Ralizah

LOL The song lyrics being the same was what I noticed almost immediately. So much better in English than the XSEED translations for Silver Star Harmony's songs.

Yes and no.

I'm on team "JRPG isn't a genre," so I do think you would need to call all Japanese RPGs... JRPGs. And calling Western-developed RPGs that are inspired by/derivative of Japanese classics JRPGs seems asinine to me. But I'm also OK with retiring the term, as it doesn't serve a purpose any more.

The lack of a backlit screen kills any desire I have to ever own this thing. I grew up with the Game Boy, and, like everyone else who preferred to play it in places that weren't filled with direct sunlight, I strapped worm lights, magnifiers, and what have you onto the blasted thing in an attempt to make it semi-visible while I was catching Pokemon.

While I'm sure the visibility here is superior to that ancient display, it seems like a bizarre step back into the past. Especially for a device that costs almost as much as a Switch Lite.

My PS Vita and phone both handle GBA/GBC emulation well, so I'll just stick with those when I want a portable solution.

Still hard to believe this weird little handheld with no backlight and a 1-bit screen almost costs as much as a Switch Lite.

@KitsuneNight I haven't, actually. It'd depend on the thickness, though.

Have you ever held a Nomad? The thing feels like gaming on a literal brick.

Some giant sideways tablet with buttons would still be worse, though.

Didn't think I'd ever see a hybrid more uncomfortable looking than the Nomad, but there you go.

The battery life isn't very good considering it only plays ancient retro games and doesn't seem to have features like rumble/gyro/touchscreen/etc. (as you would expect for a handheld that only plays retro games)

From one of your questions: "You have to looping music in games, after all."

I'm guessing this was a typo.

Anyway, I love YK's music. Streets of Rage 2 and the various Etrian Odyssey games have some of my all time favorite video game soundtracks. His work has a classic, very gamey quality to it, like he's bringing the musical identity of the Genesis into a modern context.

That's insanely cool.

We need more rail shooters on the Switch.

As a budget oddity, it might have been cute.

That price isn't doing it any favors, though.

"The Games Animal"

LOL

I distinctly remember the birthday when I got my copy of Pokemon Red. The family had taken me to Chuck E. Cheese's (long before the classic rodent was replaced with this current strung-out looking rat mascot). We had pizza, and my first ever Pokemon was a Bulbasaur.

Good times.

@NEStalgia Tennessee, actually. Good ol' boy "flyover country." No income tax, though.

Well, I'll have all the games I care to play downloaded and with me. Either ones that I want to replay, ones that are never traditionally "beaten," or games that I'm currently in the process of beating. I don't care if I don't have immediate access to games I'm not going to play again for several years, ya know?

On that note, I really wish I had purchased MK8D digitally. I never play that game anymore because I don't want to have to change the cartridge for a couple of short races.

@NEStalgia Combined state and county sales tax where I live is 9.75%, unfortunately.

If you have a lot of digital content, you delete the games you're not playing anymore and make room for new games. You only have to buy multiple SD cards if you're hoarding downloads. Also gives you an incentive to not allow a backlog to start forming, as you'll want that space for newer games eventually.

@NEStalgia Physical on Switch is a lot like it was last gen, where the entire game was on the disc, but you also needed updates and whatnot to get it to run properly. Still, from a pure digital storage standpoint, it makes a lot of sense going primarily physical on Switch.

On the other hand, the Switch is a portable console, meaning it's also uniquely suited to digital games. It's nice to go somewhere and not have to worry about not being able to play a game because you left the cartridge back at the house (you COULD carry them around in a case, but I've lost at least one 3DS case that had a few games in it a few years ago, and I'm still irritated about that, so that's a no-go for me).

One little point on Switch that I REALLY like is that I can archive games, and the icon stays on my system. So even if I delete the actual game data to make room for something else, I still have what feels like a digital collection. It's a small thing, but it's really nice. And thanks to the lack of pre-order discounts (generally) and Day One swag, I can feel free to wait as long as possible to pick up a game and not feel like I'm missing out on anything, versus physical, where I feel like it's a waste to even pick up a game if I don't get the Day One edition with the post cards and 15% or so discount (20% on Amazon Prime, but my state has a high sales tax, so I don't actually get the full benefit of that).

I'm so, so close to just canceling all of my physical Switch pre-orders and just downloading the games when I get around to wanting to play them.

I don't have the money or space to really keep up as much of a beautiful physical collection of games as I'd like, and the amount I WAS spending was beginning to disturb me. That money could be better spent on friends and family. I still like keeping up with some new releases, though, and gaming is still my primary hobby, so I decided to shift my focus from collecting to playing.

Digital is good for this reason. When you take away the allure of a physical object, you're more likely to focus on the software itself. Partially because you don't have a 'thing' to hoard or preserve, and partially because of the immediacy of its presence on your system.

Although i still go physical for a few games. In particular, ones I know won't be getting huge print runs. I have to be willing to play them right away, though.

@NEStalgia In general, I think so. Take a commercial like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-qBkWerZDg

That would never air today. And I could point to a LOT of really weird old video game advertisements and say the same thing.

Of course, a distaste for eccentricity probably goes hand-in-hand with decreased creativity, too.

@10-zx Hah. Reminds me of that commercial where the mouse was humping a Game Boy Micro. Amazing when you consider how many different people are probably involved with greenlighting an idea from conception to airing.

"Mommy, what are those two SEGA machines doing?"

Old advertisements are weird.