bugsonglass said:

Took the switch out of the box and played Mario for a few minutes.  I really like how beautiful the screen looks, though not impressed by how it feels.  It's a bit hefty for a handheld but feels flimsy as though it could be easily damaged or break.  In contrast to the U-pad which feels sturdy (and is sturdy ... both myself and friends dropped in on the floor on many occasions without damaging it) but lightweight.

Also, playing Mario ... the game keeps telling me about additional controls and things I can do if I disconnect the joycons from the screen and hold them separately in my hands..  This is annoying me somewhat.  At the moment I intend to be playing this thing as a handheld, does this mean my controls will be restricted?

Only the spin move. Everything else is just waggle to go faster.

The Switch pad actually weighs less than the Upad FYI.

Also games render at higher resolutions when playing docked, so I would try that. Some games, including Odyssey run at sub native in portable mode. Now get Splatoon 2.

gamingeek said:

bugsonglass said:

Took the switch out of the box and played Mario for a few minutes.  I really like how beautiful the screen looks, though not impressed by how it feels.  It's a bit hefty for a handheld but feels flimsy as though it could be easily damaged or break.  In contrast to the U-pad which feels sturdy (and is sturdy ... both myself and friends dropped in on the floor on many occasions without damaging it) but lightweight.

Also, playing Mario ... the game keeps telling me about additional controls and things I can do if I disconnect the joycons from the screen and hold them separately in my hands..  This is annoying me somewhat.  At the moment I intend to be playing this thing as a handheld, does this mean my controls will be restricted?

Only the spin move. Everything else is just waggle to go faster.

The Switch pad actually weighs less than the Upad FYI.

Also games render at higher resolutions when playing docked, so I would try that. Some games, including Odyssey run at sub native in portable mode. Now get Splatoon 2.

What does sub native mean?  Less than ideal?  It looked good to me.  Nice screen.  Even nicer than Vita.  I suppose I will connect it to the TV at some point, especially since I bought one of those fancy pro controllers and ideally I'd want to be using that, but portable is very convenient and easier to pick up and play for me.

Don't think I will be buying Splatoon 2 any time soon.  Still haven't played the original, don't need a second one.  Tempted by Mario Kart as I really love that game and would love to be able to play that anywhere in the flat, though I hope to resist as I hate to buy games more than once, especially expensive ones like that.

Would be sweet if Little Nightmares is indeed headed to Switch.  I've had an eye on this from before it was launched, but I know that if I get it on Steam, there's a good chance I'd never get around to actually playing it.

gamingeek said:

Sub-native means less than the optimal resolution of the screen. I

It means that the resoltion isn't a 1:1 match with the resolution of your screen.  If a 720p screen is rendering an image with a lower than 720p resolution, it's sub-native.  That doesn't mean it isn't optimal though, as a 360p image renders 'optimal' on both a 720 and 1080 screen.  I'd say optimal is when every rendered pixel is represented by a square group of pixels (1x1, 2x2, 3x3).  When that is not the case, the image gets warped a bit as the screen translates the image onto a 720p screen. These days developers are getting increasingly inventive with stuff like dynamic resolutions and resolutions that aren't proportional to the screen, like rendering a 1600x1080 image when the hardware can cope, instead of jumping straight from 1920x1080 to 1600x900.

I don't remember much about the Skyrim quests honestly. The most memorable thing about the game for me was the world itself. When it comes to the quest, I remember the giant dragon and the civil war. For some reason I probably recall more of Oblivion even though it's not as good.

Good news...I'm starting a new job in a few weeks and it's just a huge improvement over the job I've had for the past decade. Actually right around the time we started hanging out here is when I started my current job. I met some great friends there, including my ex girlfriend whom I'm still close with. But other than that it has sucked for a long time but I just got too comfortable and lazy to try to change. Until now. So yeah, should be great.

SupremeAC said:

For some reason I read you had bought Mario Kart    You're missing out on the spin attack, which is like an easy mode that kills anything around you, and the option to toss your hat up or down, which is required to reach a few coins here and there.

So playing with the pro controller while docked I would still have the same limitations?  

Anyway for the time being I'm enjoying playing it as a handheld and looking at this lovely screen!

Congrats on the new Job, Edge!

And congrats on the new Switch, Bugsy!

Saw 'The Shape of Water' yesterday with the missus.  I can always enjoy a Guillermo Del Torro movie, and this one didn't disappoint.  The movie has many facets.  Like the sea, it seems to constantly shift shape and appearance, being a thriller one moment, then a sci-fi flick, a fairytale and back again.  When it goes full on into fairytale mode, the suspension of disbelief needs some extra stretching, but by then I was more than happy to just give in and follow the flow.  It's not the kind of movie that asks big questions or tackles large subjects, except that of xenofobia maybe, but it's all very well done, with a cohesive visual style.  I enjoyed it, might end up picking it up on blu ray when it releases.