Topic: Nintendo Switch --OT--

@Ralizah Well, part of me suspects a bit of nostalgia at play already (despite me never having played any of these games before) because Sunshine just screams "sixth generation platformer" from the get-go. The PSone might've hosted my introduction to gaming proper, but the PS2 era is when I really cut my gaming teeth, and so jumping in didn't feel like retro curiosity, but more like coming home.

But yes, I'm sure there are many games which I could make look playable nowadays, but which newcomers would find equally clunky and obtuse, if not moreso. I'm grateful for the warning. I'm frequently left to my own devices whilst visiting my partner, so can see myself quietly chipping away at the entire trilogy (deliberately left Galaxy alone, because I didn't wanna judge it in the shadow of two ragequits). Although their distinct lack of Captain Toad will always put them at a disadvantage.

Recently I was playing Carmageddon 2 a really great game.

Nintendo, if you're reading this: please make your motion controls as good as Sony's or just stop using them.

In playing Zelda and, dang, the motion controls are rough. After having played AstroBot, it feels like I'm back in 2006 right now playing Wii Bowling.

@Kidfried That would be quite difficult.

See, the Wii was just an accelerometer. It felt a motion and did the thing. It was like a button.

Switch uses gyro, accelerometer and /I think/ the HD Rumble motors play a part but don't quote me on that.

Sony, as of the Dualsense, uses a Magnetometer too, which basically means it's position is synced to well...magnetic fields so it's incredibly hard to lose position. You can, but you need to try.

But here's my counter point, you want them to upgrade their motion controls by...what, making new controllers right now?

Plus you need to remember a lot (and I mean a lot, look at PVZ on Switch it's got about 20 sliders and giggles) allow you to heavily customize motion controls. You can set roll or yaw, lock axis, limit when they are used for just aiming, sniping or looking or a mix of the three, change sensitivity, speed, smoothing, invert them...

So one games implementation does not reflect the quality of the technology.

Plus, we all know what will happen with motion controls on PS5. It'll get a couple of use cases and that's your lot.

@Haruki_NLI I'd rather have a few great games with motion controls than a lot mediocre.

@Kidfried Id rather have a feature I paid for in this increasingly expensive controller that actually gets used so it's not a waste of space and parts driving the cost up for no gain

In all seriousness, I doubt PlayStation motion controls will get much use in future, until Xbox gets off their behinds and smells the roses that motion is actually a nice thing to have even as an option. Over there, its not even a thing at all.

And given the developer parity between the systems for third parties, I mean they are borderline homogenous now, if one isn't using it, doubt the other will. Adaptive Triggers seem to be the exception right now, at least at the moment.

Of course, developers are going out of their way to add motion controls for Switch versions explicitly. I mean heck, turns out the Frostbite engine from EA can do it. I don't even think THEY knew that

I've never had an issue with the motion aiming in BotW or Splatoon 2.

PS5 would be VERY attractive if devs standardized optional motion aiming in games developed for that system, but we all know the userbase is going to demand dual analog aiming exclusively for anything that's not a VR/tech demo sorta experience, so, yeah, any decent motion controls in PS5 games will likely be relegated to launch year stuff.

Nintendo can and should ditch any of the Wii-esque nonsense, though, like the gesturing in Mario Odyssey that slightly gimps the player when playing in handheld mode.

I took an oath to not buy the Mario 3-d All Star collection, but I ended up getting it, lol. The only game I have played is Mario 64 (the only Mario game I have played except Mario Land 1,2 and Bros DX). The camera as aged BADLY. This analogue camera stuff was annoying back in the day and now it is almost intolerable. They should have reworked it. On more positive things the game remains charming and fun. I would like an upscaled widescreen version.

@belmont Sunshine and (especially) Galaxy fare far better in this regard.

Galaxy has aged beautifully. You can barely tell it's not a modern Nintendo release.

@Ralizah To be fair, that might speak more to Nintendo’s somewhat lesser ambitions compared to other devs that a game from 2007 is barely distinguishable from a modern game on Switch 😂

@nessisonett A little of column A, a little of column B.

Galaxy's gameplay and art design have aged beautifully. Nintendo's hardware evolution has been lateral since the launch of the Wii; successive hardware obviously gets a bit stronger each time, but the consoles are more focused on evolving how the player interacts with the hardware than with just replacing weak hardware with stronger hardware. And, yeah, Nintendo's games are polished and beautiful, but rarely budget-busting AAA blockbusters (the closest they've come to that is Breath of the Wild).

I think that approach will likely be changing, though. A LOT of people think the Switch format is the logical endpoint of this sort of experimental approach with hardware design, and any major deviation from that is going to engender an enormous backlash.

I don't really see how they could, to be honest. Nintendo knows its portable hardware is what brings home the bacon, and they seem to realize themselves that moving ahead with separate handhelds and home consoles is untenable for a large variety of reasons.

@nessisonett Ouch, haha. I totally adored Galaxy, but this is also very true.

Right now I'm playing through Mario 64 on the Switch. And I largely agree with anything that has been said about the game here before.

Not only did some stuff age badly, but stuff was just never well designed to begin with. There are stars that require you to fly to certain stars in the sky, which only pop-in when you're close to them. In some places the camera will actively work against you for seeing some stuff. And also some of the regular stars require looking them up on the internet, because they're just way too obscure.

Also, this remaster should have definitely given you full camera control and way more accurate analog controls. Yes, it would have made many parts of this game laughably easy. But I'd rather play a laughably easy game that controls alright, instead of one that is only hard because it has terrible controls. This remaster is just indefensible.

Anyway, aside from that I'm having fun with the game and have already garnered some 20 stars. I have always loved about the Mario 3D games when getting a star is just something very simple conceptually: climb this tower, kill this enemy, collect these coins. That kind of gameplay also translates very well to the Switch, which is portable. I might just go for one star, when I'm already in bed and ready to sleep. And there'll still be this very real feeling of having achieved something (which is missing in so many games nowadays).

@nessisonett Galaxy was extremely refined for its time, but I also think that by 2007 gaming had started to enter its modern phase, so lots of games from back then still compare reasonably well with newer releases. I don't think Nintendo are unambitious exactly, but they struck gold with that game. Odyssey itself plays quite exceptionally and has a lot of new ideas and enhancements, so in my view does in some respects feel more modern than Galaxy.

@Kidfried The wrath of Lakitu knows no bounds! Mario 64's aged quite poorly, especially compared to modern Mario platformers. I think part of the problem playing it on Switch is that Mario's movement is finely tuned to the N64's analogue stick, and on top of that the Switch's right stick is not a good substitute for the C buttons, so everything is a bit wonkier than it would be on original hardware. My impression after 64 and Sunshine is that there was nowhere near enough time spent developing the remaster. SM64 is just a quick emulation job. The only star I couldn't get is a late-game flying-through-clouds one. It's hideous!

Star Wars: Republic Commando dropped at the right time. I've recently finished up watching the Mandalorian, so I downloaded Republic Commando while I'm still in a Star Wars mood.

Not a fan of clicking in the left stick to crouch (you have to hold it down for as long as you want to crouch, which presents issues since you have to move the stick around to... move), but other than that it seems like a fun time so far, even if a bit dated graphically.

I'm just here hoping and praying we get a Remake of Explorers of Sky.

Finally beat the Ice Palace in A Link to the Past. Basically the Water Temple of this game. I hate it with a passion.

I have played quite a bit of Mario 64 in between packing stuff and moving out of my old apartment. I now have over 80 stars, which is more than I originally expected I was going to get out of this experience. No idea yet if I'm going to shoot for 120 stars, seeing as I still have to play the most difficult levels.

Anyway, even though I hate the state in which this remaster was released, I have grown to appreciate the game again the same way I did as a kid. There's so much variety, fun and everything has a loveliness to it, which so far has kept me hooked to the game.

@Kidfried Yeah, Mario 64 might be insanely annoying at times but there’s a certain charm. I still have a fondness for it despite Lakitu and Tick Tock Clock.

@RR529 I've heard the Switch version of Republic Commando has some framerate issues. Have you encountered any? I'm currently playing it on PS4 Pro, but it's something I might eventually cajole my partner to download on his Switch, for when I'm visiting him, so I'd be curious to know.

And yes, I'd advise mapping the crouch command to another button. It's annoying on the stick.

@RogerRoger, yeah, unfortunately the frame rate seems to be spotty at all times. It hasn't been enough to keep me from playing, but it is noticeable. Apparently the dev is aware & is planning on patching it, but it's odd it's happening at all given it's an OG Xbox game.

BTW, any tips for "Belly of the Beast"? I just can't seem to finish it up in the 5 minute time limit if I try to play smart, but naturally get creamed if I try to be a bit more gung ho as well.