Video Games

Nintendo are pretty notorious for not dropping prices on the games you actually want to play and the sales are so stingy... Theres a load of free to play games or varying qualities though - it has Fortnite and Minecraft - aren't they the only games kids play?

I still play Zelda Breath of the wild years after release and definitely feel like I got my moneys worth!

But also this!

Depends on what he's into really. Stardew Valley (£10), Minecraft (£25) & Rocket League (Free) would keep me going for a damn long time. It's criminal (IMO) to get a Switch and not get BotW (think I've said a few times here that it was the sole reason to get a Switch for me and honestly would've been content with just that game).

There's also Lego open world à la GTA game that's pretty decent that's currently on sale for around £10. Also a decent looking Hot Wheels game on the way with a track creator, endless fun I'm sure (I hope!).

I've got the Lite so can't comment on any of the joy-con/motion control/local multi-player games (though definitely recommend picking up Overcooked if you go down that route, excellent chaotic local multiplayer fun)

Close to zero games I'd be interested in playing under a tenner. Can't speak for a young'n.

I've bought so far:
botw - really don't love it, don't @ me
skyrim - plenty of replay value even after hundreds of PC hours (think it was 25 or so)
stardew - perfect platform for it tbh - hundreds more hours even after hundreds on pc/android/ios
civ 6 - fine but gets laggy on big maps (so does pc tbf)
alien isolation - actually pretty impressive

stardew probably the cheapest game I have

also youtube app and some trash driving sims for my son

Probably. But the portability is kind of the big thing for him I think. Also for us for holidays/etc or whenever we can get the fuck out of the country again.

@Willie

Yeah. I know about Nintendo's pricing. He does just really want to play Fortnite and Minecraft, but it will change over time.

I will discuss the XBox idea with him.

Thanks both

Also got a GB Micro still which I need to get around to selling.

Interested in hearing more about this...been tempted to pick one up for throwing in the bag once commuting is back.

Is the Lite the superior option do you think? Better initial Bang/$?

much harder to play without a TV though

edit: didn't realise there was a new page of comments!

Not necessarily...

https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/consoles/remote-play

Just plug it in, stream to the iPad and play with a controller. No TV required.

Cool, I didn't know that was a thing!

For me it was the fact I'm not planning to make use of the joy-cons, won't be playing local multi-player, and thought the Lite was big enough as it is (coming from a PS Vita, even a Switch Lite is massive!). I guess the other big one is do you want to plug it into a TV or not. Not an option for the Lite. Though using it as a non-handheld wasn't a consideration for me.

Basically, any of the 'advantages' of the full-fat Switch, I wasn't going to be making use of.

Both the joy-cons & TV connectivity only really seem beneficial for local-multiplayer use (IMO). If that's not going to be much of a factor, I'd be leaning towards the Lite. "Lite owner in preferring Lite shocker!", but yeah, have a look what you're paying extra for, and see if it's actually of any use (or if you've got a strong preference on the size of the console).

On a separate note, have you got him hooked on Kerbal Space Program yet?

I liked taking the joycons off, setting the screen up on my desk and playing during my lunch breaks.

it's never been in the dock, i have a playsatan for the telegames.

Xbox are really nailing their platform right now. Loads of ways to play.

How have I only just heard about Back4Blood?

HHHHNNNNNGGGGGGGG

game pass day 1 too. would be down for some games

Would having no experience of the first 3 entries in Back be a hindrance?

Nah. He's at Minecraft coding camp this week and really enjoying that. He also wants to start a BL2 character after watching me play.

I've been super busy at work learning to make Android apps in Python (mostly arguing with buildozer and shitty Android emulators - fuck you genymotion). As a result I have floated the idea of doing something in Pygame with him. That might be more ambitious than his current attention span these days.

Minecraft coding camp sounds pretty awesome though!

If you're looking into dabbling in game dev, I'd recommend checking out Godot. It uses its own language, but it's very, very similar to Python. It can do both 3D & 2D, and is a fully fledged engine so much more visual than PyGame which will just be text and image files (I spent quite a long time working with a Lua equivalent of PyGame, and while it's more interesting to me to deal with a lower level framework, I don't think that'd likely be the case for a child!). This channel has some decent tutorials for both: https://www.youtube.com/c/KidscancodeOrg/playlists

Ooh. Ta. Will have a look at Godot. Sounds like a code name for a loading screen though.

Indeed, there's a new major release in the works and the 'waiting for Godot' line is getting thrown around a lot!

Also, if you do want to play around with PyGame, this site has recently written up PyGame versions of its existing Lua-based tutorials. They're pretty simple and easy to follow, great intro to game dev if you're content with working on simple games at first. While using an engine is a lot more user-friendly overall, when using a lower-level framework you can just copy-paste the tutorial code if yours isn't working properly to find the errors, as there's nothing more than text files. As opposed to digging through a bunch of menus to find the obscure engine setting that's different on your machine.

https://simplegametutorials.github.io/

If anyone wants a key for the Back4Blood beta (starting today), PM me...

I'll catch you up:

B1B - zombies

B2B - zombies

B3B - zombies

Gotcha 👍

Going back to Switch chat. I take back everything positive I said about Skyrim. Bug-esda. And because it's console you can't even use the console and skirt the issues. Solitude has bugged out after I trounced the Imperials stupidly early in the game and now when I've finally slept for the first time in 200 hours I unlock the dark brotherhood quest line and can't complete it because Astrid can't figure out it's not under siege any more. Plenty of other bugs spotted this run through but usually quests I can't complete in the Misc section, which I can tolerate. But a major quest being open... Basically throwing the Switch in the bin.

Yes please sirrrrr