Finally, a Switch Control that won’t drift.
In another example of the sorcery that is Cloud-based gaming, my personal 2019 GOTY, Control has made its way to the Nintendo Switch, and in a console first for the game, features full ray-tracing capabilities. The Control Ultimate Edition Cloud Version comes complete with all DLC packs (The Foundation and AWE) and runs at 30FPS with ray-tracing or 60FPS without ray-tracing – which when considering the sometimes awful frame rates of the initial release, is a minor miracle.
The Switch is able to run such a demanding game by utilising the Cloud, meaning the game streams to your console via wi-fi, with all the heavy lifting done by the server and not your console itself. Other games brought to the Switch via the Cloud include Resident Evil 7 and Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, which were both available to stream in Japan, with the only noticeable flaw being input lag.
“This is the first time ever that a Remedy game is playable on a Nintendo console! We couldn’t be happier that Nintendo Switch owners get to experience Control Ultimate Edition through the Cloud and join Jesse on her journey to becoming the Director of the Federal Bureau of Control. We hope players enjoy discovering secrets and putting Jesse’s telekinetic powers to use in the weird, supernatural world we’ve created,” said Remedy’s Communications Director, Thomas Puha.
Now, when I first saw this news drop, you best believe I jumped out of bed to download it, but I forgot one major issue: I live in Australia, the country that has the same internet signal strength as a tin-can telephone. As such, the Control Ultimate Edition Cloud Version is not yet available down under. Those in other countries lucky enough to give it a go will get a short demo of the game pre-purchase that will measure to see if there is a stable enough internet connection to support the stream. If there is, the game will prompt you to purchase. If not, the demo will end, and you’ll feel nothing but shame and regret.
Control is currently available on PlayStation, Xbox, PC and Nintendo Switch (in select regions), with the Ultimate Edition being upgradable for the upcoming PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on their respective launch dates.