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Comment by QAPereo | Hacker News Reader

It really isn't, its just another timely gimmick and a walled garden.

I'm not sure if you've actually used it for any duration, but it actually ain't too much of a gimmick. It's docked at home most of the time, but I took it on the plane to iceland for example and was playing zelda the same as I do at home. When my buddy wanted to play mario kart I was able to take the joycons off the side and use each piece as a tiny controller. It definitely looks gimmicky, but damned if it's not convenient when you do need it.

The fact that a single controller breaks up into 2 fully capable controllers still surprises me to this day.

You can play multiplayer from anywhere with a buddy next to you, also 2 controllers breaks into 4 thats great fun when you have guests over.

The Switch all in all feels very polished and thought out, very happy with mine.

Not fully capable, I believe it lacks some buttons ? Like the second joystick. But, if the game is designed with this in mind, then the joycons are more than functional!

They are fully capable and no buttons are missing. Do you have a counter example? Do you even own one?

You can't use a single Joycon to play Breath of the Wild, for example (at least not as well as with the full controller). You need the second joystick to move the camera, all four of the right buttons and left buttons are assigned to different controls, the plus and minus buttons are different pause menus, and there's a use for the left and right triggers as well, which aren't accessible in single-Joycon mode.

Yes, it's great for Mario Kart (before I got the Pro controller, my wife and I were playing with one Joycon each), and similar games (I assume ARMS and 1-2 Switch are built with single-Joycon use in mind) but it's not enough for every single game.

I see what you're saying:

>The fact that a single controller breaks up into 2 fully capable controllers still surprises me to this day.

Right, each controller on their own is not fully capable. That said, I think it's an impractical goal (really; how would you play a game like BotW with one hand? Impossible.) and I'm not sure the Gparent meant it that way.

Banach-Tarski for controllers. I guess the axiom of choice applies in Nintendo world.

You can't play Lego or minecraft with these, you need two pair of joy cons.

Two pairs? You don't need two pairs, you need one pair.

Looking back though, I either misunderstood the OP or the parent is correct. One joycon is obviously not fully function on its own, I never meant to say that.

oh, I meant if you're two players. I think that's what the original post meant.

Yeah I think I was confused

I've used it for a while, because despite how little I've enjoyed Nintendo hardware for quite a few years now, I still love some of those games. I'm sorry, but I don't care about mobile, I don't like small screens, so there is zero appeal for me here. Putting your mobile and console lines together is, at the end of the day, gimmicky in a world full of tablets and easier ecosystems to use. Nintendo has been chasing that original Wii money, and that doesn't always mean we get the best consoles, or the best games.

In what way is it a gimmick? A portable that I can also play on a TV... it's been wildly successful (challenged by a weak opening lineup to boot) and many people use it in both modes consistently. It's functional and incredibly useful. By definition, not a gimmick. Hell, I've never liked handhelds, but I enjoy being able to take my switch on business trips.

And no one cares about consoles being walled gardens except for people like you on forums like these. Really, 99.999% of people playing these games couldn't care less. In fact, people like these walled gardens better than any other medium because they're simple and they work. The moment my wife has to open a terminal to figure out why her open source variant of a graphics driver is acting wonky is the moment she gives up and goes back to the console.

Aren't all consoles 'walled gardens'? If not, what is it about the Switch that makes it more of one?

To echo carussell: yes, and that's why none of them are the future of gadget design.

"Just another" wasn't meant to imply that this was some special case, just the opposite.

Looks like you're trying to creatively reinterpret the comment you're responding to into something that's easier for you to take down.

I don't see where QAPereo says the thing that you say they're saying. (In fact, I see the opposite, but that's beside the point.)

EDIT:

Three people (strictnein, nicky0, EpicEng) show up to point out the comment I'm referring to said it's "just another [...] walled garden". Er, yes. That's my entire reason for commenting. I can see the words that were written. Which is why I'm calling out the person I replied to for asking a question that suggests those words say something else.

Here's a breakdown of what has just occurred:

Person A suggests it's no different from any other walled garden that's come around before.

Person B asks Person A to defend the stance that it's different from other walled gardens.

I point out the contradiction between what Person A has said and what Person B apparently wants Person A to have said. Then you all show up. Why are we here?

I'm gonna leave HN for a while.

I'm really puzzled by your statement. Honestly.

All major consoles are walled gardens.

I see them say "it's a walled garden"; what do you see?

I really hope you didn't leave HN - or, if you did, that you came back - over this; I wholeheartedly do not want that to be the outcome of something I wrote here. The worst I can be accused of is misunderstanding without malice. However,

> It really isn't, its just another timely gimmick and a walled garden.

is at least ambiguous if you read it carefully. I didn't see why that would be highlighted if everything else in that category shared that exact attribute.

> its just another... walled garden.

What comment are you reading?

> walled garden

You say this like it's a bad thing? I love the walled gardens that commenters here seem to hate: iOS, iTunes, Kindle, etc.

I know what's going to work, where to buy what I want, don't have to worry about incompatibilities, and know who to go to if I need support. And the prices are reasonable!

I think it depends on the walled garden itself but in a case like iTunes, said garden has been withering without being watered for quite some time.

It still works but it can be clunky at times and hasn't received a substantial update for quite some time last I checked.

Sometimes it's nice if a device would just adhere to standards. For example, I can simply mount my OnePlus 3 and traverse it like any regular USB on Linux.

Meanwhile on Windows and Mac, I have to use a wonky, seemingly unmaintained Android File Transfer program that gets in the way more than it helps!

It's not a gimmick. I played it on my parents TV a bunch, moved out, and then played in the plane, played in Airbnbs, played at the laundromat, and now I bought a TV at my new place to be able to play on TV again.

Now I often undock it to play in the bed. I haven't really been into handheld gaming but this thing just makes sense.

That being said it really lacks games at the moment. Controllers are fucking expensive as well.

I thought it was a gimmick as well (having owned a Wii and a Wii-U).

Then I decided to buy the switch for BOTW, and it's no gimmick at all. Sitting on the couch in whatever slouch position and playing is amazing.

And occasionally when I am away from the couch and want to game, the hand-held mode works great.

It's actually one of the most celebrated consoles by indie developers to date. I don't see anything walled about that at all.

What's the gimmick you're referring to? The motion controls? The handheld mode? The dock mode? The kickstand?

Walled gardens are the future of gadget design. 98% of the mass market just wants to consume, without getting exposed to crud and malware. For them a walled garden is ideal; openness invariably leads to Bonzi Buddy and Comet Cursor.

Look at the incentives of the people who made Bonzi Buddy and Comet Cursor. That kind of crud and malware will continue to exist as long as spying and advertising are the prevalent business model, which they still are. This isn't going away with a walled garden, in fact the device manufacturers welcome it with open arms.

So tell me what is the equivalent of Bonzi Buddy on the iOS App Store?

While there are occasional apps that aspire to such, the fact that basic OS functions are private APIs and are not distributable on the only widely available vector into devices prevent malware and many (but not all) privacy breaches.

Taking it to family and friend gatherings and playing the quickdraw game has now become a norm. I love that it facilitates silly interactive sports where my mother in law is giggling as she outdraws my nephew.

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