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You are here: MacNN Forums > Enthusiast Zone > Gaming > A Nintendo Switch, in my living room?

A Nintendo Switch, in my living room?
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sek929
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Join Date: Nov 1999
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Jan 1, 2022, 03:50 PM
 
Hello everyone, it’s been a while since I’ve posted here but life’s been pretty, well you know.

It’s also been a while since I had any passion for video games. My PS4 is all but untouched and all of my library gets a solid meh out of me. The next gen Xbox and PlayStation fail to arouse even the slightest urge to part with money, and I’d rather they work out the kinks for a year or two before I jump on anyways.

Then I saw a quick add for the newest Metroid game and I got that feeling again, so screw it, I’m going to get a switch and a couple games I’ve been dying to play, and another couple the whole family might like.

The newer OLED Switch seems like the obvious choice, more storage built in is the biggest plus. Past that I’m pretty ignorant on how the whole things works, I assume I’m going to want the “pro” style controller for my single player stuff and maybe a few extra joy-cons? I’m definitely getting Breath of the Wild and Metroid, probably either Mario Party or Mario Kart, whichever the family seems to enjoy more.

Anything else I should know/recommendations from switch owners would be greatly appreciated!
     
subego
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Jan 1, 2022, 05:11 PM
 
Ahoy!

OLED is the right call unless you’re somehow 100% positive it will never ever get used as a portable.

I like the Pro Controller a lot. Battery is great. Hasn’t died once, even during day-long binges. It takes a lot of force to make a “stick press”, which is good for me because I tend to do it accidentally with other controllers. The two big downsides are the rumble is weak and the D-pad is mushy. It’s also ugly, and supply issues make it overpriced. One option is to use a dongle to pair a controller you already have, but the Pro is obviously less hassle.

I actually really like the Joycons a lot, too. I mean, they’re a compromise design, but it turned out way better than it had a right to. The person I play with regularly prefers them to the Pro. Battery poops out at about 10 hours, which is a reason to have an extra pair. There’s a design flaw with the sticks where they get gummed up with crud and start to drift. It hasn’t happened to me, but something to be aware of. Nintendo will repair it for free, but will take months. It can be self-repaired for $20 in parts, but is a pain in the ass. Lots of fiddly bits and it’s easy to break.
     
andi*pandi
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Jan 1, 2022, 08:39 PM
 
get a pro controller for yourself and extra joycons for the kids, definitely. Ages of kids to help with game recs?

We do have a switch thread around here somewhere, which is basically subego and I swapping notes.
     
sek929  (op)
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Jan 1, 2022, 09:10 PM
 
My daughter is 4 so she’s still a bit young for most games, but she likes watching most of what I play.
     
subego
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Jan 1, 2022, 09:52 PM
 
I’m told Luigi’s Mansion is good fit with little kids. I think it’s co-op, so you can tag along and help out.

For you, if you like XCOM, Mario+Rabbids Kingdom Battle is Super Mario XCOM, and is awesome.

BotW is one of the best games ever IMO, but you need to listen to how the game mechanics are telling you to play the game and get on the right wavelength. It also starts sloooooow. I was on the tutorial level for 20 hours.



Edit: for some niche recommendations, if you’re into Harvest Moon, stay away from the actual Harvest Moon and go either Rune Factory, Story of Seasons, or Stardew Valley.
     
Thorzdad
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Jan 2, 2022, 01:18 PM
 
Originally Posted by sek929 View Post
My daughter is 4 so she’s still a bit young for most games, but she likes watching most of what I play.
My soon-to-be four-year-old granddaughter loves playing MarioKart on the Switch. I know nothing about these games, but apparently there's a setting that imposes a hard boundary at the edge of the track, where a player cannot drive off the road. This makes it very easy for her to negotiate the track and keep going. She picked-up the idea of steering the turns pretty quickly and actually manages to stay in the middle of the track most of the time. It's pretty fun/funny to watch her playing.
     
andi*pandi
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Jan 2, 2022, 03:21 PM
 
she will find untitled goose game hilarious.
     
sek929  (op)
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Jan 5, 2022, 06:26 PM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
I like the Pro Controller a lot. Battery is great. Hasn’t died once, even during day-long binges...supply issues make it overpriced.
I find myself being pretty impressed with the Pro controller right off the bat, comfortable in my smaller hands and extra hefty too, which i assume is the reason it's got great battery life.

Ended up nabbing it at target for 70 bucks, which yeah, seems a bit steep?

Originally Posted by subego View Post
I’m told Luigi’s Mansion is good fit with little kids. I think it’s co-op, so you can tag along and help out.

For you, if you like XCOM, Mario+Rabbids Kingdom Battle is Super Mario XCOM, and is awesome.

BotW is one of the best games ever IMO, but you need to listen to how the game mechanics are telling you to play the game and get on the right wavelength. It also starts sloooooow. I was on the tutorial level for 20 hours.

Edit: for some niche recommendations, if you’re into Harvest Moon, stay away from the actual Harvest Moon and go either Rune Factory, Story of Seasons, or Stardew Valley.
All great suggestions, thanks! BotW is my next purchase once i finish up Metroid, which is bloody fantastic to far.

Originally Posted by Thorzdad View Post
My soon-to-be four-year-old granddaughter loves playing MarioKart on the Switch. I know nothing about these games, but apparently there's a setting that imposes a hard boundary at the edge of the track, where a player cannot drive off the road. This makes it very easy for her to negotiate the track and keep going. She picked-up the idea of steering the turns pretty quickly and actually manages to stay in the middle of the track most of the time. It's pretty fun/funny to watch her playing.
Excellent tidbit, with the training wheels mode she might not lose interest so fast thanks.

Originally Posted by andi*pandi View Post
she will find untitled goose game hilarious.
Peace was never an option
     
andi*pandi
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Aug 26, 2022, 05:04 PM
 
did you ever get luigi's mansion? I have a copy just sitting here.
     
   
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