They make a "Pro" series line of controllers that I find good. Also, 3DSXL I find comfortable to hold and use, although I don't really own one (holding the non-XL version is awful, imo).

Gamecube controller is a weird one. I've seen people either love it or downright hate it. I thought it was decent for games like Metroid Prime (and its sequel) but I think it was more about the games working around it.

I didn't mind the NES controller, I loved the SNES controller, I liked the N64 controller, I loved the GC controller. Hate the Wii, Wii U, DS, 3DS controllers. Problem with the DS/3Ds is that they are too small for my hands.

I think I'm in the hate camp for the GC controller; the grips always felt ridiculously small/narrow, though I do have hands like shovels.

I actually forgot about the N64 one when I wrote that. That was pretty comfy but just a wee bit odd I guess.

The NES controller is horrible. It's not just unergonomic. The way the buttons wear out so that you have to apply excessive pressure for commands to register gets really annoying. That was inevitable and didn't even take that long to happen. I remember that opening the controller and cleaning the rubbery pads beneath the buttons alleviated that problem, though.

25 years later, my Nintendo thumb still hasn't totally gone away.

It was weird because, if I recall, it was built solely with Super Mario 64 in mind. I guess that game alone was going to make or break the console (if I had to attempt to explain Nintendo Logic).

Even though I hate it, and I don't really want one, and I don't really need one, I will probably buy one of these (plus Zelda) if I see one in stock somewhere. I've bought every Nintendo new-in-box since the NES came out so why stop now? The ones I still own are NES, SNES, game boy advance SP, DS (with the GBA slot or something?), 3DS, and Wii U. I may have the N64 in a box somewhere, too. But I got rid of the Wii and the GC because there was nothing on there I could see myself playing over. And the Wii U just collects dust. My son said I could get rid of it but then changed his mind as it was on its way out the door.

Maybe I can resist this time.

This will be the first Nintendo system that I don't buy.

Tbh i thought nobody cared about Nintendo's consoles since the Gamecube. Surprised people here bought both the Wii and Wii U. The DS is the last good thing they did it seems.

I get them for mario and zelda. The "New Super Mario Bros" series has been great! Super Mario Maker, not so much. Zelda hasn't been doing it for me, I don't know why I bother anymore. Same with the 3d Marios like galaxy.

The physics in NSMB have always felt floaty to me. I own all of them, but other than the original DS one I've never held out long enough to finish them.

Apparently, though, the new physics was an intentional design choice: new players found SMW physics made the games too challenging, even though a lot of the Nintendo developers preferred it. That's also why they used NSMB physics for all of the Super Mario Maker modes.

I thought the Galaxy games were really all around good. Felt like leftover sparks of creavity from the Japanese Company and were charming enough to push away my cynicism I had for the Wii.

Not sure about the new Zelda. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt since Ninny HAS to get this right as a console launch, but 'open world with sparse things of interest' would only be acceptable before 2010. Hopefully it's more than that, it also has Portal rooms...?

The new Zelda seems to be getting good reactions.

Yeah. But since nes classics are still out of stock everywhere what are the chances of actually getting a switch this year?

Probably pretty easy? Apparently a shop near me had loads left this afternoon.

Well. Every place online appears sold out already. And with the NES Classics they never come back in stock. Maybe the switch will be different.

I think Nintendo can't afford to have supply shortages for the Switch. They need to get these things out before the Software Drought comes right around the corner.



Scots play video games???

Well, I called Target here on launch day to see if they had any and the lady in electronics laughed at me and was rude about it. She eventually told me they were sold out and she didn't know when they would get any in. I'm now happy they didn't have any because:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/mar/06/nintendo-switch-dead-pixels-console

Did anyone buy the new Zelda on Wii U? How does it play there?

Oh Look: http://kotaku.com/zelda-breath-of-the-wilds-switch-and-wii-u-versions-c-1792968383

Looks like skipping it was the right idea. So far:

1. The JoyCon controllers apparently have terrible antenna designs, resulting in requiring DIRECT line of sight and generally failing if there's even average 2.4ghz interference. Someone bothered to just solder a wire to the board inside as a proper antenna and it eliminated all the range/LOS issues. Nintendo couldn't figure that out?
2. The JoyCon right stick is awkward as all get out. Because they tried to make it mostly symmetrical, for use as an independent controller with the other one, they ruined comfort. Too bad, because it also sucks horribly as an independent controller.
3. The dock apparently can scratch the cheap plastic screen.
4. Friend codes are back, because you know, everyone loves them.
5. You can't move save files between systems. No reason, just because they're Nintendo.
6. You also can't play your games on another console without an involved deactivation/activation procedure. Think Adobe Creative Cloud style. No other console goes to these lengths (all the rest just require you to login, so it can confirm you're not on two systems at once).
7. Performance doesn't seem to be improved over the Wii U, meaning you're paying for a Wii U you can carry around for a couple hours. Except the Wii U actually had a web browser. I guess having a browser on a "Tablet" would make too much sense.
8. Games are massive so enjoy buying game cards or a ton of SD cards. The internal storage is so small that some games are too large to fit.

Re #8, do you mean enjoy buying the little physical game cards as opposed to the downloadable ones? I've always thought that was a good idea in practice anyway because of how difficult it is to transfer games if your console ever breaks or if you just want to sell/trade/give it away.

Anyway, I ordered zelda for the Wii U. I'm no longer following news on the Switch, just not interested anymore. Maybe in a year when they come out with the Switch U?

So... Tonight I finally opened, installed, and played some of Zelda Breath of the Wild. All the reviews say how great it is. I played through the first shrine/orb thingy and got quite a few little extra things because I like to explore. I probably played for 3 straight hours. The thing that stands out the most is that on the Wii U controller the damn screen flashes/throbs the entire time telling you to tap the screen if you want to switch from your TV to the wii u controller. There's no way to make it stop. So there's this annoying flashing in my lower peripheral vision the entire damn time. Most annoying thing ever. I'm going to cut out and tape a piece of cardboard over the damn controller before I play next time. I can't believe how stupid they are. If they had just left the screen on or off it would have been fine. Whoever decided to make it flash constantly needs to be fired. I initially started playing laying down on my couch but immediately had to sit up to get the controller as much out of my vision as possible. Ugh ugh ugh. And no, I'm not going to spend another $40 on a "pro" controller when I already have a controller that should work fine. I also have a wii classic controller that's listed on the box as supported but apparently it isn't actually supported.

The game itself so far is just ok. I hate how the weapons break after you use them on an enemy or two. I constantly have to worry about what is in my inventory and when I finally found a sword my inventory was full and I couldn't pick it up. When I needed my bow for something meaningful it shattered and I had to do something obviously meant for a bow "the hard way" instead. Stupid **** like that is annoying. Now I'm "saving" the "good" weapons like the fancy bows, spiked clubs, and the swords in case I need them later and I'm still using sticks and crappy clubs on everything. I hope I get a permanent weapon soon because this is just bogus. Climbing down is more difficult than it needs to be, half the time I fall off the cliff/edge and die so I always have to save before I start climbing down. I fell off the first tower thing half a dozen times.

Story-wise so far, the weird tech-integration stuff is weird. It feels like a cross between a metroid game and a zelda game. I mean, Link is carrying around an ipad. Geesh.

I do like the way the mapping works and the fact that I can see something far away and stick a pin in it so I can get to it later. Not like a pin in a 2d map but like I'm looking at things in a telescope and I can pin things far away in 3d. Pretty cool. I also like the fact that it doesn't load very often and when it does it's pretty fast. The only time it pissed me off was when I kept dying when falling off that stupid tower. Now that I can teleport I'm going to teleport off those things every time.

The open world thing is fine so far. It's fun to explore although it seems complicated due to the sheer number of items I've picked up. I have no idea how I'm supposed to use 99% of them. There aren't very many enemies so far; and in fact I think every encounter I've had so far had been previously displayed in trailers/videos online (well except the "trial" in the shrine thing).

We have our own version of Pokemon called Hootsmon.

I think this would have been THE most awesome game for me if I played this when I was as young as I was when I first played Ocarina of Time. Haven't played this game but I feel like, as the adults we are, we don't have the drive, time or patience anymore to go on video game adventures.

Rogue Review - A Nintendo Switch Story

Speak for yourself, lameass.

Rogue Retort - A Saberopus Story

I certainly spend next to no time playing video games anymore. I was really looking forward to playing this Zelda. So far I'm not convinced it's as great as all the reviewers say. Interestingly, now that I look at metacritic, the "professional" review scores are some ridiculous 97 average while the user score average is only 7.4. (wtf, why do they use a 100 point scale for "critics" and a 10 point scale for users? that is stupid) Anyway, I agree with the user score so far. I might like it better after I play more.

For another example, look at reviews for Skyward Sword. Widely beloved by critics, but regarded as one of the worst Zelda games by people who weren't being paid to play it.

I still have that one new in box never even opened; I watched the first hour video and it looked so boring

I played some more. I got off the starting plateau and down into some more difficult enemies. The world feels really big. I experienced the first "blood moon" which means all the enemies I previously killed respawned. That is pretty lame. I'm constantly short of arrows and decent weapons which I don't enjoy. I figured out the cooking and elixirs which is fine. I like it better than the previous zelda games where you are limited to 4 bottles. In this one, I can cook up zillions of meals and recover as much as I want. It's helpful for "normal" enemies and fights but not so helpful for the bigger ones which kill me in one hit. So far I've enjoyed all the shrines I've done. The puzzles have been fun and not too difficult and not too long and they give you places to warp to once you beat them. The weapon thing is just really pissing me off. I keep getting these giant swords that take forever to swing. By the time I swing it I am dead because the enemy can kill me in one hit. They are just garbage at this point. So basically I'm still fighting things with stupid clubs and skeleton arms.