[TorqueDog]

The first time I saw it, I was impressed. A "Well done, Nintendo!" golf clap rippled through my head.

But I've had time to reflect on it, and I'm not so sure how good this will be from a practical perspective. And the biggest concern I have is something I have a lot of experience with thanks to Xbox One streaming to Windows 10: scaling.

Most games that are set up to look great on the big screen, complete with menus and HUD elements are going to give you a true "teeny-tiny eye-strain-o-vision" experience on a smaller display.

I'll use The Elder Scrolls Online as an example, though it works with GTA V, or games where small details can be important to gameplay (like trying to shoot a guy through bushes or behind rocks).
- On a 55" 4K TV, I can see all the on-screen elements clearly. The HUD text is easily readable and the navigation markers are prominent. There was never going to be any doubt here.
- On a 27" PC monitor, everything is still easily readable. It helps that the monitor and the game are both running 1080p resolutions. I'm also sitting only ~three feet away. No problem.
- Surface 3. Again, 1080p resolution and a 10.8" display. But on-screen elements are quite small now. Sometimes on-screen navigation icons are hard to spot at first glance. This is because the game is still scaled to be shown on larger displays, on-screen elements are not enlarged.
- Lumia 950XL. 4K resolution, 5.7" display. But this is where things are now too small. For those curious, I'm using the Xbox Developer UWP to stream as this isn't officially supported functionality in the normal Xbox app. Even though the device resolution easily surpasses the source material, the game's on-screen elements are not meant for such a small display, making it tough to see map markers, certain text elements, etc. Even smaller enemies often escape my view. This is fine if you're in an online battle and need to slip away for a quick poo, but not anything else.


So for now I have tempered optimism, but this is where Nintendo needs to get it right. How big is the handheld screen going to be? And if it's only 720p, is the game going to be able to properly scale on-screen elements to ensure they 1. remain crisp and clear, and 2. are readable, while also not making them absurdly huge when on the big screen?

If you're going to have games adapt to various screen sizes, scaling UI elements well is crucial. You could point to the Wii-U, but the Wii-U was aimed at children and casual gamers and everything was cartoonishly large by design.