When Nintendo released the DS and Wii nearly two decades ago, it was clear that they were trying to take their hardware design in a different direction than their previous consoles. The DS had a stylus and second screen, while the Wii had motion controls. However, let’s imagine for a moment that instead of the DS and Wii, Nintendo had released the Switch in that same timeframe. What kind of specs would the Switch have if it was released in 2004 instead of 2017? If I were to take a guess, it would probably be somewhere between DS and 3DS graphics. This would have been good by 2004 standards in handheld mode, although it would have been bad when being played on a TV since the jaggies would be more noticeable on the big screen.

As for technology, the screen resolution would be better than the DS, perhaps the same as the PSP. Since USB-C never existed in 2004, Nintendo would have to include some proprietary port instead. Apart from that, I believe the “2004 Switch” would be very successful.

What about you? What are your thought on this? If you could go back in time and persuade Nintendo to abandon DS and Wii in favour of Switch, would you do it?

@Jag85: I haven’t taken notice of JRPGs bashing the Catholic Church. I am Christian so if any JRPGs attack my faith then I might have to look elsewhere.

@hardwenzen: I would love to see a handheld PS4 if Sony and AMD can reduce the chipset size down to that level. Imagine playing Bloodborne on the train…

How does this make any sense? Microsoft won’t make any money from Steam or Epic Games Store sales. Plus they already have placed their games on Steam. So what is this about? I’m sure there is more to the story than this.

If you want to try Neverwinter, I would recommend playing melee class such as warrior or rogue since these provide gameplay similar to Soulsborne-type games. If you play spellcaster or cleric the experience would be different from Soulsborne, but then again there are different styles of gameplay, even for the same classes. There is a newer class called Bard which I havent played before, not familiar with how this class would play.

Hope you enjoy it :)

Yes that is rather strange how they changed their minds like that. I believe Sony sold off SOE (now Daybreak) during the Kaz Hirai era, but something like this could never happen during the Jim Ryan era. Daybreak is now owned by a Swedish game company called Enad Global 7. Maybe Sony can re-purchase Daybreak from Enad Global 7, or even buy out Enad outright? Lol.

Yes Age of Conan had good combat and class variety, it was a pretty good WoW competitor. Sadly the population is very low, some people say its in maintenance mode.

Neverwinter is one MMO that I would suggest has Soulsbourne-like combat (I have over 1130 hours playing this game on Steam lol). It has plenty of emphasis on fast combat and dodging, plus it has a stamina system so you can't dodge too much, making it resemble Soulsborne even more. This game is also based on Dungeons & Dragons (just like Baldurs Gate), so if you are fan of the franchise then feel free to give it a shot.

@mrbojangles25: Yes I like subscription models. The only downside to subscriptions if you play several MMOs at once the subscription fees can stack on, meaning you have to be careful about it. Good news is that subscribing to EverQuest 1 will grant you access to EverQuest 2 benefits, so thats cool.

@R4gn4r0k: Haha yes I had a look at RuneScape but I haven’t actually played it. EverQuest looks much nicer IMO.

Back in 1999, Sony Online Entertainment released an MMO called EverQuest. It was one of the first 3D MMOs, and one of the longest running. I have played it many hours, and its pretty good if you don't mind the outdated graphics and steep learning curve. It was a big influence for many future MMOs, including World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy 11/14 etc.

Sadly, Sony sold off Sony Online Entertainment, the company is now called Daybreak. But it still has Sony's influence nevertheless.

It is EverQuest’s 25th Anniversary! | EverQuest

Fun Fact: In EverQuest (abbreviated as "EQ"), there is a city called Qeynos, which is "Sony EQ" spelt backwards.