The Nintendo Switch

here's some yokai watch 4 preview footage, looks like they're basically reusing the combat and visual style from ni no kuni 2 for this

https://youtu.be/OKKwB8l92so

probably gonna buy a switch this weekend. i guess at this point everyone downloads the games instead of buying physical media? what's a good-sized memory card to buy? any other essential accessories i need right from the start?

also is nintendo online worth it? looks like it's only $20 a year so guessing that it is

I buy physical games to save on memory card space and because it’s cute; it’s only mildly annoying. I’m not sure what the optimal $/GB SD card size is but it does get more expensive to get the biggest available sizes. I went with 64GB which should hold a lot of indie games. Everybody says you should get a glass screen protector but I haven’t and nothing bad has happened. I don’t care if Nintendo Online is worth it because it’s $20 and I’m wealthy and irresponsible.

i have a 128gb microsd card and that's been plenty of space for me. the biggest first party games like Zelda and Xenoblade are around 12gb and most are much smaller than that. physical media is still an option if you like being able to resell or lend games. i do a mix currently

tempered glass screen protector if you're worried about the screen, it's a pretty durable plastic screen but it's still plastic so it can scratch if something hits it hard

the pro controller is a bit pricey but worth it if youre planning to play docked a lot and want a normal controller. you can probably find one for $50-60 on sale rather than the 80 msrp

i haven't got the online service yet, waiting for smash bros, so can't speak on it yet

I'm shifting to buying media for non-indies because the convenience of downloads really doesn't outweigh the almost $20-$30 you're giving up in trade-in value.

ciderpress is otm re: screen protector and pro controller. both worth it. and the memory card because you're going to want it for all the premium priced impulse purchases you're gonna make on the eshop.

pro controller is obv only worth it if you're using the switch as a home console though - i have a friend whose switch has never touched the dock in a year of ownership, which i suspect is true for a non-trivial % of owners

What's the benefit of the pro controller? I kind of enjoy the weeny plastic one you get with the Switch. Maybe this is why I suck at Hollow Knight.

its just a more standard ergonomic controller shape whereas the joycon snap-on one is an awkward shape for my giant hands and also the joycon buttons are on the small side. there's no benefit other than comfort

Pro controller is ace.

this is a pretty neat thing visually, cant find much info about it but seems to be a switch game from a brazilian dev

https://youtu.be/HrLOc8Y2Xos

Wondering if other games might start supporting the GameCube controller post-Smash, since the Wii U adapter already works supposedly

Want to get the Pro contrller but that's a lot of $krilla, maybe i'd be better off buying a second pair of joycons

It works already. It just maps as a generic controller. Some control schemes will be wonky bc of the button layout, and the game can’t detect that it’s a GameCube controller, but Towerfall lets you hold down a button to indicate you’re using a GameCube controller and it swaps jump and shoot for you.

do games not already support it as a generic controller?

it doesn't have a left shoulder bumper and the c-stick is not analog iirc, so games that use L and/or right stick won't be able to use it

you can also use a dualshock 4 on switch with an adapter but i'm not sure if the gyro will map

oh! that's good to know!
i still feel weird about using not-the-official controller for video game systems anyway tbh

any recommendations for switch games for kids (8 and 4) who don't have much experience with console gaming? particularly indie games? i'm going to get super mario odyssey eventually. my older daughter wants splatoon because she likes the manga but i am skeptical that she'll be able to deal with the controls without getting frustrated, plus it seems like multiplayer is the main point there.

splatoon is so simple but also frustrating. Rocket League seems like a winner. My 3 year old loves to truck around in open practice mode.

xp having fun with super mario party atm

Holy crap the luncheon level on SMO is frustrating

But great obviouslty

Most folks playing multiplayer Splatoon are at the level of your 8yo tbf - it’s fun!

Me and my kids thought we'd gotten pretty good at Mario Tennis (finished adventure mode, etc.) until we went online last week and got completely destroyed. Oof.

yeah that game is cutthroat online, was too much for me

Thanks to having 4 player teams and crazy weapon options, Splatoon never feels punitive. Any loss can be dealt with by choosing a different weapon or joining a better team. My kid likes finding glitches that let her jump on top of un-inkable space

valkyria chronicles 1 just appeared on the eshop for 20 bucks, that's going directly into my $20-and-under recommendations list

I got the Hori d-pad joycon and recommend the hell out of it. Too bad it’s missing HD Rumble but if you play 2d stuff it’s a worthwhile trade off.

Also fuck I love Dead Cells.

are we all gonna be gettin' Super Smash Bros. Ultimate? Maybe a good game to try to get some ILG online play going for when it comes out?

Only 6 and a half weeks!

yeah i still haven't started up my online service subscription but that'll be when i do it

hope the smash online play is decent, never a sure thing with fighting games especially on a system where almost everyone is on wifi

Smash will always be better on the couch but my sister and I will both have this one so probably (hopefully) we'll at least play against each other somewhat regularly

i'm hoping character unlocking is quick enough that i can have them all ready to go before the holidays when my old high school smash buds are in town

aww <3

was also tempted by the new mario party for the same reason but i think mario party 2 was really just lightning in a bottle none of the other old ones ever got played much

The new one is bad tbqph

really? the reviews were pretty solid

i liked it, but it's a bit short as it's 20 turns max

super stoked for smash bros

its shortish due to the turn limit, but turns out thats exactly right for groups of usually non game players. we had a great time with it particular the hilarious rhythm game concert spin off bit.

playing mario party, cpt toad & inside atm, the plan is smash bros for all of december then hopefully untitled goose game early 2019 :)

wrt Super Mario Party, there are very few play boards and the dice rolling mechanism is slowed down enough to make turns feel like they're lasting twice as long as previous Mario Partys I've played (all N64, never played any since). The concert game is amazing though

Inside is on sale, and VERY GOOD, as mentioned above

Yoku’s Island Express is on sale rn and it is extremely fun

Tune in 11/1 for roughly 40 minutes of new information in the final Super #SmashBrosUltimate #NintendoDirect before the game’s release, hosted by Director Masahiro Sakurai! The Direct will be followed by a post-show Nintendo Treehouse: Live presentation. https://t.co/Y00RdNrBth pic.twitter.com/JSuSUtGk6e

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) October 30, 2018

presumably revealing the rest of the roster + the story mode or whatever

Yeah and online modes. Stoked for the madness.

also the treehouse presentation afterwards will be showing other games incl. Yoshi

Is this going to be another 20 minutes just listing Smash characters?

No it’s going to be another 40 minutes listing Smash characters

Box Theory vs Grinch Theory, it all ends here

I’m so incredibly cursed by my desire for this game

it's going to take like a month just to audition every character to figure out who's in my crew this time, the roster is approaching dota/LoL size

if you play the squad strike mode you can have a team of all fire emblems

it's most just the boring sword dudes though