A Switch in Time (General Switch Chat II)

The_Jaster wrote:

To talk Monster Hunter or pokemon? I know he's been getting into MH World recently as I've still got a UpUpdwndwn stream to watch that he done with some folk from Kinda funny.

Ostensibly Pokemon, this is from the Pokemon Podcast 2 years ago when Go had just came out. Well worth a watch though, he talks about his history with games, his life, the development of Up Up Down Down, being a black man in games, his struggles with his PHD course, a great interview.

The_Jaster wrote:

Kinda funny.

Woods does a lot with KF, I think he's their world champ or is the commissioner or something and I the most recent appearance he talks about stuff similar to what Drunka just brought up.

Hyper Light Drifter just got announced, in a tremendously low-key manner, for Switch. It may amuse Jay, among others, to learn that I've been defending pixel art recently - not just on here, but on Scullion's Discord (be prepared to read those three words a fair bit, I'm spending an uncomfortable amount of time on there). Here it's Celeste's style, elsewhere it's someone saying that we're getting too many pixel art games on Switch.

I still don't particularly fancy the pixel art style, so I don't know quite why I've had a change of heart. The aforementioned Celeste might be a big part of it, but I've hated the visual styles of games I've loved before (LoZTP), so that can't be it alone. And I certainly didn't like Owlboy's pseudo-SNES visuals anywhere near as much, or Shovel Knight's. But then I genuinely think HLD is really pretty...

Perhaps I've just taken longer to come to the same realisation y'all have: that like any other visual style, pixel art can be done well or done badly, depending on the developer. (Apart from cel-shading which is always beautiful.)

You feeling okay Balla, saying other art-styles look good.

Wow, I just pastiched your inability to grasp that in another thread! I feel like Sarah Connor at the end of Terminator 2.

"If a Balladeer can learn the value of pixel art graphics, maybe we can too . . ."

I saw that and had a little chuckle.

To be fair, it's still not my favourite art style, it can still be done very badly, and I still think that most games done in that style would benefit more from not being done in that style. I do have more of an appreciation that not having to focus resources on super-smooth or realistic graffx frees up budget, especially for smaller teams, that they can plough into other things. Meaning that you shouldn't pre-judge a game just because it's all in pixels: it might have better soundtrack, tighter gameplay, or just more game as a result.

Also (as the Discord chap was told, and conceded), there are plenty of games on the eShop that aren't pixelly, so there is variety. Even within the style, pixelly games can look vastly different from each other, and (hello HLD) there are still pixelly games that look beautiful. (And those that look horrible - sweet mother of God, why did they ruin Nidhogg's aesthetic in the sequel!? )

Chiptunes... eh, I still think a chiptune works best as part of a larger soundset. I still think Shovel Knight's pieces (say) would sound better with some real instruments mixed in, and that it's therefore worlds behind Celeste and Undertale's music (say).

We're lucky - or Nintendo have been skilful - that all sorts of devs have put their stuff on the Switch, and we can choose our games from ones that have a variety of art styles or musical choices. On the other hand...

...I'm finding it really hard to keep track of all the games that are being released on the eShop. It doesn't help that NintendoLife's formerly super-handy release day posts have gone from being like

Spoiler:

to being like press releases.

Spoiler:

Press release-style writing tells me about the plot but nothing about the game. The silly example in the spoiler there could be a 2D platformer, a JRPG, a match-three or anything else in between.

In short, I don't know what my point is. Is anyone else having difficulty sifting through the avalanche of Switch eShop titles?

Coincidentally I stumbled across this Gamespot Interview this morning, which focuses on the e-shop and how Nintendo are looking at improving it. Might be worth a read. I've definitely found that I can't keep track of everything on the e-shop, so having a "merchandise" app or whatever they decide to do could go some way in showing off what's on offer in a much more intuitive and succinct way.

I didn't quite realise how bad it was to find things on the eShop until yesterday. Seen Scullions tweet about recommendations from the sale and it turns out that not even all of the sale games are listed under the offers section and I had to search for one of them.

We need this guy to approve all the games

Balladeer wrote:

To be fair, it's still not my favourite art style, it can still be done very badly, and I still think that most games done in that style would benefit more from not being done in that style.  I do have more of an appreciation that not having to focus resources on super-smooth or realistic graffx frees up budget, especially for smaller teams, that they can plough into other things.

As someone who spent an hour trying to make a "corner bit of skirting board", I agree! Mind you I can't draw pixel art either. So I've basically interrupted this conversation to say I'm not any good at things   .

masofdas wrote:

We need this guy to approve all the games

I agree with this. However, I'd also say that Nintendo have to learn from their past, where there's been several reports of their Draconian attitude. I suppose an alternative would be a more "friendly" recommendation, where Ninty decide to anoint decent releases with a shiny badge (or, said Seal). But I suspect whiny devs on social media would hate this (it seems recently that the less talented people make the most fuss)...

It's a hard one as something has to change or it will end up like STEAM, Mobile and PSN is sort of that way that you can anything on the store and 20-30 games a week, which there will be a good amongst those but finding it might be the issue.

I don't know about maybe linking to Metacritic or something, sure it's not the best solution but if you're going through the 20 new games and see one with a 4/10 you're going to avoid it and a 7/10+ you may go check it out.

Or I played Florence on Mobile and the Google Play recommend me things like Monument Valley, Old Man's Journey that the eShop could be curated to my tastes.

They've already said it's being worked on recently, haven't they? Also don't see the metacritic thing ever happening when the Switch e shop chart can pretty much serve the same purpose. For now I'll use another site to keep up on the new releases then if I can't buy them right away I pop the game onto my watch list so I can find it later.

The eShop chart only shows the best selling games and would a new release suddenly make it the Top 20 or whatever it is? It's just something I think STEAM does and could have user reviews I guess instead.

To put in my 2p as someone who has worked on games for a few years I personally would prefer a seal of approval type system. The problem with the eshop (and steam/mobile) is its very hard to get noticed on the quality of your game alone and so even a really great title is easily lost in a see of quick ports or cheaply made tosh.

All games SHOULD be welcome on the platform but Nintendo needs curate this better on its store front. Have an "editors choice" section for example

A link to metacritic definitely wouldn't be right, reviews are subjective of course so wouldn't be fair if someone was put off a game because of it. To be honest I don't think going through all the games is the problem, it's the lack of things like categories that make it a bit harder to find the right game.

Didn't there used to be user reviews on one of Nintendo's eShops? That could be done again, I'm sure.

Haven't all of them had them up until now?

masofdas wrote:

We need this guy to approve all the games

For crying out loud, Zero and Drunka and I were discussing seals only this past week and you picked the WRONG ONE MAS

Alternatively look at the Zoo thread, your one-stop shop for gaming animal identification.

Jimbob wrote:

As someone who spent an hour trying to make a "corner bit of skirting board", I agree!

Was this for a game or a kitchen? With you, Sir Jim, it could be either!

Yeah should have used this one

Crooning Kid from a To Rose I hope.

One day we’ll get the full lyrics to Kid From A To Rose.

I believe there maybe footage to that effect on my phone, from a karaoke session a couple of weeks ago. I haven't found the courage to watch it yet . . .

Balladeer wrote:

Hyper Light Drifter just got announced, in a tremendously low-key manner, for Switch.  It may amuse Jay, among others, to learn that I've been defending pixel art recently - not just on here, but on Scullion's Discord (be prepared to read those three words a fair bit, I'm spending an uncomfortable amount of time on there).

...Balla's been hacked. Where's the real Balla?

I think what you said later on in your post about pixel art being done for cost's sake likely rings true. The amount of money being spent on AAA releases is absolutely frightening and I'd imagine a fair chunk of that is down to the graphics of any given game.

As for the eShop, I've routinely been cycling through the upcoming releases tab on the eShop and adding anything that looks interesting to my Watchlist. The eShop is a mess to navigate, so I might as well curate my own wishlist of sorts.

If every 'realistic-style' AAA game went pixel art... I'd probably be more inclined to buy them to be honest. Dear God, what has happened to me!?

I'm awaiting your response to Dark Souls next month with baited breath now. This is a new Balla.