the main difference in many third party Switch games compared to their MS/Sony counterparts is mostly just running at 30 vs 60 FPS with no other major graphical or gameplay changes.
I would disagree on this point.
Many third party games that release on Sony/Microsoft consoles and Switch do feature noticeably downgraded graphics, even comparing PS4/Xbox One to the Switch. Whether that prevents someone from enjoying those games is entirely down to personal preference, but I think it is disingenuous to say that the framerate and resolution are the only differences.
Take a look at the Digital Foundry comparison between The Witcher 3 on Switch versus (standard) PS4 and you’ll see a good example of all the optimizations and trimming that they had to do to get the Switch version running at passable framerates. It still runs well, and it’s still a fun game, but if someone is looking for high visual fidelity, they’d be better served with any other platform (and notably, the PS5/Xbox Series received visual enhancements to take advantage of the better hardware for their respective ports of the game).
It’s not as common as the Wii days, but the Switch still does see neutered versions of some games ported to the system. Kingdom Hearts 3, for example, doesn’t even run on the console. The Switch just streams it from the cloud. So when those servers eventually go down, that’s it, no more game. It’ll be effectively un-released. EA never stopped the old strategy for their FIFA games either (while they still had the rights to that franchise) where the Switch versions of the game were simply missing features available on other platforms for some arbitrary reason.
I would disagree on this point.
Many third party games that release on Sony/Microsoft consoles and Switch do feature noticeably downgraded graphics, even comparing PS4/Xbox One to the Switch. Whether that prevents someone from enjoying those games is entirely down to personal preference, but I think it is disingenuous to say that the framerate and resolution are the only differences.
Take a look at the Digital Foundry comparison between The Witcher 3 on Switch versus (standard) PS4 and you’ll see a good example of all the optimizations and trimming that they had to do to get the Switch version running at passable framerates. It still runs well, and it’s still a fun game, but if someone is looking for high visual fidelity, they’d be better served with any other platform (and notably, the PS5/Xbox Series received visual enhancements to take advantage of the better hardware for their respective ports of the game).
It’s not as common as the Wii days, but the Switch still does see neutered versions of some games ported to the system. Kingdom Hearts 3, for example, doesn’t even run on the console. The Switch just streams it from the cloud. So when those servers eventually go down, that’s it, no more game. It’ll be effectively un-released. EA never stopped the old strategy for their FIFA games either (while they still had the rights to that franchise) where the Switch versions of the game were simply missing features available on other platforms for some arbitrary reason.