crissequeira's recent activity

  1. Comment on I think that we won’t see any new and radical new gaming input devices or form factors anymore in ~games

    crissequeira
    Link Parent
    Seen it. Thank you though! That was a great video. It really adds to this conversation.

    Seen it. Thank you though! That was a great video. It really adds to this conversation.

  2. Comment on I think that we won’t see any new and radical new gaming input devices or form factors anymore in ~games

    crissequeira
    Link Parent
    Thing is that... I do feel that way about my iPhone Xr. lol It’s in a flip case, and I tie it around my wrist while I’m out. Also, when I grab it outside, I make sure to check my surroundings for...

    Thing is that... I do feel that way about my iPhone Xr. lol It’s in a flip case, and I tie it around my wrist while I’m out. Also, when I grab it outside, I make sure to check my surroundings for people who could snatch it off my hands (happened to my sister-in-law in broad daylight). Yes. I’m paranoid. lol

    2 votes

  4. Comment on I think that we won’t see any new and radical new gaming input devices or form factors anymore in ~games

    crissequeira
    Link Parent
    Do you have examples of that? I didn’t put AR into the list because I think that it’s the least likely to pop off. Pokémon GO is big, sure, but I expect it to die down at some point. As many...

    Do you have examples of that? I didn’t put AR into the list because I think that it’s the least likely to pop off. Pokémon GO is big, sure, but I expect it to die down at some point. As many people love to go outside, I think that most still prefer to game inside, and now they have the TCG mobile game too...

    9 votes

  5. I think that we won’t see any new and radical new gaming input devices or form factors anymore

    ~games Ask
    I think this might be a hot take, but as the cliché goes, please hear me out. First of all, what I define by “new and radical” is something that is not only significantly different from what we...

    I think this might be a hot take, but as the cliché goes, please hear me out.

    First of all, what I define by “new and radical” is something that is not only significantly different from what we had before, but it must also fulfill another criteria: it must become ubiquitous.

    So, for gaming input devices, I would say that what Nintendo tried to do with the Wii didn’t stick. The technology wasn’t new, but its implementation was new and radical. It was a gamble, for sure. I loved it for what it could do (and, honestly, I miss it), but it’s been almost exactly 20 years now, and the Switch 2 has the double joystick, d-pad, ABXY, quadruple shoulder button combo that all other controllers have. That basic form factor is what became ubiquitous. Motion controls didn’t go extinct, but apart from aiming via gyroscopes, they’re not that common. Classic controllers though, they’re here to stay. In fact, in these last years, I’ve seen the market for controllers explode. It’s wild.

    What Nintendo did with touch screens on the NDS/3DS did become ubiquitous though (even if they kind of pulled out of it): That input method is what mobile games rely on. Its home hardware are mostly smartphones. What was new and radical about it (and something that Steve Jobs explained well when he introduced the iPhone) is the idea of having one stylus/finger tip as the tool for for the input, and then designing the input methods (swipe, tap, hold, etc.) around it. Again, the technology wasn’t new, but its implementation was a radical departure from conventions at the time, and again, it became ubiquitous. I don’t see smartphones ever going away (or rather, slabs of glass that we swipe, tap, and hold our fingers on).

    I think that there was a hot minute there where we all thought that VR was going to become the next big thing. The input for that doesn’t use technology or methods that are radically different from controllers (they are still just buttons, gyroscopes, and accelerometers, as far as I can tell), but combined with the (supposedly) immersive VR experience, they could have made up for a package that feels new and radical, except that... it became a niche, and I don’t see that ever changing. Baring a leap in technology that allows us to instantly plug into The Matrix, without any complicated setup, I don’t see VR becoming important in gaming, even if it becomes significantly cheaper. It’s just not convenient enough, and in the end, I think that convenience is king, and controllers/touch screens are the ultimate convenience.

    You may be thinking about what Valve is doing with touch pads, on both the Deck and their new controllers, but I don’t see it catching on (not to mention that it doesn’t really feel all that radical to me). I’d love to be proven wrong (and I know that those touch pads can do way more than just replace a mouse, since they also have “zones” that can be mapped to, etc.), but in the end, I don’t see it replacing the third pillar of gaming input devices: keyboard and mouse. For PC games, especially certain genres, nothing will ever beat the convenience of that combo.

    So, for gaming inputs, I think that we have reached the end of the line. If before the end of my time on this earth, something new and radical comes along that becomes ubiquitous, then feel free to come back here and rub it in my face. I’m willing to bet a lot of money that it won’t happen.

    Now, let’s have a talk about form factors, or rather, the hardware.

    I think that the Switch 1 and the Steam Deck really kicked off a golden age of handhelds. Indeed, it feels to me as if some new handheld device releases every week. It’s absolutely wild. I don’t know what changed since the launch of those two consoles. We’ve had handhelds since... what? The Game & Watch? Maybe earlier? I don’t know, but it’s been decades. Yet only now has the market for them finally grown big, maybe too big.

    Why do I say too big? I would like to know why these companies keep developing new models. Are they really selling that many units and making that much profit? If they are, then wow. Good on them. I’m skeptical though. I hope it doesn’t lead to some market crash. I should add that, as someone who feels lukewarm about handheld gaming at best, I don’t understand why they sell so well (again, if they do). Yes, every time I see a new handheld, I want to buy one, just out of FOMO, but look: I have a Switch 2 and I always play it docked.

    I had a GBC/GBA/NDS growing... for the sole purpose of playing Pokémon... always at home. With a couple exceptions on the NDS, I never cared for much else outside of that. It may be that I was conditioned to feel this way about handhelds, since my first console was a Nintendo 64. My preferred way to play games, is to comfortably recline on a chair, turn on a TV (the bigger, the better), grab the controller, and play in the comfort of my home.

    I cannot relate to people who have the courage to take their $200, $300, $400, $500 (or more expensive) handhelds out into the wild, where they could drop from their hands (I’m very clumsy), get stolen, or worse, only to play on a tiny screen while sitting very uncomfortably. If you do this, please explain to me why you enjoy it. I genuinely don’t understand. I’m scared spitless just from yanking out the Joy-Cons from my Switch 2, let alone unplug it from the dock. I also don’t care much for mobile games for similar reasons: screen too small, games not that interesting for me.

    Alas, I have to admit that handhelds have become ubiquitous. I’m not 100% sure, but I think that, as a form factor, they might stay around forever. I don’t think that smartphones, the other form factor that is ubiquitous, are going to completely replace them. Handhelds have the added convenience of analog sticks, buttons, and being gaming-first devices. Smartphones don’t have that.

    The third and last ubiquitous form factor would be consoles and PCs. I group them together because I have a feeling that sooner or later consoles are just going to morph into PCs. I don’t know what Nintendo will do though. They seem determined to have complete control over their ecosystem, but that will require them to keep releasing new consoles with walled gardens. Can they become the Apple of gaming? Can they make this business model sustainable in the long term? I’m not 100% sure. Either way, “big, stationary gaming machines” as the third category, are here to stay.

    VR could be a new and radical form factor, but for the reasons that I mentioned before, I think it will forever remain a niche. Other than that, I can’t imagine what else we could come up with.

    Do you agree? Do you disagree? Do you have a different take? Do you maybe have an idea of what could become ubiquitous in the future? Is there an input device or form factor you’d like to be more commonplace (like Mii with the Wii) or be invented (if it hasn’t been yet)?

    Maybe I should reserve this for a different topic later, but I also don’t see video games themselves coming up with any new and radical gameplay mechanics anymore. I think we already have all the genres that we could possible come up with, and everything that feels new is really just a mashup of something that came before, arranged in a way that hadn’t been thought of yet... kinda like music.

    22 votes

  6. Comment on Nintendo raises prices for Switch, Switch 2 and NSO in ~games

    crissequeira
    Link Parent
    oof This is all so true. I had forgotten how much they did not show us. In fact, once they allowed some people to demo the game, and that footage started to appear on my YouTube feed, I just went...

    oof This is all so true. I had forgotten how much they did not show us. In fact, once they allowed some people to demo the game, and that footage started to appear on my YouTube feed, I just went on a month-long blackout until launch in order not to spoil anything. I spend hours and hours on Withered Wastelands before going through the gate to Bleak Beach. It completely blew my mind how much bigger the game kept getting. I kept delaying going through the gates because I felt that the first area was already a full game for me. lol

  7. Comment on Nintendo raises prices for Switch, Switch 2 and NSO in ~games

    crissequeira
    Link Parent
    Same. I don’t want to gloat, but when the game was first announced in September, I saw the promise. It’s like I had a vision. I just knew in my bones that this game was going to be a hit, and this...

    Same.

    I don’t want to gloat, but when the game was first announced in September, I saw the promise. It’s like I had a vision. I just knew in my bones that this game was going to be a hit, and this despite the fact that Pokémon had been disappointing for so many years. I know that this is inspired by Dragon Quest Builders, but I still see it more as the Animal Crossing (social sim + decoration) + Minecraft (mining + crafting, lol) + Pokémon (gotta catch ’em all) mashup that should honestly have existed since 2010 or so. I just kept thinking: “This is genius! How are we doing this only now!?!?!?”

    To my utter surprise, a lot of people either felt indifferent or skeptical. It was only much later that I finally came across a small number of other believers, but it still felt to me like we were a minority. (I would love to know what your perception of the discussion around this game was, leading up to launch.) About a month before release, Nintendo allowed some people to demo the game, which I think really got the ball rolling in terms of attention and curiosity for a lot of people. Then the reviews came in and now finally everyone I had told since September that this game was going to be a hit finally came around.

    It’s like you said, it hits every single sweet spot. There is a certain magic to how the systems of all these three franchises interact with each other, in a gameplay loop that just always motivates you to “do this one more thing” before you take a break. You complete one task, and there’s already another one (or multiple) tugging on your dopamine receptors. The anticipation for reward seldom slows down for me. There’s something almost Pavlovian about it.

  8. Comment on Nintendo raises prices for Switch, Switch 2 and NSO in ~games

    crissequeira
    Link Parent
    oof Haha. I can relate so hard! 😭 “Just one more habitat. Just one more quick build. Just asking one more Pokémon to craft me bricks or something else until tomorrow”, and before I know it, five...

    oof Haha. I can relate so hard! 😭 “Just one more habitat. Just one more quick build. Just asking one more Pokémon to craft me bricks or something else until tomorrow”, and before I know it, five hours have flown by.

    I almost feel dirty about this: I’ll be playing Pragmata and enjoying myself... but once I take a break from the game, I go back to thinking about Pokopia all the time. I yearn for this game. It’s such insanity. They really cracked the code with this one.

    Unfortunately, I looked at every other game that I’m interested in and is available right now, both old and new, but none of them really "pull me", if that makes sense. I feel the pull to return to Pokopia so strongly, that I think I might just give in. I’d be making myself miserable trying to resist it. Like I said, it’s replaced Animal Crossing for me.

    Pragmata was a surprise because when I first heard about it, I felt completely indifferent, until someone in a YouTube video highly praised it. Upon trying the demo, I felt that it just crossed the threshold of being interesting enough for me to distract me from Pokopia. Good thing there was a demo. If I had bought it, and it turned out to not be fun enough for me, I’d probably just toss it and return to my Pokémon.

    This may seem weird, especially since I played the N64 original so much, but the only games on the horizon that I feel “the pull” towards, that I know I’ll be able to enjoy enough to not want to immediately return to Pokopia, are Star Fox and Splatoon Raiders.

    In between those, I’ll be getting the environment humid.

  9. Comment on Nintendo raises prices for Switch, Switch 2 and NSO in ~games

  10. Comment on Nintendo raises prices for Switch, Switch 2 and NSO in ~games

    crissequeira
    Link Parent
    Ah, I was hoping to find CannibalisticApple’s opinion here somewhere. ❤️ Did you play Pokopia? What did you think? It’s replaced Animal Crossing for me.

    Ah, I was hoping to find CannibalisticApple’s opinion here somewhere. ❤️

    Did you play Pokopia? What did you think? It’s replaced Animal Crossing for me.

    1 vote

  11. Comment on Nintendo raises prices for Switch, Switch 2 and NSO in ~games

    crissequeira
    Link Parent
    A man after my own heart. I had that exact experience with that game. What an absolute shock that was. I literally had to force myself to put it down after 150+ hours and go play Pragmata. I was...

    Pokopia is life changing...

    A man after my own heart. I had that exact experience with that game. What an absolute shock that was. I literally had to force myself to put it down after 150+ hours and go play Pragmata. I was rushing through the day to get in four to five-hour sessions. That’s how addicted I got. It’s been years since I last enjoyed playing a game this much.

    2 votes

  12. Comment on Star Fox Direct shadow dropped right before premiere in ~games

    crissequeira
    Link Parent
    Seems that’s their new strategy for their B and C tier franchises: Shadow drop the announcement. Launch the next month. Keep the hype train running hot and fast.

    Seems that’s their new strategy for their B and C tier franchises: Shadow drop the announcement. Launch the next month. Keep the hype train running hot and fast.

    1 vote

  13. Comment on Star Fox Direct shadow dropped right before premiere in ~games

    crissequeira
    Link Parent
    Wow. Didn’t expect to find this comment here, but yes, we need a Kid Icarus: Uprising remake (or sequel) much more than this Star Fox 64 remake.

    Wow. Didn’t expect to find this comment here, but yes, we need a Kid Icarus: Uprising remake (or sequel) much more than this Star Fox 64 remake.

  14. Comment on Star Fox Direct shadow dropped right before premiere in ~games

    crissequeira
    Link Parent
    When I realized that it was a remake my heart sank a bit, I won’t lie, but I’ve been warming up to the game and some new elements that they’re introducing ever since. I also played the N64 entry...

    When I realized that it was a remake my heart sank a bit, I won’t lie, but I’ve been warming up to the game and some new elements that they’re introducing ever since.

    I also played the N64 entry to death, so this will be a nostalgia trip mostly, but hey... I want them to give me that open area space shooter someday, so I’ll vote with my wallet here and cross my fingers.

    I’m also concerned about that Ocarina of Time remake now, but that one I would buy regardless. I really didn’t expect Star Fox to be a remake. That was a totally unexpected and mixed surprise.

    I think a fourth point on that list would be the tempting price point of $49.99 digital. Were this game 59.99 or higher, then I would feel far less inclined to get it. I think they’re aware that this is a remake... although, they also sold the Super Mario Galaxies at 39.99 a pop or whatever that was, so who knows what they’re thinking?

    1 vote

  15. Comment on Star Fox Direct shadow dropped right before premiere in ~games

    crissequeira
    Link Parent
    This had me go lol. Thanks for that.

    This had me go lol. Thanks for that.

    1 vote

  16. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    crissequeira
    Link
    Been entertained with Pragmata since the 29th of last month. Today a friend asked me to give some feedback. I’ll just copy-paste it here:

    Been entertained with Pragmata since the 29th of last month. Today a friend asked me to give some feedback. I’ll just copy-paste it here:

    The TLDR is that it’s an amazing, fun, and unique experience, and I highly recommend it to pretty everyone. It’s a neat little action-adventure game.

    I don’t think that many people would describe it this way, but to me Pragmata is a mashup of Hollow Knight’s progression and equipment system, with Metroid Prime’s ambience and exploration, with a rather unique extra layer of combat mechanics (the “hacking”), that I’ve never really seen in any other game before.

    To be honest with you, I actually felt completely indifferent about the game right up until launch, even though it was the talk of the town.

    Consequently, I can’t remember when or where I was, and what I watched, that convinced me to give it a try.

    Thankfully, they have a demo, which I tried, and immediately convinced me to buy the game.

    I’m very thankful that I did. The marketing for this game would have never caught my attention if I hadn’t watched someone commenting about it on YouTube. I generally ignore games with this kind of art style. I’m just more drawn to cartoony stuff.

    What makes the game so much fun for me is a combination of things:

    First, there’s the combat. It’s just very satisfying. In that sense, it’s really like Hollow Knight for me. The better I get at the combat, and the more powerful upgrades and equipment I get, the more I just feel like a total badass.

    It’s the most fun in those occasional moments where I am surrounded by enemies at all sides, and somehow manage to both shoot, hack, and dodge, all at the same time, like some sort of ninja, or like Goku using Ultra Instinct. I sometimes find myself sitting on the chair, pausing the game, and going: “Wow. Did I really just do this?”

    The second one is the exploration. There’s a lot to find if you comb the levels as thoroughly as I do, and it’s also all useful, literally all of it. Alongside that exploration aspect, much of the story is told through lore drops that you can find here and there, much like scanning objects in Metroid Prime would hint at the events that took place prior to the game.

    Then there’s the excellent pacing. There is an ever-present sense of isolation and danger, and you feel relief whenever you discover a new “save station” (which is not at all what this game has, but something equivalent to that).

    It’s also amazing that this runs so well on the Switch 2. It looks really impressive. I can tell where they cut corners from the PS5 or PC versions, but they still did a good job.

    Also, and this is very important to me: It’s a short game that I think might be 100%-able. I’m at like 12 hours? I can’t remember for sure, but somewhere past 11. I think that I’m halfway at the end, and that I’ll be able to collect all collectables and complete all… completables. You know how much I love that, to play (and complete) a game that I paid money for, a game that doesn’t overstay its welcome.

    1 vote

  17. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    crissequeira
    Link Parent
    Dang, I was considering Remake at some point, but if the plot is so bad, and if Rebirth took so long to finish, then maybe I’ll pass.

    Dang, I was considering Remake at some point, but if the plot is so bad, and if Rebirth took so long to finish, then maybe I’ll pass.

    1 vote

  18. Comment on Nintendo raises prices for Switch, Switch 2 and NSO in ~games

    crissequeira
    Link Parent
    I would hardly classify the entire Switch 1 library + NSO + Switch 2 “limited”. Do you have a Switch 1? Have you played anything on it? If not, then you’re be in for a treat on Switch 2. Tell me...

    I would hardly classify the entire Switch 1 library + NSO + Switch 2 “limited”. Do you have a Switch 1? Have you played anything on it? If not, then you’re be in for a treat on Switch 2. Tell me what genres you’re into, and I can give you dozens of examples of games on the Switch 2 that you’ll enjoy. I think that what matters most with this purchase decision is whether you happen to also be someone who likes Nintendo’s exclusive IPs, like your Mario, Zelda, Pokémon, etc. If you don’t (which seems to be the case), well... then you can probably get the rest (third-parties) on PS5/PC as well.

    6 votes

  19. Comment on Nintendo raises prices for Switch, Switch 2 and NSO in ~games

    crissequeira
    Link
    Dang. Am I glad I bought this thing on launch.

    Dang. Am I glad I bought this thing on launch.

  20. Comment on What game is your personal "Silksong"? in ~games

    crissequeira
    Link Parent
    A woman after my own heart. I would get the NSO Expansion Pack the moment they announced the release of the original GCN title. I did play WW, CF, NL, and NH extensively, but the original had a...

    A woman after my own heart.

    I would get the NSO Expansion Pack the moment they announced the release of the original GCN title. I did play WW, CF, NL, and NH extensively, but the original had a "weird", sort of very Japanese-y style, along with really funny dialogue from the villagers, and a simplicity, that just makes it my favorite entry in the series. I want a social simulation. I don't care to decorate everything and anything. I want the quirky holidays with their weird little mini games. I also want those QOL improvements, the highest in the list being hair styles because I always hated how (literally) horny the make character's hair looks.

    I will be honest with you though: I don't see them ever releasing it on NSO. I think that it might be too much work to make the game playable on the Switch 2. They would have to reprogram a way for players to visit (and save in) each other's towns. They would have to rework all the GBA functionality. They would have to rework the card reader. They would potentially have to remove the NES games, which would be a bummer. I also doubt that they want people to return to the more spicy dialogues from the villagers. They never liked those, I think. We just got lucky that they didn't pay attention to what the localization team did.

    I think that a remake, made from the ground up, would be more likely. Then they could make everything work and adjust the bits that they didn't like or thar don't fit their brand image anymore. However, I also think that an even likelier scenario is that the new entry simply returns to that old formula from the original title, but with some new hook. If I had to bet though, I would say that the next entry will just double down on what New Horizons did, but on a setting other than an island, and with plenty of Pocket Camp-style of DLC, micro-transactions, and Amiibo cards.

    Animal Crossing started out as a quirky, Japanes-y, social-simulation game first, and that is what I loved about it. Now it's a decoration game, and I doubt that Nintendo wants to go back. If the new entry leans too heavy on New Horizons's formula, then I might just divorce myself from this series.

    1 vote