dartmonkey

Modest Tech: The NX Generation (Nintendo Switch)

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It hadn't occurred to me before but lots of PC indie games are trying to do local co-op, and the Switch is a very good way of introducing that to a console and getting people into it without it feeling like a big deal for them to give some games a go.

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I'm more excited and hopeful about the Switch than any console I can remember. PC gaming is my main jam, but I've grown to really dislike the antisocial aspect of spending hours alone at a desk in front of a screen. While I love local multiplayer it requires a level of organisation among friends that means it rarely happens, and my workplace has never had the critical mass of handhelds to get lunchtime games going.

 

This has the potential to fill so many niches: local multi sharing a big screen, or propped on a table, local wifi on separate consoles, online, solo portable, or combinations of these. Every unit always having two controllers attached is huge. If it really takes off it could be the best of both worlds, fully portable unlike the Wii U but also a proper HD console able to run modern games.

 

The fact that the Switch is already getting such buy-in from a certain movement of indie devs (many of those behind the "couch coop resurgence") is wonderful. Overcooked is one coop game I was really crossing my fingers for, and even ignoring first parties there's so many others: Shovel Knight, Binding of Isaac, TumbleSeed, TowerFall, Enter the Gungeon, Rayman Legends. Some I already own on other platforms, but maybe now they'll actually get played.

 

The lack of info right before release is a concern, but then this is surprisingly soon after the big January reveal. Really hoping Nintendo don't screw this one up (please no friend codes, and fix the damn eShop).

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Some of these indies look really neat! Good on Nintendo for showing that someone is developing for their platform.

 

How is Stardew going to work on a console? I tried it with a controller and it was a very unfun experience.

 

I continue to be worried about the tack Nintendo is taking with this console, but it's a more interesting proposition to me than any of their systems since... N64? I'm still incensed at the absolute hubris to charge full price for pack in games, charge ludicrous amounts for every single accessory, and add cost to every game by passing the storage costs onto the consumer. It would be better for the public that they fail based on complete lack of respect for consumers, but 1) they won't, obviously and 2) there are genuinely compelling things that mask or salve that awful behavior for a lot of people.

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23 minutes ago, Badfinger said:

How is Stardew going to work on a console? I tried it with a controller and it was a very unfun experience.

 

I played it for over 10 hours with a WiiU Pro controller and it was fine I thought. Not perfect since there's some things that are designed with a mouse in mind but nothing that can't be accommodated for.

 

Reviews are starting to pop up with the consensus seeming to be it's good but you might want to wait for some more games.

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Don't buy a console for one game. I can speak to this with experience. It doesn't even matter how much you like that game, you will feel regret. It's my biggest game rule.

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3 hours ago, Laco said:

I'm more excited and hopeful about the Switch than any console I can remember. PC gaming is my main jam, but I've grown to really dislike the antisocial aspect of spending hours alone at a desk in front of a screen. While I love local multiplayer it requires a level of organisation among friends that means it rarely happens, and my workplace has never had the critical mass of handhelds to get lunchtime games going.

 

This has the potential to fill so many niches: local multi sharing a big screen, or propped on a table, local wifi on separate consoles, online, solo portable, or combinations of these. Every unit always having two controllers attached is huge. If it really takes off it could be the best of both worlds, fully portable unlike the Wii U but also a proper HD console able to run modern games.

 

The fact that the Switch is already getting such buy-in from a certain movement of indie devs (many of those behind the "couch coop resurgence") is wonderful. Overcooked is one coop game I was really crossing my fingers for, and even ignoring first parties there's so many others: Shovel Knight, Binding of Isaac, TumbleSeed, TowerFall, Enter the Gungeon, Rayman Legends. Some I already own on other platforms, but maybe now they'll actually get played.

 

The lack of info right before release is a concern, but then this is surprisingly soon after the big January reveal. Really hoping Nintendo don't screw this one up (please no friend codes, and fix the damn eShop).

SAME.

 

Switch is basically going to become my default platform for indie games at this point. Stoked as fuck. Gimme that Switch. TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS TWO DAYS 

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2 hours ago, Badfinger said:

Don't buy a console for one game. I can speak to this with experience. It doesn't even matter how much you like that game, you will feel regret. It's my biggest game rule.

how about for two games?

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I've always bought Nintendo consoles for one game, and then a dozen more come out that I need to play, so it works out. This will be the same.

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10 hours ago, Kolzig said:

It looks really similar in art style to their previous great game Stick It to The Man. Back when it was released on Wii U, I also thought it had that Psychonauts/Scott Campbell style. I doubt he was involved though, but it seems clear to me that Double Fine was their inspiration.

 

This similarity of SITTM to Psychonauts got brought up in at least one review. Tim Schafer responded on the DF forums saying:

 

Quote

 

The guys behind this game are friends of ours (or, more specifically, I know Klaus) and part of the reason we became friends is that while we were working on Psychonauts, we saw some early concept art for their game "The Kore Gang," and thought, hey these guys have the same taste as us, kinda! The early art had curly mountains and jagged crescent moons that looked a lot like our early concept art. But Psychonauts wasn't even announced yet so obviously they weren't biting our style. They just also loved Nightmare Before Christmas, City of Lost Children, etc.

So I don't think they riff off us. It's just that they have a lot of the same inspirations.

 

 

But yeah, the character design and some other stuff does feel very reminiscent too..!

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It seems the final price for Switch in Finland is 349€. Still too high in my opinion.

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2 hours ago, Twig said:

I've always bought Nintendo consoles for one game, and then a dozen more come out that I need to play, so it works out. This will be the same.

 

Eeh, that's not one game, right? That's a console life cycle. I was really jonesing to play Destiny, so I bought a PS4 Destiny Taken King bundle and said "I'll get a PS4 for Destiny, and then i can also play it for...?" After I stopped playing Destiny I didn't boot up the PS4 until last week when I was lent a copy of Nioh. 

 

Right now the only thing I know I would want to play on a Switch is Zelda. Maybe Mario in 8 months? If they go hard on totally exclusive Indies, if they put out multiple core Nintendo franchise games, maybe they convince me. I did a final tally and there were 5 games released on WiiU that I would want to play that I couldn't get anywhere else. I'm just not a day 1 hardware boy anymore, if I ever was.

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Well I bought a PS4 specifically for Bloodborne and there was nothing else I cared about for a long while. :P

I am definitely not suggesting that my anecdote is the norm, though, haha. I just love Nintendo games, and know I'll never be disappointed. And I had faith the PS4 would eventually have enough games to justify my purchase. It has had more than enough! I can't keep up. ): And they keep coming. Forever. ):

 

Hell, I know I'd play plenty of Xbone exclusives, but I actively choose not to buy that one because what's the point, I'm so busy as is!!

 

Also maybe I'm a weirdo, but five games is more than enough for me for a console, considering I rarely have time to play more than that spread across the various platforms I own.

 

Okay I'm definitely a weirdo!

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3 hours ago, Twig said:

I've always bought Nintendo consoles for one game, and then a dozen more come out that I need to play, so it works out. This will be the same.

This, and also time restrictions. My mind can't handle a backlog building up of stuff I'll definitely play in the future - I'd rather get in early and ride along. I miss out on so much on PC as it is. Switch being portable will feel like a lifesaver. But I'm an idiot.

 

From what I've read, there's a gap in the market for a (tiny) plastic cradle to sit the screen in, to improve tabletop stability and add a pass through connector allowing you to charge in tabletop mode. That'll be 25€, thankyouverymuch.

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Oh five games is plenty for me too but I'm an idiot. I've wavered back and forth all week and if it had anything alongside Zelda that looked interesting I'd have one on order but I can't convince myself £40 for Bomberman is a wise purchase, or that I need to buy a third copy of Disgaea 5. I have a Wii U, I'll play Zelda on there framerate be damned.

 

What's weird is that I browse NeoGaf and in North America this seems to be quite a big launch (although it could just be the type of people who post on there) but here in the UK it is utterly, utterly dead. Is this all over Europe or just a local indifference? I've had increasingly desperate emails from retailers all week begging me to place a preorder for the stock they're drowning in, and on the high street two days before launch the only place you see mention of it is a poster in the window of GAME, incidentally dwarfed by an eye-catching display encouraging preorders for Red Dead Redemption 2 which we all know won't be out for a year. 

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I'm reasonably confident I'll be able to pick one up on Friday here in Spain, but it's tough to gauge the interest. They're running TV spots but in-store promo is limited to piles of empty console boxes.

 

I saw six Mini NESs in Media Markt last week.

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I totally understand! I realize how silly it is to be cautionary in a thread where people who are Nintendo fans have already spent the money on this thing months ago, even if they agree it's too much. I'm sure people literally have shipping notifications on this thing right now, and on Friday as long as it works no one is going to care if there's only a single game or not.

 

I also feel like I can be relatively objective on whether it's a reasonable proposition vs whether it is for me. I think it is very awesome that Shovel Knight and Axiom Verge are going to be available for the Switch. I played those games literal years ago, they are not a selling point to me. I was mortified when they spent so much announcement time on Skyrim. The Nintendo Direct with indie releases is how you sell this thing.

 

I should also say that Zelda is one of those 5 games. I mean, I've bought 5 games since January. I even like most of them!

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I find it very funny they made Skyrim such a huge focus. Who would even consider that a selling point.  But then again I've never much cared for those games. I guess there's something to be said for making it portable...?

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Eshop was finally revealed in yesterdays video clip.

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Confirmed: Nintendo made the Switch cartridges taste really bad on purpose.

 

Quote

In a statement emailed to Polygon, a Nintendo representative confirmed the theory that Switch cartridges are coated in a material that’s meant to dissuade people from putting the units in their mouths.

 

“A bittering agent (Denatonium Benzoate) has also been applied to the game card,” the spokesperson said, adding that Nintendo recommends keeping Switch cartridges away from children “to avoid the possibility of accidental ingestion.” The representative also noted that denatonium benzoate is non-toxic.

So what is denatonium benzoate, anyway? We did some research.

 

Denatonium is the most bitter chemical compound known to humanity. It is widely used as an aversive agent, an additive that discourages ingestion by making a substance taste so bad that you’ll immediately want to spit it out.

 

This is my favourite video game story of the year so far. 

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I'm one of the idiots that got really excited about playing Skyrim on the go, so I guess that was meant for me!

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Yeah I'm all in for any console based RPGs that I'm interested in. Skyrim's not my style, but I'm on for Xenoblade. If Fallout or the Witcher were on it I'd be up for those too.

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Zelda reviews coming out. 1010101010101010101010 seems to be the number of the day.

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The day one patch is live... and friend codes are back! Nooooo. At least the eShop looks nice enough so far.

 

Their support for social networks is almost unbelievably convoluted. You can add friends you already have linked via Nintendo smartphone apps, some of which in turn link with Facebook/Twitter friends while others use friend IDs (different to Switch friend codes). You can post screenshots to FB/Twitter from Switch, but not add friends directly. Stop fucking this up, Nintendo!

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I wonder who is behind that friend code bullshit, it resurfaced in Fire Emblem Heroes. Don't know about Super Mario Run since that has not been released yet even though Nintendo promised it will launch in March and it's March already. At least Miitomo didn't have any friend codes.

 

It wasn't a good idea on DS or Wii or 3DS so why continue doing it?

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2 hours ago, Laco said:

The day one patch is live... and friend codes are back! Nooooo. At least the eShop looks nice enough so far.

 

Their support for social networks is almost unbelievably convoluted. You can add friends you already have linked via Nintendo smartphone apps, some of which in turn link with Facebook/Twitter friends while others use friend IDs (different to Switch friend codes). You can post screenshots to FB/Twitter from Switch, but not add friends directly. Stop fucking this up, Nintendo!

 

Sorry everyone, the noise you just heard is me making the heaviest sigh in the history of video games.

 

It's so baffling that Nintendo refuses to acknowledge basic parts of understood and universal UI and UX.

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