Seeing Twitter alerts about Kirby series amiibo selling out on Best Buy and Amazon.

So a bunch of Mario games are on sale and I've had my eye on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Is it worthwhile for the solo player such as myself, or is it more multiplayer focused?

Thank you!

Veloxi wrote:

So a bunch of Mario games are on sale and I've had my eye on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Is it worthwhile for the solo player such as myself, or is it more multiplayer focused?

3-starring all of the tracks in Grand Prix mode is fun IMO. And there's plenty of tracks to keep you busy for a while.

Yeah, I played Mario Kart almost entirely solo to try and get better stars on all the tracks. It was definitely worth it for me.

Speaking of the sale, I never finished Mario+Rabbids but I sure as heck got $10 worth of fun out of it.

F-Zero X Switch Online+ March 11!!!

I loved that damn game

Stele wrote:

F-Zero X Switch Online+ March 11!!!

I loved that damn game

If only Nintendo would make another one.

Got a couple cups of F-Zero X in tonight before bed. Man I loved this one.

Groups!!!!! (Folders)

Okay, so they're not quite as useful as I wanted, but it's nice to at least have -something-

But there's now some better filtering options on the All Software screen, including a downloaded filter

Yeah I wanted them to be default view. But playing around last night it seemed I have to scroll to all games and then press L to make them appear. Huh?