No formalities. Just continuing on from Yesterday.
No pun intended, but after getting to grips with Zelda, Sonic Mania, and Mario Kart 8, and trying out the Switch’s numerous play styles (TV, Tabletop, Handheld). I figured I’d seen enough to get my seal of approval. I was sold on the idea.
Though to be fair, I don’t put up much of a fight when it comes to buying games consoles. I was raised on video games, I collect them, I could talk about them all day, I gradually get tattoo’s of them, and ven though I’m armed with a smartphone swelling with games, I still pretty much go everywhere with at least one handheld on me.
Whether it’s my little cereal prize sized Game Boy Micro, my 3DS, my Vita, or even my little GPD XD Android handheld. The idea of ever being sat somewhere with nothing to do is probably an irrational fear of mine, unless I’m sunbathing on holiday, where I’ll happily stare into space and find zen, and not just because the sun causes screen glare and prevents any gaming, honest >_>.
GPDXD – Amazon UK // GPDXD – Amazon USA
As I was saying though. I’m not the market that Nintendo need to convince. So unless you were already an existing Nintendo fan, or just fancied treating yourself to what was new in the world of gaming devices, then I’d totally understand if you’re on the fence to this point. Stay with me though…here’s where I go into the next and possibly greatest revelation I had with the Switch.
After playing the 3 well known game franchises I’ve already mentioned, it was time to play something new. 1, 2, Switch.
Nintendo Wii had Wii Sports. Nintendo WiiU had Nintendo Land. Nintendo Switch, will have 1, 2, Switch.
I group those games together because all 3 of those games serve as great demonstrations to what that system’s controller is capable of.
At the Switch event Nintendo had I believe 6 of the mini-games from 1, 2, Switch on the show floor. “Milk”, “Samurai Training”, “Ball Count”, “Safe Crack”, “Copy Dance”, and “Quick Draw” (the final number of mini-games in the end product is currently unknown).
Out of these I first played “Safe Crack“. In this game you hold a Joy-Con on it’s own, and basically use the motion controls to twist it 360°. Whilst you twist you can feel the “HD Rumble” specifically clicking at every notch on the Safe’s dial. However using that new “HD Rumble” you can actually find a slightly different feeling notch whilst you twist, once found you have to hold in place for a couple of seconds to unlock and score the point. I played it in vs. mode against a friend, it’s first to find the 3 hidden notches, and both of us picked up the concept very easily and had 2 very close matches.
Whilst short, this game alone taught me that the Nintendo Switch has a much better precision with the motion controls compared to the previous Wii and Wii Motion + technology. It’s perhaps surprising to think that the Nintendo Wii is actually 10 years old now, so it makes sense that motion control technology has grown up a little too it would seem.
The next game I played was “Samurai Training“. In this game one person raises their Joy-Con over head, and must make a swinging gesture to slice their sword downwards. The other player must watch their opponent make his swing and suddenly clap the Joy-Con to try and catch the Sword mid swing. If you’re too early or late at catching the sword, you lose.
A very simple concept to build a mini-game around, but again, the motion controls worked a charm. The greatest thing about this game (and a feature across all of 1, 2, Switch) is that you have no need for a screen whatsoever, you simply look at your opponent. You can be creative in inventing fun ways to fake swing (if the catcher claps early you’ve won).
Thirdly, I played “Ball Count“, and perhaps unbelievably, this is the game that probably got the biggest jaw drop reaction out of me of the entire day. Ball Count asks you to pick up the Joy-Con and hold it horizontally, you then slowly tilt the device around and try to guess how many balls are inside it (the number of which is randomly generated).
Playing against a friend you both must guess how many balls are inside (you both have the same number), and the game gives you an option to keep your actual count hidden so that your friend can’t simply copy you if they feel you’re more confident about the number than they are.
On paper this sure sounds like a basic mini-game concept right?
Well here’s the thing. This was mind blowing! This one mini game was the absolute pinnacle for showing off the “HD Rumble”. The controller literally feels as though it had balls in it. You can feel them rolling from 1 side of the little Joy-Con to another, both left, right, front, back. You can even shake the controller and feel the balls rattling around as if you’re holding a half full pack of Tic Tacs. Absolutely spot on physics.
Anyone who’s followed video games for a similar length of time to myself can attest to the fact that sometimes with new things we’ll be told something by a games company, and we trust what they tell us, then go on to feel a tad disappointed with the end product because we let our imagination get ahead of the technology.
Some examples? The Nintendo Wii. That initial trailer lead us to believe that controller could do anything. We dreamed of 1:1 Star Wars Lightsaber fights. A whole new era of First Person Shooters and Sports Games. Anything from reality seemed possible to translate into a Wii game and make pressing buttons on a controller seem archaic.
Well we soon found out the Wii controller wasn’t quite that precise at all. Some games managed to utilise the controller well, and capture what Nintendo had envisioned for the system. Others simply tacked it on, or the limitations of the motion controller hardware ended up really dumbing down the gameplay.
We also had Kinect from Microsoft. A similar story. We naively thought simply using finger guns would become a reality, no need for a controller, precision camera detection was now!! Instead what we got was an improved version of the old PlayStation 2 Eyetoy that failed to catch on. Even after a 2nd attempt on the XBOX One, Kinect proved to be limited by affordable technology. I’m sure the idea will come back around in a decade or so and potentially live up to what we imagined a device of that nature could do.
HD Rumble however, is here today. In full glory.
I’ll admit, it’s a strange feature I don’t think anyone had particularly asked for, but in your hands it feels tremendous. Paired with the right games, this feature could go a long way.
Some ideas off the top of my head; a deeper feeling of the different recoil effects depending on a gun strength in an FPS. A better tactile emphasis of the terrain you’re driving or riding on in games with vehicles, and an almost endless amount of utilities that could be used in puzzle solving whether it be in dedicated Puzzle games or ones you’d find in adventure games like Zelda or survival horror titles. A new “Zack and Wiki” anyone? Heart beats gradually feeling more rapid in your palms as you near death or your charter is scared in a game. Who knows were imagination can take it?
I’d go as far to say Ball Count would be a great start when it comes to showing someone whats so neat about that new Nintendo Switch you bought. I’m sure overall “1, 2, Switch” will have a number of great little games in it that make it to the essential quick tour of the system (as Nintendo Land, and Wii Sports had done prior).
I’ve seen people online argue it might not be worth it’s full game RRP (which remains to be seen), and I get that it might not be a game you could play for hours on end like Zelda, but if you have others in your household, or ever have friends round, or just want to show off your new system. Whether you’re at home or taking advantage of it’s portable nature… then 1, 2, Switch is your go to.
I really hope 1, 2, Switch has some sort of mode that allows you to set a number of wins, and then let the game randomly pick what you’ll play for each round. That sort of mode would make this a great Vs. party game to get absurdly competitive with. Definitely a drinking game, whether that be Milk or otherwise.
Given how much I’ve managed to get out about 1, 2, Switch, the greater fidelity motion controls, and my excitement over the HD Rumble prospect. I’m going to have to save the rest of the Switch event for another day, and Zelda for the day after that.
Before I wrap up though, let me end with a rebuttal to internet chatter regarding the Nintendo Joy-Con controllers.
I’ve seen a lot of harsh feedback regarding the fact that a 2nd pair of Joy–Cons will set you back £69.99 in the UK (originally they were £74.99 but places have been adjusting price to 69.99 as of time of writing). Now I get that to many people this seems like in order to have more people playing your console it’ll come at a high premium.
Technically with the pair of Joy-Cons you get with the system you’ll already have an open door to a lot of 2 player content. Not just “1, 2, Switch”, but you’ll be able to play the likes of Mario Kart, Super Bomberman R, Virtual console titles, downloadable indie titles, and many other upcoming software that has a lighter input selection.
You WILL however need a 2nd pair of Joy-Cons for the upcoming ARMS if you wish to play local multiplayer, and I’m sure over time many more titles will require more sets too, but here’s the thing…
For the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo WiiU, you’d be paying approximately £39.99 for just one Wii Motion+ Controller. Where as each Switch Joy-Con is notably more precise than it’s predecessors for motion controls, they include HD Rumble, they’re rechargeable, and on top of that you have the ability to scan NFC chips (Amiibo) and the potential of whatever comes from the IR camera feature.
Buying your 2nd pair of Joy Cons will have you sitting pretty with 4 controllers for the likes of Super Bomberman R and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe too.
By no means am I trying to discredit that £69.99 is a notable bit of money to be spending for a controller(s), but I am saying that if and when you do get round to it, it’s because of technology, not profits.
Check back tomorrow when I discuss a must-buy game that easily provided me with the most laughs (even more so than the weirdness of competitive virtual cow milking), plus more of the launch window Switch line-up…