The Nintendo Switch

the tennis game looks pretty cool too

pretty exciting to think this was a mini direct and a full one will probably show up within a few weeks. maybe we see Metroid Prime 4?

supposedly the switch version of rayman is kind of a shitty port so caveat emptor

Prime 4 had nothing but a logo when they announced it late last year, suspect it's a holiday release at the earliest. Maybe we'll learn who's making it though, it's not Retro this time since they're busy with some top secret project that no one knows anything about

The Yoshi game and Octopath Traveler are 2 things that weren't mentioned in this one but should be upcoming

Switch Rayman got a patch that fixed most of the shitty load times and stuff the reviews were complaining about iirc

yeah i have heard that rayman is really great now

it's on my get when it goes on sale or im bored list

i stand corrected, emptor fuckin buy it or whatever

Sometimes that's fun, and sometimes it's just maddening.

One reason I've always liked Nintendo is that they often get the balance just right. Sure, I grew up on Contra and Castlevania and Mega Man, which were all hard and unforgiving, but I felt that was more a limitation of the technology than the design. That is, they weren't designed to be maddening (I don't think). Something like Shovel Knight, it took me by surprise, because almost from the start the levels are frustrating and the bosses relatively tough, though interestingly enough when I finally made it over an early hump I was sort of rewarded by two easy bosses in a row and a level that just let me accumulate gems, so maybe that was all on purpose?

Honestly, difficulty is one reason I dropped out of video games for so long: the games were getting so challenging, so complex, that they just didn't seem fun to me and, in fact, were often more fun to watch other people play. I guess some people dig the stress more than others? Something like Dark Souls looks cool but also looks like the worst of both worlds for people like me: unforgiving and driven by tons of game play details and data. I mean, I tried Monster Hunter on the Wii once and man, there is just no way I have the time and energy and enthusiasm to master that (aka "git gud"). But the franchise Nintendo titles (Mario, DK, Kirby, etc.) are always fun even when they are frustrating.

that fun when lynel's galloping back with savage lynel spear, and you don't know that you are crouching

"difficulty is one reason I dropped out of video games for so long: the games were getting so challenging, so complex, that they just didn't seem fun to me"

this is interesting to me because the reason i feel like i lost interest in video games was because they were getting too EASY. the mechanics were more involved but the stakes were essentially removed. die, lose 4 seconds of progress. follow the arrow to the next objective. press A to WIN. Dark Souls and its breed brought me back a little bit.

yeah I thought that was why dark souls was such a big deal, it translated the frustrating but conquerable difficulty of old games into the modern action rpg style

how old are you folks? I'm almost 43 and just don't have the time, energy and brain power.

like, steamworld dig 2 was easier than I expected, but I did have it on the easy setting. still took me a bit.

long story short, I'm cool with difficult games as long as there is an easier setting. That way I can play it once on easy, practice or master skills, and try it again on difficult.

I like those difficulty sliders in platinumgames games that cover the entire spectrum from 'everything kills you in one hit' to 'the game literally plays itself for you'

in general if combat isn't the focal point of a game and I'm not really into it then I'm happy to turn it down to easy (example: Witcher 3). otherwise I play everything on the normal or default setting. I've never felt a need to increase the difficulty slider in any game.

i’ve said this before on ilx but dark souls is a very patient teacher and there are few greater pleasures in gaming than realising after a while that you’re now effortlessly carving through enemies you once found super-challenging

yeah dark souls would be an example of a game where combat is the focal point, so I'll gladly engage with it at the level the designers wanted me to.

Dark Souls difficulty is overrated. if you beat TLOZ or Contra NES you will crush DS.

it is unfortunate the difficulty is the main thing people take away from it, rather than the awesome level design, chilling atmosphere, impressive bosses, lack of quest shopping lists/arrows telling you were to go. it's very open and accommodating.

at least the one i played felt pretty generic vis-a-vis atmosphere/design :/

also videogames’ greatest metaphor for recovering from depression imo xp

I think the straight faced spooky fantasy look is really what kept me from being interested in it all this time, it just has a really generic video game look to it

Dark Souls is fucking WEIRD, man. like i get how the surface is all Dungeons and Dragons and Knights, but its a strange and foreboding and lonely game that you unwrap. Super unique.

xxp

bloodborne has a more original look (and some genuinely weird and unsettling stuff in it) if that’s what you’re after

also, re dark souls’ difficulty: you have infinite lives!

I prefer easy games. Well, I like challenging games, up until I plateau and can’t get any further, then I want a way to turn it down a notch so I can proceed. Dark Souls was fun until I got to a certain point where maybe I could have proceeded after trying it 1000 times, but I was just done by then.

I have Dark Souls on 360 but I've never gotten into it because the threads on it are so forbidding. like, it sounds like you have to be very careful in how you use extremely scarce resources, and that sounds horribly stressful for me. like, how can I learn from my mistakes if I can't redo how I use those resources? ugh.

it’s def not reliant on resource management in that sense - the only thing at stake is losing your collected souls after you die and don’t get back to where you died to pick them up again

but you can always collect more souls, so really you’re not losing anything apart from time

aaaaaand when you reach a really tough spot you can usually summon another player to help

i think for games with a significant combat element, there is a relationship between how good the combat system is and how hard you want the game to be. if you have a varied and strategic combat system you will get more out of it if you are presented with more of a challenge (relative to your own ability/comfort level). i think one of the few failings of witcher 3 was that they did a really nice job with the potion/decoctions/oils system and it was essentially wasted as they was never any need to really go deep on them even on hard.

i really believe the souls games would be intrinsically worse if they were easier - ppl got mad at the idea of them adding an easier setting when it was proposed and i am def not like that, i think that every game should have the option of a slider, but i do think the appeal of the game would be sufficiently lessened that you might as well play something else, which is fine there are plenty of games.

also, i always think back to dead space and how that really clicked with me when i increased the difficulty and was suddenly scrambling for ammo and on edge - any type of 'survival' game is a special category wrt this.

i do think my parenthetical disclaimer is important tho, it's not about whether you are playing on easy or hard setting but the challenge of the game as you personally experience it.

right it's those collected souls...it always sounded like you'd wasted a lot of time if you died and lost them, and that you would die a lot, and so you could waste a lot of time, and I hate wasting time in games (like games with unskippable cutscenes right before a really hard battle, the absolute worst)

An important Dark Souls lesson is that souls don't really matter. While it's a good idea to use them after a big windfall (like winning a boss fight), you can always get more. The real progression is in getting better and playing the game and learning the mechanics...it's more important than spending souls on levels or upgrades, and only really happens through dying and then trying a different approach.

ok cool I will try it again...maybe on switch this time...

jordan otm

i am also pretty intimidated by what I've heard about the Souls games, but I have Demon's Souls on my PS3 still waiting for me to crack open.
Adam's comment about TLOZ/Zelda makes me more likely to do this though (but I'll admit Mega Man 1 was on the side of insanely frustrating for me, and I've only beaten Contra without the 30-life code a couple times).

hate wasting time in games

I have some very bad news for you about: games

his favorite game is Turbo Tax

I suspect I’ve said this before, but the key for me is whether the game itself is fun: if I enjoyed the time spent. I remember that the point at which I realised that the 30-level cave in Wind Waker was actually a 50-level cave, and I was delighted, was the point where I realised it was a properly great game.

And I get that’s what a lot of people love about DS, that they really get into the Guard - Turn - Parry - Dodge - Spin - Thrust, but is suspect I’d be more oh Jesus this guy again I’m terrified.

That said I’m totally getting Shovel Knight when I get a Switch.

I have some very bad news for you about: games

lol

Can the Switch play online in portable mode?

Yeah, no cell obvi but WiFi works in portable mode

tether that shit to yr phone and pwn n00bs in starbucks imo

wait starbucks has wifi

pwn n00bs at the beach imo

And I get that’s what a lot of people love about DS, that they really get into the Guard - Turn - Parry - Dodge - Spin - Thrust, but is suspect I’d be more oh Jesus this guy again I’m terrified.

heh you have to connect the second part of your sentence to the first, that's where the magic is. the memories of OH SHIT NO WAY I AM FIGHTING THAT and then a few hours later you are rolling thru hits and decimating them. Dark Souls has great presentation here (one reason the standard fantasy stuff is so more impressive) of rolling out bosses, new areas, enemies, etc. the combat/fighting and world exploring is intricately tied. exploring the world is at least 50% of it for me.

xpost i agree w Nhex Mega Man 1 is a hard as heck game + Contra needs the 30 lives code. but they are not impossible!

DS can also be broken down into lots of smaller action/puzzle segments, where you need to decide if you're going to methodically draw out one enemy at a time (because avoiding groups is a huge part of the game), go in like a martial arts movie, or just run past everything without getting caught.

WiFi works in portable mode

Heh, there will probably a new generation of invaders complaining about Starbucks wifi lag.

lol but not all games are a waste of time! or if they are, fine, but within my time wasting I don’t want to waste time!

at the risk of being a fanboy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN-rVlMIJZs

After lurking on this board for a while, I succumbed and bought one of these today. It's arriving tomorrow with Zelda and MarioKart and some steering wheels. If there are any good games for a lazy person and his partner, would love to know!

wait starbucks has wifi

pwn n00bs at the beach imo

― pee-wee and the power men (bizarro gazzara), Friday, January 12, 2018 1:51 PM (twenty-three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Wasn't online but when I first got my Switch last spring I was playing Mario Kart on the beach in Antigua. That's when I knew I'd made it. My wife read some dumb boring paper book.

welcome to the cult family Chuck

evan u are my hero