The Nintendo Thread of Existential Doom

[Becksworth]

Internet browser is definitely a combination of "this is too much work to implement when you definitely have a phone that already does this" and "this is how the console got hacked in like every other instance." All the UI stuff is probably to make it look more like a big boy device as well; the UI mada a lot more sense to me when I stopped comparing it to a 3DS and started comparing it to a Roku. Why wouldn't an entertainment device draw design cues from other entertainment devices, right?

(I know that there technically is a browser in there, but I mean a proper, user-accessible one)

No matter how much you sandbox a browser. If you give people the ability to run arbitrary code off the internet there is a good chance they will find a buffer overflow or something else they can exploit, which is why the Switch browser is as locked down and limited as it is.

Now I’m thinking back to the eShop game that had a Ruby interpreter snuck into it and how Nintendo went scorched earth on the dev.

 

[Violentvixen]

I thought there were pink squares that couldn't be filled with coins? Nintendo is tricky like that.

They stopped doing that for the later ones, thankfully.

 

[Phantoon]

To be fair, Switch Online replaced the VC, and id say the perks outweigh the drawbacks for that one

No, because I own the VC games and short of a storage failure they'll never disappear

They stopped doing that for the later ones, thankfully.

Also no, I cleared then all as they came out and still have pink tiles left on one of the latest ones

 

[MetManMas]

I won't deny that an already acquired Virtual Console purchase will (potentially) have a longer life than a pile of "free" games on a paid online service that could be discontinued whenever. But given that Switch Online doesn't have a $5-$10 barrier for every individual game and has a bunch of titles available right there, it's far more likely that people may discover new (old) games they might like than when cherry picking games to buy.

There's certainly some notable omissions 'cuz many of the bigger devs would rather make cash off their own compilations, but still, there's the potential that someone may discover some new games they'll enjoy that they might not have played otherwise. I mean, $8 might be too steep an entry point for some people to see if they might like F-Zero or Kirby's Dream Course, but it's a different story when they can be played for that $20 yearly sub people are using for Smash or Pokémon or whatever.

 

[Phantoon]

I'm willing to accept that I may be a weird case here

 

[Beta Metroid]

Nah, give me the VC!

I mean, I suppose Switch Online has a case for being a better setup, but its library is woeful compared to any version of the VC, both in total amount, and in console diversity.

 

[Bongo]

The Switch has been really bare-bones by comparison. No custom icons, no folders, no free games with social integration, no Virtual Console, no internet browser... I wonder why they went that route? There's much to be said for streamlining a GUI, but at a certain point, less isn't more... it's just less.

So that it would load much, much faster.

Ever notice how the Switch has the fastest-loading OS of any console with the possible exception of the original DS? You might not have: load times below a certain duration often go unnoticed. They sharply limited the total code and asset size of the menu so that its load time would stay below the threshold where a loading indicator is needed.

It was the right decision.

 

[Sarcasmorator]

Honestly I find the Switch UI just about perfect. I do not want a web browser in it, or anything else really, than what it has. And after a console update bricked my Wii (apparently corrupted the menu, from what I've read) I figure the simpler the better.

 

[estragon]

I'm willing to accept that I may be a weird case here

I think this forum in general probably overrepresents people who would benefit more from VC than the current system. (But yes I would also rather have VC back instead of the current thing.)

 

[Violentvixen]

Also no, I cleared then all as they came out and still have pink tiles left on one of the latest ones

Huh, never mind then.

Honestly I find the Switch UI just about perfect. I do not want a web browser in it, or anything else really, than what it has. And after a console update bricked my Wii (apparently corrupted the menu, from what I've read) I figure the simpler the better.

Same. I got out my 3DS to check the stuff in this thread and watching icons load one by one was weird.

 

[Phantoon]

Honestly I find the Switch UI just about perfect. I do not want a web browser in it, or anything else really, than what it has. And after a console update bricked my Wii (apparently corrupted the menu, from what I've read) I figure the simpler the better.

Yeah, I agree. For one, the advert tiles on Playstation and Xbox are infuriating. And the first tile your cursor's on not being a game really irritates me. While on another console I may want to do something not game related it was bought as a game console. I like the Switch's focus.

 

[Sarcasmorator]

Also while I would like to see classic/retro games represented better I have other means of playing them, these days. I am not personally missing an option to buy them again for the third or fourth time on Switch. If server/store shutdowns and hardware failures are going to nuke a collection every decade or so I don't feel a lot of obligation to not have backups.

 

[ArugulaZ]

Look, the social games and the web browser I can do without, but at least give me a little bit of organization! Folders can't be that much of a hit on performance! Even MS-DOS had friggin' directories!

 

[MetManMas]

Seriously. I prefer to take the option that supports game companies when available*, but if I really want to play any particular 20-30 year old game badly my mobile phone makes for a passable emulation device. Like, you can just go on Goggle Play and there are emulators in both paid and free varieties right there on the storefront.

And if you really need a controller for something, there are options for that too.

* First, anyway. Like, I bought the smeary crappy port of Chrono Trigger on sale partly so I'd feel less guilty if I decided to emulate later.

 

[Ludendorkk]

Literally anything that makes the Switch UI one iota slower or clunkier is anathema to me. Going back to the bloated and dial-up slow 3DS and Wii U interfaces is so painful, charm be damned

Also I will maintain that people like the idea of Virtual Console more than they ever liked the service (and the Switch is drowning in legacy content besides)

 

[q 3]

Here's my business pitch for Nintendo, an FTP server with all their unused roms and like a tip jar up front

Also I appreciate the lack of folders because it means I spend less time arranging and categorizing games that I'll probably never actually get around to playing

 

[Sarge]

At this point, I don't need a lot of the games people are clamoring for - way too many hacked systems, MiSTer, flash carts... I mean how many ways do I need to play? But I can see why folks would want some stuff on Switch, both for the NES/SNESflix service, or a VC option.

 

[Phantoon]

It's stupid that my dumb squishbrain looks at the Switch and thinks "I wish I could play Super Mario 2 on this"

That's how I roll. If I have a computing device, it'd better have Mario 3, Super Metroid and Link's Awakening in it or it fails as a computing device

Same reason people make Doom run on trouser presses, basically

 

[Octopus Prime]

Looks like Monster Train is Switch-bound in the coming weeks.

That’s supposedly a good’un, eh?

 

[Mogri]

It is!

 

[JBear]

*looks at his 359 hours played on Steam*

I'm a fan.

 

[Sigma42]

Honestly I find the Switch UI just about perfect. I do not want a web browser in it, or anything else really, than what it has. And after a console update bricked my Wii (apparently corrupted the menu, from what I've read) I figure the simpler the better.

I will never allow 'perfect' until I can toggle it to show only games ready to play. Don't make me remember or trial and error what I have digital vs physical!

 

[Octopus Prime]

To be fair; they have little icons on the names that show that

 

[Sigma42]

To be fair; they have little icons on the names that show that

What I mean by trial and error is needing to highlight the individual games to see that notation.

Looks like Monster Train is Switch-bound in the coming weeks.

That’s supposedly a good’un, eh?

If you want more Slay the Spire/SpellSword Origins, absolutely.

 

[Octopus Prime]

I always want those!

 

[Octopus Prime]

Looks like Darksiders 3 is getting a Switch port next month;

As the first was “Zelda, except God of War” and the sequel was “Soul Reaver, except Loot Drops”, so too is the third “Dark Souls, except platformer”.

 

[ArugulaZ]

Damn. I hoped you said "Darkstalkers."

 

[Octopus Prime]

I have high hopes for the next collection of Capcom arcade games on that front at least

 

[lincolnic]

As the first was “Zelda, except God of War” and the sequel was “Soul Reaver, except Loot Drops”, so too is the third “Dark Souls, except platformer”.

Huh. I always ignored these games, but those descriptions (at least of the first and third games) sound kinda good. Are these worth playing?

 

[Exposition Owl]

Huh. I always ignored these games, but those descriptions (at least of the first and third games) sound kinda good. Are these worth playing?

I abandoned the first game within ten minutes because I found it so eye-rollingly grimdark, but YMMV