dartmonkey

Modest Tech: The NX Generation (Nintendo Switch)

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16 hours ago, Roderick said:

Oh and eRonin, I'm likely to try our the Splatoon Testfire Event. I downloaded the game already, so now it's just waiting until next week. I'll probably suck amazingly, I only ever played three rounds of it.

 

Pretty much exactly this. I played the single player of Splatoon and actually loved it, but only ever got to about level 8 in the multiplayer.

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I hope they have a new single player campaign in Splatoon 2, the background story in the first one was really something.

 

Don't know where else to post this, but it sure has been a long winter, Super Mario Run is finally going to be released tomorrow on Android.

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I'd be very surprised if they didn't up the ante with a singleplayer campaign. I heard nothing but positive notes about it. Nintendo was tight-lipped when I asked them about it during the event, though.

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I hope Splatoon 2 ends up being like Splatoon 1 where it looked really thin and weird at first and there was almost no information out and then they started strategically dropping the information bombs out and the game got a lot of meat on the bones and ended up being amazing surprise. Now starts to be about the time when the info dropping could start, Zelda is out and the playfield is all open, unless they want to wait out Mario Kart first and then start the boom boom in May.


Though this testing session is already coming up so I'm guessing they won't show all their cards yet in the test sessions.

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I didn't follow their Splatoon 1 announcements and info drops, but I can imagine it's similar to how Sakurai's team built up Smash Bros Brawl back when. I never played the game, but it was just entertaining to see them tease new characters and reveal choice morsels on how the game would play.

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From what I've seen, the testfire will have 4 weapons and 2 maps. I had a go at Splatoon 2 back in January, and it feels more or less the same to me, with some tweaks to the weapons for some interesting improvements. The roller now accelerates and also can splash further when you jump, and the charger can save its charge for a little while. 

 

Splatoon updates can be found on their tumblr: http://splatoonus.tumblr.com/ (Japanese updates are done via twitter because twitter is really big in Japan from the looks of it, and tumblr not so much). They've been doing things like weapon highlights, short blurbs about the new music, and other miscellaneous stuff. As far as Splatoon tips I can give to new players go:

 

1) always keep moving. You want to continually cover new ground with your ink as well as keep yourself from being easy pickings.

2) get the hang of wall swimming. Painting walls doesn't give your team points, but you can use walls to maneuver for flanks and maps are often built with high ground advantages in mind. Ink is very strongly affected by gravity!

3) don't stare at the ground. The goal is to paint the ground, but your gun does shoot a decent distance. You generally want to keep your gun level to maximise ink coverage, and this way you can also stay aware of your surroundings.

4) if someone is rolling at you don't panic just shoot them

5) if you are rolling towards someone, don't just hold down the roller; splash them to get more range on your weapon

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I couldn't resist the temptation anymore and bought a Switch. Finding a physical copy of Breath of the Wild turned out to be much harder than finding the console, and so I don't have any games right now. Feels like a quality product, though.

 

I will go hunt for Zelda today after work.

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Everything's on the eshop if you don't mind going digital...though with Nintendo's track record in that regard I dunno if I'd recommend it

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Yeah, I would prefer a physical copy because they are cheaper and because the storage space is so limited. I assume that the Switch doesn't install the whole game if you have the game card?

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I believe the Switch installs next to nothing if you have a game card. It will use some space for save games, of course, and any screenshots that you might take. Good on you for buying the Switch! I heard it was crazy expensive in Finland.

 

eRonin, thanks for your Splatoon 2 tactics. Turns out I probably won't have time to play this weekend since I'll be abroad, but it's good to know for future reference. Hehe, and here I was glad that with the roller I could just look at the ground without being overwhelmed by the map's layout and the chaos of th fight, but apparently that's not the greatest tactic, or something you might want to use in the beginning to get a grip on the game, but then wean off of pretty quickly.

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Jeez, rerelease or no, World of Goo is such a wonderful game! For me, up there with Galaxy on the Wii. I've just played it for 5 mins to test the controls but I'm so looking forward to revisiting it after, what, a decade?! Still looks nice and both touch and pointer feel great.

 

Anybody played Human Resource Machine? I got Little Inferno on PC but never HRM.

 

The only thing making me want to fire up the Wii U atm is to finish the Splatoon SP. Maybe I'll do that before hitting the sequel. Gonna miss the test fire thing.

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I like the design of the Switch a lot. However, the placement of the right stick is a bit awkward for me, and my wrists got quite tired after 3 hours or so of Zelda. I understand why it is where it is; it just doesn't feel very natural. I hope I get used to it and don't have to buy the pro controller. 

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Just played about half an hour in the test fire. It's still fun! Feels pretty much the same to me, but I never got deep into the first one so I wouldn't notice the finer details. I spent the first few matches hating my life, then went and turned off the motion controls. I hated those on the Wii U and this has not changed. With the right stick though, felt good. Played a while with with dual splatties (or whatever they're called), then switched (*snap*) to the paint roller for a while as I never actually used it in Splatoon 1. Both felt good and I was able to contribute (placed second on my team nearly every time, only lost two rounds), so I'm happy. Still feel like I'm going to wait until I hear about Single Player, as that was actually Splatoon's main draw for me, but the mechanics are sound and the charm is still completely overwhelming.

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I hate Daylight Saving Time. It's pointless. Now that EU has again moved to the dumb DST today, is Switch automatically changing to DST time? DS, Wii, 3DS and Wii U did not. So if it does then this would be the first Nintendo console ever to automatically adjust instead of user having to manually change the time.

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Coupled with a big party yesterday, DST perhaps is contributing to me feeling super weird and tired. (Probably the party though.)

 

I totally missed the Testfire event because of it. I just came home and switched it on to see if there was one in the evening, but the last one was this afternoon. Shame, but I already tried out Splatoon 2 at the Nintendo shindig and I now just want to play the damn game in its entirety.

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On 24.3.2017 at 9:27 AM, Nappi said:

I like the design of the Switch a lot. However, the placement of the right stick is a bit awkward for me, and my wrists got quite tired after 3 hours or so of Zelda. I understand why it is where it is; it just doesn't feel very natural. I hope I get used to it and don't have to buy the pro controller. 

 

Fortunately, I have gotten used to the layout now and my wrists don't hurt anymore. I quickly settled on playing with the joycons detached from both the Switch and the gamepad frame. I don't know if that helped with the issue I had, but I like that playstyle.

 

Now I only have to get used to A being the selection button.

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I've played Zelda a few times on the bus. Can confirm that successfully climbing a tower before my stop comes up feels pretty dang good. 

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So once again I am Switch Wanker in the cafe. The more time I spend with the system on the go, the more I like it. Sitting with the screen on the table and a joycon secreted in each palm, I'm no more noteworthy than anyone with an iPad or laptop (although this is an old man bar and newspapers are the newest media going). The screen is fantastic, the battery's fine, I can throw it in my bag no problem. Crucially, breaking off the controllers means I don't feel like I'm getting the lite, cramped, handheld experience. After playing Oracle of Ages a few weeks ago, it's amazing to play full 3D Zelda, uncompromised by input limitations, sitting at a bar.

 

The next iteration could

improve several things. Although the screen size was the right decision for portability, Switch 2.0 could reduce the bezel and expand the screen out a few mm. You shouldn't be able to slide the controllers on upside down by accident (I haven't done that yet, but I'm pretty careful/anal). The power socket should be on the top so you can charge it in tabletop without needing another lump of plastic from Hori. And the power button should be an embedded slide switch that can't be pressed accidentally inside a case.

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On 3/28/2017 at 7:17 AM, dartmonkey said:

 

 

The next iteration could

improve several things. Although the screen size was the right decision for portability, Switch 2.0 could reduce the bezel and expand the screen out a few mm. You shouldn't be able to slide the controllers on upside down by accident (I haven't done that yet, but I'm pretty careful/anal). The power socket should be on the top so you can charge it in tabletop without needing another lump of plastic from Hori. And the power button should be an embedded slide switch that can't be pressed accidentally inside a case.

 

Totally agree on all of these things, I'd love a way to actually turn off the joycons as well; they have a habbit of being activated via button pressed while in a case which is annoying.

 

I've had a lot of fun with this console in my commute, I'm sure I look like an idiot but pulling out the Switch on the train and blasting through a Shrine in Zelda, or getting in a run or two of Binding of Isaac has been great. 

 

Speaking of Isaac - I think it's a pretty sweet port, and I actually love the four face buttons for shooting and using the left stick for movement. I bounced off the game when I bought it on steam years ago, but I've had a few really good runs on the Switch and I think I'm starting to 'get' it. 

 

Also Neo Turf Masters is totally worth the $8, i've had a really awesome time playing against my wife. I wish they zoomed in the course minimap when getting closer to the hole as it is a little hard to see if I'm actually aiming at it at that resolution. I think it's a super charming package, absolutely love the music in that game. If you have ever had the hankering for a solid, basic golf game - grab it!

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It's good to hear that Isaac is a good port. I've never played the remake, only the original, and I'm put off by the apparent price increase on Switch vs Steam. I know portability adds a lot of value. I play on the bus too and that's dorky and fun. Just have that mental barrier when the PC release has been $7.50. 

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The main reason for the price increase is the included expansions.

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On PC the combined price of base and expansion comes to 26 dollars. I know consoles are more expensive. Something I need to get used to after not doing any meaningful console gaming since 2013 when I built my gaming PC. 

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http://store.steampowered.com/bundle/2405/?snr=1_7_7_151_150_1

 

Okay it's four dollars cheaper.

 

I mean yes Steam sales are a violently steep discount almost every time. But at its full price it's not that much cheaper?

 

EDIT: I just noticed you used expansion, singular. There's a second one, released a couple months ago I think now. Rebirth, base game. Afterbirth, expansion one. Afterbirth+, expansion two.

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It's also been free on Playstation Plus. I have it on my Vita for nothing, and played my fill of it there. I'm sure it's a good port and all, but they really need more than that to get me excited about BoI in 2017.

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I don't think it was made for people who've already gotten everything out of it that they wanted...

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