
The Legend of Nintendo - tim_sw
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-06-21/how-nintendo-s-switch-helped-the-japanese-gaming-giant-win-again
======
hitekker
>When it was Furukawa’s turn to speak, he noted that Nintendo makes
“playthings, not necessities” and that if consumers stop finding its products
compelling, the company could be swiftly forgotten.

Never. Never. A thousand times never.

Some experiences are just fond memories. Others are formative. For me, getting
120 stars, defeating Ganondorf, unlocking Mewtwo, throwing green polka-dotted
eggs-- those moments rank among the most defining times of my youth. More than
Disney, Youtube, TV or any other entertainment company, Nintendo was there for
me, and there for my friends.

Happy or sad, when I was alone, I'd adventure in the rolling slopes of the
Mushroom Kingdom. When I was with friends, we'd obliviate one another in a
final destination. And when we were nowhere near our consoles, we'd argue
about our escapades and the “strats”.

Starcraft, Half Life, Age of Empires, and the like are all great, amazing
games, and I love them so. But Nintendo has my childhood. Through-and-through.

It would be unfortunate if they go down the path of Sega and and ruin their
franchises.

But I will cherish the memories they gave me. And I will never forget them.

~~~
trynewideas
For a 128-year-old company, it could take two generations passing away for
them to be forgotten and it'd still be swift by their measure.

~~~
Alex3917
The best old movies will live forever thanks to the lists from AFI, BFI, etc.

Eventually we’ll likely have better versions of things like this:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_games_consider...](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_games_considered_the_best)

(Right now it’s still missing NetHack and a bunch of other basic stuff.)

~~~
z3phyr
Notice the number of games considered the best per year. Late 1990s and early
2000s have a bunch. Are people making lesser games nowadays? Or the stakes
have increased?

~~~
dfxm12
Look at the sources. Only 2 are from earlier than 2003. This list is driven
primarily by nostalgia (and perhaps, cynically, secondarily by marketing
budgets).

It's rare that something will be declared "best ever" while it is still
contemporary. It usually takes a little time to figure that out.

~~~
noxToken
It's a lot harder to stand out from the crowd these days. You can have a
mechanic that does something perfect that makes your game the best among a sea
of 20 clones, but rarely in this era are you going to find a game on an island
alone that makes it shine like a Mario 64 or Grand Theft Auto III. Studios are
(and to no fault of their one) making incremental improvements to previous
titles.

------
yazaddaruvala
I find it amazing that, to detect hand and leg movement, the Vive and Oculus
teams had to do so much on coming up with expensive sensors and
configurations. These systems require the need for a dedicated room, which has
been setup basically by experts.

Nintendo delivers 80% of the experience and 100% of the fun with an IR camera
(already in the switch) and some $4 cardboard they sell for $80. And it is
portable!

While the better sensors will definitely win in the long run, this is one of
the best instances of engineering simplicity and "perfect being the enemy of
good enough". It's hard to be anything but speechless.

~~~
aikinai
It looks like almost everyone that replied to your comment completely missed
the point, but understanding the difference between technology and fun is
exactly why Nintendo can be both the most acclaimed game developer and a
money-making business.

And it's not like they even try to keep quiet about their philosophy; Gunpei
Yokoi called it "Lateral Thinking with Withered Technology" (枯れた技術の水平思考) and
wrote a book about it.[1]

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpei_Yokoi#Lateral_Thinking_...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpei_Yokoi#Lateral_Thinking_with_Withered_Technology)

~~~
carlosdp
I don't think anyone missed the point, it's just a nonsensical comparison. The
implication is that Vive and Oculus foolhardily over complicated their
solution to the controller tracking problem, and Nintendo did the same thing
much simpler. (The space pen vs Russian pencil)

But they are doing entirely different things. Labo is cool, but is entirely
unrelated to VR tracking technology.

~~~
sanderjd
> The implication is that Vive and Oculus foolhardily over complicated their
> solution to the controller tracking problem, and Nintendo did the same thing
> much simpler.

You just missed the point again. That's not the implication at all. The
implication is not that they did the same thing, it's that they did a
_different_ thing, which is simpler, but is still a good solution for the
metric they are optimizing: fun.

~~~
monsieurbanana
There's no implication here to interpret here, the commentator did directly
compare the two systems. Here's a quote from the comment:

> Nintendo delivers 80% of the experience

~~~
yazaddaruvala
The goal of all gaming systems, VR, Labo or console, is to be a fun
experience.

I agree they are all targeting a different fidelity for emmersion, but they
are all targeting the same fidelity for fun.

Why can't I compare two very different implementations trying to achieve a
similar core goal?

~~~
carlosdp
... a Yo-Yo is fun too and is 1% of the cost of the Labo, is that a fair
comparison?

------
jdoliner
One thing not mentioned, that I think will be adding to their legend toward
the end of the year is the release of Smash Bros. Ultimate. Smash has always
occupied an interested space, Nintendo intended it as fun-for-the-whole-family
type of game. Which it didn't necessarily fail as, but it accidentally
succeeded as one premier competitive esports titles. There's always been
tension between Nintendo's original vision and the competitive scene, with the
3rd game in the series, Brawl being summarily rejected in competitive circles.
As esports has gone mainstream over the past 5 years though, other companies
have figured out how to embrace and profit from the competitive scenes
surrounding their games. With Ultimate, Nintendo seems to have finally started
thinking of Smash as primarily a competitive game. Everyone I know who's
played Smash at all seriously is incredibly excited for the new Smash. I
personally will be buying a Switch just to play it, which is nothing new to
me, I often joke that I should just hot glue Smash into my Nintendo consoles
when I get them, I literally never take it out, I don't even own other games
for them.

~~~
mxwsn
I'm not so sure that "smush" is going to be the capstone you're describing. Of
course, details are slim and hype is high right now, but I think there are a
few factors to keep in mind. As a competitive melee player, Nintendo has
proven themselves to be incredibly slow and remains out of date with regard to
supporting a competitive community for any game they have. They do seem to be
trying to turn a new leaf with Ultimate, but Nintendo Japan has a lot of
internal inertia (Sakurai's personal opinions) and regulatory restrictions
(gambling laws making it hard to host tournaments with meaningful prize money)
that make me skeptical that they're going to go as far to support their game
as Valve, Riot, Blizzard, etc, which is what's really necessary to become a
tier 1 e-sport. These leading e-sport companies are all American, in contrast
to Nintendo which has to work overseas to support smash competitively (the
Japanese competitive smash community is tiny compared to the U.S., in part due
to culture).

In addition, I don't think Nintendo's going to be able to kill melee and
convert all of us to ultimate without also turning off lots of casuals. But
without the full support of both casuals and the entire existing competitive
community for smash (over half of which is for melee), ultimate is just going
to be another profitable and fun game, like smash 4, but not lastingly
legendary like melee happened to be.

~~~
jdoliner
I am definitely suffering from smush hype delirium, I won't even try to deny
it. And I think your skepticism is well placed. I would be surprised
(pleasantly) to see Nintendo offering anything close to Riot, Valve, Blizzard
levels of support within this decade. Still it feels like they've gone from
actively hostile toward the competitive scene in Brawl, to throwing us a few
bones in Sm4sh (omega modes, new run of Gamecube controllers, albeit slightly
funky ones) to finally at least considering the pro scene as first class
citizens in Smush.

That being said I don't really say a way that it could kill Melee either...
although I bet melee players are going to buy a lot of controllers. The only
thing I could imagine killing Melee is maybe if Smush had a Melee
compatibility mode that implemented its mechanics exactly faithful to the
original, but I don't see them doing that, and even then people probably still
wouldn't leave Melee.

------
joeax
What I find interesting is the Nintendo is sitting on a billion+ worth of IP
that they haven't even scratched the surface of unlocking. The Zelda universe
alone could generate millions with movies, novels, merchandising, and other
content, but instead it remains on lockdown, with just the flagship game title
releasing every 5-6 years with limited toys or figures (basically just Amiibos
and some collectibles). The best we've gotten is a rumor of a GoT-style Zelda
series headed to Netflix, a rumor quickly shot down by Nintendo.

Had the Switch failed, I believe this could have been their next play. Even if
they exited the console market their IP could sustain the company for decades.

~~~
danbolt
I think they’re quite sensitive to how the brand is perceived in terms of
merchandising.

~~~
joeax
In the long-term it's to their detriment. If the company finds itself on the
decline, they may look back on it as a missed opportunity.

~~~
danbolt
I think the opposite, actually. It strikes me that Nintendo is aware that the
value that comes from a video game is very different than something like a
comic book or film. I think a video game is something that you express
yourself into, and in turn receive a response. It's why the higher-ups felt
confident about _Breath of the Wild_ once they felt that the interaction of
tree-climbing felt good.[1]

A big-budget television series would push something like _The Legend of Zelda_
into something that it's not, and likely cheapen the brand. By investing and
shipping something fresh and well-crafted at a slower clip, Nintendo can
ensure that its IP keeps its strength over time.

[1] [https://kotaku.com/when-miyamoto-first-played-zelda-
breath-o...](https://kotaku.com/when-miyamoto-first-played-zelda-breath-of-
the-wild-h-1793017234)

------
abvdasker
I would love to know more about the inner workings of Nintendo corporate
culture. For the company to have survived for so long means they clearly know
something most games studios and tech companies don't. That their offices
don't seem to include any of the flashy bullshit populating the offices of
most tech companies seems telling.

~~~
Izkata
Something I vaguely remember from years ago in an interview: Rather like this
comment [0] I just read on another submission, it's along the lines of: Don't
listen to what people say, throw everything at the wall and see what sticks.

Two things that stuck crazy-well were the touchscreen on the NDS in 2004 and
the motion controls on the Wii in 2006. In either case, they were the first to
market with both ideas, but before that people would've said the idea was
crazy.

Two other examples that didn't stick at all, off the top of my head: Virtual
Boy and the Power Glove.

(Small aside: It's long enough ago that plenty of people seem to have
forgotten, but the touchscreen on the NDS was a crazy idea at the time because
that was nearly 3 years _before_ the iPhone was released, let alone
smartphones becoming common/popular. The got-to-have phone at the time was the
Motorola RAZR.)

[0]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17387468](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17387468)

~~~
sh33mp
Just a gamer here, but there's something to be said about the success and
failure of the 3DS and PS Vita.

The 3DS, based on hardware/system alone, should have failed. It was
tremendously underpowered, and it forced a terrible 3D technology on all its
users, which never really took off or became anything other than a novelty
while raising the cost of manufacturing.

The Vita was a truly next-generation portable gaming device, with a beautiful
screen, incredible graphics, properly analog sticks, an extremely modern
interface, and great connectivity and human-interface (camera, capacitative
touch) features. Even incorporating the cost of a proprietary Sony memory
card, for the amount of power you got, I think it was very reasonably priced.
Comparing the 3DS and Vita was like night and day in terms of a modern gaming
device. Even today, I think it can stand head-to-head with the Switch in terms
of portable gaming.

But Nintendo continued to pour resources into developing top-tier games for
the 3DS, slashing its price to bolster adoption, and sticking to its still
unorthodox 3D screen/touch screen combo. Whereas for the Vita, Sony quickly
got spooked that the Vita didn't perform as well as the PSP, pulled first-
party support and general marketing support, and major 3rd party developers
(particularly outside Japan) fled the device.

The 3DS is now seen as a major success for Nintendo, while the Vita died (or
is still dying) a slow and unceremonious death.

Sometimes sticking to your crazy guns works.

~~~
Mindless2112
> _it forced a terrible 3D technology on all its users_

That's a little strong, considering there's a switch to turn it off or even
the option to get a 2DS.

I usually turned it off (except for Bravely Default which has gorgeous 3D art
in the towns).

~~~
sh33mp
I guess I was a little unclear in what I meant. I meant that everyone (prior
to the much later 2DS) had to pay for the 3D tech that most people didn't
really want. I absolutely turned my 3D off about a week in and never really
used it again.

------
sheetjs
For those who have a switch:
[https://www.switchbru.com/dns/](https://www.switchbru.com/dns/) is a simple
hosted DNS server that lets you browse the web. And the web browser runs
webkit!

[https://i.imgur.com/0h803Ux.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/0h803Ux.jpg) shows a
Chart.JS demo running in a canvas.

Unfortunately the File API does not work:
[https://i.imgur.com/GA5kNGp.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/GA5kNGp.jpg)

~~~
backpropaganda
annddddd.... patched.

Seriously, though, it's gonna be very easy for Nintendo to patch this
particular DNS out. While running a browser doesn't really hurt their
bottomline, a browser is typically the weakest link in any console and thus is
often used to find an exploit and run homebrew. The Switch as of now doesn't
have a non-intrusive exploit, but allowing arbitrary javascript could result
in one.

~~~
striking
This is a minor abuse of the captive portal resolution function, that opens
the web browser to let the user log in to any captive portal.

There's no real way to "patch" this.

~~~
backpropaganda
> There's no real way to "patch" this.

Just disable custom DNS. Only allow a few whitelisted DNS that 99.9% of people
are going to use anyway.

~~~
detaro
What does that gain? It prevents people from browsing the web, what's the
issue with that?

For exploits/jailbreaks/... it'd be easy to use a local fake captive portal,
so it doesn't protect against that unless they kill that feature completely,
making the device unuseable with many networks.

~~~
voltagex_
It would also prevent people with jailbroken devices from blocking
*.nintendo.com so there's that.

~~~
krageon
If you own the network it's not super hard to just filter all traffic doing
DNS. If you have a properly owned phone, you can probably run this over your
phone hotspot and do the packet inspection that way. Then you can block all
nintendo traffic, while still not having a "custom" DNS. If you really tried,
you could still even have your custom DNS except it would be spoofing another
server.

The point is that if you own the network (and you do), then the clients are
nominally at your mercy.

------
blahedo
Whoa! "More radically to that end, in April, Nintendo began selling a toy line
called Labo, which consists of cardboard assembly kits that gamers can use to
transform the Switch’s detachable controllers into rudimentary motion-
sensitive objects such as fishing rods or mini pianos. The contraptions can
then be used to play accompanying games on the TV screen, by catching sharks
with the rod, say. _The games’ code is somewhat customizable, so precocious
kids can program new uses for each of the accessories._ "

~~~
tootie
Labo is super cool, but my kids' attention has waned. It doesn't sound like
it's been much of a success. On the flip side, we've cleared Mario Odyssey 4
times already. And when we get tired of it, we fire up Lego Star Wars on the
Wii.

~~~
tyfon
I considered buying labo for my kids but I thought the cardboard would be
destroyed in a week max.

How does it hold up? I have two, one is three and the other is seven.

We've cleared odyssey at least two times as well, and I catch the older one
looking for moons from time to time. Kirby seems to be the current attraction
though :)

~~~
gelstudios
Nintendo released all the labo parts as PDFs.

Granted, turning those files into parts might be more work than most people
want to do, but at least it’s an option.

[https://www.nintendo.co.jp/labo/parts/](https://www.nintendo.co.jp/labo/parts/)

------
gallerdude
Nintendo is awesome - they’re absolutely obsessed with making games as fun as
possible, which is shockingly rare.

~~~
billybolton
Nintendo, unlike most companies are focused on making games with gameplay.
Most companies are making movies with gameplay segments in between.

~~~
Semirhage
Try Nioh or Dark Souls, you’ll have gameplay coming out of your ears. If you
want cutscenes and dialogue with balance, try Persona 5, which is balanced by
very tight gameplay; likewise with Yakuza 0. Avoid anything from Ubisoft like
it was carrying plague.

~~~
billybolton
Speaking of Ubisoft, is it just me or do they repackage the same game with
different skins over and over gain? I swear Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, Ghost
Recon and Watch Dogs are the same game with different skins.

~~~
Semirhage
It is _not_ just you. It reminds me of Taco Bell. They’re only working with a
dozen or so ingredients, sometimes fried, sometimes grilled, in various
combinations. After a while though, you start to realize it’s just a “new”
arrangement of the same “meat” and it gets ooooold.

~~~
billybolton
It's a shame, they used to be good. I really like the idea behind Assassin's
Creed. And Sands of Time is a god tier A++ game.

~~~
Semirhage
I couldn’t agree more, I think they just got lost in the easy money. If we’re
lucky they might fall on some hard times that fall short of killing them, and
rememember that making really great games was how they became huge the first
time. Otherwise, it’s hard to see a way forward the way they are now.

------
pimmen
Hiroshi Yamauchi was a very harsh man in some regards (at least most would
agree that he was blunt) but the way he built Nintendo is admirable. He knew
what many managers don’t, that you need to find talented people that you can
trust and have a hands off approach to their work if you want to scale and
that there is probably not a single person or division in your company that
deserves all the credit. He had by all accounts equal respect for Gunpei Yokoi
who built a lot of good hardware, Satoru Iwata who built a lot of good
software and Shigeru Myamoto who created a lot of good content.

I know that Iwata took the company to great heights after Yamauchi stepped
down but sometimes I worry that as time goes by Nintendo will lose what made
it great, which is their big picture thinking. They’re not a console company,
or a game studio or a game publisher; they’re a game company and to create the
best experience they sometimes need to reimagine how games are played while
not looking too gimmicky. It takes a special kind of philosophy to pull that
off and over time I’m afraid it’ll go away.

------
duxup
I remember after the GameCube was short on games and thrid party support. I
was done with Nintendo.

Nintendo then said their next console wouldn't compete with MS or Sony
directly. I was sure they were just going to be a handheld gaming company
after that as they were sure to die in the console market.

Nope, the Wii sold like hot cakes and I bought one and had a ton of fun.

They just keep doing it...

~~~
throwawayqdhd
The Switch is the first console that has me excited about gaming in nearly a
decade. A relative brought it over during a vacation and we had tons of fun
playing Mario Kart.

The last time I was excited for a game was Age of Mythology back in 2002.

Nintendo solves the biggest complaint I have with modern games: they just take
themselves way too seriously. So many are just trying to become wish
fulfillment vehicles instead of actually being fun.

I don't care about story or sitting through 10 minute cut scenes. I don't have
that kind of time or patience. If I wanted story, I'd watch HBO and get far
better stuff.

I just want to launch and have fun for 30 minutes.

Nintendo gets that.

~~~
duxup
Nintendo has somehow managed to pull off a great system where they have arcade
like pickup and play fun... and yet still depth to some extent so it doesn't
feel repetitive.

There is some serious skill in that.

~~~
throwawayqdhd
Exactly. The only games - that I've played - that have the same arcade "pick
up and play" level of fun are the GTA series (especially San Andreas) and
racing games.

------
amimetic
Does anyone else find the overwhelmingly positive coverage of Switch and its
games a little puzzling?

From a consumer's perspective I just don't get it. The Switch costs more than
a vastly more powerful PS4 or Xbox One S. It (particularly) versus a PS4 has a
tiny library of games. And the PS4 has actual VR. But even more remarkable is
comparing the prices of games on the systems: often you will pay 2-3x as much
for a (probably inferior) version of a game (compared to
PS4/Xbox/iOS/Android).

I bought a Switch a few months ago. Played (and loved) the nostalgia of Mario.
Played and dropped (as it seemed frustrating/grind-y) Zelda. And as far as I
can tell that is basically the two games worth getting it for it. So I sold
it. As I have a dozen great games ready to go on my PS4, and seems like more
excellent stuff on the way, I just don't get the point of the Switch. If I
want to play games on the move I can use my iPhone.

~~~
floatboth
> that is basically the two games worth getting it for it

Splatoon 2, Bayonetta 2, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, ARMS.

Also homebrew and Linux :)

~~~
seba_dos1
It's just so sad that they aren't exactly friendly towards homebrew. It would
be a perfect gaming device I would buy with no hesitation - instead, I have no
idea now if they'll ban me from using their services for using GNU/Linux if I
decide to buy it.

~~~
amimetic
Yeah, as a developer I do find iOS and Android compelling: there are such low
barriers to entry I can (and have) released games for both.

~~~
seba_dos1
As a developer, I believe it's a mixed bag.

I've made plenty of small, silly games that I could release on Android, iOS
and recently also on Steam. That's great, I wouldn't be able to do so on
Switch.

However, I'm now also working on a bigger game that takes two years to make,
and when releasing on Android, iOS and Steam it will just drown in the sea of
crap, which means I will have to rely only on my own marketing efforts. It
might also get a Switch port, and it's more than likely that it will be much
easier to sell there.

------
saagarjha
No mention of the 3DS, which sold 75 million units?

~~~
lloydde
“Nintendo’s existing handheld platform, the 3DS, kicked in an additional $1.7
billion“

~~~
saagarjha
That's after the Switch was released. The article makes it seem like Nintendo
was about to go bankrupt because Wii U did not do well, and seems to
conveniently ignore the fact that the 3DS did relatively well–two thirds as
well as Wii did. So while Nintendo wasn't doing great, they weren't about to
fail either.

~~~
pvg
A second failure of the flagship console might have ended Nintendo's run as a
hardware maker. Nintendo pulled another rabbit out of its hat. That's the
narrative being presented - not a particularly controversial or contrarian
one.

~~~
rainbowmverse
This seems to be true of any hardware-based business. Hardware is expensive,
has long development cycles, and can't always be fixed with a patch. Maybe
they're pulling rabbits out of their hats, but they seem to have an
inexhaustible supply. People have predicted Nintendo's demise at least since
the GameCube. Somehow, they keep surprising cynics every other hardware cycle.

~~~
ehnto
I am always excited to hear about their consoles because they always do
something interesting with the human to computer interface. It also always
seems just a bit childlike in its attempts at innovation which I love, and by
which I mean "Imagine if you had TWO screens" is something an 8 year old would
say with unwavering glee.

It's a sentiment other manufacturers miss out on entirely and that's fine, but
I am super glad Nintendo is still around to fill the gap.

~~~
Sangermaine
Other manufacturers just seem obsessed with raw specs and power, rather than
actual gameplay experience.

------
Isamu
>The notion of abandoning a core craft was anathema to Nintendo’s culture,
though—the company was, after all, still selling packs of hanafuda, the
flower-adorned playing cards that it set out with in 1889.

Anybody have experience with hanafuda cards from Nintendo? I'm thinking of
buying the Tengu pack. I've been learning Koi Koi (ever since watching Summer
Wars.)

------
dfox
One thing that I would really like to see is how Nintendo's Japanese hardware
development organization really looks like, because at least since Wii all of
their hardware design is quite obviously outsourced to the US.

------
furgooswft13
Don't get me wrong, I love Nintendo, own a Switch, and will happily shell out
hundreds of dollars each generation just to get the chance to play 2 or 3 new
Mario/Yoshi titles. But from the Wii era on, their hardware and success seems
largely based off of gimmicks. Maybe that is what is needed to stand out in an
age of increasingly homogenized games and gaming platforms, but for me what
makes Nintendo stand out is their 1st party titles that consistently combine
nostalgia, excellent gameplay/mechanics, charming visuals, minimal (if any)
storytelling, great music, and recently multiplayer co-op (bring your wife and
kids!). Ok, I'm a sucker for Mario-type games and have not much been into
Zelda since Ocarina, but I struggle to find games with those qualities and
quality on any other platform, if at all.

It has nothing to do with the hardware and their gimmicks. I can count on one
hand the number of times I've used the Switch outside the house, or seriously
played a Wii motion-control game, or a WiiU game that effectively used the
dual/touchscreen features (does Mario Maker count?). If Nintendo released
Mario Odyssey for PC I'd never even think of purchasing the Switch and very
happily play the game at 4k 60fps on my puter. Being able to remap "shake your
controller like an idiot" to spin-jump to a button in Dolphin made various
Mario New's tolerable.

But yea, that'll never happen. So as long as Nintendo keeps producing on the
games front, I'll happily keep biting. Plz take my money.

But how could I go on this rant without diverging into lionizing the glory of
the SNES days, when Nintendo and videogames themselves were at a peak which
shall never again be reached. The SNES was inarguably (though not at the time,
Blast Processing and all) superior in graphics, audio, and control compared to
other popular consoles at the time (that being Sega Genesis of course). And
developers took advantage of all this power in spades. I'm still impressed by
Mode 7 (what, you don't pause SMW when Bowser's clown-ship is zoomed to the
max?), and many SNES game music are still among the best examples of VGM,
before compressed digital audio removed all constraints on composers (with all
due respect to the glorious SOTN and Mario Galaxy compositions).

Many people have stated that early 2d games have aged better than early 3d
ones, and I think that is true. The SNES shows this well, with vibrant,
colorful, glitzy graphics, and excellent music. But what I think has been lost
with the new generation of consoles is unique character. One could tell at a
glance whether a game was was produced for the NES, Genesis, or SNES, and even
the PS1 and N64. Now that characterness is left up to the developer, and the
consoles/PC mostly interchangeable. That's fine I suppose. But there is
something impressive, especially as a programmer, about taking these limited
machines to their absolute limits, and eking every bit of unexpected power out
of them.

I remember once my friend messaged me, he just had to play FF3 (or FF6) like
RIGHT NOW. So I sent him the ROM. We then both marveled at how it was only _4
megabytes_ in size. Kefka is truly rolling in his grave, laughing maniacally.

~~~
sotojuan
> I can count on one hand the number of times I've used the Switch outside the
> house

Do you live in the US and in a non-urban area (e.g. not NYC)? If so, you
probably have no reason to use the Switch outside the house. You may have a
car commute and live in country where playing handheld games outside isn't
normal.

I say this because growing up in a suburb, not many people played their
GBA/DS/3DS outside. We all just brought them to each other's houses or played
them in cars.

Now that I live in NYC, you might see me playing on my 3DS or Vita during my
subway commute (I'm too scared to take the Switch out since it costs $300). In
Japan, handheld games and consoles are becoming the norm, so it's very common.

I will say the ability to go from couch/TV/projector to bed and still be
playing the same game is awesome.

And yes, FFVI is the best JRPG of all time.

~~~
Grazester
You're afraid to take out your switch? I am assuming you don't own a $300
phone either. Unless you're in a shady neighbourhood at weird hours of the
night waiting for the train no one care about your switch. I see a few people
using them on the subway but surprisingly handhelds never seemed super popular
on the train because I dont even see many people on the cheaper Nintendo DS's
either. I see lots of people gaming on their phones though.

~~~
sotojuan
Yeah it's a little weird but I just don't feel good about taking it outside
yet... maybe that will change.

As for the second part of your comment, it's simple. Playing handheld video
games in public is not typical or socially normal in the US... unless it's on
your phone.

~~~
krageon
Why does it matter whether or not it's typical or socially normal? Are people
going to beat you if you stand out as a minor nerd?

~~~
sotojuan
No. I play games during my commute all the time. I'm explaining why it is not
more common in the US.

------
lloydde
I was about to go with a different console to stop my 10yr old bugging me
about Fortnite. Him and his friends short attention span and deserve to be
messaging with friends means be still spends much of his time on mobile or
laptop.

~~~
cdolan
I’ve read this about 4 times and I still can’t quite figure out what this
comment is trying to communicate.

~~~
titanomachy
s/deserve/desire

s/be/he

