Nintendo’s Philosophy: Lateral Thinking with Withered Technology (2015) • Hacker News Board

Re: Nintendo’s Philosophy: Lateral Thinking with Withered Technology (2015)

#131

Post by news_to_me » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:02 PM UTC

polm23 wrote: post #26

taneq wrote: post #5

"Withered" is a really weird word to use here since all of these old-and-cheap parts are cheap only because they're massively widely used. I think a better translation would be "commodity parts". In fact later in the article it says "This was a poor translation of the original, which was much closer in spirit to ‘weathered.’" It seems to me that the use of the term in the headline was deliberately obfuscating clickba…

The original word is 枯れる, which really is normally translated as "withered", or, contextually, "dead" or "dried up". Translating it as "commodity parts" loses the implication that common sense says the technology is "used up" in some way. It's not a word you'd normally use to praise something. Here's a bunch of sentences with English translations that use the word: https://jisho.org/search/%E6%9E%AF%E3%82%8C%E3%82%8B…

Jisho is my go-to for Japanese:

https://jisho.org/search/%E6%9E%AF%E3%82%8C%E3%82%8B

Re: Nintendo’s Philosophy: Lateral Thinking with Withered Technology (2015)

#132

Post by danbolt » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:04 PM UTC

oneVoiceOnHN wrote: post #79

saturdaysaint wrote: post #69

It's remarkable how their fundamental "lateral" insight of the last decade was so blindingly obvious in this age of the smartphone - portability is king. I wonder if they collected data from the 3DS and WiiU and could tell that playtime on portable systems was orders of magnitude greater on portables. If you ask me, given my experience owning a Switch and watching my PS4 and gaming PC gather dust, the most compelling…

If your gaming PC is gathering dust but you play the switch, you probably are falling for the marketing. PC has nearly every game switch has, and more. Nintendo is a big marketing company, advertising when you were a child and unaware. Now people nostalgia and automatically but their products. My best example of this is BOTW which is an average game, but the fans have claimed it's the greatest game of all time. (Whic…

I think the industrial design of the Switch has a very smooth “fun per minute of setup” and I think that’s a big edge it has for families with younger children.

Or, a user doesn’t need to set up a computer and install a digital client like Steam. Switching input mappings is easy, and taking the entire device with those same input mappings to another room is simply picking things up. I love to play games on a computer, but it takes a lot more work compared to a console, let alone the Switch. I think that’s why it’s kept such a strong attach rate.

Re: Nintendo’s Philosophy: Lateral Thinking with Withered Technology (2015)

#133

Post by louhike » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:05 PM UTC

karatestomp wrote: post #73

saturdaysaint wrote: post #69

It's remarkable how their fundamental "lateral" insight of the last decade was so blindingly obvious in this age of the smartphone - portability is king. I wonder if they collected data from the 3DS and WiiU and could tell that playtime on portable systems was orders of magnitude greater on portables. If you ask me, given my experience owning a Switch and watching my PS4 and gaming PC gather dust, the most compelling…

I don't care for portable gaming, but Nintendo's portables since the Gameboy Advance have had libraries in many respects better than any contemporary console. Some portion of their success is surely because of the library, and despite their portability (though, yes, many value the portability, I'm sure). I don't know how the controls would work but I'd love something like the Playstation TV (a stripped-down Vita that…

Analogue is doing a "gameboy" with an HD screen which has the possibility to be plugged on a TV, it's called the Analogue Pocket. It will play gameboy and gameboy advance games with near perfect emulation (thanks to FPGA).

Their previous products are great so I can't wait to get this one. It should be released this year.

Re: Nintendo’s Philosophy: Lateral Thinking with Withered Technology (2015)

#134

Post by leetcrew » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:05 PM UTC

oneVoiceOnHN wrote: post #79

saturdaysaint wrote: post #69

It's remarkable how their fundamental "lateral" insight of the last decade was so blindingly obvious in this age of the smartphone - portability is king. I wonder if they collected data from the 3DS and WiiU and could tell that playtime on portable systems was orders of magnitude greater on portables. If you ask me, given my experience owning a Switch and watching my PS4 and gaming PC gather dust, the most compelling…

If your gaming PC is gathering dust but you play the switch, you probably are falling for the marketing. PC has nearly every game switch has, and more. Nintendo is a big marketing company, advertising when you were a child and unaware. Now people nostalgia and automatically but their products. My best example of this is BOTW which is an average game, but the fans have claimed it's the greatest game of all time. (Whic…

as a lifelong pc gaming and hardware enthusiast, I've never had much interest in consoles. imo, a good PC is a far better platform to enjoy most singleplayer experiences as well as "serious" multiplayer games.

there's one use case where the PC really sucks though: playing games with other people in the same room. handing around a controller for a singleplayer game or splitscreen multiplayer is much more natural. back in the day, LAN parties where everyone brought over their laptop were a lot of fun, but it's an undeniably clunky experience.

the cpu heatsink in my main pc alone weighs more than twice as much as a switch+joycons. the platforms address very different use cases.

Re: Nintendo’s Philosophy: Lateral Thinking with Withered Technology (2015)

#135

Post by drewbug » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:09 PM UTC

karatestomp wrote: post #73

saturdaysaint wrote: post #69

It's remarkable how their fundamental "lateral" insight of the last decade was so blindingly obvious in this age of the smartphone - portability is king. I wonder if they collected data from the 3DS and WiiU and could tell that playtime on portable systems was orders of magnitude greater on portables. If you ask me, given my experience owning a Switch and watching my PS4 and gaming PC gather dust, the most compelling…

I don't care for portable gaming, but Nintendo's portables since the Gameboy Advance have had libraries in many respects better than any contemporary console. Some portion of their success is surely because of the library, and despite their portability (though, yes, many value the portability, I'm sure). I don't know how the controls would work but I'd love something like the Playstation TV (a stripped-down Vita that…

https://wiibrew.org/wiki/Visual_Boy_Advance_GX

Re: Nintendo’s Philosophy: Lateral Thinking with Withered Technology (2015)

#136

Post by thedudeabides5 » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:15 PM UTC

gwbas1c wrote: post #78

fenomas wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I think the article was off-base there - "withered" isn't a mistranslation at all. I'd probably have gone with "dried-up", but to translate it as "weathered" changes the meaning considerably.

I disagree, weathered often implies broken in, established, mature.

Probably a concept that would be helpful to adopt in the west.

Like, tech can be so concerned with the new new, we sometimes forget there's a bunch of old stuff that works pretty reliably, and can be applied in new and creative directions, with a little 'lateral' thinking.

Re: Nintendo’s Philosophy: Lateral Thinking with Withered Technology (2015)

#137

Post by Jommi » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:20 PM UTC

saturdaysaint wrote: post #69

It's remarkable how their fundamental "lateral" insight of the last decade was so blindingly obvious in this age of the smartphone - portability is king. I wonder if they collected data from the 3DS and WiiU and could tell that playtime on portable systems was orders of magnitude greater on portables. If you ask me, given my experience owning a Switch and watching my PS4 and gaming PC gather dust, the most compelling…

I think one of the biggest not-talked-about factors that has contributed to Nintendo's and Switch's success has been the amount of exclusives, especially in modern times.

Looking at the PS4 and XBOX debate, going forward the architectures of these two consoles will be increasingly similar, which is translating to a very low amount of exclusives for each platform. This is harsh as exclusives used to be one of the best signals for console performance.

With Switch focusing on portability infra + Nintendo's strong portfolio of exclusive IPs, its a winning combo for sure.

Re: Nintendo’s Philosophy: Lateral Thinking with Withered Technology (2015)

#138

Post by majormajor » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:36 PM UTC

oneVoiceOnHN wrote: post #93

dota_fanatic wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is a bait, but, I'm curious: if BOTW is average, could you provide me with ~25 above average games? I would love to add them to my library and play them. Or even just 15?

Sure, btw this list has a lot of 2, you don't need to play the originals. Assassin's Creed 2, Bioshock, borderlands 2, call of duty modern warfare 2, (divinity Original sin, combat was great, hated the puzzles), doom 2016, elder scrolls (hardcore start with Morrowind, otherwise oblivion), fable, factorio, fallout 3, far cry 3, Gris(short, get it on sale), half life 2, magika, shadow of Mordor and war, saints row 1 an…

I've played about half of those and the only games that have gotten as many hours out of me as BOTW in the last decade or two have been KOTOR and Mass Effect 1/2. The Fallouts in particular were huge letdowns to me (Fallout 2 was a key formative game).

You can disagree, of course, but in being declarative about it you overestimate the broadness of your own taste in style, I think. For instance, twenty years ago I was the one arguing with my friends about how Majora's Mask was overrated and there were so many better games on PC...

Re: Nintendo’s Philosophy: Lateral Thinking with Withered Technology (2015)

#139

Post by montecarl » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:37 PM UTC

Jommi wrote: post #137

saturdaysaint wrote: post #69

It's remarkable how their fundamental "lateral" insight of the last decade was so blindingly obvious in this age of the smartphone - portability is king. I wonder if they collected data from the 3DS and WiiU and could tell that playtime on portable systems was orders of magnitude greater on portables. If you ask me, given my experience owning a Switch and watching my PS4 and gaming PC gather dust, the most compelling…

I think one of the biggest not-talked-about factors that has contributed to Nintendo's and Switch's success has been the amount of exclusives, especially in modern times. Looking at the PS4 and XBOX debate, going forward the architectures of these two consoles will be increasingly similar, which is translating to a very low amount of exclusives for each platform. This is harsh as exclusives used to be one of the best…

I think you hit the nail on the head with exclusive titles. Nintendo console are worth owning if not only for the ability to play the Mario and Zelda franchises, but when you add in Smash Brothers, Pokemon, and all the other titles people love, it is a truly unique offering. I've been loving Super Mario Maker 2.

Re: Nintendo’s Philosophy: Lateral Thinking with Withered Technology (2015)

#140

Post by throwaway17_17 » Mon, Apr 06, 2020, 5:43 PM UTC

deepakhj wrote: post #127

elpatoisthebest wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, I have an 8 year old. The switch is probably the most fun couch gaming we can do together. We also have an xbox and a pc for games, and we usually ignore them both in favor of Nintendo exclusives. Pokemon, BOTW, Smash Bros. It's honestly a really good co-op couch experience. And when we go on road trips, it's better than the days when we would load up a fat crt tv in my parent's van and plug in the SNES. Also, if…

Sure for kids the switch can’t be beat. But the best games are all on Sony (some on PC too) Witcher 3, horizon zero down, god of war, uncharted 4, the last of us, persona 5, nier automata, assassins creed oddysey, red dead redemption 2, Spider-Man, etc.

Your list, with the exception of Persona 5 and somewhat Nier, are all games in the same, 3rd-person-open-world-AAA action/adventure genre. Claiming that ‘the best games’ are all one only one platform and that they are all in the exact same genre says much more about personal preference than the quality of game play experience on various consoles and PC.

— Edited a typo —