7 ms·
They’ve got the weird shit covered still, apparently the joy cons in this gen can be used as mice. Was heavily rumoured/leaked and this teaser video literally
by bargainbin 2y ago
They’ve got the weird shit covered still, apparently the joy cons in this gen can be used as mice.
Was heavily rumoured/leaked and this teaser video literally shows them gliding along a surface.
How Nintendo will leverage that functionality, who could honestly say, but that’s the genius of keeping a toy company mindset in an industry full of sports car company mindsets.
- adamc 2y agoThat last sentence is worth an essay of its own. Everyone else keeps pumping resources into being photo-realistic blah-blah-blah without nearly enough attention to "is this fun"?
- ecliptik 2y agoOne of my favorite video essay's on this is "Nintendo - Putting Play First" by Game Makers Toolkit [1]. It goes into when making a game, Nintendo first determines the mechanic they want to focus on; jumping, throwing a hat, shooting paint, etc and finding out how to make it fun, then building and iterating on the idea. It's how they can keep putting out essentially the same games but are completely different. 1. https://youtu.be/2u6HTG8LuXQ https://youtu.be/2u6HTG8LuXQ
- dmonitor 2y agoGMTK is popular, but he's mostly talking out of his ass. He's got zero industry experience and most gamedevs I know personally clown on his takes constantly. Unless he references specific Nintendo interviews where they talk about their design process, I have doubts about this video containing an accurate description of how Nintendo does things.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- gusgus01 2y agoAt least in this video, all the interviews and documents that they base their claims/opinions on are listed in the description, so you can easily also peruse them if you doubt the interpretation.
- acomjean 2y agoI've seem some of his videos, but I'm not that familiar with GMTK. But they did release a game, and it was by all accounts "Very positive" /pretty good. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2685900/Mind_Over_Magnet/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/2685900/Mind_Over_Magnet/
- jonwinstanley 2y agoHis videos are great!
- tomrod 2y agoMost games are pretty bad, so this tracks I guess. Need more Larians in the world.
- jdlshore 2y agoYou should have watched the video before you shat on it. Yes, he references specific Nintendo interviews in the video. Frequently, in fact, and in detail.
- magpi3 2y agoThis always made sense to me. Think of Super Mario Bros. No way you come up with something like that from a top-down design document. Probably slapped Mario on a screen, played with the physics a bunch, and threw a lot of different stuff at the wall to see what stuck before they came up with the final product.
- Larrikin 2y agoNot sure about the original game but at least since the 3d age, Miyamoto is on record, saying that when making a new Mario game, one of the first steps is that is just fun to goof around with Mario alone in an empty flat void and mess with whatever new abilities they are thinking of giving him.
- pcchristie 2y agoI can't tell you how much respect I have for this mindset. Like them burning a heap of money on Metroid Prime 4, for years, and then coming out with an announcement along the lines of "sorry guys, this sucks, so we've chucked it out and started again because we only do things right, see you in another 3-4 years when it's ready." It pays dividends, because they just don't ship junk, so everything they DO ship sells extremely well.
- adamc 2y agoThis is the right mindset. It makes your customers trust you.
- wbl 2y agoSome stuff they have sells well: Smash, Zelda, Pokemon. Metroid sells a lot less well.
- DiggyJohnson 2y agoHow does that relate to this discussion?
- depsypher 2y agoMostly true, but Everybody 1-2-Switch was pretty close to being junk though.
- m_fayer 2y agoStrongly agreed. When I think of the best Nintendo products the words “fun” and “play” spring to mind. AAA gaming on the other hand, either resembles sports, shallow short-form media, or Oscar-bait melodrama. Very little fun to be had. What ever happened to fun and play?
- 01HNNWZ0MV43FF 2y agoFun doesn't map 1:1 into a trailer or a screenshot. Graphics do, voice acting, cutscenes, and big set pieces do.
- piva00 2y agoSingleplayer AAA gaming on top of all that feels like work, the older I got the less those games kept me playing because I don't want to spend 3 hours running errands to be rewarded with an item/spell/skill. The melodramatic storylines are also pretty grating, there are a few games with good storytelling but most are some rehash of "this world has been destroyed/is in the process of being destroyed, in the aftermath a hero is about to rise and save it" so if the mechanics don't feel fun right from the get-go I lose interest completely. The most fun I have with games are the ones with a very iterative game loop (roguelikes for example), or social/multiplayer games, anything with a lot of replayability, and the constant feeling of improvement is like crack to me. A surprising example I re-discovered last year after only playing it for a while some 15 years ago is Trackmania, got even some friends hooked on it to play hot seating trying to beat each others time. The game loop is short and intense (about 1-2 minutes max), has a high skill ceiling, and you feel yourself getting better at a track each time you play it, nailing some very tricky part that felt impossible 30 min before is absurdly satisfying.
- spokaneplumb 2y agoMy biggest problem is I'll finally get a chance to sink enough hours in to start something AAA, do maybe 4-10 hours over two or three days, and then have life get in the way and not touch it for a month or more... and completely forget how to play and WTF I was doing. Some of my favorite UX features in newer games are automatically and contextually reminding you how the controls work when you pick it back up after a while, and quick story recaps or quest reminders on loading screens. I like to label those games "parent-friendly".
- danudey 2y agoI saw an interesting analysis years ago about whether or not the most powerful console 'won' in each generation (i.e. whether or not being the most powerful console of your generation leads to success). Generally speaking, no, it doesn't actually affect things, and in several cases (e.g. the Game Boy, the Wii, and the Switch come to mind) the objectively 'worse' console (from a tech perspective) was more successful by a country mile.
- basfo 2y agoIt's interesting how many people see the Switch as being in its own category rather than acknowledging it as the winner of this console generation (which I completely agree it is). Most people think the “console” battle is between PlayStation and Xbox, and that PlayStation is the winner. This is probably a big win for PlayStation’s marketing team.
- spokaneplumb 2y agoI kinda think that way when buying. The Nintendo console is the Nintendo console. If you want what they do, you're buying it. The other two are where the competition is and where there's a decision of which one, not buy this single product or don't. They're much closer to being interchangeable than the Switch is with either of them.
- jonwinstanley 2y agoThis plays out in ownership too, I know a small number of people with all 3 but a lot that have a Switch plus 1 of either a PS5 or an Xbox
- red-iron-pine 2y agoThis is probably a big, major effort by PlayStation’s marketing team to get people to think that
- runevault 2y agoPersonally I'd say both are true. They won the generation, but they did so by not bothering to fight directly with Playstation and Xbox. By basically ignoring them and having a distinct identity they won.
- adriand 2y agoI can't remember where I read this, but I came across someone talking about the fact that these AAA photo realistic games are hugely expensive to make, but if you look at what young people are spending their time playing, they're games like Fornite, Minecraft and Roblox. As soon as I read this, it clicked for me. I have two teenagers (15 & 17) and this is exactly right. My son plays games all the time and although he's played Elden Ring and GTA and other games of that sort, over the years I would say 80% of his time has been Minecraft and this other 2D game with a platformer vibe whose name I forget that has procedurally generated maps. He's frequently calling me over to his computer to check out his latest architectural creation in Minecraft. I know it's not just him, because he plays multiplayer with his buddies as well, and again, a lot of it is these games with quite frankly primitive graphics. But they're fun!
- skissane 2y ago> and this other 2D game with a platformer vibe whose name I forget that has procedurally generated maps. Terraria?
- adriand 2y ago> Terraria? Yes!
- foobarian 2y agoI have a younger kid that's in Roblox a lot as well, and something I noticed the peer group do is have a facetime/voice call in the background so they can talk while they play. I like it better than watching them type chats.
- incanus77 2y agoPerhaps it was this, which I saw recently: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/26/arts/video-games-graphics-budgets.html https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/26/arts/video-games-graphics...
- j2bax 2y agoI'm a huge Nintendo/Mario fan but I've recently been playing through Astro Bot on my PS5 and I must say, when you combine super fun mechanics with amazing graphics and performance, it's quite an experience! But there isn't nearly enough content like this on the non-Nintendo consoles, so point is definitely not lost on me.
- georgeecollins 2y agoFocusing on tech or unoriginal production values (that's photo real! You don't need a great art director, you need a photo..) is appealing to companies because it's predictable vs the creative uncertainty and subjectivity of "fun".
- lnauta 2y agoI play one game at a time for about a month and then move to the next. When I first played Mario Odyssey on my switch I was over the moon with how much pure fun it was compared to all the good looking and serious RPGs I played in the decade before. I had forgotten games can be this enjoyable. Nowadays I try to do these super fun games in between my souls-like sessions.
- mvdtnz 2y agoDo they? I haven't seen a meaningful improvement in video game graphics for at least 5 years, maybe even 10.
- spaceman_2020 2y agoThe “is this fun” part is the reason why I bought a Switch in the first place. Still the only console I’ve ever owned I love the “just start playing” ethos of most Nintendo games. Reminds me of the games I used to play as a kid. No long story or exposition - just a game load screen and a start button
- griomnib 2y agoAstro Bot won game of the year because it had amazing graphics and physics and had Mario-tier fun. The team actually made a cryptic shout out to Nintendo at the award ceremony. Nintendo has great games, but the resolution on TVs, even cheap ones, is outstanding now and it goes to waste using a Switch. Playing a great game that also uses what the TV has on offer is really the best experience. If we get 4k and ray tracing on Switch I’ll be stoked.
- nobleach 2y agoNever forget, they had Rob the robot. And to my recollection, he only worked with Gyromite.
- p_j_w 2y agoWhen you try weird shit you’re bound to have failures. Nintendo has a remarkable success rate with their weird shit, though.
- wvenable 2y agoA lot of that was necessary for Nintendo get away from the "it's a video game console" comparison after the video game market crash. That's why the NES looks like a VCR too.
- coro_1 2y agoAlso NES appeared before the US as a VCR design because well, American's loved VCRs
- kmeisthax 2y agoDon't forget Stack-Up! :P
- nobleach 2y agoIndeed I forgot Stack-Up!
- bloomingkales 2y agoAs a mice or a air mouse. The smart tv stuff is limited by a remote control from 1980 (more or less, what changed?). I'd make lifestyle apps for the switch if they enable it.
- danudey 2y agoAs a mouse mouse. It seems to have an optical sensor on the inside edge (the side that attaches to the console) and the video shows the joy cons zooming around on that edge.
- enragedcacti 2y agothe teaser also has a clear shot of the side and there's a sensor that looks identical to an optical mouse sensor. It seems really rough from an ergonomics perspective but maybe there are accessories for that. It could also go the way of the IR camera where it sees niche uses in a couple of random games but isn't really a staple of the console. https://www.polygon.com/nintendo-switch-2/509821/nintendo-switch-2-joy-con-mouse-rumor-confirmed https://www.polygon.com/nintendo-switch-2/509821/nintendo-sw...
- AlwaysRock 2y agoHa. Since when does Nintendo care about ensuring functionality they add to their devices are leveraged? Other than first party games, and even that can be limited, almost no one ever implements the weird little functionality they add to their devices.
- dmonitor 2y agoI think someone at Nintendo has a brother-in-law that owns an IR sensor manufacturer. Only explanation for that feature being in every right joycon.
- ad_hockey 2y agoNot just Nintendo. The PlayStation 4 controller had that touchpad in the middle that also clicked in to act as a button. I played a lot of games that used it as a button (usually to open a map, or something) and don't remember a single game that used it as a touchpad.
- kipchak 2y agoLikewise for the PS Vita's features such as the rear touchpad.
- jsheard 2y agoMicrosoft is somewhat to blame for new controller features being underutilized because they're extremely reluctant to add anything to the Xbox controller. Motion control in particular stands out, the hardware isn't expensive and it's proven to be very useful in some types of game, but the lowest common denominator Xbox controller still doesn't have it so multi-platform games can't be designed around it. Especially multiplayer games with crossplay since you can't let some players have more precise inputs than others.
- Gigachad 2y agoWould be amusing if they just allowed it anyway and if you use an Xbox controller, you just suck at the game. Pressuring MS to add gyro.
- petters 2y agoA mouse wood be very nice for Super Mario Maker!
- drawkward 2y agoor the upcoming civ 7, or any number of games!