Modest Tech: The NX Generation (Nintendo Switch)

[Kolzig]

I was really taken by surprise how much Switch was a financial success on it's first weekend. Nintendo really hit it big time with their ads.

 

330k sold in Japan which is in the same range as Wii and PS4 opening sales, America's numbers were biggest ever said PR Reggie. Also in Europe the sales were +100k, just in UK apparently 80k sold. That really surprised me the most because the price seemed so crazy in Europe.

 

I hope this trend continues and they work on delivering more excellent 1st and 2nd party games with good scheduling so there are no sluggish empty periods in the years when nothing new comes out. The 3rd party will come then for sure with the flow to the system, the indies have already and the bigger companies will come crawling back. I just really hope From Software delivers on the Dark Souls trilogy and gets it released. Nick Breckon has some streaming to do then to start the DS games from the beginning on Switch.

[Laco]

Oh my god, I would play the shit out of Dark Souls on Switch.

[dartmonkey]

I just read this little article on Eurogamer and it very much sums up my experience so far. That bit where he's talking about a 'home portable'...it's almost as if he was grasping for that one, perfect word... #homeheld

 

Obviously it's not a perfect system but it fits very comfortably with the way I want to play games at this stage of life. It's unobtrusive, fun and instant. It's allowed me to play around 80% more Zelda than if I'd been tied to a TV. Most importantly, it's got sexy controller colours.

 

I've no idea how it'll do. I was talking to some teenagers about consoles yesterday and the PS4/Xbone tribalism was shocking to me. I don't think Switch stands a chance with that demographic, and it's probably a bit too complicated for younger kids. But for thirtysomething fans of video games, it's a winner.

 

Right now I'm genuinely excited because I know I can squeeze in 30 mins of Zelda over lunch! Not a couple of games of Picross or Solitaire or Fire Emblem on my phone - full fat Zelda! It's definitely the best time to be playing video games.

[Roderick]

I'm looking forward to Mario Kart 8 Superb Waluigi Edition, Splatoon 2 and Odyssey. On the indie side I was enthused by Kingdom and Flipping Death. I concur with everyone else that Zelda is so far massively enthralling and it should hold up for at least a few weeks, if not months.

 

I've tried holding the Joycons loose in hand, but I already dropped one of them from the sofa (fortunately only a half-meter fall), so I've stuck to the grip so far.

[SuperBiasedMan]

How many people are playing in predominantly tablet mode and how are you finding it? I see more people than I expected using the joycons off the tablet (either with or without the grip).

[YoThatLimp]

 

14 hours ago, Kolzig said:

Switch is shaping up to have a lot of great games on it's first year. Is that Witness just a rumour or wishful thinking or confirmed?

 

Oh baby, that would be nice. That game could then make me feel like an idiot on the go, hah. 

[Badfinger]

11 hours ago, Kolzig said:

I hope this trend continues and they work on delivering more excellent 1st and 2nd party games with good scheduling so there are no sluggish empty periods in the years when nothing new comes out. The 3rd party will come then for sure with the flow to the system, the indies have already and the bigger companies will come crawling back. I just really hope From Software delivers on the Dark Souls trilogy and gets it released. Nick Breckon has some streaming to do then to start the DS games from the beginning on Switch.

What, why?

 

 

Did more 1st party stuff get announced? Over the weekend it looked like the same dire slate as pre-launch. It's a hint of promise to see some indie darlings on the slate for this year, but filling out the slate of the last 4-5 years of already existing games everyone owns 2 or 3 times and dumps keys on in humble bundles isn't super inspiring. If they're getting day and date parity by the end of the year for indie stuff (and to be fair, it appears stuff like Rime, Mr. Twitchy, Steamworld (as an sclusie) are doing that) then that's when credit is due.

[Twig]

1 minute ago, Badfinger said:

What, why?

 

because jokes

[Badfinger]

5 minutes ago, Twig said:

 

because jokes

 Ok, I admit I am bad at this joke then. vv

 

I have never been a rebuy software person, so I'm generally and genuinely confused when people want to do it so ravenously.

[Twig]

in this case the joke is in suggesting nick would be required to start over again

 

perhaps more specifically that he would have to suffer through dark souls again because it'd be fun/ny for viewers

[dartmonkey]

1 hour ago, Badfinger said:

I have never been a rebuy software person, so I'm generally and genuinely confused when people want to do it so ravenously.

Same here. I don't have enough time to play games once!

 

But that means there are loads of games from the past 3 or so years that I never got to. Switch Editions would be very welcome.

 

Firewatch Switch, baby! Fireswitch! Fireswatch?

[Kolzig]

http://www.polygon.com/2017/3/8/14854136/nintendo-switch-activity-log-surprise

 

Turns out the activity log does exist in the console and Nintendo hid it and it has started to appear for users now. Have you guys seen it in your Switches?

[Badfinger]

I found this to be an interesting article, most especially because they got big meaty quotes from a bunch of CEOs and other execs who've launched consoles.

 

http://www.polygon.com/2017/2/27/14726344/what-the-game-industry-thinks-of-nintendo-switch

[RubixsQube]

I'm really, really enjoying my switch. I've been lucky to not see any of the issues people have seen (not even any left joycon desynch). I have played a bunch of Zelda, but I've also had a lot of fun with 1-2-Switch (that HD rumble is some sort of weird miracle), and I recommend that people pick it up once the price drops quite a bit. Snipperclips is just a perfect game to introduce someone to the idea of the console. I really like how low pressure it is, and yet creative and fun. I haven't played with more than 2 people, but I think that might also be a silly time. 

 

As for the activity log, I've noticed that my profile says what I've been playing, but doesn't list any information about the amount of time I've played anything. I don't know if I miss the activity log at the moment, as I'm sure it'll be part of a later update. I think that there's going to be a lot coming in future updates, and I'm all right with what I have right now, especially since Zelda is just so, so good. 

[marginalgloss]

Last night I went to a little event hosted by The Guardian's games team to herald the launch of the Switch. They had a Q&A session with a group of developers, including the two brothers who developed Snipperclips, a couple of people from Chucklefish, and Martin Hollis (the designer of Goldeneye and Perfect Dark). They also had some Nintendo people running three consoles with 1-2 Switch and Snipperclips in the background. It was a nice time! There were loads of people there, and a palpable sense of excitement.

 

My biggest takeaway was that indie developers seem to be finding it really easy to get their games on to this platform. Apparently Sumo Digital only started work on the Switch version of Snake Pass about 2.5 months ago, which is astonishing when you consider that the game is coming out later in March. The lead programmer on Wargroove was also impressed that he could bring that game over - which is running on his own engine - with very little trouble. So all things considered it seems like the Switch could easily become the console platform of choice for a certain kind of mid-tier title that might find it hard to get any attention on the 'big box' consoles.

[graddy]

World anyone provide their case recommendations? Gonna get the case and screen protector combo going before I take the baby out of the house. 

[dartmonkey]

The official one is more of less perfect unless you want something louder. It doubles as a stand, holds a few loose carts and joycon straps (is anybody using those?) and comes with a screen protector.

 

Although having played Zelda, that Sheila Slate one that came with the Limited Edition looks neat too.

 

Does anyone know what the HAC on the product ref numbers stands for? GameCube was DOL for codename Dolphin, Wii was RVL - I assumed Switch would be NX-.

 

Edit. Ok, I just checked and Wii U was WUP-, not CAF for Cafe.

[YoThatLimp]

18 hours ago, graddy said:

World anyone provide their case recommendations? Gonna get the case and screen protector combo going before I take the baby out of the house. 

 

So I bought the official one with Mario icons on it, and it was OK, the fit was decent but it did not fit the joycon straps in a secure way.

 

I bought this one and like it way more for my daily use. I put the Joycons and straps in the pockets, will hold a few games and the screen is protected. It's way smaller than the official one, and nicer to just throw in my bag.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Travel-Carrying-Protective-Storage-Holder-Nintendo/dp/B06WGP235D/ref=sr_1_8?s=video games&ie=UTF8&qid=1489268490&sr=1-8&keywords=switch+case

 

 

[Roderick]

Speaking of protection, does anyone here have experience with tempered glass whatchamacallit protector screens? I'm thinking it might be a good idea to gt one for my Switch, since it'll invariable bump up against something. If it isn't the dock's innards, then something else. I'm already noticing that I hesitate to 'switch' to handheld mode since I don't want to risk damaging the screen and that can't be right.

[YoThatLimp]

58 minutes ago, Roderick said:

Speaking of protection, does anyone here have experience with tempered glass whatchamacallit protector screens? I'm thinking it might be a good idea to gt one for my Switch, since it'll invariable bump up against something. If it isn't the dock's innards, then something else. I'm already noticing that I hesitate to 'switch' to handheld mode since I don't want to risk damaging the screen and that can't be right.

 

I have some on order, but not sure when they'll be here. I've never really done the whole screen protecter thing before so should be an interesting experiement. 

 

**EDIT**

 

i just checked the shipping notiec and it looks like my tempered glass screen protector will be here tonight.

[root]

I'd be curious to know if people have had issues with surface protectors peeling up the coating on the switch the way custom skins have done.

[dartmonkey]

I've got tempered glass on my phone and it's great. I've seen one for Switch which I will probably get but it will add a half mm of thickness and exacerbate the supposed scratching effect in the dock. So I'd rather get some sort of felt tabs for the dock before I replace the standard protector that's on it now.

 

Man, felt tabs!?! I used to despise the very notion of screen protectors. I got old

[RubixsQube]

8 hours ago, YoThatLimp said:

 

I have some on order, but not sure when they'll be here. I've never really done the whole screen protecter thing before so should be an interesting experiement. 

 

**EDIT**

 

i just checked the shipping notiec and it looks like my tempered glass screen protector will be here tonight.

 

Mine too. I'll put it on and take some pictures to show it off. I'm excited, although I'm not "put the screen protector on in a steamy bathroom so as to not get dust on the screen" excited. 

 

I also think that I may want to get this case, which is pretty expensive, but I have already taken my switch to multiple houses to play with people, and this seems like a pretty ideal solution for travel. 

[YoThatLimp]

1 hour ago, RubixsQube said:

 

Mine too. I'll put it on and take some pictures to show it off. I'm excited, although I'm not "put the screen protector on in a steamy bathroom so as to not get dust on the screen" excited. 

 

I also think that I may want to get this case, which is pretty expensive, but I have already taken my switch to multiple houses to play with people, and this seems like a pretty ideal solution for travel. 

 

Man, my installation broke bad. 

 

Nothing super major, but just could not get either one bubble free - pretty annoying. 

[RubixsQube]

 

So, I decided to go into the bathroom and do this directly after a shower while it was good and humid in there, and while I fucked up the first install (there was a big piece of stupid lint that must have fallen right as I was figuring out which side of the protector I remove or whatever), the second one went great, and while there was a tiny bubble, I just kept pushing it around with the included piece of cardboard and it went away. As of now, it looks like it installed pretty much perfectly. I feel so, so much more safe putting it into a case, or into the dock now. The piece of glass is pretty sturdy, and while there's a little bit more reflectivity, it's not super duper noticeable. This is by far the best screen protector I've ever used.