Switch Buying Guide

Last call for anyone wanting to play Triangle Strategy this weekend with my assistance… I'm at work for one more hour, then the Mart shop is closed.

Time's up.

One whole hour of work. That’s how they do it on the continent.

You kid, but I do genuinely love how enforced working time is here in Germany. Maximum working time on any given weekday is ten hours - if you work one minute longer, you're breaking the law and your employer is liable to all kinds of things. Working up to eight hours, you have to take a minimum of 30 minute break during that; between eight and ten, you also have to have a separate 15 minutes break (you can't tie it to the other break, it has to be separate). We can start as late as 10:00 and finish as early as 15:00, as long as we keep up our minimum 7.7hrs a day. You're not allowed to work late into the night or on the weekends without express permission from the Works Council, and even those permissions are only given in extreme circumstances (me having to work during the last Direct at 23:00 CET was one of them, which meant starting work at 14:00).

There's also an enforced ten day break at some point during the year (again, I think that's German law), which is why we all get an extra ten days of holiday on top of our allocated 20 in our contracts. It has to be ten working days unbroken too, meaning it can't have a bank holiday in the middle of it, and Germany has a lot of those. I always aim to start my ten days right after a bank holiday… come October, I'm looking at 15 days off if you include weekends.

N64 emulation on the Switch seems to gradually be getting fixed - fog issues in Zelda are now resolved and the input lag overall is improved. Nice to see them going back and responding to feedback, although it's a shame they allowed it to release in that state in the first place.

F-Zero X is on there now but it's got unfortunate frame rate problems and the usual bizarre control mappings so I guess that's the next one on the list to fix.

N64 controller still permanently out of stock on the Nintendo site too which is frustrating. These games are designed around the stiffer response of the N64 analogue stick, they're just not the same on a Pro Controller.

How does one get the N64 games and the Mario Kart stuff then, will my Switch does know what to do to convert my current online into that? Or do I need anything else?

(also when did I become so old!)

How does one get the N64 games and the Mario Kart stuff then, will my Switch does know what to do to convert my current online into that? Or do I need anything else?

You need to either buy or upgrade to NSO + Expansion Pass (with the latter, you can get a discount if you're already subscribed) and then download the content. That's it. Go through the NSO app on your Switch and it'll take care of stuff for you.

(I can get discounted codes for NSO+EP but because they're bespoke codes, it doesn't factor in a discount you might be entitled to AND it overrides any remaining subscription you might already have… I found that out the hard way)

The catch is having to actively go and download the stuff… some people seem to think it'll magically appear on their Switch if they're subscribed. Doesn't work like that, it's not a pre-order so the store doesn't know to download the stuff for you.

Excellent cheers! I will check that tomorrow them.

After 187 hours of Bravely Default 2, and realising I’d missed out on Marts offer, I’ve decided to jump into Triangle Strategy - I’d played the initial demo, and while waiting for the cart I thought I’d go through the Prologue demo, it’s off to a slow start, but I do like what it’s doing so far.

After 187 hours of Bravely Default 2, and realising I’d missed out on Marts offer, I’ve decided to jump into Triangle Strategy

You missed out on taking advantage of a discount I have permanently? Dunno how that works.

(That post above was literally about people wanting it at launch for the following weekend… it's not for all time!)

Splatoon 3 has got a release date of September 9th. Releasing a multiplayer game aimed primarily at kids just as the summer holidays end is a very Nintendo thing to do. Fuckwits.

A friend lent me his copy of 3D World so I've been able to check out Bowser's Fury at last. (It's a very Nintendo thing to create an experimental, short Mario experience that would be perfect as a downloadable game for a tenner and then only release it as a bundle for £45 with a game everyone's already played).

It's like Ubisoft Does Mario, with icons all over the map and a bunch of towers you have to unlock. Every few minutes Bowser pops up and is a dickhead for a bit before quietening down again. I quite like it, and it's better than 3D World for sure, but it's very much a bunch of old assets chucked into a level designer. I'm a bit surprised at the praise it got, but it's Mario so there is fun to be had here.

I’ve just found out that Mario vs Rabbids 2 is changing how turns work and is ditching the grid in the battle maps. Neither of these things sound like improvements to a near perfectly balanced game.

I didn't know that either. That doesn't sound good to me. I really hope they don't do what they did with the Paper Mario series. One and two were amazing. For some reason after that they kept changing the gameplay, adding gimmicks.The last few was awful I thought

I’ve just found out that Mario vs Rabbids 2 is changing how turns work and is ditching the grid in the battle maps. Neither of these things sound like improvements to a near perfectly balanced game.

From where?

I’ve just found out that Mario vs Rabbids 2 is changing how turns work and is ditching the grid in the battle maps. Neither of these things sound like improvements to a near perfectly balanced game.

The grid feels like an integral part of making the original's excellent 0/50/100% cover system readable, so this is a curious choice. I'll wait to see it in action before writing it off, but my gut reaction is "no thank you".

From where?

Here's a GamesRadar article (from a year ago?!) about it

Okay, there's footage of it in this trailer – also from a year ago – starting at about the 40-second mark, and it looks… weird.

Partly I think it's hard to read what's happening without any button prompts or other UI – how automatic is this stuff? How are skills used?

The grid feels like an integral part of making the original's excellent 0/50/100% cover system readable, so this is a curious choice. I'll wait to see it in action before writing it off, but my gut reaction is "no thank you".

Yeah. Exactly.

There's a pretty comprehensive breakdown of the new battle system in the trailer from today's Mini-Direct.

Still not totally sold, but it definitely doesn't look like the disaster I was initially worried it'd be. Looks like you still snap into cover in a grid-like way, which preserves the element I was most concerned with losing.

I wanted to say you're all wrong to have concerns, but… well. Confidentiality and all that.

Persona on switch as well! About bleeding time too…

I may be unable to resist P4G on Switch, even though I've bought it three times already – twice on Vita (EU and US, because… well, I'm actually not sure anymore) and again on Steam, and it's coming to GamePass.

Oh wow. Mario + Rabbits looks like an improvement to me. Feeling happy about that now. Good stuff.

Mid-year Resolution: Actually fucking play P4G. I've had it sitting on my Vita for what, 5 or 10 years and P3P is one of my top ten, it's kind of ridiculous that I haven't played it yet

Portal Companion Collection is an absolute marvel. Two of the best games of all time, running in native res at 60fps, all for 13 pounds.

Everyone buy it so Valve do a HL2 port.

My thoughts exactly. Really thought it would be twice that price.

Oi Mart, what's the deal with this, then?

More specifically, is it gonna be F2P in an attempt to cash in on that Fall Guys action, or is there an entry cost?

Not my project, so couldn't tell you. I only found about it (by accident) yesterday when I was looped into an email chain I shouldn't have been.

Looks fun though, so I'll play it.

Anyone else in for Splatoon 3 then?

Haven't had a chance to watch the Direct yet but I'm sure we'll end up getting it. Hard to get excited about it though as it still looks like a glorified expansion pack.

The kid has been talking about it for months, so… yeah.

They’ve got a weapon called the… splatanus?

Splatana. Splat katana.

They’ve got a weapon called the… splatanus?

The true Rorschach test right there.

Don’t blame me, blame YouTube’s automatic subtitles generator. It’s officially the Splatanus now.

… and that's why we're already discussing 'official' subtitles for our bigger videos.

(That's not why, but we are discussing it)

Advice please.

We have the standard Switch and the OLED switch. My account is on both, and then my missus and the little one both have an account on the standard.

Only I have Nintendo Online, and then we have one copy of Animal Crossing that has only ever been used on the original console (it's Digital) as that is mostly just plugged into the TV.

If we bought a second copy of the game would we be able to have a second Island and to visit each other?

Different options are that our youngling wants a Switch Lite, so that is most likely going to be her birthday or Xmas present so would it just be easier to wait and make her a brand new account/island then?

Advice please.

We have the standard Switch and the OLED switch. My account is on both, and then my missus and the little one both have an account on the standard.

Only I have Nintendo Online, and then we have one copy of Animal Crossing that has only ever been used on the original console (it's Digital) as that is mostly just plugged into the TV.

If we bought a second copy of the game would we be able to have a second Island and to visit each other?

Different options are that our youngling wants a Switch Lite, so that is most likely going to be her birthday or Xmas present so would it just be easier to wait and make her a brand new account/island then?

Questions:

• Which Switch is designated your 'home' Switch? The standard one, I assume, so the other accounts can play what you buy?

• Do you have NSO family or just individual?

If you had two copies of the game, then you'd have two islands. Sounds like you'd have to put the second copy on your daughter's new Switch so it's her island. I believe it's possible to migrate her current character (assuming she has one) to this new island, but will need to look up exactly how to do that (it's not as complex as moving the save file over).

EDIT: This would be the process!

Oh, and don't forget: cheap codes.

A Nintendo Direct AND a PlayStation State of Play on the same day. What a time to be alive*.

(* as the world slowly crumbles and mankind eats itself)

We're not allowed to watch the Nintendo Direct live though, as we are supposed to be busy being sad about the Queen.

The US stream is still going ahead as normal – just the Nintendo UK channel isn't doing it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

You'd think, with the Queen owning a golden Wii, she'd be well up for a Nintendo Direct.

Princess Peach constantly getting kidnapped is a terrible insult to the Royal Family.

Rather than the NOA stream, I'd recommend watching the NAL (Australian) one… it's identical to the UK stream, and doesn't have the dubbed parts when the Japanese presenter speaks. But hey, your choice.

I can't wait. Isn't it like 40 minutes long too? Hoping we see the new Zelda gameplay today.

All the information is in the tweet.

There are a surprisingly high number of twee-looking farming games in this Direct.

You are not wrong! Other than that, not a lot that excited me… At least BOTW2 is named and dated - "Tears of the Kingdom", coming May next year. Looking forward to that.

My bet is now on a limited time only port of the two Wii U Zelda remakes for Christmas, a la Mario last year

That was a very jam packed Direct, really good.

The theathrythm and like 500 song announcement was the highlight for me, I am surprisingly not at all hyped for the new Fire Emblem. After how amazing Three Houses was this feels like a step back to me, it has one of the worst looking protagonists I've ever seen for this series and it's yet another 'we dragged Marth from his grave again' crossover type game?

The very brief shot of the new BOTW world looked fantastic, but it's the knowledge of how we will be interacting with that world that puts it above any other open world game as far as hype goes.

EDIT - Officially giving up on Advance Wars Re-Boot, time to fire up the GBA versions.