Videogame News

This is where you can deliberate anything relating to videogames - past, present and future
User avatar
ColinAlonso
Member
Posts: 585
Joined: September 6th, 2016, 9:13 pm
Location: Dublin

Re: Videogame News

Post by ColinAlonso »

Dotemu have confirmed that Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima will return to compose Streets of Rage 4 and they will be joined by Yoko Shimomura, Hideki Naganuma (not mentioned in the video I think but he is in the video description) and Keiji Yamagishi.

Serious star power there.

User avatar
Flabyo
Member
Posts: 3576
Joined: August 8th, 2013, 8:46 am
Location: Guildford

Re: Videogame News

Post by Flabyo »

That’s impressive, pretty much everyone who ever composed for a 90s game where someone is punching someone else.
User avatar
Alex79
Member
Posts: 8423
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 12:36 pm
Location: Walsall, UK.
Contact:

Re: Videogame News

Post by Alex79 »

Nintendo confirm new Switch model is incoming - only improvement is battery life. Will hit Japan around August time. Its not an upgrade really, just a new revision/model like you get with the Xbox and PS4.

https://www.engadget.com/2019/07/17/nin ... tery-life/
User avatar
ratsoalbion
Admin
Posts: 7918
Joined: August 28th, 2012, 9:41 am
Location: Brighton, England
Contact:

Re: Videogame News

Post by ratsoalbion »

Significant battery improvement though - almost double.
User avatar
KSubzero1000
Member
Posts: 3365
Joined: August 26th, 2015, 9:56 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Videogame News

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Wait, has anybody heard of this?!

(WARNING: Brain melting dubstep)


Apparently it's a sort of dystopian Papers Please clone set in a far-right post-Brexit UK with all the "biting social commentary" one would expect. Out on PC, coming to Switch soon-ish.

...Dunno what to make of this. :lol:


PS: Avoid ALL OTHER comment sections regarding this game.
User avatar
Suits
Member
Posts: 3174
Joined: October 28th, 2015, 3:25 pm
Location: Chelmsford, UK

Re: Videogame News

Post by Suits »

ratsoalbion wrote: July 17th, 2019, 8:32 pm Significant battery improvement though - almost double.
Ooffff, that would be nice.

I get maybe two hours out of mine now, three if it’s a less demanding game.
User avatar
Alex79
Member
Posts: 8423
Joined: September 2nd, 2012, 12:36 pm
Location: Walsall, UK.
Contact:

Re: Videogame News

Post by Alex79 »

Yeah battery life is awful. My Vita literally lasts days. Well over a week usually!
User avatar
Suits
Member
Posts: 3174
Joined: October 28th, 2015, 3:25 pm
Location: Chelmsford, UK

Re: Videogame News

Post by Suits »

Alex79uk wrote: July 18th, 2019, 9:22 am Yeah battery life is awful.
It never used to be.

Generally I used to get what I wanted out of a game before the battery started to drain, now it’s a matter of getting more juice before I’m done.

I have put probably 2000 into my Switch since launch though.

On a slightly related matter, no other game has made my Switch blow like Dragon Quest Builders 2. It’s sooooo loud that fan is going great guns when docked 😄.

Good game that.
User avatar
KSubzero1000
Member
Posts: 3365
Joined: August 26th, 2015, 9:56 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Videogame News

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Wouldn't it make more sense to have an easily interchangeable battery with official replacement kits, then? That way the long-time players whose batteries are losing juice can have an affordable solution without having to buy an entirely new console.

One concrete advantage that AA batteries-powered products have over modern ones is that they virtually alleviate such longevity concerns. I can't help but notice that the semi-recent trend of various manufacturers not including replaceable batteries in their electronic products happens to coincide with the consumer trend of being peer-pressured in buying a new model every six months.
User avatar
Suits
Member
Posts: 3174
Joined: October 28th, 2015, 3:25 pm
Location: Chelmsford, UK

Re: Videogame News

Post by Suits »

Yeah, you’re not wrong at all dude.

Although that certainly won’t be a solution I’d personally be driving for.

I fully accept, like I do with my iPhone, that over time battery capacity and health will deteriorate.

Also, as time passes by with developers requiring more juice to keep up with the demand that players insist is necessary in new games, and with which is sometimes offset by firmware updates that can make chip sets more power efficient - battery performance will fluctuate.

I was under no impression that the battery performance of my Switch would be the same two and a half years later as it was day one.

If, I thought I was being left shortchanged by the battery in my console - I’d be on the other side of the fence for real.

As far as as batteries go - nope, forget that. The SP is great case of cells being better than carrying AA or AAA batteries about 😄.

Changing out a battery in a Switch is a total doddle too, back comes off, Micro SD card reader pops off, heat shield off, battery pops out. If that’s what you are into.
User avatar
KSubzero1000
Member
Posts: 3365
Joined: August 26th, 2015, 9:56 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Videogame News

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Suits wrote: July 18th, 2019, 11:01 am As far as as batteries go - nope, forget that. The SP is great case of cells being better than carrying AA or AAA batteries about 😄.
I don't know about that. I still keep several AA-powered devices in rotation, like my Wiimote, Wavebird, clock, laptop mouse, etc... I use a set of widely available rechargeable eneloop batteries with monstrous energy capacity for everything. I recharge them every few months and never have to worry about any sort of progressive battery decay.

It's honestly the closest thing to a timeless and sustainable solution I can think of. Not sure why you're so down on it. :(

Suits wrote: July 18th, 2019, 11:01 am Changing out a battery in a Switch is a total doddle too, back comes off, Micro SD card reader pops off, heat shield off, battery pops out. If that’s what you are into.
Oh, okay.

I know you like to tinker with your consoles a lot. So wouldn't that be a perfect solution in your case?
User avatar
Flabyo
Member
Posts: 3576
Joined: August 8th, 2013, 8:46 am
Location: Guildford

Re: Videogame News

Post by Flabyo »

Rechargeable AA and AAA batteries degrade their charge just like the ones in an iPad or switch do, but they’re easier to replace when they do.
User avatar
KSubzero1000
Member
Posts: 3365
Joined: August 26th, 2015, 9:56 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Videogame News

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Yes, obviously. I meant that I don't have to worry about the built-in batteries of my devices deteriorating and affecting their usability over time.

It probably takes about ten years for eneloops to become unusable and even then, they are widely available in every electronic store. Very environmental-friendly, too.
User avatar
Craig
Member
Posts: 576
Joined: October 25th, 2015, 1:04 pm

Re: Videogame News

Post by Craig »

As far as I’ve read, the new Switch model has a better battery life, but rather than a new battery its a more efficient processor. It weighs the same as the previous model, so it’s not like they’ve just whacked a bigger battery in there. So it’s not as simple as just offering the better battery to existing customers.
User avatar
Flabyo
Member
Posts: 3576
Joined: August 8th, 2013, 8:46 am
Location: Guildford

Re: Videogame News

Post by Flabyo »

If you’re looking for a field in science that could make you very rich, then battery technology is the place to go. We’re pretty much at the physical limits of the power/size ratio with all known battery chemistry types (at least those that you can actually get down to ‘portable device’ size anyway).

CPU Tech has obeyed Moore’s law unfailing, but battery tech really hasn’t. It’s the major limiting factor on pretty much every tech industry right now.
User avatar
ratsoalbion
Admin
Posts: 7918
Joined: August 28th, 2012, 9:41 am
Location: Brighton, England
Contact:

Re: Videogame News

Post by ratsoalbion »

That’s it, the machine has a revised chipset which is less hungry for juice as I understand it.
User avatar
Suits
Member
Posts: 3174
Joined: October 28th, 2015, 3:25 pm
Location: Chelmsford, UK

Re: Videogame News

Post by Suits »

KSubzero1000 wrote: July 18th, 2019, 11:22 am I don't know about that. I still keep several AA-powered devices in rotation, like my Wiimote, Wavebird, clock, laptop mouse, etc... I use a set of widely available rechargeable eneloop batteries with monstrous energy capacity for everything. I recharge them every few months and never have to worry about any sort of progressive battery decay.

It's honestly the closest thing to a timeless and sustainable solution I can think of. Not sure why you're so down on it :(
I use batteries in things like clocks and controllers as such, it’s just not my preferred way of powering my SP.

Primarily I use a SP for commuting and I’m at peace with the charging aspect of it, similar to my iPhone.

The idea of carrying around an extra set of batteries in my bag for my SP, then having to replace them as opposed to the charger I have at my desk just seems old fashioned.

I suppose I’m used too and respect the fact that I must charge my devices at power points now.

I get what your saying about rechargeable batteries but that’s not the solution I lean towards if I’m honest.

Yes, it’s a more efficient version of the Tegra chip in the Switch Lite, not a bigger battery - Digital Foundry.
User avatar
KSubzero1000
Member
Posts: 3365
Joined: August 26th, 2015, 9:56 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Videogame News

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Yes, of course. I totally understand the advantages of built-in batteries as opposed to AA ones, so to each his own. But I think we might be talking past one another here. My original point was in response to this:
Suits wrote: July 18th, 2019, 10:02 am Generally I used to get what I wanted out of a game before the battery started to drain, now it’s a matter of getting more juice before I’m done.
I just think that if there was an official built-in function that would allow players to exchange their old battery pack for a new one every few years, it would alleviate the issue instead of pushing a new model onto them.

If there is no such function, then the life cycle of the battery becomes the life cycle of the device, which leads to aberrant consumer behavior. I've heard people talking about buying a new phone simply because their old phone's battery wasn't performing at its best any more even though there was nothing else wrong with the model itself. The only ones who benefit from this are the manufacturer and the others selling this stuff.
User avatar
Suits
Member
Posts: 3174
Joined: October 28th, 2015, 3:25 pm
Location: Chelmsford, UK

Re: Videogame News

Post by Suits »

KSubzero1000 wrote: July 18th, 2019, 1:01 pm The only ones who benefit from this are the manufacturer and the others selling this stuff.
Exactly.

Nintendo sold a replacement, high capacity battery for the Wii U Gamepad.

It increased the battery life to silly levels, it was wonderful, I’d considered it almost essential unless you want to keep tethered to the charger.

There was even a recess in the battery bay shaped to house the larger battery. Which suggests that Nintendo always intended to sell consumers a bigger battery - which then opens another question, why would Nintendo ship with a small capacity batter ?? So people would buy a bigger one.

There’s a cynical side to all of this but as with most things I think companies are dammed if they do, dammed if they don’t.

I think having a similar option, or even having the battery more easily replaced on a Switch, would come at a detriment to the form factor of the console, which clearly Nintendo wanted to improve over the Fisher Price style Wii U Gamepad.
User avatar
Flabyo
Member
Posts: 3576
Joined: August 8th, 2013, 8:46 am
Location: Guildford

Re: Videogame News

Post by Flabyo »

Put it this way, if you tried to run an iPad Pro on AAA’s you’d probably get about 10 minutes out of it. The cpu power on them is the rough equivalent of trying to run an Xbox 360 on batteries.
Post Reply