Nintendo Switch (previously NX)

Hateyou said:

GameStop destroyed a bunch lol

Nintendo Switch 2 Screen Punctures Ruin Launch Day for Fans Due to Store Receipts Stapled Into Console's Box - IGN

Nintendo Switch 2 owners are opening consoles with punctured screens due to store receipts being stapled into the front of the console's box.

www.ign.com

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Gamestop is so idiotic with their staples and stickers. They tell the employees to do things a certain way and the drone-like employees just comply even if it doesn't make sense. Which is why you get stickers and staples on things that get damaged by them. Like my local grocery store having to put an orange sticker on every item I buy before they put it in the bag. First off, wasteful, second off, do you drones have to do that just because some authority figure said that some other authority figure said that we have to do it? Common sense is dead.

Siliconemelons said:

New Mario Kart /feels/ more like n64-ish "older" karts in the play vs the newer ones.

Animations are insane, the little things are all there as expected from nintendo doing the little of details the blue shell "KABOOM" is nice.

The visuals are very detailed, but to me you can make out the distance / what is coming way better than 8.

only did 1 GP mushroom 50cc - the "you drive the the next course" is kinda silly as it stops, gives you results, shows points and stuff then loads, shows the map, goes to the next course... but its a rolling start...yay?

Haven't been able to just go off wherever I want, but I am sure that is a mode/option

You cant hold items behind you - at current state it is just cart selection, not cart - tires - glider (as you xform wings) - again no idea if that comes later or something.

Wife is happy, she loves kart and she legit wanted this as our anniversary present so, that was easy.button

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The Grand Prix courses stop and start like regular Mario Kart levels, even though the levels are designed to flow into each other geographically.

There's another mode, Knockout Race or something like that, where the courses are one after another without stopping and it's more fun. The cups are also entirely different in that mode. So 8 cups in Grand Prix and, I think, 8 more in the Knockout mode.

Some thoughts on MK9 and S2 in general, this will be Long:

In both modes, 50cc is so easy that I could sit there and let everyone pass me so I'm in last place, then keep sitting there for another 20s or so (like Triple H at Wrestlemania 19 waiting to pin Booker T after hitting his finisher, just to make Booker T look like shite), THEN finally start competing, and I'll win the race in first every time.

100cc is basically what 50cc used to be in the old Kart games, a mild challenge but nothing serious. Probably the most fun thing to play on the first time through.

Have to play as the racers to unlock their alternate outfits. Knockout mode is good for this. Managed to unlock all of the outfits for a character in one run-through of a cup. Only did this with Peach, Pauline, and Rosalina, to see if Nintendo has learned about sex appeal yet (they have, Pauline is indeed fucking sexy in this game).

Left myself a few more cups to knock out, but yeah, Mario Kart 9 doesn't have much single-player content to do. I'd be surprised if it's more than like 8 hours for most people (finish all cups in the two modes, maybe unlock some character skins). So the system is already kinda just sitting there. A little anemic for being the sole major launch game that is actually new. I guess I could do some online races, if it even lets me considering I have Switch Online and not Switch Online Plus Expansion. More on that in a minute.

Mario Kart 8 vs Mario Kart World: I think MKW is clearly better / a good replacement. MK8 was the best in the series to this point, but MK9 has much better animations and the courses are longer/more fun in general. I will say that Kart 8 was more colorful and had more contrast in the visuals, while MK9 can be a little washed-out and the environments are kind of plain at times. So it isn't a shutout win for MK9, but overall MK9 wins. Looking at the game in a vacuum, no problems.

The Launch: I posted about how short the line was. It picked up a LOT after that. By the end there were about a hundred people in line, maybe more. My spot was guaranteed so I walked up the line high-fiving people. Was a festive atmosphere. Also a complete sausage fest. Can count on one hand the number of women who were there who weren't there accompanying a guy. Women there for themselves to get a Switch equalled 4 out of the 115 or so estimated people from my quick count, with maybe 10-15 more accompanying a guy who was getting one. Add another 5 or 6 to the women count if men dressed as women count, as we had a few. Also, one guy dressed as Yoshi.

There were ZERO kids, which kind of makes sense for a midnight thing. However, school is out, so...weird. There were barely any teenagers either. Youngest person was probably about 16, and teenagers made up maybe 10% of the line at the absolute most. Median age was probably around 35. Nintendo markets to kids really hard, but anecdotally I think their actual fanbase is men in their 30s and 40s.

The Best Buy employees were the happiest store employees I've ever seen for a launch. Everyone was in a good mood. The line was super-orderly, nobody did anything crazy. Far, far better than Gamestop launches I've gone to in the past, where the employees mostly seemed overwhelmed / annoyed at these customer people.

As for the system itself. It's a Switch that doesn't suck. Actual horsepower here. Basically what I've been looking for. The new version of BOTW didn't seem like that much of an upgrade, until I plugged in the old version and realized it looks WAY shittier than I remember. Might actually be able to play it now. Mario Odyssey got a nice framerate bump as well so I can swing around and finish that one of these days. This system seems less like a new system and more like an enhancement to play your existing games. Even the game cases basically look the same.

If you already have a game and want to upgrade it, just patch it on the system if it's a free upgrade (Mario Odyssey), and buy the upgrade for $10 in the EShop if it isn't (BOTW). Don't do what I did and buy BOTW for $70 thinking it's some kind of new remaster. It isn't. It's a framerate patch that also makes the graphics not suck. Pay ten bucks in the store, patch your old game, move on. New BOTW immediately went on Ebay, lol. When new things come out like Prime 4, that'll be different, getting the Switch 2 version will make sense.

Not sure if Nintendo has done a good job explaining their mildly-esoteric upgrade system to people, or not. I wasn't up to date on it (admittedly didn't care enough to study up on this system before launch) and Best Buy was selling people lots of copies of New BOTW (people who I'm sure also already had the old one). So I could see a fair amount of people getting pissed about that.

The whole system kinda seems like a moneymaking operation. Which it is, but rarely are consoles this blatant. Everything I do runs me into more "buy buy buy! Buy things you already have! Buy all chinpokomons! Consume!" and it gets tiring quickly. I've got Switch Online and I'm not sure how much Online play I can even do without upgrading it to the Expansion Pack, which also gives you Gamecube and N64 emulation (with barely any games on the GC emulation). Buy buy buy!

The emulation of Gamecube games on here is terrible compared to the Dolphin emulator people were already using for years. BOTW 2.0 doesn't look as good as emulated BOTW either, not even close.

Also whoever decided to put the new button (party chat or w/e) right next to the Home button, so I constantly press it by accident, really great thinking there.

To be positive about something, the handheld mode is really good. Even though it isn't an OLED screen anymore, the screen is bigger, the rumble is more forceful, and the speakers are NICE. This thing belts out tunes, and it's just a big meaty system. Probably the nicest handheld device I've had (though I never had a Steam Deck, and I'm guessing this thing is heavily emulating the Steam Deck).

Final rating on the system: It is what it is, does what it needs to do, isn't going to be the magical experience that N64 or Wii or Switch were at launch and it'll be a bit before it actually astonishes anyone with any new tech (if ever). Is a little soulless, is all about getting you to subscribe to things and pay for things. However, Switch finally having horsepower and not being an absolute joke is something that is long overdue.

Final rating on Kart 9: I'd say Kart 8 is finally supplanted as the best Mario Kart, but it could be recency bias talking. It's super solid, just bear in mind that it isn't going to keep anybody occupied for very long.

spronk said:

walmart gave away a bunch of random stuff, mostly coke and pringles but some people hilariously got deodorant and laundry detergent as sort of "gamer fuel" for the switch 2 deliveries from stores.

it took me about 30 mins to setup, the magnets are very cool and feel good clicking in. the switch 2 pro controller is VERY nice, feels good in the hand, has back buttons. mario kart world is 22 gig install and downloading now. i like how the switch 2 has a setting now to swap A<>B on any controller without having to remap, that was a pain.

check your screens for dead pixels, a few people have reported it. a black screen look for green dots, white screen same (or red dots). none on mine fortunately. screen is 120hz and looks really good for ips/led, maybe not as rich blacks as OLED but it looks a little more usable in bright sunlight.

pretty easy to get around town and facebook marketplace is hilarious, scalpers keep undercutting each other and i'm seeing the MKW bundle down to $550 around here which is literally the cost with tax, maybe some people are getting a 5% target discount or something.

heading out on 2 week vacation next week so will take this and deck along and see how they compare, my deck is the launch model too so not as snazzy as oled deck.

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Oh yeah, I didn't get the new Pro Controller, because the old S1 one works with the S2. However, from your description, I think I'll go back and get it after all. The old pro controller can't turn the system on, can be a bit of a PITA to pair up with it, and is getting kind of long in the tooth regardless. Would have been a better expenditure than getting the new BOTW which ended up being completely useless and is going on Ebay.