Author: nonwashable

Writing about and working on projects that I'm passionate about in hopes of exposing or encouraging others to do the same!

Let’s Switch It Up

.Reading time 11 minutes.

Get it? Ha-haaaa.

Alright, cheesy title aside this is me finally getting around to explaining why I am excited at all about Nintendo’s new console entry – The Switch. The name takes me back a little bit to the Wii and whether or not it maybe needed a little more time in the oven. It’s a little too on the nose while at the same time sounding like the name of a knockoff console you would buy from Leap Frog or Play Mobile. Its hard to know for sure whether or not the names they’ve chosen for the last couple cycles are over or under-engineered. Perhaps its not the most pressing concern as far as Nintendo’s business practices go but for me its an interesting thought to consider whether their problem has been over or under-thinking their direction as a game company.

ANYWAYS.

On to the subject at hand – The Switch. After a few weeks have gone by I have to say that I am still legitimately excited for it while at the same time accepting that many people are not. I get why, I really do, because its exactly the same reason that I was not excited for anything they did since the Game Cube. I have always defended Nintendo’s attempts to innovate where other console makers have stuck to safe and progressive improvements on specific homogeneous items for each console generation. Most of the risks that have been taken are software or policy related and easily changed based on feedback during their E3 reveals. Nintendo on the other hand over the years has decided on a course of action internally and has staunchly stuck to it, in some cases forcing their competition to design and release hardware or change policy of their own so as not to leave a section of the market to one company. In their own way they have pushed the industry forward and have successfully been crowned the undisputed lords of portable (NOT mobile) gaming which is no small accomplishment in addition to Virtual Console and the incredible access they have given gamers to classic games on 3ds and console alike.

What impressed me the most about the Switch is how it seemed to be a far more focused product than in the past years. Nothing that they showed in their trailer seemed gimmicky or unnecessary. Whenever a game company shows off a piece of tech the first things that cross my mind are, “Do I need this?” or “Do I want this?” and then the Why’s for each of those. I have wanted to need Nintendo products for years but none of them have quite gotten me there. The Wii was a really neat idea and the times I did play it I had fun but nothing about it seemed to tell me that I needed to add it to my gaming regimen. The 3ds I played when it originally launched and it was cool, Street Fighter and Pilotwings were fun and the 3d made them visually even more interesting but again, I didn’t need to have it. I want every new phone that comes out and every piece of tech that is demonstrated I want just because its interesting but as I lack an unlimited amount of funds each of these purchases needs to earn my money. I wanted a 3ds but ultimately what is it? A Pokemon, Mario and nostalgia machine. I know that isn’t the extent of the library but I cannot justify purchasing any console for a couple specific exclusives, at least not at launch. I desperately want to play Xenoblade for Wii-U but I can’t justify that purchase for the few games I would play. None of the unique hardware for those systems is really enough to push it ahead of its competitors if you aren’t swimming in disposable income or a massive Nintendo fan.

There are a couple interesting tidbits on the nVidia blog which had me appreciating the level of effort that went into developing the Switch.

“The development encompassed 500 man-years of effort across every facet of creating a new gaming platform: algorithms, computer architecture, system design, system software, APIs, game engines and peripherals. They all had to be rethought and redesigned for Nintendo to deliver the best experience for gamers, whether they’re in the living room or on the move.”

I’ll let you read the post and decide for yourself but ultimately what this says to me is that Nintendo really invested the proper effort into making this a worthwhile experience for the people who purchase it. Not to say this hasn’t been the case with their previous consoles but as everyone knows the Wii and the Wii-U always came with a “… but” attached to their existence. Nintendo had to compromise in order to make those consoles a reality where their competition didn’t. Even Microsoft is feeling the effects of their decisions to compromise with the Xbox One, although that isn’t the only reason its suffering. In order to bring a more robust multimedia experience they gave more of the system to things other than gaming which in the end has it lagging behind the PS4 in horsepower. Motion controls, affordability, rear and front facing cameras for ARG games, 3d capability, while all fantastic concepts it forces them to compromise elsewhere to make them a reality and not all of them ended up being worthwhile.

Watching the video for the Switch I did not see anything that had me questioning where they cut corners to make a certain feature a reality. I know a lot of people will immediately say, “But Non-Washable, its a fucking 3ds that plugs into a dock so it can pretend its a console, it’s corner cutting all over the place!” Normally I would agree and it is a valid concern however the fact that nVidia and Nintendo invested so much into creating the scalable technology for the Switch tells me that they in fact did not compromise on their vision in an attempt to appeal to everyone while sacrificing overall quality. The fact that the Switch may or may not reach parity with the XB1 or the PS4 on graphics or frame rate is a separate issue. If you demand that your games look like a Witcher 3 or Battlefield 1 then the proffer of a portable system like the 3ds or mobile gaming is probably a no-go and there is nothing wrong with that. The reason why it was okay to judge the Wii and the Wii-U on how it performed vs PS3/Xbox 360 is because it was still competing in that arena. While the peripherals may have been different it was still a standard console and when put up against the competition it fell well short of the benchmarks. In much the same way people have been comparing the current generation, and to a lesser extent the last generation, of consoles to PC’s. At this point they are PC’s in a standardized case and as such they are now fighting in a new weight class, although that is a whole different rant. I don’t feel it is fair to prematurely assume that the Switch will not provide an amazing experience in its own right because it doesn’t conform to the hardware standard we’ve become accustomed to.

The Switch at this juncture appears to me as a very refined and direct expression of the company that Nintendo has been transitioning into since the Game Cube’s reign ended. Nintendo has always been the leader of quality portable gaming and while other companies have tried to challenge them it has never lasted. Even in an era where the majority of people carry a gaming capable device on them Nintendo still offers the best portable game experience of all. Their consoles have been hit or miss since the golden years of the NES and SNES so to me the Switch feels like the most natural answer to the question of their destiny in the game industry. Technology that is purpose built to deliver the most top-tier portable gaming experience with a host of creature comforts and in addition to that the option to play it on your 50″ TV from the comfort of your couch while not sacrificing anything?

That sounds like an ideal marriage of the best the 3ds has given us and all the promise we’ve been intermittently excited for when it comes to the Wii consoles.

We want to give you our money, Nintendo, desperately. Give us a reason to.

 

  • Non-Washable

It’s Been a While

.Reading time 3 minutes.

And who’s fault is that?

Mine. Entirely mine.

BUT there is some exciting news on that front and it is… well, I’m posting this so it should be fairly self evident. I have things to say and lately I’ve been itching for a place to say them.

Conveniently, me from 2014 set up this blog in case of just such an occurrence so here I am to make use of it! I re-read the first few posts I made on this blog and surprisingly they weren’t as lame as I remembered them being, which is good. That means I don’t regret doing it in the first place which merely leaves me with the regret that I didn’t post more in the interim.

Ah well, the past and all that so it’s time to move on.

A friend had a great idea a while back that we do a podcast together as a creative outlet, much like our respective blogs and since we recorded the first episode I’ve been really jonesing to do more. Writing I think no matter your talent level takes a bit of effort and doesn’t always flow as smoothly as a conversation that has found an almost musical tempo. There is a lot of temptation to edit and fiddle as you write whereas a conversation, like a river, generally flows in only one direction. Its a living thing that moves inexorably forward whether you want it to or not. This can be both good and bad but so far my experiences with this friend have yielded nothing but a white water rapids like deluge of ideas and fun. Like a garage sale of our individual subconscious. We root around and pluck out interesting things, turning them over in our hands and making a purchase or placing them back carefully on the outline left in the thin layer of cerebral dust where they came from.

Time permitting I crave the opportunity to once again put up my “Sale Here” sign and sit back while people barter for my long forgotten wares. A chance to clear the cobwebs and let new and strange ideas take root in their place. At any rate for the time being we have the first episode done and I will get around to posting it once I can make sure my extremely amateur audio mixing abilities haven’t left it garbled beyond comprehension, any more than our actual vocalizing has done. Fingers crossed and time permitting a second episode will be forthcoming… soon.

Lastly there was a piece of gaming news this past week which I would desperately like to talk about because I find myself unreasonably excited about it.

The Nintendo Switch.

Till next time!

– Non-Washable

The Creative Process

.Reading time 7 minutes.

I have a love-hate relationship with my Idea Bulb.

The shot of adrenaline mixed with utter excitement is like chasing love, at first it may occur to you in the shower or on the can (I won’t apologize for getting good ideas while straddling porcelain.) or while doodling during down time at work when you are wishing desperately that you could be anywhere else. Sometimes it’s immediate and like a dog bounding after a furry intruder that dared step paw in the yard you chase that errant thought until you wrap your hands firmly around it and gaze into its brilliance.

This is it! This is the one, I know it!

You tuck it away like a piece of precious cargo, that you hastily scribbled onto a napkin or a post-it, and it occupies your thoughts for the rest of the day, you analyze it from every angle so you are absolutely sure that when your shift ends and you are free the only thing in front of you is a solid course to bring your genius to life.

You punch out and barely have the wherewithal to mutter goodbye to your co-workers as you speed walk in the most dignified way you can manage to your car, eager to not waste an ounce of your fresh-squeezed all natural organic creative juice. You realize at the first stop light that you don’t want waste any time with menial tasks like cooking food at home so you decide to stop somewhere and pick up your dinner, a full stomach is just what you need in order to fuel your Mad Scientist like abandon once you finally reach the shrine where your vision will be born, also known as, “I swear there is a desk here underneath the papers and empty bottles of Ice.”

So far it seems solid doesn’t it? Every contingency mapped and a plan put in place, a crystal clear idea and the energy to execute it and what seems like an endless gulf between now and 5:30am tomorrow when your alarm reminds that it’s time to go back to work. No need to think about that now, it’s only 3:45pm and once the nice Drive-Thru attendant at Wendys hands over the food you’re off for home, back on track with nothing but clear skies ahead.

The apartment is quiet, which is perfect, you decide to eat at your desk so there is as little distance as possible between you and the start of your glorious project. On the way to the office the socks are discarded as well as the pants, a necessary step in the writing process I assure you, and the soft sigh of your office chair as you settle into it. You dig into your dinner while your computer hums to life and your desktop comes to life populated with a myriad of icons and folders, all of which you recognize as previous projects and ideas, it doesn’t matter though because this time it’s going to be different, this one you are really excited about.

Dinner continues and your mind wanders a bit while the blank Word document sits nestled against the corner of your left screen, cursor blinking impatiently on the bright white page, it’s no matter because you’re already imagining the glorious words that will fill it soon enough. You realize there are a couple resources you might want open while you are writing, a thesaurus perhaps, and a dictionary page just in case, after all it’s better to be prepared so you can maintain a rhythm once you get started. Less editing later.

Almost done with dinner but you remember a great article you saw earlier on break and you may as well be productive while you eat so you open another tab to find it, reassuring yourself that you’re going to read it, pack up your trash and then buckle down and get some real work done.

This is about the point where I look at the clock and it’s now 9:11pm. I finished dinner and I read that article about Bolivia labeling Israel a terrorist state, also Sprint is in the process of shitting all over the concept of Net-Neutrality and CreditKarma is now giving its users free access to their full credit reports which is awesome, high 700’s here- woo!

Now, don’t think I haven’t been unproductive all day, I picked up a package that arrived today for a birthday, cleaned my desk, trimmed my beard, exercised and took a long relaxing shower. I was going to play a little Divinity: Original Sin but I unfortunately don’t have time seeing as how I’d like to try and get a full night of sleep.

Today I did again what I have been doing on and off for years and I get down on myself for it because how is it to be viewed as anything other than abject failure? I wasn’t unproductive but on the same token I wasn’t productive in the way that I desperately wanted to be and have wanted to be since as far back as I can remember.

Unless you count the above, in which case maybe today wasn’t a total loss after all.

Until tomorrow, Idea Bulb.

 

  • Non-Washable