The Nintendo Switch

you bought the right console josh. you just need a new pc

part of playing videogames is buying crappy videogames and getting sorta ripped off but also being the one person you know who has played the crappy game

Thank you for horrible flashbacks of SNES Bram Stoker's Dracula.

might make that my Gamer's Theme for next year once the weird switch indie cash-in attempts pile up a bit higher

I would totally get something like a PS4 if I had the time to seriously dedicate myself to playing, but as an old person with a family, it's kind of catch as catch can on the, yeah, time and patience front. So in that sense one reason I picked the Switch, ironically, is its built in limitations.

I mean, it's all good, I like the Switch. The reason I got it is for the usual Nintendo exclusives, like Mario and Zelda, which I am excited to play because I know they are so good. At the same time, I don't want to start playing them until I know there are other games, exclusive or not, I'm excited about on the way. I know that is as much or more my problem than Nintendo's, and the approach of Smash does mitigate the problem. But another reason I bought the Switch was the promise of cool non-Nintendo titles I'd heard of but never played. And a lot of those games are coming, supposedly, just not really on the schedule just yet and with updates few and far between. It gives me a bit of console anxiety, tbh, because Nintendo fucked up so much with the Wii-U that people were ready to write off the company entirely. I just want a few more titles to anchor it down and better ensure its longevity.

There are however tons of cool indies, and I've bought some of them - Steamworld Dig 2 is one of the most enjoyable games I've ever played - but too many of them are in the retro 8-bit mode, however well designed, whether "Celeste" (which is impeccable if unforgiving) or "Shovel Knight" (which was also tons of fun, with tons of content, but nothing I wanted to immediately return to once I finished).

Try Wizard of Legend or some shit.

Looks cool!

Celeste employs pixel art but is not “retro”

The Nintendo Switch

But another reason I bought the Switch was the promise of cool non-Nintendo titles I'd heard of but never played. And a lot of those games are coming, supposedly, just not really on the schedule just yet and with updates few and far between

I mean if you're feeling anxious about the fact that you're not sure whether you've done the right thing in buying a nintendo console for non-nintendo AAA titles then we can settle that for you easily - you haven't.

But it doesn't matter! Because you've got great nintendo games you can play on it! And tons of interesting indies! If those other titles are that important to you then yep, buy a second machine. If they're not, forget about them.

But if the issue is just that you feel aggrieved that nintendo marketing + optimistic community hype said that they'd be coming, and they aren't, well er that's happened with pretty much every nintendo console since N64 so <shrug>.

(and btw the issue people had with Wii U wasn't lack of third party AAA because that's a given - it was a lack of first party releases).

if that leak tweet is accurate..... that would be worrying

What can you guys tell me about:

West of Loathing
Don't Starve
Little Nightmares

All seem intriguing.

Also, "Celeste" is brilliant in the way it synthesizes all sorts of classic modes and gameplay, which I think makes it "retro" but not at all a retread, which is rare. There was a great video I saw about how sneakily smart "Shovel Knight" is, the way it presents itself as an old school classic but subtly tweaks gameplay and design to make it more interesting/better. Maybe it's this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgugDEci268

west of loathing is a successor to a web browser based comedy-rpg called kingdom of loathing that I played way back in high school. feels like something I don't want to revisit because I'd just be embarrassed that I ever enjoyed its style of humor but it's probably not bad

it's inextricably tied with the band Ween in my memory

Mario tennis demo this weekend

NA Switch codes are out for the amazing "Curse of the Moon"

Fortnite is confirmed for switch, surprising no one. release date being announced at e3 presumably

xpost That's the ticket.

any eta on mario tennis?

demo

You can download it already, servers open at 6 pm Seattle time for the NA version. If you have a store account for another region you can start earlier.

Wow I’m crap at tennis so far

Extremely bad at it. I probably still want it but I don’t think I’ll be mixing it up online as much as I did with Arms

lag is an issue

its much closer to a fighting game in terms of how good a connection you need than other types of multiplayer games

Can't make it out of the tutorial.

I’m performing marginally better at tennis this morning. Hopefully the adventure mode will actually train me up good.

I really hope this game gets some FGC traction I wanna watch a live tournament of it

posting on a messageboard thread dedicated to a system i don't own, i reference an article containing tips about a game i will never play, which argued that the adventure mode for mario tennis aces is actually really helpful in training you

https://kotaku.com/mario-tennis-aces-adventure-mode-is-a-great-teacher-1826462641

why do i live

U should absolutely buy a Switch tbh

Switch is life

get a switch karl ffs

Guys I don't care about online gaming or twitchy stuff in general, has the Switch got 4 or 5 games beyond Zelda that would make it worth getting one?

this is for the depresso thread but i've been waiting to buy one for myself as a reward for doing something good (getting a job, getting into grad school, pissing harder than i've ever pissed before, getting health insurance, whatever) for over a year now.

get a switch noodle ffs

Yeah I was kinda thinking retail self-medication myself

xpost, i, a person who has never played the system, should field this question

do you have any other modern system? if you don't, then there are all sorts of ports you might like

stardew valley
dark souls
skyrim
celeste
rocket league
doom

+ mario and all the other first party nintendo games that will rule, obviously
xenoblade

Noteworthy non-twitchy, more than just online Switch experiences:

Super Mario Odyssey (you can have lots of fun without being a platforming wizard)
Mario Kart 8 DX (most accessible local multiplayer game possible)
Mario+Rabbids (turn-based)

Coming soon:
Octopath Traveler (neo-trad JRPG)
Pokémon Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee (plus a truly new Pokémon next year)
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (the most hidden gem of the Wii U apparently)

And E3 is in like 10 days

I haven't got a current gen system and tbh if I went with PS4 it'd probably just end up being used for Skyrim again. Really I'm just unsure about how much juice the Switch has got compared to the other two.

Karl put $10 in an envelope for every job you apply to and then buy a Switch when it has $300 in it imo, reward yourself for sustainable progress not things out of your control.

Ok half a dozen of the games listed feel like enough of an excuse for an impulse purchase

Honestly Zelda is enough of an excuse for an impulse purchase, the thing justifies itself once you have spent 100 hours on Zelda

Really I'm just unsure about how much juice the Switch has got compared to the other two.

don't get an xbox one. just don't.

PS4 and switch will both be going strong for a while. PS5 will probably launch around 2021, and like most new systems, won't be worth buying for another year or so after that. buying systems on launch day is for rich people and suckers and superfans. around the same time, i'm sure nintendo will have their next next gen gen system ready to go, with a new version of mario and zelda that will make you absolutely shit your pants in REAL life this time, in public, on video, in a tweet, all at the same time. so just get one of the two, PS4 or switch, and you'll be set until that moment. personally i just have a PS4 and i have never run out of interesting new games to try

mario tennis is fun (and deep). lag is annoying but I'd probably not play online mp that much anyway

will pick it up I think. and toad (provided it's not 60£)

I don't understand how to play mario tennis. Why do stars appear? Bc mistimed a return? Or wasn't creative? I get the sense that it all could be very exciting if I were even decent.

if you are in the star, when going to return, hit R and (if you have enough energy) it will activate a zone shot. you then get to choose where to place the ball

did you manage to skip the tutorial? I thought it was unskippable

Karl that's probably where my head's at, thanks for the summary

sorry think I misread

think they appear because the return is a bad one, yeah. so the ball is too high

apparently there are certain colour shots you should use to reply to corresponding colour shots. think if you do it right (e.g. respond with a purple to a purple) then you take less stun/stagger

xpost

yeah, you really can't go wrong. it's really a golden age of videogames, i think, and has been for a while now. not just on the platforms, but on PC/Mac/steam as well. there are just so many games in so many genres, from AAA $60 games to little $5 indie puzzle games that are just as good, but shorter

the Switch is my first new console since getting an SNES for Christmas of 1991. since then i gamed on PC (mostly emulators) or through old consoles.

i bought it when Mario came out last year. Mario/Zelda games are always special and i did not want to miss out. my friend had Wii and Wii U and whenever any of the Mario games came out i would check them out and they were always super impressive graphically, in spite of any technical shortcomings. there is this deep level of production quality to everything they do.

the Wii U Mario games, esp Mario Kart, were really headed in a nice direction aesthetically. bright and shiny and colorful and cartoony and strange - reviewing playback footage in slow motion in Mario Kart it seemed like Nintendo games were just a hair away from looking like Pixar films. the grass in BOTW is so beautifully animated, the game itself looks like a interactive Princess Mononoke at times, that just standing in a spot and watching the wind blow across a hill can be a wonderful experience.

the cool thing is, there will be more games to come! they are working on the future Mario/Zelda as we speak. PS4 has been around for years now, and there is already the Pro, while the Switch is just getting started. it feels like there are going to be a number of surprise BOTW-quality games in the Switch's lifetime and i can't wait to see what they are. maybe it won't even be the BOTW/SMO follow ups but something else? one thing is for sure, Mario/Zelda aren't coming out on the other systems. (someday i am going to get a PS4 cos i need to play through Bloodborne eventually and some other stuff. but this will do for now.)