Reflections on the Evolution of Gaming (Part 4)

 

Reflections on the Evolution of Gaming (Part 1) 

Reflections on the Evolution of Gaming (Part 2) 

Reflections on the Evolution of Gaming (Part 3)

  

Difficulty as a feature, not a bug. 

 
Sometimes while looking back at games we can spot obvious flaws once newer and better ideas come along. Other times we see them through rose-colored glasses because we played them as kids or whatever.

There are definitely cases where the developers didn’t factor repetition into the user interface / user experience (UI/UX). One obvious example is having to buy potions one at a time in the original Final Fantasy (up to 99!), something that was corrected/improved in sequels and remakes. Another example is repetitive dialogue in some activity like upgrading armor in Breath of the Wild or getting figurines in Wind Waker and Minish Cap.

There are some things that I think modern gamers look back on older games and see as bugs/flaws instead of features. One example is the ‘knockback’ from enemies in games like Castlevania or Ninja Gaiden. It’s part of a penalty system for getting hit and part of the purpose of game is getting better at timing/jumping to avoid running into enemies.

Sometimes better programming/systems allow for new moves that make older mechanics obsolete. A couple of instances come to mind. In the original Metroid, Samus couldn’t crouch so there was no way of hitting enemies that were shorter than Samus. But bombs and the Wave Beam could hit those enemies, so it took a little practice/skill to be able to effectively deal with those short enemies. But in subsequent games she could kneel and point downward, and this is something that I would suspect that was suggested to the developers as an improvement after hearing player feedback.


The other example is the whip in Castlevanias 1-3. While it was the primary weapon, it had its limitations, but the other sub-weapons could help. Holy water went down, the axe went up, and the knife was longer range. But the whip in Castlevania IV was so versatile and useful that it made the sub-weapons practically superfluous.


Sometimes those limitations are there for a reason and were intended as a feature. Other games have restrictions that help keep the game interesting. Basketball doesn’t let you just pick the ball up and run, football has limitations on who can move before the ball is snapped, and card games like Solitaire or Freecell restrict which cards can be placed on other cards. These rules and restrictions are features of the game, and not bugs. Without such limitations, the games would be unfair to one side and would soon careen into Calvinball territory.

I know most people were frustrated by Final Fantasy’s battle system when they instructed two characters to attack the same enemy, but it happened to be killed by the first character. The result is that the second attacker just swings at air instead of automatically changing targets. This was seen as a programming oversight, but I think it was intentional. It would be similar to a football defense attempting to double-team a star offensive player who ends up not being part of the play, leaving fewer defenders to block the actual one with the ball. Less astute Final Fantasy players got frustrated that there were so many wasted attacks in battle. What it did to smart players, though, was force them to keep a running mental count of how much damage could be done by the characters and how many hit points enemies had so as to not waste turns.


I think sometimes players don’t want the limitations, not realizing that the game would be completely different and/or not interesting to play without them. If Mario could just jump so high that he can skip the entire level, what would even be the point of playing it? Dragon Warrior was single player against a single enemy during combat, then Final Fantasy was four characters against up to nine enemies. But if it was like 28 Light Warriors against 1 enemy, it wouldn’t be fun due to being too easy.

Another example is the ability to save everywhere. While saving after obtaining every star in Super Mario 64 is nice, there's no real penalty for losing all your lives other than having to navigate the menu and castle stairs. In Super Mario World, there were certain levels that prompted a save after completing them (fortresses, castles, and ghost houses). So if you managed to get through a few levels but weren't able to complete the ghost house, for instance, then upon losing all your lives you'd have to re-do those levels. It kinda forced players to 'git gud' enough to make it to a save point. 

I think in some cases, player feedback might open developers’ eyes to something they hadn’t considered, like kneeling in Metroid. But other times technology might be a limiting factor. Yoshi was an idea that Miyamoto-san tried to get going for SMB3, but couldn’t implement without the additional horsepower that the SNES provided, so Yoshi showed up in SMW. 


Limitations breed creativity. We can definitely see instances where the hardware couldn’t handle things. Double Dribble only had 3v3 on either side of the court to prevent sprite flicker, while Tecmo’s NBA Basketball 5v5 was a bit of a mess. But the SNES Bulls v Blazers had no issues due to superior hardware.

Clu Clu Land was based around the concept of swinging around a pole, and the difficulty is getting used to the control scheme and learning how to properly maneuver around the screen avoiding enemies. It was not well received, but if it had been programmed with a “regular” control scheme, it would have been much easier, but it also would not have been unique, and would have been another Dig Dug.

Newer hardware can come with more freedom and more abilities, but it also might take away part of what made something unique/special. 

 

 

 

Grab-bag Post #5

Grab-bag Post #1

Grab-bag Post #2

Grab-bag Post #3

Grab-bag Post #4 

Naming Stuff

One thing that I always found curious when I was younger and reading an article in Nintendo Power was how much time and effort was put into naming certain things. Specifically, things like the names of enemies in games as well as a small back-story for each one. In the case of things that exist in the real world, like snakes, mummies, and bats, why bother renaming them to Ropes, Gibdos, and Keese? And for things that aren’t actually real (like Zoomers, Squeepts, and Skree in the original Metroid) there might be more descriptive names that would be easier to memorize. Some things, such as Goombas, Octorocks, and Metroids have entered common gaming lexicon due to popularity, but I would be surprised if many people knew what all the enemies in a game like Metroid were called without looking it up. I would bet that overall, people called them ‘bats’ more than ‘Keese’ in Zelda games, even if they know what they’re actually called. I know that things need names, moreso in a game like Dragon Quest than in something like Metroid, but I think it’s funny that someone was paid to come up with nonsense names for things and that so much paper/ink was used between instruction manuals and magazines informing people of the names. To me it feels like being the writer on the stuff that goes on the back of food packages that nobody ever reads. 

Copycats 

One of the problems with success is how many other people/companies try to replicate it and flood the market with too much of the same thing. Often it’s a lesser quality product, probably because it’s made with a lower budget and in a shorter time frame.

Some examples include how every FPS suddenly became a Call of Duty clone, or how many World of Warcraft-like games were produced. I think part of the problem is that the “copycats” only utilize the superficial elements without really understanding the underlying reasons for why the original was so successful, and that games that are loosely classified as the same genre start to poach mechanics from the successful one instead of finding their own mechanic.

It also happened with Harry Potter franchise and the MCU. I’ve heard reports that book publishers want to be part of the next Harry Potter-like phenomenon, so when an author submits work for a solo novel it gets rejected because there’s not an 8-book plan. When the success of the MCU hit, the concept of the shared universe suddenly drove DC and Universal to do the same thing, and very badly at that. We should just let some books be solo outings and not every movie needs to be part of a 25-part saga told over 10 years. 




Less is More

On a similar note to the above, I also hate when comic creators make too many variations of a particular character. Spider-Man is a great character, but when there were a few, seldom used variants, it was fine. I’m thinking of things like Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) or Spider-Man 2099. When the clone saga with Ben Reilly/Scarlet Spider happened, I was mostly fine with the concept even if the actual story wasn’t that great. But now there are just waaaaaay too many Spider-Men now. Spider-Gwen, Miles Morales, Spider-Girl, Man-Spider, and the list goes on. I realize that creativity can be hard, but just make new characters instead of being lazy. It happens with a lot of characters. How many Venom, Superman, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, and Wolverine variants are there now?

But the most egregious thing is when the new (usually lesser) character is given the same name as the original. Laura Kinney is not Wolverine, Miles Morales is not Spider-Man, Sam Wilson is not Captain America, and Jon Kent is not Superman. 



The Pause Button

What I really need is a pause button on life to play my backlog of games because I weigh time spent/perceived happiness against what this particular game would give me at that particular time. So for example, when I have 2 hour to kill, I would deem that it's not worth my time to play Al Unser’s Racing on an NES emulator, but might be worth it to play Banjo-Kazooie on NSO or to replay Waverace64 on real hardware. But if I had a "pause button" for life that would stop everything and I could just try every game I've ever wanted to play without the rest of the world moving forward then I would be confident that I'm spending my time wisely. Alternatively, I wish I could send my 8-year-old self a fully hacked system that has all of the NES ROMs but they are time-locked to be playable when each game officially releases in the US. One can dream. 





Addendum to "Using up all the Good Stuff" from Grab-bag Post #1

Like X-Men, the producers on the original Spider-Man franchise opted to present the most known and popular set of characters rather than try to re-tell all of Spider-Man’s comics history, by which I mean specifically skipping over Gwen Stacy and Betty Brandt, and beginning with a simplified version of the Mary Jane story. In other words, they have 40 years of stories and distill down to a 2-hour movie so they pick the best parts. 

While I can see that they kinda wanted to put all their eggs into the basket because it was unknown if there would be a sequel or whatever, it also kinda means that they blow their wad a little early. Unfortunately, they kinda use up all of their good stories and characters in the first two movies and don’t have a whole lot to use if they’re successful. 

If they knew that there would definitely be a trilogy or some kind of cinematic universe, then they can plot out when to use the best stories and characters in the best way. Dr. Connors was mentioned in the first movie, then seen as a side character in the second and third movies. Having him become the Lizard in the fourth movie would have been excellent. As it does with a lot of things, it comes down to planning. 

 

Nintendo Related Japan Trip Notes

The original wooden 1889
building.

Near the end of Summer 2024, I finally got to return to Japan and take my family with me. One of the purposes we accomplished was to make a “pilgrimage” of sorts to the Nintendo Headquarters. Because of that trip (along with some helpful websites), I was able to get a far better picture of the history of the company. This post is a summary of my thoughts and what I learned.

 

 

The "left" part of the original
1889 building next to 
the 1933 building. 

I had known for quite a while that Nintendo was started in the late 1800’s as a playing card company, but until I had watched a documentary called Playing with Power (narrated by Sean Astin) about it I didn’t really grasp or appreciate the history. 

 

 

 

 

The 1933 building, which
extends down the block.

The Marufuku Nintendo Card Co., or Yamauchi Nintendo Karuta as it was originally known in Japanese, was founded 23 Sept 1889 in a small wood building in Kyoto, where they made Hanafuda cards which got around the government rules of “Western” cards intended for gambling. As their operation expanded, they built a white brick building with green trim directly adjacent to the original wooden building in 1933.

 

 

 

Eventually the scattered offices were consolidated in a new building in 1959 in Kyoto (which has now become the new Nintendo Museum). By this time the major focus of the company was making toys and board games, though they still made hanafuda as well as themed western decks of cards. The original buildings were abandoned, but still remained standing. The 1933 building is now the Marufuku Hotel which displays Nintendo history, and the original wood building was torn down in 2004 to become a parking lot, and eventually the land was used to add an annex to the hotel. It’s a shame that I didn’t make the trip here when I was in Japan in the late 90’s to see the building myself. Finally, in 2000 their current headquarters buildings were built – two white square-ish buildings about a block from each other in downtown Kyoto. 

 

As part of our trip, we walked to the Marufuku Hotel and took some pictures outside of the building, and then walked around the current headquarters, though we were not permitted to enter any of the buildings. After that, we did, however, go to the official Nintendo Store in a Kyoto mall where I bought some plastic hanafuda cards. 

 

 

Unfortunately, we were unable to go to the Nintendo Museum. Though it was projected to be done in March of 2024, it wasn't finished until around September. Additionally, tickets are distributed in a lottery system so even if it was open there was a chance we wouldn't have gotten to go anyway.  

 

How I Spend time, or Why I'm a Console Peasant

Some conversations I’ve had recently have made me reflect on priorities and how I want to spend my time. Because gaming consoles (and their controllers) are designed to mainly play games, in almost all instances they are pretty much traditionally plug-n-play and easy to use. Excluding cases when additional hardware is needed (4-player adapters, peripheral controllers, VR headsets, etc.) or modern games that require large downloads, pretty much all you needed to do was pop in the cartridge/disc, turn on the TV, and pick up the controller.

But with PC gaming, it often requires checking on system requirements, configuring hardware, and potentially other tasks like moving files. To be fair, platforms/launchers like Steam have made things far easier than it was when I was trying to get WarCraft II to connect to my friend’s computer over a dial-up modem in high school.

What I’m getting at is that while, yes, a PC can potentially have better screen resolutions, better frame rates, and other visual fidelity enhancements over consoles, it requires more time/effort (and often more cash for a better CPU/GPU or larger monitor) than a console does and it’s not something that I really want to spend my time or money doing. If I am chasing the “best possible experience” with regards to graphics, I would be upgrading my hardware on a yearly basis and using all of my budgeted hobby money to do so.

The reason I play games is to spend time having fun, and I want to maximize my priorities to do exactly that, so I want to spend as little time as possible in configuration menus and hardware optimization. I don’t want to spend more time researching/learning about games than I spend actually playing them, nor do I want to spend time/money on something and take weeks to get it set up and never actually play the games I’m intending to play. I admit there is a satisfying feeling of relief knowing that I have the capability to play something (because I have it installed on my 3DS or bought an N64 Flashcart, for example), but if I never actually get around to playing it, what good does it do? 

 

I also don’t want to bankrupt myself in the process, so I don’t need to have the bleeding edge of technology to accomplish this goal. Basically, I’m trying to maximize playing time while minimizing cost and other considerations like fiddling around with settings. Does that mean I won’t have the absolute best possible experience? Yes, but it’s about 95% as good in my estimation, and that’s good enough for me. I believe that the law of diminishing returns applies here, where spending $500 will get you 92% of your goal, and spending another $500 will only get you an additional 3 to 4%. Everyone has a threshold for “good enough,” and mine is low enough that console gaming is fine even if I don’t have 120 fps and VRR. Sometimes the frame rate may stutter a little, or load times might be a bit longer, but at the end of the day, I just ask if the game playable and did I have a good time playing it. It is said that the pursuit of perfection is the enemy of the progress (or in this case, the “good enough”). I would rather play 30 games over the course of a year that are rated good to excellent rather than play only 2 games that are perfect (or put another way, I would rather play 30 games that run pretty well that are fun than play only 2 games that run perfectly). 

Would I like to have the best possible experience playing a game? Again, sure, but if I can achieve 95% of that right now with no additional cost/effort/time but it’ll take hundreds of dollars and hours of my time downloading mods/updates and needing to tinker with settings just to get it to 98%, then it’s not worth it to me.

As an alternative example, would I like to watch movies on a 50-foot screen with perfect sound quality and nobody else around other than my wife? Sure. But I don’t want to spend the money to rent out a theater or buy a big enough house build my own private theater every time I want to watch a movie. Instead, I can spend no additional money to watch my 46” TV from 2012 while lying on my couch and not have to put up with other people in a theater, and that’s good enough, even without modern enhancements like HDR. When my TV finally goes kaput, then yeah, I'll get something that is far more capable than my current setup. But I don't see the utility of replacing a piece of equipment that is still functioning as intended. 

 

There are limited occasions where I will do some of this kind of thing. I spent the better part of a summer trying to get a Philips CD-i emulator to run so I could get a chance to play the Unholy Triforce of Zelda games. It never ran perfectly and would crash during the infamous cut scenes, so the work-around was to skip them and instead watch them on YouTube at the appropriate times. But once I had it running enough where I could experience the game (mostly) as intended, then I was satisfied and haven't really touched it since, having achieved my goal of playing all of the Zelda spinoff games. 

Also, for what it's worth, I did use a few emulators like ZSNES on the computer somewhat frequently because they required almost no configuration and worked without too much effort. Later emulators for the N64 required more work so I didn't use them except for a few times to see how well they perform. And when it comes to the hacking scene for the 3DS, most of the work was done for me and I just had to follow basic instructions to get it work.  

To summarize, I think everyone has differently optimized priorities (“different strokes for different folks”), and mine includes frugality so I don’t feel the need to run out and upgrade my hardware until it’s absolutely necessary as long as the length of play, the ability to play the game, and the amount of fun that can be had outweighs the amount of time/effort/cost to actually play it.

Barbie: Why I care, the nature of adaptations, and the future of them

As I type this, the Barbie movie is about to start playing in theaters, which prompted my thoughts. Here’s the thing: I know I’m not the target demographic. It’s not made for me, and I’m fine with that. I’m under no delusion where every movie must appeal to every demographic, but most especially mine in particular. That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy movies which were, ‘not meant for me.’ I love movies in general, and even when watching movies in genres that aren’t my favorite (westerns, “chick flicks,” slashers, etc.), I can still find redeeming qualities about them. I can still admire the camera work, the editing, or the acting, even when the movie isn’t great. But the thing that makes any movie great is a good, compelling story with character growth. For instance, I quite enjoyed Nottinghill, While You Were Sleeping, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and The Tudors series, which might surprise people.

So having prefaced with all of that, I hope Barbie is a good movie. I’m actually somewhat thrilled that something NOT for me is coming out because there has been so much low-quality superhero stuff lately. I hope it’s got good writing and direction. But mostly, I hope that it is made for the fans of Barbie, just like how Nintendo/Illumination made The Super Mario Bros. Movie for the fans like me. If Barbie turns out to be made for the fans, but is also something that I can enjoy, then even better. I’m envisioning something like Mean Girls, which I quite liked because I think Tina Fey is an excellent comedic writer, or something like Legally Blonde, even though (again) I’m not in the target demographic.

When adapting an existing Intellectual property/brand for the big screen, the producers have one of several directions they can choose. [Note: None of this takes into account the amount of studio meddling that can occur that can (and often does) ruin films (like the Hobbit Trilogy or Transformers), but that’s a topic for a different day. Let’s just assume that the writer/director is able to make their vision of how the film should be with minimal studio interference.]

1. Do it straight. Make it exactly like the source material with little to no changes. Example: The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023). The source material is intended for kids as young as 5 all the way through adults, and the movie was made so that a 5-year-old would be completely fine with what is presented on screen. It doesn't shy away from what it always has been - a plumber from Brooklyn with extraordinary jump height in a fantasy world fighting a giant turtle who is a simp for Peach. 

2. Make it as faithfully as possible with certain scene deletions because of runtime constraints and minimal changes so that it’s more believable. Examples: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

3. Make it fit within our world, i.e., no actual fantastical elements present and “realistic” explanations for powers/magic or the need for costumes. Example: The Dark Knight Trilogy, Captain America’s shield ricocheting instead of somehow magically returning, X-Men’s black leather outfits instead of yellow spandex or Magneto’s helmet designed to keep telepaths out. Mysterio's powers are explained as advanced Stark hologram tech combined with drones in Spider-Man: Far from Home. The 1993 Super Mario Brothers film had the characters wear lift boots to explain their jumping abilities, though this is an instance of a terrible adaptation.

4. Make it evolve from the original into something deeper and take them to a logical progression. Examples: Scooby-Doo started exactly how a typical episode would end, but then time jumped with some character development off screen. Cobra Kai starts off 30 years later with the characters we knew from the Karate Kid movies and how their lives turned out. Both instances flesh out the characters and make them more 3-dimensional. 

5. Make a parody of it, a comedy out of it, or just make it super self-aware/meta. Examples: Toy Story doesn’t fit here because it wasn’t adapting anything that already existed, but The Lego Movie does. It is very self-aware/meta in that we jump to the “real world” and see that the movie we have been watching was in the imagination of a kid this whole time. The Brady Bunch was a fun comedy that all could enjoy but was very self-referential about the TV series with lots of callbacks and references for those who remember the original show. It skirted the line between adaptation and parody, but it was also very meta in that their world/house was stuck in the 70’s while everyone else moved on and so the Brady’s were the weird people in the neighborhood with the, “aw, shucks,” kind of charm to contrast the nihilism and cynicism of everyone else. And both 21 Jump Street and Starsky & Hutch turned serious 70's era TV police dramas into buddy cop comedy movies, with only the title of the film tying it to the original IP. Scream was fairly meta for horror movies, but the first one still worked pretty well.

6. “Disney-fy” it, where they take the characters and main overall plot, but add colorful side-characters, add in musical elements, and potentially turn all of the characters into animals. Examples: Robin Hood, The Little Mermaid, Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, Willy Wonka (1971), and the list could go on. From what I understand, the original novel of Mary Poppins was more like how the movie of Nanny McPhee turned out. I can totally sympathize with Pamela Travers for not wanting Mary Poppins to be “Disneyfied” and filled with silly cartoons and songs just for the sake of making a Disney movie to Walt’s liking. Obviously the Robin Hood movie made with foxes, bears, and roosters takes only the positive, romanticized elements of the story and turns it into a fun adventure meant for kids. Same goes for Ariel’s animal sidekicks like Flounder, Sebastian, and Scuttle in The Little Mermaid who weren't present in Hans Christian Anderson's original novel.

Along with how the adaptation is made, there is also the choice of what age group/demographic to target it towards. Do you take something that was popular at one time in the 7-10 year old crowd in the mid 80’s and make it more realistic for the same group of people who are now in their early 20’s (rated PG-13 or R), or do you keep it the same so that the current group of 7-10 year olds will like it but it will seem too childish for the original fans who are now adults? The 1990 TMNT movie was definitely intended to be seen by the 13-15 year-old demographic, as they had been around 9 years old when the cartoon was on TV, whereas the sequels were made for younger audiences. Additionally, how much fan service do you throw in? (not the gratuitous cleavage shots kind of thing, but small references to other characters/places in the universe, such as the list of known mutants in X2 that appears briefly or background elements like the Disk-Kun store in Super Mario Bros. – aka, “member berries”)

Do you make it geared towards the die-hard fans who want a faithful adaptation and are already familiar with the world, its characters, and need no explanation and risk low box-office returns? Do you make it more accessible with “normies” in mind but still passable for the original fans, hoping that this movie will attract new fans to the original source materials? Or do you make it just another generic comedy/action movie that happens to feature characters/settings whose names resemble something from an already-established IP in the hopes of making a large box office return, but pissing off the original fan base in the process (like the JarJar Abrahms Star Trek movies)?


There is a 7th option, though – and that’s to buy the rights to an existing IP and use it to promote some kind of political/social message and count on the installed fan base to make it a commercial success. Or take something that was originally male-led and gender/race-swap many or most of the characters, and stuff it full of “strong, female characters.” This is what Ghostbusters 2016, Star Wars 7-9, Indy 5, Netflix/Kevin Smith’s He-Man, Terminator: Dark Fate, Little Mermaid (2023), and The Rangs of Power did, and it sacrificed the die-hard fans for an influx of normies. Instead of making an original IP to spread whatever message, they know that nobody will go see their movie so by grafting "The Message™" onto something else, they essential pay for an inbuilt, guaranteed audience (at least until word-of-mouth gets around that the movie is shit). Clearly I’m not a fan of this kind of adaptation and have no qualms in saying so. The shorthand way of saying this is, “injecting woke-ness” into something that already exists.

Having said all that, I’m in the Orson Scott Card camp of rather having something not be adapted for the silver screen at all than be made badly (which is why it took 30 years to get Ender’s Game made). So I hope that Barbie fans are not disappointed. But what I hope for most is that it doesn’t do the following things:

1. Turn into a preachy, Social Justice™, man-hating platform so that the producers can get, “The Message™” out to everyone by purchasing an IP with an already-existing fanbase.

2. Turn into a parody of itself instead of celebrating the legacy of a beloved toy for the past 60-odd years, or turn into something Barbie was never intended to be, like inserting her into a Rambo or Terminator movie roll.

3. Aimed at mid-40’s moms instead of 7-year-old girls with adult jokes/references.

4. Force Barbie fans and girls to learn what it's been like for Star Wars fans for the last decade (meaning that they get to see what it's like to have their beloved franchise ruined). 

While I can see that making it more of a comedy that pokes fun at dolls and such would make it have broader appeal so that boyfriends don’t feel “dragged” to the theaters by their girlfriends, I would rather it stay true to its origins and be made for the fans. I hope it’s something that little girls and their moms can bond over. But we’ll see what happens.

And what I want for the future of the current culture war is that the Barbie movie is the second of a bunch of well-adapted films mostly targeted towards the fans who already enjoy/purchase their merchandise (obviously, SMB was the first one), and that Hollywood stops trying to inject politics and wokeness into the things we enjoy. I want He-Man and G.I. Joe movies meant for boys, and Barbie movies meant for girls, in other words. 

Star Wars, Marvel, Transformers, G.I. Joe, etc. are boys' brands, but Disney bought them to get more boys to buy their stuff (obviously the Princesses thing has been and continues to be a girls' brand). But instead of just keeping them [ the boys' brands] the way that they were (you know, the way that made them popular in the first place), Disney is trying to also turn them into another girls' brand. Sports (in general) is also facing a similar problem. 

I want them to stop trying to turn male properties into androgynous or female properties (though I can’t think of examples that go the other way, really). As much as I don’t like and have never liked Barney the Dinosaur, I don’t want to see a raunchy teen comedy with him, nor a serious K-9 unit crime noir drama called Blues Clues just because the kids who grew up with those things are now adults. I’ll even take more of something like X-Men, which was accessible enough that even my dad liked it. Just no more of the crap that Lucasfilm/Disney has been making recently.

My Experience with the Nintendo Switch

For several years before its release, there was rumor of Nintendo working on a new console that was supposed to bridge the gap between handheld and console, and was code-named the NX. I wasn’t too sure how such a thing would work, but it didn’t sound promising to me. I (somewhat) purposely didn’t read too much about it as the early predictions and projections based on rumors by gaming websites were usually wildly off, and the hype or disappointment was often very premature. It wasn’t until Nintendo released a trailer for their new system in October of 2016 that I became interested. They revealed the name to be the Nintendo Switch, and showed how it was a console that could be turned into a handheld.

It could be best described as a thinner Wii U gamepad which can be played handheld or on the TV, featuring detachable sides, and which didn’t need to be tethered to a disc-reading console somewhere nearby.

Once I saw the trailer, I was intrigued but still planning on getting the new Zelda game for the Wii U. But upon seeing the Switch Presentation in February which showed that Zelda was going to be a launch title, I couldn’t resist and pre-ordered one from GameStop the next day. However, I didn’t tell anyone but Anne about it and made it seem that we weren’t getting one right away. My plan was to have it set up and out the next morning to surprise the kids. Over the next few weeks I made some payments towards the Switch here and there.

Avery had been debating on getting a NN3DS just for the SNES VC capabilities, but I had convinced him to save his money, and he’s glad he did. In the week before launch, he decided to get a Switch instead. He had just enough saved to get the console, but not a game (at the time). On the day before launch day (a Thursday) he went to Wal-Mart after school to wait in line. He was 5th in line and there were 9 available at the time so he was in a good position, but he had to sit for 8 hours waiting. Anne and I dropped off some food and other supplies like headphones to help him pass the time. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Avery, I went to make the final payment and reserve my place in line at GameStop via pre-check-in.

I went to GameStop around 11:30 PM and got in line and happened to find my friend James and his son in line ahead of me, making it even better. I thought of Avery waiting in a warmed building, slightly jealous. He texted me updates and eventually told me that he got one and was waiting to be picked up. We (James, his son, and I) waited for about 45 minutes in the cold, and I eventually got my Switch and Breath of the Wild, along with a poster. I zoomed over to Wal-Mart to grab Avery and asked him about his time waiting. Then I asked him if he got a free poster with his like I had with mine.

When we got home we vowed to not open them until we were both home from school the next day, which was harder for him because he got out earlier than I did on Fridays. So to pass the time he cleaned his room and got things ready for the Switch. I let him unbox his first and once he started it up and was going through the setup, I started on my own.

He hooked his dock up to the small monitor he has in his room (which replaced the TV I’ve had since I was in 5th grade), while I hooked mine up to the main TV downstairs. We both instantly started playing Breath of the Wild once we had things set up and I didn’t put it down for a few months. I played it so much that Anne started referring to it as my other girlfriend.

Even though we had each just spent roughly $400 (after sales tax) on a new system and game, we had to spend a little more. It would have worked out better if the Switch was released on, say, the 24th of the month so that I could get paid a week later to buy some accessories, but as it was I ended up spending close to an additional $100 for screen protectors, carrying cases, a USB-C cable, rubber grip enhancers, and a tablet holder for cars. Anne popped onto Amazon and ordered some tempered glass screen protectors and BotW carrying cases that had some pouches for the wrist straps and pockets for game cards for the both of us. While traveling, Logan wanted to play BotW but I didn’t trust him to be careful with the Switch at the time, so we bought a tablet holder that attaches to the back of a seat headrest in a car, and then he could just hold the controller himself. And since it would drain the battery, I bought a long USB-C cable to plug into the car charging port to keep it from being drained so quickly. Another accessory I saw was some rubber covers for the Joy-con that gave it a bit more of a handle with which to grip the Switch when playing in handheld mode.

A few days after its release happened to be Parent-Teacher Conferences at my school, and I decided to use the Switch to do what it was intended to do. I set up the screen behind a few books on my desk and kept the controller out of sight. If/when a parent entered my classroom, I quickly put it into sleep mode and set the Joy-Con into my drawer and nobody could tell what was happening (except for one former student who came to shoot the breeze with me about Marvel movies).

A few weeks later, I attended our normal 3DS meetup that I had been attending regularly (Avery wasn’t able to attend this one). As expected, the focus was on the Switch and people were playing Bomberman. But someone had also brought their amiibo collection. At the time, we had 5 amiibo, 3 of which were Zelda-related. But I hadn’t used them yet as I was so enveloped in the world of Breath of the Wild that I hadn’t bothered to figure out how they work. Anyhow, I used them and got a few special pieces of clothing from the random treasure chests. I showed them to Avery and then kinda felt bad that he wouldn’t be able to get these items without spending inordinate amounts of money on plastic figurines.

It was at this point that I started looking into alternatives to amiibo. Unlike some games where an item can be found or earned through grinding, some were essentially pay-walled off behind hard-to-find collectibles in the real world. After a few days’ research, I discovered that there was an alternative method to accomplish what I wanted to do – and it involved buying NFC stickers. NFC-215 tags are what reads/writes the info in the base of the amiibo, and someone had developed a phone app to essentially make copies of them, and the necessary files were dumped onto the internet. I ordered some NFC stickers and learned how to use the app, and then made small cardstock pieces that had the picture of an amiibo on it with the appropriate sticker on the back. This let me spoof the entire Zelda amiibo collection and get those rewards at a fraction of the cost. Later I altered my idea and turned them into laminated cards about the same size as a standard playing card, each with two different amiibo. I have since made several sets of amiibo cards for various family members, friends, and acquaintances. I did, however, end up acquiring a complete set of the Zelda amiibo eventually as part of my collection.

Later that summer, Avery and I both got messenger bags for our Switches, which hold the Switch, the dock, the grip, and all of the cables making it very convenient to take on a trip. I had to alter my bag with some velcro so that it could accommodate my Zelda case I already had, and gave the basic case that came with it to a local neighbor kid. I also got an extra power supply and HDMI cables to leave in the case so I don’t have to constantly re-hook up the cables and get behind the TV stand. Sometimes, though, I leave my dock if Avery or Logan is bringing theirs and I put my 3DS in its spot instead. I also bought a few adapters that would allow me to hook it up to projectors and other kinds of TVs so I could use it at school and other places.

I was perfectly happy playing BotW for hours on end, but Avery went ahead and got Arms and Snipperclips. I got a few demos, but I mainly kept on playing Zelda (like 320 hours) until Super Mario Odyssey was released. Later games I really enjoyed were Octopath Traveler and Metroid Dread.

The fan in my Switch started being noisy about a year into its life, and I ended up replacing it with some parts I found on eBay, and it’s worked fine ever since. I’ve also replaced some Joy-Con sticks for Logan and my cousin, as well as done some other improvements. When Hall-Effect replacement sticks were made available, I ordered a bunch and replaced most of the sticks for my friends and family when possible so they wouldn't experience stick drift. The Pro Controller (which I also bought) is pretty great, but the D-Pad isn’t quite as good as some past offerings from Nintendo and sometimes registered presses incorrectly. But I was able to fix it by using some paper hole reinforcers to reduce the sensitivity and now it works perfectly.

When the Nintendo Switch Online service launched, I immediately bought a family subscription. I put myself, Michael, Avery, Brady, and my cousin Josh and we all chipped in 8 bucks or so. Later I would put Aurora, Logan, and his friend Brielle on it as well. When the Expansion Pack was added, we all decided to upgrade to get the additional games/offerings. However, when Avery's girlfriend Leah wanted to be added, we ran into an issue of needing more accounts than the limit of 8 would let us have. The solution was to open a second NSO family plan, and move Brielle over to it, as we weren't seeing her regularly anymore. But this did open my Japanese and European accounts to the possibility of also getting online access, as well as letting Anne join. This NSO plan is still on the non-Expansion Pak plan, though. Later we would add a niece and nephew to it so they can enjoy the benefits. 

Besides Breath of the Wild, HD remakes of Skyward Sword and Link’s Awakening were released for Switch. An updated Hyrule Warriors was also ported to the Switch, along with a (somewhat canon) Hyrule Warriors prequel to BotW called Age of Calamity and another spinoff called Cadence of Hyrule mixed a rhythmic dungeon crawler with Zelda. The NSO service eventually added LoZ, AoL, ALttP, LADX, OoT, MM, OoS, OoA, FS, and MC as well. It is noteworthy, however, that the Wii U never got a standalone Zelda game - it got 2 remakes and a simultaneous release of BotW.

Logan desperately wanted a Switch as well and saved birthday and Christmas money for a while and finally got his own Redbox version of the Switch, and it came with the neon red/blue Joy-Con. He also got a messenger bag, though his was Super Mario Bros. themed instead of the plain grey that Avery and I had. Years later, Aurora was also eventually planning on getting one but “inherited” one from the ice rink where she works. Apparently someone left it there and it had been sitting in the lost-and-found for over a year, so the manager finally just let her have it. It required a little TLC, though, as its right Joy-Con stick was missing the cap, the locking buckles were worn down (meaning the Joy-Con could slide off without the eject button being pressed), and the plastic screen protector was a bit scratched up (but the actual screen underneath was pristine, thankfully). So I replaced the stick, the buckles, and put a new glass screen protector on it, and we gave her a grip for Christmas. All she had to buy was the dock and power supply, and she was good to go!

It was nice to have extended family also get one. Several nieces/nephews have some version of a Switch, as well as my brother Brady. At holiday family gatherings, it was always nice to see the kids playing something like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe or Boomerang-Fu in a side room while other things (football games, cooking, etc.) were happening. It is also very convenient to have it hooked up at hotel rooms to give bored kids something to do on vacation. I've also used it to keep students entertained during the last couple days of school using those same games, along with Pico Park, PuyoPuyo Tetris, and some others. Because of that, I've been asked on several occasions to bring it for school parties, which I do gladly.

 

One specific memory is that around 2019 or so, during Fall Break the family ended up playing a lot of 4-player PuyoPuyo Tetris and Death Squared while the weather was rainy and chilly. Occasionally we'll get something like this with other games here or there, but it was just a rather nice, relaxing 4-day weekend. 

 

Various grips were made for the Switch which made holding the console in handheld mode easier. Some of them got really fancy and held extra games and would stay on even when docked. However, I never bought one of those. Instead, I took advantage of the 3D printer at the school next-door to my school. During the first month of the Switch's life, someone on Reddit posted his prototype grip that added handles similar to the official included grip for the Joy-Con, and decided I wanted to try that. I thought it might be 2 or 3 dollars, but ended up costing closer to $15, which is basically the same price as a similar store-bought product. It did end up breaking, but was easily repaired with cyanoacrylates (super glue). 

When Nintendo announced the OLED model of the Switch, I didn't originally want to get one, since it didn't do anything that a regular Switch couldn't do. However, as I was in the beginning phases of my eventual Nintendo collection habit, I decided to get one last minute and went to Wal-Mart the morning of release to see if my luck would prevail. I wasn't able to get one, but my brother Brady was able to get two so he got one for me and shipped it and I wired him money to pay for it. I had hoped for the white Metroid-themed one, but got the Neon Blue/Red set, which I had always kinda wanted ever since Logan had gotten the colored ones instead of grey, so it all worked out. 

The OLED became my main Switch, and since my OG Switch was a launch model, it meant that it was susceptible to being hacked with the use of a paperclip, though I opted to get a pre-made jig from eBay that was safer and more convenient. But truth be told, the hacking scene on the Switch wasn't as developed as the 3DS and without modification, it boots back into stock firmware if it loses power. Due to that and some other inconveniences, I haven't really done much with the hacked one other than use it as a backup Switch when Anne wants to play something on the OLED one. 

Wanting to complete my Switch collection, I eventually bought a blue Switch Lite and modified it to have Hall Effect sticks on it. In the process, I ended up making the volume down button not work, but figured out that it was because of an improperly seated ribbon cable. It was replaced with the Hyrule version of the Switch Lite, and given to a niece as a Christmas present, which was then replaced again with the exact same model when I decided to have both a regular and Hyrule edition of the Switch Lite. 

We bought the first LABO kit when it came out, and we had fun building the various things but didn't really play it much after that. Later we were also gifted the second LABO kit by my brother Chad, who found it at a used store for $5. Only two of the cardboard pieces had been punched out and folded (but still included), but the game was missing, so I purchased the game separately for another $5. We also got Ring Fit Adventure but (again) didn't play it much beyond the first week. By the end of its over 8-year run, I have acquired almost 30 physical games, and close to double that in digital games, so my library is quite stacked. Like the 3DS, I have several games that I have played deeply and many games that I haven been able to get on sale digitally and expanded my breadth of experiences. 

Another thing that I haven been able to do on the Switch is make a European and Japanese account for it, allowing me to buy/download games that normally wouldn't be available to my North American main account. Mostly, this benefit comes in the ability to get the Japanese versions of the NSO legacy consoles, so now I can play the Japanese Famicom versions of games that I loved as a child. The comparison between NA and JP versions is most interesting for the NES/Famicom, but gets less so for later systems as international releases were more front-of-mind for Nintendo during the SNES and N64 eras. 

The Nintendo Switch

Around late 2014, it was becoming increasingly obvious that the Wii U wasn’t doing so hot on the sales charts, as many people were unaware of its existence due to poor marketing and an unfortunate name. In terms of graphics it felt like Nintendo was playing catchup to the other systems, and its tablet controller wasn’t being utilized by 3rd party developers in creative ways. It was around this time that rumors of the next system started popping up, and naysayers were predicting the move to be the downfall of the once great video game king. Simultaneously, it seemed like the games being developed for the Wii U dried up and The Big N was only hanging around because of its robust handheld market (meaning the 3DS family, which itself had a rocky first couple of years).

Originally code-named the NX, the next Nintendo console was promised to be a hybrid system that straddled the handheld and console worlds. The sentiment online was not optimistic, and after the Wii U it seemed to many that Nintendo had truly lost its collective mind. However, it was finally officially announced in October of 2016 to be called the Nintendo Switch. The video showed off its capabilities of being a docked console with detachable controllers, a portable handheld, and in tabletop mode. It also spawned the infamous joke about roof-top Switch parties. This video changed the tide of public opinion and a breath of optimism started to replace the doom and gloom.

The Switch could best be described as what the Wii U gamepad was originally intended to be. Unfortunately, the technology wasn’t quite ready (at least not in a cost-effective way) for the vision of Satoru Iwata during the Wii U era and he died not getting to see the Switch come to fruition. The Switch system itself was like a thinner, lighter Wii U gamepad that was not tethered to a disc-based console. In other words, instead of the tablet streaming video from the real console, the tablet WAS the console.

The main draw of the Nintendo Switch is that it is a hybrid home console and portable handheld system. The main component is essentially a touch-screen tablet that reads game cards (not unlike the 3DS or an SD card) and has controllers attached to the sides. The beauty of the system is that it switches from one mode to the other instantly with no need of power cycling or rebooting. It can also be played in a tabletop manor with the use of a kickstand in the rear of the system. It has a 6.2 inch viewable area with two speakers near the bottom, with a headphone jack and game card slot on the top next to a heat exhaust fan grille. The only buttons on the Switch are the power button and the volume rocker buttons. The back features a small (and somewhat fragile) kickstand that also serves as a cover for a microSD card slot. The bottom has a USB-C port that serves as both a port for the AC adapter and data transfer.

Each side controller (called Joy-Con) features two shoulder buttons, a control stick, and four other buttons arranged in a diamond pattern – basically the same buttons and layout as a NN3DS except that the D-pad is replaced by four individual buttons. The Joy-Con can then be detached and put into a grip making it feel more like a traditional controller. They also have some additional bells and whistles built into them – including an NFC reader for amiibo, an infra-red camera to sense movement, gyro-sensors for motion controls, and haptic feedback HD rumble that can mimic the wave patterns of sound. There are also buttons for screen captures, a Home button, as well as the + and – buttons that replaced the Start and Select buttons starting with the Wii era. Originally they came in either grey or in a neon red/blue, but many colors and specialty variations have been released since.

Each Joy-Con can be also used as a separate controller for two-player games. When turned sideways, each Joy-Con features a control stick, 4 face buttons, and two shoulder buttons that are usually hidden when connected to the tablet portion. In this configuration, each one has the same buttons as a SNES controller. Wrist straps are included to make reaching the shoulder buttons (SL and SR) easier and to avoid accidentally dropping/throwing the Joy-Con. Both Joy-Con also feature an unlock button on the back which allows them to separate from the Grip or the console. This locking mechanism is also responsible for the clicking sound they make when being attached to the console or Grip – a sound that Nintendo has used in its Directs and other promotional videos extensively.

A separate Pro Controller can also be purchased to accommodate those who have bigger hands or prefer the feel of a traditional controller. The Pro Controller has a D-pad instead of the four buttons on the Left Joy-Con since it can’t be disconnected and used separately, and has no IR camera.

The Switch can be connected to a television via a dock that transfers the video and sound via HDMI cable. The dock features a power supply and HDMI jack, as well as 3 USB-A ports to attach wired controllers or other adapters such as the LAN adapter to get a wired connection if the Wi-Fi isn’t fast enough. While in the dock the Switch can recharge its battery, or it can be charged via USB-C cord being plugged directly into the power port.

In terms of power comparison, the Switch is more powerful compared to the Wii U, PlayStation 3, and X-Box 360, but less powerful than the PS4/XB1. But like the Wii before it, the thing that separates it from the competition is the innovation behind it and not because it was a graphical powerhouse. Many Wii U games were ported over, as well as other third party games such as Skyrim, and could be played on the go for the first time. The main first-party title at launch was The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, a game that was originally set for the Wii U but pushed back and released for both systems simultaneously (in a similar vein to that of Twilight Princess). There were others, including 1-2 Switch, Snipperclips, a Bomberman game, a Shovel Knight port, and a few others. The system did not include a pack-in game, and many felt that 1-2-Switch should have served as one because of its almost tech-demo feel to it.

Following the October 2016 trailer, a presentation with more details was streamed in February 2017 where Koizumi-san showed off some of the features of the Switch, gave some details of the next year’s lineup of games, and revealed its MSRP of $300. It was noted that the Switch has inherited some of the “DNA” of past Nintendo consoles, in that the NES had 2 controllers included, the Gameboy was portable, the SNES pioneered the button layout, the N64 introduced both the analog stick and rumble feedback, the GameCube’s handle was a misguided attempt at portability, the DS had a touch screen, the Wii had motion controls, and the Wii U allowed off-TV play. The release date of both the Switch and Breath of the Wild was revealed to be March 3rd, just a month later.

In the following year, it was rather difficult to find a Switch in stores because of how quickly they sold out. In fact, it was more or less keeping pace with the Wii in terms of sales, which is nothing to scoff at. But after about a year and a half, it was finally normal to see Switches being restocked regularly in stores (and then sold out again a few days later).

Initially, online access was free and included with games such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe or Bomberman. However, around September 2018 (18 months after launch) the Nintendo Switch Online service was officially launched. It was a paid subscription service that was $20 per year for a single account, or $35 for a family account with up to 8 members. Unlike other digital services like Netflix, Nintendo actually encouraged people to group up for a family account to save money, and if all 8 potential members contributed equally it amounted to about 75¢ per month. In addition to keeping online multiplayer access, it included cloud save backups and the ability to voice chat with friends via a phone app (though it’s a bit clunky to use compared to Microsoft or Sony’s chat offering). Another feature was the access to Game Trials, which was sort of like an extended demo version of a game, but where the full game was allowed for a set period of time (usually a week). Several multiplayer games for the NSO were developed, including Tetris-99, Pac-Man-99, and Super Mario-35, all of which are multiplayer against 98 or 34 other random players.

But the main feature was access to legacy NES games. It launched with a variety of 20 games, including Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda, and 2 or 3 were added (usually monthly) for the next few years. Controllers that resembled the NES controllers were released for NSO members. A year later, the SNES was added as well with games continuing to be added monthly and SNES controllers were available to purchase separately. 

 

In 2021, three years after its initial launch, an Expansion Pack was offered, which upped the price to $50 for a single or $80 for a family account. It included N64 games, Sega Genesis games, and access to DLC for games like Mario Kart 8 and Animal Crossing at no additional cost. The N64 addition was a bit rough, as the emulator had to go through several iterations of bug fixes before it was considered to be passable. In addition, the default control scheme was found to be different for each game, but all were awkward due to the odd positioning of the buttons on the N64 controller, leading most to conclude that the bad controls were a scheme cooked up by Nintendo executives to entice people to buy their $50 N64 NSO controller. Finally, in February of 2023 (nearly 6 years into its life), the Gameboy was added to the NSO legacy service with Gameboy Advance included for those with the Expansion Pack.

The Switch had an interesting and creative set of games and accessories released in April of 2018. The Labo was a kit that consisted mainly of cardboard which could be punched out, folded, and shaped into all kinds of things such as houses, fishing poles, steering wheels, and even a piano. The screen, Joy-Con, or both would be used with the cardboard holders to do various things, such as play piano keys. It was truly innovative and something that nobody had ever seen before. It encouraged players to use their own materials to enhance the standard kit, or even program their own applications.

Another interesting use of the Joy-Con is the Ring Fit Adventure game. It was (more or less) the Switch successor to Wii Fit, except that one Joy-Con was strapped to the player’s leg and the other attached to a flexible resistance ring. The IR camera in the right Joy-Con was used to measure pulse as well as register movement.

Several revisions of the Switch have been released. The first minor revision was to fix a security flaw that allowed the Switch to enter its “Recovery Mode” and to have Custom FirmWare installed onto it. It was discovered that grounding certain pins on the side rail of the system along with pressing a particular combination of buttons could make this happen. The revision is known as the “Redbox” version of the Switch since the new packaging featured a red box, and promised a slight improvement on battery life. The next major revision was the Switch Lite – a dedicated handheld “budget” version of the Switch that was only $200 which doesn't have detachable Joy-Con. It was slightly smaller than a normal Switch, had a D-Pad on the left side instead of 4 separate buttons, and couldn’t be docked to a TV, but could do everything else that any other Switch could do. The third revision was the OLED model, featuring a slightly bigger console (2 mm longer) with a much brighter OLED screen that had a thinner bezel which meant the viewable area was increased by an inch (diagonally). The kickstand was also improved, along with some slightly powered up speakers and a dock that had the LAN adapter built into it. It was priced at $350 and is considered to be the “deluxe” model.

Despite its popularity, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for Nintendo. There was a small uproar over screens being scratched by the dock, and some systems being warped due to heat, but those went away fairly quickly. The one controversy that followed the system (and continues to do so) is the problem of Joy-Con drift – where the design of the included joysticks wears out and starts to misbehave. Nintendo will fix them (depending on circumstances) or cheap parts can be purchased from Amazon if you’re into DIY repair, but it was pervasive enough that a class-action lawsuit was filed (though eventually it was dismissed by the judge).

A few other small problems were that the multiplayer experiences weren’t always great, thought to be due to some very old netcode that Nintendo was too cheap to upgrade, though it started to improve in late 2021 (better late than never?). The N64 NSO controller is also perpetually out of stock.

But overall the Switch is seen as a good portable device for playing modern games and many hardcore gamers have one in addition to a PC or PlayStation. It has, however, hit its 6-year anniversary, and no announcement from Nintendo about a “Switch Pro” or a successor as of yet. It’s starting to show its age and limitations for new releases are becoming increasingly more common, so hopefully some new hardware will be announced soon so Nintendo can remain competitive.