LogFAQs > #880628469

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Out of all their "killer apps", things like Smash Bros and Mario Party don't sell it for me, because I've never given a single shit about them (remember, I'm not a 90s kid who grew up with the N64 like 98% of the other people on this board - I'd already "aged out" of Nintendo by that point into a PS1).

I feel obliged to point out that 90s kid doesn't specifically refer to somebody *born* in the 90s, but instead spent a good portion of their youth in that time-frame. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you were in middle school for at least part of the 90s and then high school after. It's not like you completely missed that window. It's not like you completely missed the culture. And certainly others within your age group *were* N64 fans. A number of N64 games were popular on college campuses, as I understand it (GoldenEye, Smash, etc).

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Zelda's probably the sole franchise that could even make me pay attention on the off-chance that a new entry COULD be good, but considering the last title in that franchise that I liked at all was Link to the Past, odds are pretty slim they're ever going to release another Zelda game I care about at all.

Link Between Worlds comes to mind and, to a lesser extent, maybe even MInish Cap.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

It's like playing Skyrim with even less narrative, less personalization, and cartoony graphics.

But at least the boss fights don't feel generic, as is the case with Skyrim. I also imagine that the dungeon designs in BotW are considerably better.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

I've been skipping handhelds since 1989.

I've said this in the past, but being an adult who actually drives himself everywhere he goes and who doesn't have a ton of "downtime" at high school/college where I'd be just hanging out and killing time (ie, the scenarios where a handheld would be super-valuable), there's almost zero value in handhelds for me.

Given that when I'm at home, I'm more likely to be using a handheld than a home console half the time (partly because, until the Switch, I couldn't use a home console just wherever; it certainly gave me an option other than a book while in the can). Plus, when I go out walking, I'll have a handheld. When I'm waiting in line, I often use a handheld.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

And even when I used to commute into NYC on a regular basis (meaning I had an hour-long trainride in both directions), or if I have to drive my mother to a doctor's appointment and wind up waiting for her, I MUCH prefer just reading a book to kill that time.

I can't read while people are talking, so I'd usually have a handheld with me when I took the train... and sometimes when I carpooled.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Yeah, but regardless of whether or not you've wanted it, it's still a gimmick.

When the entirety of your marketing push is basically focused on "here is this one thing that our system does!", then yes, it's a gimmick. And yes, the fact that the PS2 played DVDs WOULD be a gimmick if that was the main selling point of the console (which it wasn't, nor was the PS1's ability to play CDs). Even the PS3 - which was rolled out almost exclusively as an engine to push the Blu-Ray format - didn't push the gimmick hard enough to really be seen as a "gimmick console" (ie, the sales pitch was still more or less always "come for the games, stay for the Blu-Ray").

Again, I'm going to have to argue feature vs gimmick. Most technology has certain features emphasized. It's neither strange nor unusual. It's absurd to write it off as a gimmick.
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