Nintendo Switch - Games You Can Play Right Now

Vargen wrote:

Forget color coding the buttons. The SNES had the right idea what with making the sets of buttons feel different. I don't work a controller with my eyes, after all. But no, everybody has to get all nostalgic for the colors on the Super Famicom version of the controller and a good idea had to go die (with the notable exception of the GameCube controller).

Controller design could be doing loads more with different shapes and textures to differentiate between inputs without having to depend on letters and colors. It's a device that you hold in your hands! That you are constantly touching! So why is so little done to make it a device that pairs different inputs to different tactile experiences to create better subconscious connections between where your fingers are and what you're being asked to do?

Vargen wrote:

On the SNES in the US, the X and Y buttons had NES-style concave tops while the A and B buttons were convex like all 4 Super Famicom face buttons. You can tell them apart by touch. I think the idea was the NES had gotten people used to the two buttons, so if you could feel which set of two you were on then you'd be good to go.

Well I never.

I don't know if that feature didn't exist on the UK consoles, or whether I just have no recollection of it.

PAL region SNES controllers were all convex buttons like Japan.

*Legion* wrote:

PAL region SNES controllers were all convex buttons like Japan.

Phew. Was starting to think I'd slipped into a different timeline.

I was hoping, when I saw all the new messages, Slay the Spire has been released or something else fun. Controller mapping. Sigh.

Ya, I do the same with the Slay the Spire thread when it jumps forward.

BTW, latest I've seen is "early 2019" so that's awesome.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Controller design could be doing loads more with different shapes and textures to differentiate between inputs without having to depend on letters and colors. It's a device that you hold in your hands! That you are constantly touching! So why is so little done to make it a device that pairs different inputs to different tactile experiences to create better subconscious connections between where your fingers are and what you're being asked to do?

Have you used the motion controls on a Steam Controller? They use the haptic feedback so you can feel the controller move. That alone makes it work so much better than anything Nintendo has done in that area. With the "HD Rumble" on the Switch controllers I'm surprised they haven't stolen the idea. They could.

Of course putting any effort into controller rumble is a surefire way to get mocked on the Internet...

garion333 wrote:

Ya, I do the same with the Slay the Spire thread when it jumps forward.

BTW, latest I've seen is "early 2019" so that's awesome.

I’m excited!

IMAGE(https://media1.tenor.com/images/9f1d77a1d364b38c2a5f2636c91ff914/tenor.gif?itemid=4387552)

All this talk about controllers is great and all, but I feel like we're missing the most important feature in NSMBUD

The enemies dance to the background music.

It took me a while to notice it, but it's all I can see now. I love it. I just watched a Goomba gleefully dance itself off the edge of a cliff. It was both beautiful and tragic. It was beautifully tragic.

I'm having a great time with the game too. I set myself the stupid challenge of not moving onto a new level without getting all the Star Coins. Terrible idea, but so far I'm sticking to it.

Stevintendo wrote:

All this talk about controllers is great and all, but I feel like we're missing the most important feature in NSMBUD

The enemies dance to the background music.

It took me a while to notice it, but it's all I can see now. I love it.

The first couple of times that a Koopa paused to dance, thus making my perfectly-timed jump on his head miss, I was too damn charmed to feel bad about dying.

Yeah, I've always loved that about the New series.

Stevintendo wrote:

All this talk about controllers is great and all, but I feel like we're missing the most important feature in NSMBUD

The enemies dance to the background music.

It took me a while to notice it, but it's all I can see now. I love it. I just watched a Goomba gleefully dance itself off the edge of a cliff. It was both beautiful and tragic. It was beautifully tragic.

I'm having a great time with the game too. I set myself the stupid challenge of not moving onto a new level without getting all the Star Coins. Terrible idea, but so far I'm sticking to it.

Good god, that is a terrible idea. My plan was to go back and do the Star Coins after finishing each level, but I quickly got too frustrated to follow through. This game is so fun, but the controls are really frustrating. I can't count the number of time I somehow slightly nudged "down" on the D-pad and ground-pounded my way into death. The difficulty level on this is either ramped up or I am just getting very old and my reflexes are not great.

Atras wrote:

The first couple of times that a Koopa paused to dance, thus making my perfectly-timed jump on his head miss, I was too damn charmed to feel bad about dying.

The Koopas are particularly cute! It's an effective way to stop me from needlessly squishing them too. I leave them alone as much as possible now.

Garth wrote:

Good god, that is a terrible idea. My plan was to go back and do the Star Coins after finishing each level, but I quickly got too frustrated to follow through.

Yeah, so terrible! I've done it for four worlds now though so I feel like I'm past the point of no return. If I stop now I'd be admitting that it was a bad idea all along!

Garth wrote:

This game is so fun, but the controls are really frustrating. I can't count the number of time I somehow slightly nudged "down" on the D-pad and ground-pounded my way into death. The difficulty level on this is either ramped up or I am just getting very old and my reflexes are not great.

What controller at you using? I've been making a point of using the D-Pad on my Smash Pro Controller, and it's definitely better than the one on the original. At some stage I'll test it with a NES Online game, but it feels like there's a big improvement.

I use the analog stick because of the lack of D-Pad.

Garth wrote:

This game is so fun, but the controls are really frustrating. I can't count the number of time I somehow slightly nudged "down" on the D-pad and ground-pounded my way into death. The difficulty level on this is either ramped up or I am just getting very old and my reflexes are not great.

What controller at you using? I've been making a point of using the D-Pad on my Smash Pro Controller, and it's definitely better than the one on the original. At some stage I'll test it with a NES Online game, but it feels like there's a big improvement.[/quote]

I'm using the original Pro Controller, maybe that is part of the problem. I actually am not a fan of the controls in general on the Switch, Pro Controller or no. They just aren't my ideal. Even just with navigating the Home Screen usually ends in frustration, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that a game which requires precision and twitch-response doesn't end well for me.

I just bought Tales of Vesperia It just looks too fun but I have no idea when I will actually play it.

Garth wrote:

I'm using the original Pro Controller, maybe that is part of the problem. I actually am not a fan of the controls in general on the Switch, Pro Controller or no. They just aren't my ideal. Even just with navigating the Home Screen usually ends in frustration, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that a game which requires precision and twitch-response doesn't end well for me.

I think it's fair to say that the D-Pad on the original Pro Controller is pretty bad, so that could easily be the problem. I was playing Legend of Zelda (NES Online) recently with an 8bitdo controller but the battery ran out so I changed to the Pro Controller and I had to just stop playing. I couldn't control Link with that D-Pad. I can imagine Mario would be a nightmare with it too!

I am surprised by all of you using the dpads. I just use the stick, it seems much easier and comfortable than the dpad.

I never play 2D platformers with an analog stick, if I have the choice.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

I never play 2D platformers with an analog stick, if I have the choice.

Same, but I may give the joystick a quick whirl after I get home tonight. I really can't imagine it feeling comfortable.

At the recommendation of a podcast host, I bought Momodora 4 (I don’t recall the subtitle). It’s a pretty good and polished Metroidvania that is inspired by Dark Souls. I recommend it.

Anyone buying No More Heroes: Travis Strikes Again? NMH is near and dear to my heart so I probably will.

There's been some positive early response so I'm tempted, but I'm not certain I really want to right now given I'm playing enough already.

.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

The last couple Grasshopper Manufacture games I bought have quickly descended into misogynistic trash, so I'm not going anywhere near another Suda game.

Yeah, this.

On top of which, they're simply not that good games. I mean, they're ..... fine, they're serviceable, but not worth the blistering onslaught of misogyny that's involved.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

I never play 2D platformers with an analog stick, if I have the choice.

Agreed. There isn't really an option with the Switch in handheld mode, though, is there? I'm not aware of a better D-Pad that you can actually attach to the Switch, so I'm using the analog stick.

I think the whole thing is made worse on the Switch by the fact that NSMBU Deluxe's hit boxes are so imprecise. I like the game, but it's fairly frustrating compared to a platformer like Celeste.

DSGamer wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

I never play 2D platformers with an analog stick, if I have the choice.

Agreed. There isn't really an option with the Switch in handheld mode, though, is there? I'm not aware of a better D-Pad that you can actually attach to the Switch, so I'm using the analog stick.

Hori D-pad Joycon

DSGamer wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

I never play 2D platformers with an analog stick, if I have the choice.

Agreed. There isn't really an option with the Switch in handheld mode, though, is there? I'm not aware of a better D-Pad that you can actually attach to the Switch, so I'm using the analog stick.

I'm the same as Clockwork, using a D-Pad for games like this feels right to me.

DSGamer, do you find the direction buttons on the Joy Con give you problems when you're playing platformers? I prefer the feel of a good D-Pad, buy I've never noticed any issues with inputs when I use the Joy Con.

*Legion* wrote:

Hori D-pad Joycon

Is that the one that drains batteries, and/or causes the Switch to over-heat, warp and/or brick?

(It sounds like I'm making a joke, but honestly I just haven't looked into this in a while so I might be thinking of a different one.)

Stevintendo wrote:
DSGamer wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

I never play 2D platformers with an analog stick, if I have the choice.

Agreed. There isn't really an option with the Switch in handheld mode, though, is there? I'm not aware of a better D-Pad that you can actually attach to the Switch, so I'm using the analog stick.

I'm the same as Clockwork, using a D-Pad for games like this feels right to me.

DSGamer, do you find the direction buttons on the Joy Con give you problems when you're playing platformers? I prefer the feel of a good D-Pad, buy I've never noticed any issues with inputs when I use the Joy Con.

It's mostly just the fact that I can't roll my thumb around. The games are fine. I've played a fair amount of Celeste with my Pro Controller and it feels great. Most games I've played using the D-Pad on the Pro Controller feel fine. I just don't like the directional buttons much for games where you quickly go between directions.

Stevintendo wrote:
*Legion* wrote:

Hori D-pad Joycon

Is that the one that drains batteries, and/or causes the Switch to over-heat, warp and/or brick?

It severely drained the Switch battery when it was released, but apparently that's been patched.