I’d like to take you on my first year of otome just to see where I am now compared to where I started. It has been a year. It certainly has been a year. Finding this genre and a hobby that I can pour endless hours into has helped keep me from floating around in this unprecedented time without a goal or becoming a huddled mass of anxiety on the floor. So, I’d say it’s a good thing I showed some interest back in January.
I’m really not big on romance. Or so I say. I’ve never shown interest in love stories and found movies and shows that included them needlessly complicated and often detracting from the overall plot or theme. Romance was a side-story that didn’t have to be included, in my opinion. When it did take center stage, I probably never watched any good romances because I was always struck with how easy the issues would be solved if there wasn’t all the unnecessary drama because the feels were involved.
Stay with me here, I promise I’m headed somewhere.
Then I started getting ads targeting me on FaceBook due to living with a friend who is the opposite; she consumes massive amounts of romance-related media. I’m talking hundreds of books, shows, movies and such, easily putting her in thousands of strictly romance media. So of course I was going to get romance ads sharing an IP. Well, I moved on and those ads stuck with me because that’s how FaceBook do. So, eventually, I sucked it up and decided I needed a new phone game to keep me entertained, and I might as well check out what all this hubbub was about.
My first game was otome-lite, if it can even be considered that. Obey Me! had just launched and I gingerly entered the scene, and it was fun. It wasn’t the story that really got me - sure, it was cute - but having the card collecting, energy management, and leveling elements was what pulled me in because those were features I was used to in other games. The story was funny, if nothing else, and it wasn’t romance-heavy, which is probably why it worked so well for someone like me.
But now I had this interest. Was this what all otome were like? Obviously I didn’t think they were all about going to school in the Devildom while sharing a house with seven brothers and trying to make the most of it since I was apparently brought there against my will and told I’d have to wait a year before returning to normal life where I’m not constantly being reminded that I’m a weak human. But I had an interest! So I went to the Nintendo e-shop and found the otome tag. I stared at that page for days, eventually deciding to pick the best selling game at the time, which was Nightshade. It was the most expensive game at the time as well and I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend the money to see if I even liked it. But eventually I bit the bullet and went for it on January 14th, 2020.
It was chaotic and after I finished I wasn’t sure how to even quantify the time I spent in the game as good or bad or what? I’d never played a visual novel, let alone a romance one. And then it was Nightshade on top of that. Did every romance game have so many deaths? Would I be constantly facing an ending where it’s between murder or love? Sometimes murder due to love. I’m suddenly reminded of the Eddy Izzard skit “Cake or Death”. Apparently the cake option is not the more sought out one in Nightshade, these characters like to dance the line of death being an enticing choice.
The game and mental wrestling I did only took a week, apparently, because on January 21 I bought my second Switch otoge, a Voltage phone port. Suddenly it was all making sense. Oh, now I see why Nightshade was so expensive. Oh, so that’s what a romance-focused story is. Oh, it’s called fluff? Got it. Hey, there’s actually sexual content in this one. I see, I see. And that continued for less than four days when I bought another otoge.
In January I discovered I liked visual novels. I found that romance was not boring or needlessly added if the story was more focused on love and less on saving the world or some other measurable goal that largely is removed from finding someone to love. I found that sometimes saving the world comes second to saving someone you love. I found a new hobby.
February came with 12 new titles for me, mainly due to the Valentine’s sale. Also because I had now played a high production and low production game and was lost in this world of what was a "good game" in otoge rules. I soon found out that it was largely based on personal preferences for story, art, music, writing style, and all those things that can’t really be measured as “good” or “bad” like other games I had played in the past where there were clear cut rules based on mechanics. I promise I didn’t play all 12 titles in February. Instead I fell in love with gods and dated some rich men running black market auctions. I started to delve into some mobile games, only to find I hated their structure or story-telling. Dropping three before finishing a single route. Basically I had dipped into the pool and only found the scum that was floating at the top because it was paid advertising to be featured first. I still worked on my relationship with those demon brothers, though.
March launched me into mobage. Quarantine started in the States. I bought my first physical copy of a game. I played as a poisonous girl and was swept away in the fantasy that monsters not only could be loved, but deserved love. I found myself in Wonderland where apparently I liked to eat a lot and could see sunshine even on rainy days. I was a no-nonsense travel agent suddenly in a mansion of vampires, and found solace in the man that tried to allow me to escape. I was a young fashion designer that saved the life of Oda Nobunaga and decidedly ran away from him as he proposed I rule the world at his side. That was a good choice. No regrets. I suddenly found a stranger talking to me on a phone app and for some reason decided to reside in an apartment while I organized a party for some pushy internet people. Can’t forget that I was still trying to get a demon brother to notice me. Anyone at this point.
In April I bought my first games for the computer. I had fevered dreams about Mystic Messenger as I literally was getting over a fever that prevented me from playing for three days; most of what I remember is all hazy and I’m not sure if I was even awake. I played my first fandisk. I played my second fandisk. I met some ayakashi that I didn’t get along with and it was the first game in a long time that I dropped despite paying for it. I learned about Golden Week after I bought my games. Go me. I hadn’t snagged the affections of a demon yet, but I was starting to feel comfortable in my human-pet role. Notice me, Senpai!
May took me to tashio Japan, and I was hardly impressed with the political plot but discovered that a voice can make me weak. I bought my second physical copy of a game. I fell into the hole of trying to restore my father’s production company and for some reason I couldn’t stop playing the game despite a lack of routes and choices. I had a good grasp on most events for mobage by this point and let those rewards roll in. I didn’t need to thirst over the demon brothers anymore, we could just be good friends while I lived as a transfer student.
June welcomed the Steam Summer Sale, and you can bet I added even more games to my backlog that was increasing exponentially. I lived in a world of fairytales as an ice ~~queen~~ princess who found more than friendship with the men surrounding her. I bought my first merch. I visited the Shinsengumi for the first time and it turns out I typically make choices to get the “good” boys. Then, in an attempt to find my way with another man, I found my way into being constantly threatened with death and hardly anything to show for it since my LI was in love with a certain commander. It's cool, I had learned I liked when they threatened me. And at the end of the month I got to experience the eerie world of a quarantined Shinjuku while experiencing the eerie world of quarantine half-way around the world. It’s okay, though, I soon forgot about all the quarantine business as I was too busy playing detective and wondering if there really are people that don't like music out there. The demon brothers all wanted my time by this point. Oh how the tables have turned. Time to be aloof. I'm a kuudere in real life.
July appeared to be a slow month. I participated in my first play-along. I occasionally bought a new game that I still haven’t yet played. I officially became a curator on Steam. I guess I didn’t do a whole lot. I pre-ordered two more physical games. I started my journey to collect every MM ending now that I had finished every route in the game. Notable because I hit a slump near the end of this month and if it wasn’t for the concern of my Korean boyfriends constantly wanting to talk to me and asking if I ate, I’m not sure I would have managed as well.
August was the start of my sister playing otoge. She binged three games in that month and I watched every hour of her gametime. It was exhausting but enjoyable at the same time. My husband also started his first otoge, which I also watched. Oh yes, my chance to become a world class detective had finally come, where I fell in love with Watson Jr. and started my longest running gameplay that literally took months to finish. I was comfortable with being doted on by the demon brothers while not actually having an intimate relationship. I was exploring the darker side of my Korean husbandos with every bad end. I was still sucked into the world of superpowers. I decided to stay in Sengoku Japan with some stabby men that all were overprotective of me. My den of vampires turned out to be full of soft men, and I was cool with that. Wonderland proved to have a few husbandos that I didn’t expect to like. It was honestly a hard month that I was trying my best to navigate, and having people around me enjoying the same things I did helped me get through it.
In September I started my review blog with some great support from friends. I continued my courting of high school boys in London, albeit slowly. I bought more games. Too many games. My poor backlog is years long by this point. I finished my journey as a party planner and every possible ending that came with that.
October gave me another reason to neglect my sleep schedule, but this time because I was part-demon myself and had made a contract with some lusty men. That wasn’t the only thing I was doing this month, I was also entangling myself with some dangerous men in 1925 Italy. Oh, and did I say I had too many games? I must have been wrong, because I added more. I finished every vampire that was presented to me in Paris, ending with a rather disappointing route. I still have a few warlords on the back burner. And Wonderland hasn’t disappeared from my thoughts yet. Not to mention that those demon brothers continue to take up my time because even though I collect husbandos, I’m faithful to my firsts.
November saw the start of running my grandfather’s cafe, but I’m just not as into it as I thought I’d be. This one might actually turn out longer than my stint in London, which I finally finished at the start of this month! I found some exceptional people through this sub and now have more to count among my friends. I found my favorite otome, because loving bad people without being admonished for it makes me warm in the chest. Apparently I couldn’t contain my curiosity about trash games and once again purchased more with the promise that I’ll play them soon™. It’s a work in progress, just like I am.
Finally we come to December. Not the end of my otome journey, but the end of my year getting into the games. I romanced birds and found the story deeper than I ever expected. I got to finally read my sweet boy’s after story, and sobbed for the first time because of a game. I found myself in the Psychedelica world and fell in love with every layered individual offered up for the taking. Even the ones I couldn't keep. The game made it to my top five, at least, but to be honest I don’t really order them, more like tier them. It’s in the top tier. We can just assume at this point that every month I bought at least one new game. Don’t judge. I have decades of ice around my heart to break through and I'm going to need more games to manage that.
If you asked me a year ago what I would have done this year, first, I would have been completely wrong because the world went topsy-turvy and I certainly didn’t anticipate any of it. But I also wouldn’t have guessed that I’d have found a new hobby that I plunged headfirst into. My library on Steam has expanded by at least 5x its size at this time last year. I’ve only had my Switch for a bit over a year, so commenting on my games there isn’t entirely fair. I’ve played more mobage in the last year than I have probably ever played in the entire time I’ve had a phone, I know I certainly spent more time on it without a doubt. I found otomegames right around March, and I visit this sub multiple times a day. This has become my life, and I’m not complaining one bit.
In total I bought ~~so many games I’m embarrassed to say~~ many games. Played 12 Switch otoge, 10 mobage, 7 PC games, and 1 PS4 game. Gifted 14 games to others. Collected roughly 50 husbandos that I refuse to give up, the rest I've met are welcome to join; and really only 3 are banned from my harem of men. Converted 5 people to the book of boys. Got misty-eyed 4 times. Cried 4 times. Sobbed once. And saved hundreds of photos, screenshots, and fanart.
I look forward to next year and not spending nearly as much money, but still getting to experience all the new things publishers are localizing and bringing our way. I plan on getting into more OELVNs, but there are still so many “iconic” games I’ve yet to play that it’s going to be hard to maneuver what to play when. I’m sure I would have enjoyed a brief vacation in otome territory on my own, but I’m doubly sure that because of this sub I’ve stayed interested and become invested in the future of the genre. I'm moving in. Brace yourselves.

The description of this deal was not provided by this subreddit and it's contributors.
£9.99 - Amazon
£1 less than I posted it last time, but now under £10, just. Yours for £9.99 with Prime or £14.48 without, but that doesn't seem worthwhile. Use the code UGREEN37 to get £3 off.
Note it doesn't work with Firestick or Chromecast et al, as they use a Micro USB. It would work with a Switch and lots of different USB-C laptops or tablets.
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Details

Brand UGREEN
Product Dimensions 6 x 2.38 x 1.58 cm; 56 Grams
Item model number 50737
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Color Grey
Are Batteries Included No
Item Weight 56 g
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Many people have asked me why I believe the original Nintendo DS is better than the 3DS. Here is my answer to you all:
Upon looking at the timeline, it would seem as if the Nintendo DS is inferior to its successor, The Nintendo 3DS. The graphics are in higher definition, there is a camera, internet is supported, wider screens, it has 3DS support, and more! With its backwards compatibility as well, many people see this as the definitive way to play DS games. However, despite the technological advances, the original Nintendo DS (DS Lite included) was more innovative and groundbreaking for the time, had a greater library of games, and in the future, will have a more permanent legacy than the 3DS.
When the Nintendo DS initially released, its two main selling points were the touchscreen and dual screens. These new features, while used in different systems in the past, were never as widely popular and never had they been included together. Both of them allowed for whole new ways to play video games and made the Nintendo DS stand out from all its competitors. To display how powerful the system was and show the DS’ features in action, Nintendo announced Mario 64 DS, one of the most beloved Mario games, as a launch title. Other launch titles were Metroid Prime: Hunters, a new, DS-Exclusive, entry in the Metroid franchise, Mario Kart DS, the Mario Kart game that introduced many features present in the franchise today, New Super Mario Bros, the first Mario game in decades that was not 3D platforming, and a whole new franchise, Nintendogs. Most of these franchises had not had any games in years and with their announcements, the DS was met with praise and excitement.
Compared to the Nintendo DS, the announcement of the 3DS was rather lackluster. The notable launch titles of the 3DS were Steel Driver, a submarine simulation game with a 58/100 on Metacritic and 4.5/10 on Gamespot, Nintendogs + Cats, a sequel to the original Nintendogs with just cats added, Rayman 3D, a direct port of Rayman DS with little to nothing new added, LEGO Star Wars III, another direction port, and Pilotwings Resort, arguably the only good launch title. To top it off, instead of a gimmick that would affect how games were played, the 3DS aimed to change how they were viewed. 3D movies were the craze at the time and the 3DS played into that trend to sell more systems. However, as happens with all trends, they eventually die out and by late 2017, the 3DS began its slow and painful death due to the Nintendo Switch, a console with a better gimmick.
The original Nintendo DS was the console many famous franchises made their debut on as well as the console many franchises made their return to. Famous franchises such as Professor Layton, Ace Attorney, Cooking Mama, Scribblenauts, and Nintendogs were created. Other franchises had games come out of Japan for the first time including Final Fantasy III and Rhythm Heaven. The Nintendo DS received new games for 10 years before being discontinued in 2014. The DS eventually ended its library with around 2k games released in the US. While there were some exclusive games to Europe and Japan, the Nintendo DS did not have region locking, a system that allows only games from your region to be played on your system (Ex. US 3DS’ can only play US games. Games from Japan can not be played without a Japanese console). Lastly, the Nintendo DS has backwards compatibility with the Gameboy Advance, another console without region locking. This added around another 1k (only US games) of games that could be played on the Nintendo DS. The immense library, combined with the ability in import games from other countries, and play Gameboy Advance games made the DS’ library seem vast and unique. The 3DS on the other hand, was not as widespread.
The Nintendo 3DS was a massive letdown throughout its life, only bringing into fruition exactly 410 games in the US. The 3DS also introduced region locking making it impossible to play games from Japan or Europe. The only way to bypass region lock was by hacking the system which would prevent any online access and could possibly break your system in the process. Many games were remade for the 3DS with varying success and freshness, but the system brought little to no new franchises. When thinking about the more notable 3DS games, people often point to the Legend of Zelda remakes, Pokémon games, Smash Bros, and Kid Icarus, none of which made their debut on the 3DS. To balance out the small library and limited good games, the 3DS allowed for backwards compatibility with almost all original DS games. To accommodate for the larger screen, DS games had their graphics stretched resulting in blurs and graphical errors. The 3DS did have an option to play DS games in their original screen size, but the placement made the graphics look small and out of place.
To finish off this essay, I would like to talk about the Nintendo Eshop. All games on the Nintendo DS were given physical releases, not a single game could be downloaded on the system. While switching between games may come as a chore to some, the physical aspect of the cartridges makes the library on the Nintendo DS so much more permanent. Eventually, the 3DS Eshop will close down making it impossible to download the 434 games exclusive to the Eshop. Any updates that someone missed will also be impossible to receive. Anyone who bought a game, deleted it, and then wishes to redownload will have lost their game forever. Same with anyone who might lose their console or have it broken. Unless they buy a new console with the game preinstalled, the money is lost with the game and there is no way to get it back.
With its better gimmick, startup of famous franchises and returning of others, no region locking, GBA backwards compatibility, and permanent library of games, the Nintendo DS is the better console when compared to the Nintendo 3DS.

Hello there,
I just wanted to share my experience with the Nintendo Switch to those who are interested and I thought that perhaps starting a reddit post could be a starting point. First of all, just to clarify that 'Kami' means 'We' or 'Us' in my language (Bahasa Indonesia) and I used because my experience with the Nintendo Switch have been uniquely communal. This is an unnecessarily long post (much apologies) but I just hope that can write everything down before I lost the moment for writing. Thank you for your time. ^_^

Kami Heart The Hybrid System
Impact to Choice
I was fortunate that I received the Nintendo Switch as a Birthday present from my wife on March 8, 2017 - the first week the Switch was released. And like everyone else who got their Switch ealy on, I was hooked on Breath of the Wild. Yes, Hyrule was undoubtedly a supreme experience on its own, but it was the Hybrid nature of the Switch that caught me off-guard about the overall experience of playing the newest adventures of Link.
Through my adult years; with marriage, family and work - I have learnt to plan my days by making time for things that are important and things that are urgent. Through this matrix, I slowly and crushingly admit to myself that playing video games is almost never important nor urgent, no matter the argument. I had seriously thought that the joy I got from video games would just be a fond memory of my past. When I first learned about the Switch and its portability, I was intrigued and cautiously excited by its potential. The excitement stemmed from the hope that the hybrid system could facilitate more choice for me, and that it would have more flexibility to fit into my daily schedules of things that are important and things that are urgent.
So it was a pleasant surprise to me, when I noticed the painless planning that I have to do to have time to play my Nintendo Switch. The difference with the Switch is that it allows me to comfortably find time rather than struggle to make time. If I have 30 minutes after work, I can play while having a cup of coffee at a café. If I have an hour before going to bed, I can play while my wife can still watch the TV (This is a BIG deal). If I am flying for work, I can play on the plane instead of hoping that the 1 hour flight will just fly by (sorry for the pun). It turns out, there are numerous times in a day where I can fit my games in, simply because I am no longer tethered to my TV or a computer to play. With the Switch, it did not feel selfish for me to play video games nor do I feel that I am compromising my priorities. To be clear, video games did not suddenly become more important or more urgent, it's just that the hybrid Switch makes it so it does not have to be either to be a viable choice. This impact to choice is literally changing my lifestyle. I don't have to juggle multiple time schedules to make 2 hours free, just so I can play my game. This is the promise of mobile / handheld gaming without compromising the kind of gameplay that I like. To me, the hybrid nature of the Nintendo Switch is not a gimmick, it’s a magic trick. I can play the same Breath of the Wild on my TV or at a Coffee Shop, and I don't think I'll ever get over how wonderful this seamless transition feels. The impact of the hybrid system was beyond my expectations, but to some extent, it was expected nonetheless. There is another, unexpected feature of the Switch, that could break the seamless experience of the hybrid system without it - the sleep mode.
For me, before the Switch and its sleep button, 30 minutes is meaningless to a gaming session. With the sprawling AAA games that I liked to play, I could barely progress in 30 minutes. But the sleep mode changes that. A 30 minutes play time on the Nintendo Switch is often a part of the 1- 2 hours total time I spent on the game that day. Moreover, the sleep button removes the frustration of having to stop playing. Coming back to the important/urgent matrix, the urgent part often comes when I am playing video games on my TV and consequently, I have to stop playing. The frustration of scrambling to save or to just turn it off completely was frankly, the worst part of this hobby before I had the Switch. I could not just simply ‘pick up where I left off’. Whenever I have to stop playing, I would not know when I could make those 2 hours again. It could be a couple of days, a week or even months, before I could resume the game... Just between you and me, this is why I never get to finish The Witcher 3. It was devastating to open up my save file for The Witcher 3 and every time I had to try to remember where I was or what it was that I was doing, the momentum was lost. After several times of losing momentum, the impetus to play was just lost completely... The sleep button is not exclusive to the Switch, but the hybrid nature is what makes the sleep mode integral. That 30 minutes in the Cafe? I can press the sleep button when I am heading out. That 1 hour session before bed? I can press the sleep button when my wife wants to talk (again, BIG deal). That play session on the plane? I can press the sleep button when it's time to land. The sleep function is crucial to the seamless experience, because 30 minutes of play is now substantial. And I know that it will be easy to find another 30 minutes to continue my game and finish that shrine I was in or climb that tower I was heading towards. Unlike my experience with the Witcher 3, the momentum of my adventure in Hyrule was never lost and I got to complete it.
With the newfound time for playing video games, the Switch did not only change when and how I play games, but also how I spend the time with the games I played. Those first few weeks of exploring Hyrule, battling Bokoblins, completing Shrines, finding Koroks and defeating Ganon, would have been a completely different experience if it weren’t done through a hybrid system. With the Switch, I get to play Breath of the Wild for 1-2 hours everyday; instead of 2-3 hours a couple of times a week. As it was so much easier to find time to play Breath of the Wild, I consequently did not feel like I was wasting time whenever I followed my curiosity rather than the supposed ‘story’ of the game. It was the first time in a long time, since I felt the urge to simply play a game rather than the rush to complete it. After the credits rolled on Breath of the Wild, I surprised myself by immediately starting a new game just because I wanted to play again. In my second playthrough, after gliding down the Great Plateau, I knew that this dear hobby of mine is now possible to be in my future and not just a memory of my past. The Nintendo Switch has significantly influenced how I want to play video games.
Is it on the Switch?
Since the launch of the Switch, I hear and/or see the following remark, "Is it on the Switch?", so many times that it could almost become a catchphrase for the console. It is a question that I also find myself asking quite frequently when I see a new game (or an old game). But why is that? Why did I become so interested in other games coming to the Switch? I’ve come to the thought that the lack of gimmick on the Switch is why I am eager for more games on the device. …. (Please let me explain). Earlier in the blog, I have mentioned that the hybrid nature does not feel like a gimmick and more like a magic trick - even 3 years later, that feeling of wonder still rings true. However, the occasions in which that hybrid magic trick has a chance to dazzle me, gradually declined. There are less and less instances where I use my Switch on the TV as I found myself using the Switch more often in handheld mode. During the first year of owning the Switch, I began to settle on a 1:5 ratio of TV vs Handheld mode. The dock becomes more of a charging dock rather than a dock to connect to the TV. Because most of my time with the Switch is as a Handheld experience, the Hybrid benefit becomes much less apparent for me. But because of that, I began to notice just how good it is to have traditionally-console games in the palm of my hands.
I think it was Kotaku (I could be wrong, as I could not precisely recall where I found this quote) which said that Nintendo Switch is more of a portable console that can also be played on the TV - which was contrary to Nintendo's messaging of Nintendo Switch being a “Home console that you can take with you”. My initial thought of the Nintendo Switch generally agrees with Kotaku, but my experience with the console helped me understand Nintendo’s messaging. The Switch is a great handheld device because it is not relegated to what I used to consider as “Handheld-Games”. Before the Switch, I always have this perception that console games and handheld games are inherently different. One is not better than the other, but the processing power and size of games are so different that I could not expect the same gaming experience. As a handheld device, the Switch did not have that issue of perception. Playing Breath of the Wild in the palm of my hands proved to me that the future is here, there is no longer a chasm between console games and handheld devices because it has been blurred by the Nintendo Switch. But more importantly, playing on the Nintendo Switch felt familiar. There is only a single screen. There are no styluses. Touch Screen controls are additional / optional. I don’t have to learn motion controls (mostly). There is no significant difference between how I used to play on the TV versus how I play my games on the Nintendo Switch in handheld mode. I only focused on the single screen and the buttons layout are practically identical to most other consoles I have used. The muscle-memory I have built through the years did not have to be re-learnt. Which is basically saying, that the Switch is actually … pretty plain. Without its Hybrid capability, the Switch feels more like a next-gen handheld and not the wild and zany experiments Nintendo is known for. And at least to me, that is a good thing.
The familiarity of playing the Switch in handheld mode made it so much easier for me to hope that more games, that I do want to play, can come to the Switch. The experience I had with Breath of the Wild makes me think, “Well, why not?”, if I can play Breath of the Wild on the plane or in the cafe then why not other console-games as well. The first real test for me was Skyrim. I have played hundreds of hours of Skyrim on the Playstation, thus I was certain that if playing Skyrim in handheld mode feels off in any way, I would notice it. When Skyrim was released on the Switch, I think I may be one of the earliest people who downloaded it to my Switch. The added DLCs made it even sweeter as I never had the chance to really sunk my teeth on the DLCs. I can recall that I was nervous about it because I really wanted it to play well on the Switch. After the character creation was done and I was out and about in Whiterun - I felt relieved. The Switch basically fades into the background and I am left with Skyrim in the palm of my hands. I spent dozens and dozens of hours in Skyrim again and it was more enjoyable because it was easier to find the time to play on a handheld device.
Between Breath of the Wild and Skyrim, there were other games as well that shaped my instinct to ask “Is it on the Switch?”. I was introduced to the world of Indie games in the first year of owning the Nintendo Switch. The world of Indie games was not something that I put a lot of attention to in the past, but fortunately (perhaps ‘unfortunately’ to a lot of other people) there were not a lot of games available on the Switch for me to play. I became interested in just trying to see what is available for me to play and Indie games became the answer. There were 2 particular experiences that I want to point out which was important to my subsequent behavior towards video game purchases - Shovel Knight and Stardew Valley. I was pleasantly surprised at just how good and modern Shovel Knight feels to play but, more importantly, it felt worth the time I put into it. Indie games became viable for my play-time on the Switch. Then came Stardew Valley. I was blown away by just how engrossing the game is to play. It was so good that even my non-gamer wife was drawn to it. Stardew Valley was important for 2 things; it solidified the awesomeness of Indie Games and showed that other types of games also felt great to play on the handheld Switch.
After Skyrim, Shovel Knight and Stardew Valley, I began asking “Is it on the Switch?” for more games to play in my Handheld Switch. Over the years, Nintendo Switch kept pushing the bar on what is actually playable on the system. The announcements of games like Doom, The Witcher 3, Divinity: Original Sin 2, The Outer Worlds (sadly not so good) or Wolfenstein have not ceased to amaze me of just how much the Switch is capable to run. To me though, the announcement of Civilization 6 on the Switch was the one-time I actually squealed at a Nintendo Direct. I LOVE strategy games, and Civ is way up there in my favorites list. I have never ever imagined that I could be playing a game like Civ6 on a handheld device. I did not think twice of buying Civ6 when it launched on the Switch system. The experience of playing Civ6 on the Switch vastly broadens what I want to play on the device. Civ6 also made me realize that most of the types of games that I like to play on console and PC are now available for me to play on a handheld device. Whilst there are compromises on the graphics front and the framerate on a lot of these games, to me they do not feel compromised to play. It felt like this is the game the developers wanted me to play and not some watered-down version. That feeling of familiarity is absolutely crucial in making the handheld experience indispensable to my lifestyle. Now I can choose to play massive games like Civ 6 or delightful Indie games like Shovel Knight without thinking about which device I should play them in.
Instead of asking “Is it on the Switch?” I gradually become more proactive and ask “What is on the Switch?” (better discoverability on the eShop would really help). I actively searched for “Best RPG on Switch”, “Hidden Gems on Switch”, “Best Strategy on Switch”, “Best Ports on Switch” and so on, which is a behavior that I don’t really do in my previous gaming devices.. I can honestly say that in the past I bought a gaming device because I want to play games, but now, I buy games because I want to play on the Switch. My whole mindset towards video games have changed and the role of the gaming device has become the goal rather than the means. Consequently, for the first time, I am experiencing a ‘backlog’ problem that I never had before. Handheld gaming has proved to be so impactful to my lifestyle in general, that I hope that Nintendo will continue this route of making handheld systems a priority for its future.
Discovering The “Switch”
With the lifestyle-changing impact of the Handheld Switch experience, it came as a significant surprise to me that the announcement of the Nintendo Switch Lite did not excite me. I should have wanted the handheld-only system more than the original Switch. Initially, I attribute the ‘Waste of Money’ reason for my lack of excitement. But instead, I began to recognize and ‘re-discover’ what “Switch” actually means to me.
The Switch is a hybrid console that can be played on the TV or in handheld; that perception of choice between TV and handheld was important in communicating what the Switch is, but it could not fully illustrate what the feature actually does for my gaming experience. I debated whether I actually needed the “Switch” and would benefit more from having a handheld-only-system because around 80% of the time I played on my Switch is in handheld mode anyway. To some extent, I think the portability aspect of the Switch grabbed too much of my attention, and consequently too much of my appreciation, early on with the Switch. Eventually though, the other 20% of my time with the Switch, becomes essential to my experience. Through several key games, the “Switch” feature becomes much more than just a choice between Handheld and TV.
Let me further illustrate this by briefly describing my experience with the Wii. My family and friends were quite fond of the Wii experience back in its heyday. Games like Mario Party, Wario Smooth Moves and, of course, Wii Fit were fond memories for us. But given the way the Wii is, it felt that I should only be playing games that utilized its motion controls - any other control scheme, felt like it should be played elsewhere. I was fortunate enough that I was able to have my Playstation + Laptop at the same time. So for games that I want to play (e.g. Skyrim, Dragon Age: Origins, Infamous, Uncharted, Fallout, Red Dead Redemption, Last of Us, Civilization, SimCity, etc.) I get to play separately on my own devices. Consequently, I grew up with the notion that Nintendo games are objectively different; Nintendo games are fun and quirky to be played with many people while the games that are on other consoles are more action and/or story heavy and games on PC are more suited for strategy / simulation games. With such perception of Nintendo games and the wacky usage of the motion control, it rendered the ‘Wii experience’ to be singularly specific and situational. Thus my time was divided around 80% with my games and 20% with Wii games. Looking through this perspective, this 80-20 dynamic has not really changed with my time with the Switch. That 20% are mostly the kinds of games that I remember playing with the Wii. In other words, that other 20% is when I 'Switch' to that Nintendo experience that has always been enjoyed by my families, friends and myself. Well, to be precise, I think that my 20% is somewhat divided into 4 types of experiences - Local Multiplayer, Motion Control, Gyro/Online Multiplayer, and Joy-Con.
One of the main reasons why the Nintendo Switch was compelling for me was the near-certainty that Nintendo will deliver good local Multiplayer experiences. My wish is that the Switch will not end-up like my Playstation, which was only played by me. The first local Multiplayer game that I got was SnipperClips and it was a superb novel experience that my wife and I shared together. The experience was so good in fact that I wanted to have more games to play in local multiplayer immediately. I know my wife loves puzzle games, so I got Puyo Puyo Tetris for us to play. Those initial multiplayer experiences were simple and delightful, as well as cementing the notion that the Switch is the right choice for local gameplay sessions with others. Then... Mario Kart 8 deluxe was released. The last time I played Mario Kart was on the Nintendo 64 and much has changed since then. It is no surprise to me that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is one of the highest selling games on the Switch, the game is excellent. Sure enough, the game became the best way to fully utilize the unique capability of the Nintendo Switch - it is so easy to pass on a Joy-Con and start racing immediately. I have played local multiplayer Mario Kart in so many places and with so many different people that I somehow became the Nintendo Uncle or the Nintendo Guy. A dedicated handheld device would not allow for such experiences and interactions. Sure, I don’t play local multiplayer games all the time but those moments were enabled solely because I have the Switch and not another device. After Mario Kart 8, I now keep a lookout on more games that would be great to play in local multiplayer. Games like Overcooked, Mario Party and Just Dance are some of the games that have also enabled those joyous experiences together.
Of that 20% of my time on the Switch, local multiplayer is probably the experience I spent the most time on. Very close second, is the time I spent with the clever ways in which the motion controls are used. Arms was the game that became the catalyst for the experience. Compared to the days of the Wii, the motion controls in Arms, and thus the Switch, feels far more measured and deliberate. I can’t just waggle aimlessly, there has to be intent on my movements, and I learn to appreciate the thought and care that was put into designing a game experience based on 2-motion controls. Additionally, it wasn’t until much later that I realized the ease to the set up (or lack-off set up?) to start playing Arms. One of the more annoying aspects of the Wii was the calibration and I experienced none of that pain during my time with Arms on the Switch. After Arms, I thought that it was a nice and quirky experience to dabble but not exactly something that I thought I would put much investment into. I thought wrong. The ease of the set-up and the weightiness of the motion controls was seeded in my mind and I became more open to experiences of the same type. When Fitness Boxing was announced I would never have given it a second thought if it were not for my experience with Arms. And for some reason, I got more out of Fitness Boxing compared to what I remember from Wii Fit. My wife and I got kinda into it and we also bought Zumba to spice up the experience. And it's not just at home, whenever I have to travel for work, I have used Fitness Boxing to get a quick workout in my hotel room. Then came Ring Fit Adventure, which immediately became a day-one purchase for me after the great work-out that I got from Fitness Boxing and Zumba. To me, Ring Fit Adventure is a fantastic evolution of motion controls and the possibilities that it could bring to users.
Gyro-controls was always something that I thought was unnecessary but at the same time, I was curious at how good it actually is to use as a control mechanic. Luckily, I caught wind of the hype around Splatoon2 and was genuinely curious on what seemed to be a good implementation of the gyro-controls. That was honestly the reason why I bought Splatoon 2, I was curious about its gyro-controls. Splatoon 2 was the kind of game that I thought I would never enjoy, but it turned into something that I value my time for. The gyro controls in Splatoon 2 were very easy to adapt and, more importantly, crucial to the experience. Splatoon 2 was also the first game where I participated in online multiplayer. I never thought I would enjoy playing such a game because video games used to be entertainment reserved for me and people I know, but not with strangers. After understanding the rush of playing multiplayer online and getting the hang of gyro controls, I became interested in finding out more games that offer similar experience or controls. The other game that I used Gyro controls in, was Fortnite. Fortnite was all the rage early on with my time with Switch and since it was free, I thought I’ll try it out. I played for a season and I could really appreciate how video games have truly evolved over the years; let me tell you, playing Fortnite in a cafe, with my shoddy mobile hotspot and perhaps close to 99 other players online, have taught me about the vast potential of the technology that we have and the kinds of experiences it can deliver. The gyro controls in Fortnite makes the experience more frantic, especially the build battles - I wasn’t at all good at playing Fortnite but the manic experience I had was truly memorable. Gyro gameplay makes me interested not only in games with gyro-controls but also led me to Online Multiplayer or Battle Royale games - Warframe and Spellbreak are some of the games I’m looking forward to trying out as well.
Then comes the surreal experience of what I like to call the ‘Joy-Con games’. Of all the types of experiences I have had with the Switch, the Joy-Con games are probably the least-time spent, but it makes up for it through its crazy inventiveness. There were only 2 games where I have had substantial playtime with Joy-con games; 1-2 Switch and Labo. I was not looking to buy 1-2 Switch but it happened to be bundled with my initial purchase of the Switch. Now, I’m not saying that 1-2 Switch is a great game, but it was like a fascinating demo on what could be achieved through the Joy-Cons. There were 2 minigames that stood out to me the most - the ‘marbles inside a box’ and the ‘lock-picking’ games. These 2 mini-games really showed what HD Rumble can provide to the gamer; I could really feel that there are distinct marbles from the Joy-Cons and I could really feel the ‘click’ in the lockpicking mini-game. I genuinely look forward to games in the future that could utilize these experiences in their gameplay. Which then leads to the second experience I had with these ‘Joy-Con Games’ - Nintendo Labo. The announcement of Nintendo Labo was distinctly memorable for me as it showed to me the kind of mindset that exists in Nintendo. The most fascinating contraption that they showed in the Nintendo Labo reveal was the RC Car toy-thingy. The fact that the ‘console’ becomes the controller and the joy-con becomes the interactive toy, was delightfully weird and felt very Nintendo-like. The role reversal of the controller and the console revealed to me that Nintendo has no real bounds on what they will experiment on with the technology that they have. I personally tried to get into the Labo experience but only able to get the VR Labo which unfortunately does not agree with me as I got quite nauseous from too much VR. Nonetheless, I got a glimpse at what Nintendo is willing to invest their development time and money to explore new opportunities for their gamers. It is refreshing to see a company in a consumer-tech-hardware industry to focus their efforts in exploring what is possible right now, rather than the continuous obsession on the ‘next-big-thing’.
These Local Multiplayer sessions, Motion Control games, Gyro-based/Online Multiplayer experiences and Joy-Con novelties are the kinds of enriching playtimes that makes-up around 20% of my time with the Switch. Even though these experiences are not the main way I play games, they are still essential to the whole Switch experience. They have become indispensable to why I’ve come to adore the system and spotlights what that age-old saying, ‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts’, really means.. This is how I discover that the ‘Switch’ is far more than just TV vs Handheld. It is more about how those different play-modes can facilitate distinct and nuanced experiences. These additional ‘modes’ are certainly not the main reason why I would recommend the original Switch, but it is 100% the reason why I am very reluctant to get any handheld-only / TV-only system in the future - it's a new benchmark of what I hope to get in my gaming experience. The Switch and its Joy-Con, with all of its glaring and infuriating flaws, enables something delightful and unique.
Kami are Gamers at Heart
With all of the time I have spent on the Nintendo Switch, I still ask the question “Am I a Gamer?”. It is surprisingly difficult for me to answer that question. I can not really relate to the Gamer Identity as it does not reflect who I am in general. Instead of the Gamer Identity, I have discovered something else which I could relate to - the Gamer Passion. Having the Nintendo Switch made me more proactive in Google searches relating to video games and thanks to the algorithms of the Internet, I am gradually exposed to the wider scope of the video game culture. I used to have a broad-yet-shallow interest in popular culture and would explore the world of Movies, Music, TV, Comics and Video Games in equal amounts of time. But now, most of my exploration has pivoted to the world of Video Games - and what a deep world it is. I have subscribed to a myriad of YouTube Channels covering different aspects of Video Games. I made a Twitter account and Discord account, both for the very first time, because I want to get more connected to the gaming world. I searched for documentaries regarding Video Games and tried to learn the history of Video Games. I wanted to know how Video Games are actually made. And what I have found is an immense sense of passion by so many people towards this medium. I was swept up by the sheer amount of personalities, legendary figures, consequential scandals, innovations, contentious discussions, hilarious anecdotes, controversies, wholesome moments, speculative theories, fandoms, epic milestones, toxic comments, business woes, triumphs, tragedies, nostalgia, and heartfelt stories throughout the history of video games. There is a tangible sense of active community within this world of video games that is quite different from other popular-culture communities. From my perspective, and I can be very wrong about this, the sense of passion that I got from the video game world is well-shared across its participants. In most cases, I do not sense that Game Developers are distant to its Players, compared to the distance that I sensed from other types of creators and their fans. The ‘closeness’ of developers and players have manifested in some genuinely hype moments or genuinely distressing moments. But I believe that it all stems from the passion of being ‘Gamers at Heart’, we in the video game world truly love this medium. And in that sense, rather than saying that “I am a Gamer”, I can sincerely say that I am now a proud and active participant of the Gaming Community.
Speaking of gamers at heart, I would like to wrap things up with a small dedication to the late Satoru Iwata. Unfortunately, I came to understand the life and impact of Satoru Iwata only after his passing as I was not too engrossed in video gaming culture in the past. With my experience of having the Nintendo Switch and having a better understanding of the intent that Iwata had with his Blue Ocean strategy, I have to say that I am grateful for his work and vision. I thought that it was just a cool quote when he said that he is a gamer at heart, but experiencing his influence firsthand through the Switch, the quota takes on a whole new meaning to me. It is my understanding that Iwata saw a massive gap between so-called ‘casual gamers’ and ‘hardcore gamers’ and wanting to create something to fill that gap. I think it is fair to say that the Wii did not bridge the gap, but instead created a new wave of casual gamers. The Wii U was, in my opinion, the Beta-Switch, it tried to convert the newly casual gamers into something a bit more involved but not necessarily asking the commitment usually reserved for the hardcore gamers. But unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?) the Wii U failed to do so. And this is the point where I have come to immensely respect Satoru Iwata. He did not abandon his vision nor did he double-down on that vision, instead he adjusted and in fact took an even greater risk by starting the development on the Nintendo Switch. If we take all the hardware and software reported sales during the Satoru Iwata era prior to the Switch, then we are looking at 330+ Million consoles and 2+ Billion games sold. He was risking all of those potential sales by focusing solely on a single console with an unproven experimental concept. That took some major cojones. It would take a special kind of person to convince an entire company to that kind of risky vision. And it would take a special kind of leader to have his vision realized by the company he left behind. It would seem to me that Satoru Iwata was that special person and was that special leader because the Switch did launch and again shook the market. I was in that Blue Ocean. I was in between the casual gamers and hardcore gamers, and I have found my home in Nintendo Switch.

So this is what software I currently use for privacy, would like some opinions if possible:
Starting with my cellphone, my device is a Google Pixel 3A XL with GrapheneOS flashed, I have the following apps installed:
F-Droid and AuroraOSS (as my app stores), NewPipe (youtube client), Vanadium (web browser), Tutanota and K-9 Mail (for e-mails), OsmAnd+ (for maps), Joplin (notes), Open Camera (camera), OpenBoard and Mozc for Android (Keyboard and Japanese Keyboard), Aegis Authenticator, KeePassDX (password manager), LibreTorrent (torrent client), Librera PRO (pdf/epub/mobi reader, I don't own a Kindle nor want to own one so I use my cellphone to read), Tachiyomi (manga reader), Signal (for messaging), Vinyl Music Player, VLC, Simple Gallery Pro and Simple Calendar Pro (I prefer them over stock Graphene options) and I also use Electrum and Samourai (Bitcoin Wallet) and Monerujo (Monero Wallet)
I also have OpenVPN (for VPN) and use a private DNS for ad and tracking blocking (provided by my VPN provider)
I have 3-4 PCs, will go over every single one of them:
my main PC is a desktop PC (that I built myself) that I mainly use for working and other tasks.
It runs Artix Linux (basically Arch Linux without systemd), I use UFW as my firewall (denying all incoming and also denying all outgoing only allowing what is useful) and I also use AppArmor Profiles, I disabled IPV6 and SWAP, configured my VPN connection as well on network settings and I currently run OpenVPN on my computer (my VPN provider allows for multi-hop cascade through OpenVPN in which I can create a custom VPN cascade up to four servers, each consecutive hop re-encrypts my traffic and assigns me a new IP address) and I've also set disk encryption on installation (have set in all of my computers)
As for software: I use Mozilla Firefox as my web browser (I set it to always be in private mode, unchecked suggestions for browsing history, bookmarks, and open tabs, I've also disabled the Firefox data collection in settings and block dangerous and deceptive content, I use DuckDuckGo as my search engine, I use Firefox Home as my default as my homepage. The rest of my tweaks were done in about:config (using privacytools.io site tweaks + geo.enabled = false, network.cookie.lifetimePolicy = 2 and dom.security.https_only_mode as true which are not listed on the site) and the only addons I use are uBlock Origin on Hard Mode and Decentraleyes), KeePassXC (password manager), VIM (use it as a Text Editor and as an IDE for coding), LibreOffice (for working stuff), GIMP (image editor), VLC, qBitTorrent and Tutanota's Desktop Client and Thunderbird (for e-mails)
I also use KVM/QEMU for virtual machines (usually in case I wanna test some distro or use Tails/Whonix)
For my gaming PC (also a desktop I've built myself) I run Manjaro KDE on it, the only apps I have in the system are Firefox (same settings as above), OBS and KVM/QEMU (which I use a Win10 virtual machine for games, there are tutorials on YouTube on how to do so if you're interested). I have the same firewall settings as above, using AppArmor as well and I've also disabled IPV6 and SWAP, I run OpenVPN on it as well as my VPN DNS settings on network settings. I also use different mouse and keyboard on both my PCs and never mix them together.
My other 2 PCs are both laptops, one is a Acer Aspire Nitro I've bought for work (in case I need to work while in a trip or if I wanna work outside etc), it has the same settings and programs as my main PC but I run Gentoo on it. The other laptop is an old ThinkPad that runs Slackware on it, but I rarely use it and this laptop is most of the times not with me for safety reasons.
For some other devices and stuff: I have an Asus RT-AC86U router with OpenWRT flashed on it that I also run OpenVPN config files (this one coming from another provider, I use two VPN providers, on in my PCs and the other in my router), I have a Ledger Nano S as a hardware wallet for both Bitcoin and Monero (most of my cryptocurrency is there, I use hardware wallet for hodling purposes and as my emergency funding) and I have LOTS of USB flash drivers (all of them for Linux Live ISOs purposes), I also have a Nintendo Switch Lite (only gaming console I have, although have not been playing that much on it recently) that I only connect to the internet in case I need to download some updates or play online and after I'm done I immediately disconnect it from the internet.
Some other privacy habits I have are:
I don't own any smart device like Smart TVs (I've been more than 10 years now without watching TV, doesn't even bother me), Smart Fridges or Dishwashers that connect to your internet, ROOMBAS, Smart Home etc, I keep all my money on crypto (and I have a small amount in gold as well, but I rarely invest on it, all my gold is stored in a manual safe here in my apartment) and I only have like, 10 bucks or so in my back account (as soon as I receive any money I just left the necessary in my account to pay bills and put all the rest on crypto, I try to pay everything on crypto or cash), I RARELY use cloud storage, but if I need to, I go with NextCloud and encrypt all my files with VeraCrypt before uploading it, all my VPN services were paid with Bitcoin (I try to pay everything with crypto as previously said) and I never write directly into any website, I usually write my text on a text editor, copy it and paste it on the website (needless to say that I don't use mainstream social media as well)
So, what do you guys think? anything that you would add your recommend me? (before anyone mentions about self-hosting a DNS server using Pi-hole on a Raspberry Pi, I'm actually thinking on doing it in a near future)
EDIT: forgot to mention that I don't watch YouTube on PC on youtube site, I mostly watch youtube's videos on invidio.us and only use the youtube site for watching live streams honestly. And I also barely go outside with my smartphone (only if I really need to) and I usually keep it away from my computers etc.
EDIT 2: also another thing: I covered all my laptop's webcams with black electrical tape, I have a Logitech C922 Pro webcam for my desktop PCs but rarely use it, and when I need to use it, I unplug it as soon as I'm done with it.

Sorry for the massive wall of text, TL;DR at the bottom. I was as detailed as I could because I think other people thinking of picking up the Switch Lite as a dedicated portable probably would benefit from reading my story.
I'm creating this thread both as a cautionary tale but at the same time hoping other users share their own positive experiences going back and forth between the OG Switch and the Lite so that MAYBE they can help me see a better case for keeping both.
Backstory -- I'm a massive portability fanatic, and in fact I didn't even take my dock out of the box for the first like 6 months of owning my Switch. I got a Pro Controller for Christmas in 2017, and that's when I finally decided to see what docked was all about.
I loved the hybrid experience, but I always thought the Switch was a bit chunkier than I'm comfortable with when it comes to taking it out and about.
When rumours of a smaller Switch starting cropping up, I was all in. Even when many in this subreddit claimed we'd never see something called a Switch that could only be used portably, I was always in the camp that it made a lot of sense.
I bought my Lite launch date and fell in love with it instantly. THIS, I thought, is what the portable Switch-playing experience should've always been like! It's smaller, it's lighter, it's great!
Trouble began when setting it up. You're supposed to de-register the original Switch and make the Lite your primary console, to be able to play downloaded games without wifi.
(As a matter or principle I'm annoyed by any form of digital rights management because without fail they inconvenience legitimate customers FAR MORE than they actually encumber pirates but whatever. There's nothing anyone can do about that)
Now this shouldn't have been a problem except I picked my Switch Lite up during the very trip I intended to use it on, and I had left my OG Switch at home.
No worries -- after some googling I figured out I can de-register my main Switch via the Nintendo website. I don't know why they force me to go on the website for it (all it's doing is issuing a command from my user account, why can't I just do that from my new Switch Lite...? It's functionally the same thing), and it limits me to doing that once a year from the website -- so if I lose/break/have my primary Switch stolen after doing this, what option do I have now to de-register it...? Do I call Nintendo...? Why the once a year limitation, anyway? Is this little de-registering command that onerous for the company...?
Why the extra hassle of calling them on the phone for it...?
Alright, whatever. I downloaded my games and... there's no saves. All the games look like I never played them before.
I thought all these games had cloud saves, what gives? Wasn't this one of the biggest selling points of Switch Online...?
That's when I realize I have to manually download each save individually.
Each one of them, for each single game.
I'm not exactly sure why Nintendo Switch Online doesn't simply broadcast the most current save across both my Switches, like most (all?) other gaming systems do, but whatever. Maybe this is to prevent people from losing save progress.
(I mean, I've had that feature on Steam for some 10 years now I think, and that has never happened, but whatever).
So, I played the hell out of the Switch Lite during my trip and I'm now firmly convinced THIS is the right form factor for a portable. When I got home, handling the OG Switch for even just a few seconds made it feel like a clunky fossil. The huge bezel around the screen, the slight flex in the joycon connection, the weight... This thing is gonna be docked permanently, I thought.
Until I tried playing on it. Not a single game would load. I thought it was a bug, so I reset the system. No dice -- digital games don't load at all. What's going on? Did I screw something up?!
And that's when I realized -- if the Switch Lite is connected to the internet, and a game is open (even if while sleep mode), no other digital games will load on the OG Switch.
Of course, I can just close the game manually, though that feels straight up unnatural because I never had to do that before. Typically, my Switch games would be open until I wanna play a different one; I never deliberately just closed a game before like I'd do on say, Windows.
The other option is to turn on airplane mode.
Problem is, having to micromanage my games like this just to go from docked to portable just felt weird, cumbersome and contrary to the entire philosophy of the Switch as I see it.
Closing games on the Lite before opening even a different game on my docked Switch, on top of making sure to manually download the most current save date manually each and every single time I leave the house, then again when I get home to play docked, for every single one of my games...
That's when I realized, with considerable sadness, that getting a Switch Lite will make my Switch playing experience LESS convenient, not more.
Gone is the simplicity of just yanking the Switch from its dock and throwing it in my bag -- now I have to download the save data for the games I might wanna play during my breaks or trips, then do it again when I get home to play on the docked system, while making sure to either close the game on the Switch Lite or turn on airplane mode.
Even though I love this thing, it simply doesn't make sense to through these extra hoops just for the benefit of a slightly smaller Switch.
Now I thought "well it's my own fault, really -- Nintendo doesn't intend for people to go back and forth between two Switches, the Lite is for a completely different target audience" except during the setup process a message asks you explicitly if you intend on using both Switches regularly -- so it's not this weird fringe case and it's actually something they anticipated (almost suggest, really) people do.
I get that there's probably no easy way to handling DRM on these systems but I gotta be honest, when I dropped another CAD$260 on a brand new Switch Lite, I did NOT expect the awesome portable-to-docked-and-back-again experience I was so used to to become considerably less convenient.
I feel like if I ended up keeping the Lite I'd just not bother with docked anymore.
Anyone else realizing adopting the Switch Lite as a dedicated handheld companion to their OG Switch isn't that great an idea...? Any tips on managing this a a more convenient way...? Am I doing something wrong?
Being able to seamlessly go from portable to docked then portable again was a killer feature for me, adding any sort of hindrances to this use case at all makes me regret buying the Lite.
TL;DR Going back and forth between docked and portable by using the OG Switch + Switch Lite combo is far less convenient than simply pulling the Switch out of its dock as we've become used to doing over the last 2 years, which made me completely reconsider my Lite purchase :(

So, you’re thinking about making a secondary character in Animal Crossing: New Horizons? Maybe you want a second house to fashion into a cafe or a library. Maybe the idea of another 1600 storage slots is intoxicating. Maybe you just want to get extra items from event NPCs.
In any case, you may want certain things clarified before you commit to the effort of making a new character. I should mention that I was initially inspired by this reddit post, which you may also want to reference (note that they have some inaccurate information on how controllers work for party play). I will cover some of the same things in the interest of completeness.

Downsides and things to be aware of

First, a few potential downsides that you may wish to know about:

Your villagers will talk constantly about your second character, whether or not they have ever met. It’s a similar amount to how often they reference your visitors.
In order to make a second character, you make a second profile on your Switch, which will by default prompt you to choose which profile launches the game every time. I think this can be turned off in settings, though.
They will always get their own tent/house, whether you like it or not. Not really a downside unless you’re crammed geographically, but worth mentioning.
A less mechanical and more personal note - adding a secondary character can bring with it a pressure to complete your daily tasks on both, a need to check their mailbox to make it stop pinging, etc. Be aware of this potential stressor if you suffer from compulsions like perfectionism or anxious mental illnesses.
A note about online: The secondary character will not be able to send or receive mail from off-island visitors unless you purchase a Nintendo Online subscription for them or add them to a Nintendo Online Family Account. Additionally, unless they are on a plan, they cannot otherwise use other online features such as the Able Sisters Kiosk, or visit other people’s islands/open your island’s gates.

Getting Started

How to make a second Animal Crossing islander: The process is pretty simple. You’ll need a second Switch profile (this may or may not require a Nintendo Account and thus its own email - I did create a Nintendo account with my second email anyway so I’m not sure if it can be done without). The second Switch profile needs to open the game, and it will automatically assign them to your existing island. Ta-da! Second character.
Getting them up to speed: Your second character will automatically get the benefit of most of the things you’ve already unlocked, such as terraforming (although they’ll need to purchase the “licenses” with their own miles) and upgraded shops etc. They will still need to unlock their own bag space, radial menu, hairstyles, and so on, as well as pay for their own house upgrades. However, I’m assuming that by the time you’re thinking about making a second character, you’ll have bells a’plenty to throw at them.
A note about switching characters: You do not have to exit the game to swap from one character to the other. You can use the Call Islander app to summon the other characters on your island for co-op party play, select Change Leader, and if necessary, choose “end session” on the new leader. However, there’s a lot you can get done just by dragging the other character around (although the camera is, admittedly, obnoxious).
In order to play couch co-op with yourself, you must either use one pair of Joy-cons each as their own controller (which I do NOT recommend, holy crap), or you’ll need another controller or pair of Joy-cons. This is required to control both on-screen characters. If you have a Switch Lite you need two external controllers/joycons, as the onboard controls will not work for couch co-op.
If you cannot couch co-up, you must switch user by saving, exiting, and opening the game as the second profile.

A guide on couch co-op party-play: https://www.ign.com/wikis/animal-crossing-new-horizons/Call_Islander

The Good Stuff

Gathering -

Money Tree: YES. The glowing spot will only show up for each character in singleplayer mode, not while both players are on.
Beach DIY Bottle: YES. ~~Same deal as before.~~ Per this comment by luvening:

As for beach bottle DIY, logging in for the day will make it spawn and all players can then see/pick up the bottle. It doesn't only show up for the respective player, I have been able to see and pick up my brother's bottle in my session when he has played before me and forgot to pick it up.

Rocks: YES, BUT. The money rock is obtainable by both characters (although which rock it is may differ). ~~However, the second character can only get stone/iron/etc drops from one other rock, for some reason. I have not tested this in co-op mode.~~ Per this comment by luvening:

For the rocks, each rock is only able to be harvested for materials (stone/iron/gold/clay) once by either player (main or secondary) per day. If the first player gets a money rock, they are unable to get materials out of that rock, and so second player can then harvest the normal materials from that same rock when they are playing.

Trading/CataTrunk -

CataTrunks: NO. The second player has an entirely separate cataTrunk of all items, making it necessary for them to hold each item type in order to be able to mail-order it.
Nook Special Goods: YES. Well, sort of. Second characters can access and order from the special daily goods, but the item selection is island-wide and not specific to character.
Critterpedia: NO. The second character has their own Critterpedia. However, museum donations are island-wide, so only need to be made once, regardless of character. Correction thanks to luvening, therealjoeandoe and kramarod.
Bug and Fish Trading: YES. Any items placed by one character (outside of their house) can be picked up by the other. So by this method, you can trade bugs and/or fish (helpful if you want to give them specific critters to have sculptures made from)!
Storage: YES. A major benefit of having a second character is that they have their own house storage, completely separate from - and inaccessible by - the other characters on the island. As a side note, any items placed or dropped in a character’s house cannot be taken or moved by other characters.
Registered Music: NO. Second characters cannot access songs you have registered, they can only choose to stop your music and registeplay their own.
Mail-Orders: YES, BUT. The second player may order up to 5 items from the Nook Catalogue without it counting against the other’s total - however, mails from one character to the other do count against the sender’s 5 items.

Patterns -

Slots: NO. Pattern slots, both basic and pro, are per island, not per character. Yes, it sucks. :( The one minor benefit to this is that you can download patterns from the internet on behalf of your alt character, who could otherwise not access them.
Editing: No. A second character can erase or overwrite your patterns, but not make changes to them.

Visitors -

Flick and CJ: YES. Second characters can order their own collectibles.
Redd: YES. Second characters can order their own piece of art.
Label: YES. Your second character will get a random/different prompt and clothing item to dress for, as well as their own tickets and clothing reward. However, the one time I have tried this, the Labelle clothing item reward was the same for both characters - I imagine this is intentional since it will appear in the shop the next day.
Saharah: YES. Second characters get the same initial 3k wall/floor and rugs as the initial character, but the ticket-purchased wall and floor will be random.
Gulliver: YES. Whichever character helps him second will get a spiel about how he was helped by the first character (assuming they returned the pieces to him), but fell asleep and got his phone wet again. They will then get the chance to help him, getting a second reward. This must be done in singleplayer.
Wisp: YES. Similar to Gulliver, the second player will simply re-scare them and have to collect the spirit pieces on their own, and will receive their own reward for it.
Celeste: YES. Second characters, along with any other visitors, will receive a random non-owned recipe (unless it is the first day of the new zodiac period, when all players receive that zodiac’s recipe).
KK: YES. Second characters can request and obtain their own music. Note that their first song will be New Horizons, you cannot choose until the second time.

Misc -

Infrastructure: NO. Only the Resident Representative can initiate infrastructure changes.
Home: YES. Your secondary character’s home can only be moved/expanded/customized by that character, and cannot be affected in any way by your main character.
Wishes: YES. Each character on an island can get a maximum of 20 star fragments apiece.

Edit:

Thanks to all the corrections and data in the comments! I've also received a few corrections from friends in my communities, and have edited the guide accordingly. I have removed one completely incorrect section entirely so it won't show up in search results, and have crossed out some less serious errors.

I have a nintendo switch lite and have mostly downloaded games installed. I love to play when I am on the late shifts to pass the time and have some fun wherever else I can take it. But is nintendo serious with this? I cannot play a fully downloaded game without a constant connection to the internet?
Please tell me I am just being dumb and there is a way around this, this can't be for real. A portable system made even portable but CAN'T freaking play any of it's downloaded games withought being hitched by wifi?
I transfered over my switch info from my original model to the new lite and have downloaded my games. I try to start it and it just gives the no internet error pop up. I backed up the save data before I left for my shift just cause I thought it would work but it did not.
Is there anything I can do or was it a mistake for me to get the switch lite?

I’m new to Animal Crossing, and my boyfriend is even newer. I’m going to explain our situation and hopefully someone out there can help me out with what we need.
We have 2 switch consoles, not lites. We have set them up to swap primary accounts in order to share digital purchases. My account is primary on his switch, his account is primary on my switch. I can play his games on my profile on my switch, and as long as I’m connected to the internet I can play my games on my profile. The same on his. We subscribe to the family plan for Nintendo Online and have 3 other users on the plan with us.
I bought Animal Crossing on my profile. I set up an island on my account on my Switch. Then I talked him into playing. He doesn’t enjoy it quite enough to pay $60 on his account too, but he does enjoy playing some. We set up his island on his profile on his Switch.
We are able to visit each other’s islands through online play, though we get an error when we try to play locally. That’s fine, I’m not worried about that. We can play online just fine.
All told we have owned the game for 10 days, I’ve played since the day we got it, and he’s played for maybe 5 or 6. The main thing that bugs him about the game is that certain things are blocked when you have visitors. Can’t decorate, shop in the little atm machine thing, get the quests from the loan shark raccoon, or deal with Blathers. As we are so new, we just discovered today that you can have multiple residents on an island.
Now for the question.
I get the basic idea of how to add residents to an island and can google most of the questions I have, but it comes down to a profile issue for us and I can’t seem to find the answer anywhere.
Can I use my normal profile on his switch to become a resident on his island without screwing things up on either island? Will I still be able to log in on my island, either while logged in as a resident on his, or after logging out on his, to be able to bring him mats or bells or whatever I feel like bringing him?
I’m going to over explain what I want to do, just in case anyone is confused.
On his Switch we have 2 user profiles, Him (A) and me (B). On my switch we have the same profiles. I want to get on his Switch with profile (A) as primary resident, profile (B) as secondary resident, without screwing up island (B) on my switch, AND be able to visit his island with profile (B) on switch 2. (Somehow I feel like my overexplanation just made everything worse)Do I need to create profile (C) on his switch in order to do this? Does profile (C) need to be added to our family plan and have online access?
UPDATE: I ended up adding a new profile (C) to his switch, and also adding it to the Nintendo Online family plan and this is doing exactly what I wanted it to do. Is it true co-op? No. But it’s a lot less frustrating that he can do the things he wants to with me on the island following him around and helping. Switching leadership back and forth is easy and way less frustrating than the super long loading screen every time I bring my character to his island or have to leave for him to do something. Really, the only thing we can’t do that we wanted to do is be able to separate and have me do his harvesting for him. Which I can do easily enough with my character while he’s not playing, and I don’t have to worry about moving his stuff around in his inventory (“what happened to my axe?! I swear I had an axe!”), or trying to keep his stuff and my stuff separate on my main character. I can still grab my switch and come in with my main, while both he and my secondary are running around doing things if we really need help from the more established character, but this is working a lot better for us. Thanks everyone who responded.

https://imgur.com/a/TcjByff
There's no TL:DR- Read to the end, or don't... It's so long because I wanted to tell the whole story, including what seemed relevant, and I was hoping to avoid internet trolls with their SCAMMER!! YOU ONCE USED DRUGS YOUR SOUL IS FOREVER TAINTED!!! crap. I'm an addict in recovery. If I wasn't giving away the money I had left... I'd probably be getting high with it. My soul and my spirit are absolutely shattered. I don't... even know how to begin to describe the disappointment and heartbreak, except I DO know that what I'm going through seems EXTREMELY TRIVIAL next to the real life consequences of COVID-19's wave of death and destruction. Regardless, I'm still about as broken as a person can be, but it will pass.
Let's get started, shall we?
So my much needed Stimulus payment came Monday April 20. Before I describe what happened- Thank you /assistance and I'd like to donate $15-20 in assistance through Chime to someone in need, but read the whole post, no DMs, and it's not 'first in wins.'
Over the last few months as I've struggled to transition to a 'normal' life as opposed to living as an addict on the streets- this sub has helped me ALOT- and at CRITICAL moments.
Shoes we're offered by a user named u/Luke_smash and I ended up "winning," them with my description of my situation.
https://www.reddit.com/Assistance/comments/f602qx/offer_mens_size_12_adidas_sneakers/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
Posted a Thank You here:
https://www.reddit.com/Assistance/comments/f6lskq/i_would_like_to_extend_special_thanks_to_uluke/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
And that started a wave of good will that ended up with people asking me to make Amazon Wish Lists (for necessities and for fun stuff separately..) and inquiring as to what else they could do to help me out!
It was an awesome experience, it was touching, and my roommate especially could not believe it, as she only gets to see the real world Chris. Shes also quite closed minded about my Asperger's which is a shame but I love her just the same (as a matter of fact, as I write this very sentence she just YELLED at me for holding a flashlight wrong while she checked her blood sugar by finger-prick.)
Now, I ended up receiving a backpack, socks, hygiene products, and from my "fun" list I was gifted a Nintendo Wii (which I'd added because I missed out on video games for 10 whole years-and video games are among my favorite things to do!!), and several quality games. I ended up having my cell phone stolen very shortly after the packages arrived, and spent almost a month using TextNow/WiFi only calling before I could get a compatible phone to get back on Vero's family plan.
This was before we all ended up in quarantine or what-not, and I'd still planned on moving into sober living or getting a place of my own with assistance from Housing. Everything was all of a sudden put on hold.
Her father is elderly and can't really get out of bed without assistance, so he was never going to be into the Nintendo, but the Wii was a huge hit with Veronica who suddenly had alot more free time at home. She has always had such an absolutely sour attitude towards video games. Yet here we were coaching each other through the harder levels of Mario Galaxy!!
Her and I both used quarantine time to beat Mario Galaxy, and I had beaten Galaxy 2 and New Super Mario Brothers while she became entirely enamored with Mario Kart and Smash Bros. I was touched, And happy to the extreme to have some common grounds with such a close friend (we have completely different taste in damn near EVERYTHING). I would sometimes sit in awe and watch her play, the facial expressions and the focus and determination she would display was awesome.
I'd never really bonded with her that way. With my Asperger's and isolation from homelessness, it has been a long time since I've bonded with anyone like that. This community gave me that gift. Thank You, not just those of you who contributed personally, but all of you who are on the community every day.
So. I had long ago decided to surprise Veronica with a Nintendo Switch (really.. I wanted one dearly, but I didn't tell her I was getting it when the Wii disappeared.)
I had intended upon selling the Wii a few days before my stimulus showed up (I got notice from the website it would be direct deposited by the 24th) and acting like it broke my heart, etc etc. I got this message instead:
https://imgur.com/a/tOTGR7A
Well, what do you say to something like that?? Who am I to say "No," when it was given to us as a gift in the first place and I felt dirty even selling it at ALL!.
So I was aware that Switches were sold out everywhere, and people were gouging on resale sites (... because.. quarantine + stimulus?)... But I'd never played one and I wanted it bad bad bad. I budgeted half of my 1200 for it, and justified this by telling myself that if I were still using heroin, I would have spent ALL OF IT on dope.
Veronica's stimulus hasn't come yet as she is on a unique situation and WAS on disability until February, her Father's hasn't come because he's on Social Security and his will be DD'd to the same account with the 3rd wave.
I had expected my money Monday when the website said it would come Wednesday (because...Chime.). However, I woke up to a totally empty account and still being broke.
Monday was hectic, Vero's father developed a sudden fever, shortness of breath, and started having pains and seemed confused. She called EMS as soon as she checked his temperature and it was over 100, it was actually 101. We had Paramedics (Thank You all EMT/Paramedics/Rescue Workers!!!) Suited up in full body coverings, face shields, respirators, the whole 9 yards... Coming in and out of the apartment to take care of her Dad. I hated to tell her but I felt that I should remind her that if he had COVID-19 that she may not have another opportunity to see him, and his age/eyesight/hearing may preclude him from saying goodbye via FaceTime. I'm not always the most delicate when saying these things but I managed it pretty well I feel.
Turns out he has a UTI and the Doctors are insistent he change his exercise regimen, They've taken him off hospice care (which means the nurse will no longer stop by twice weekly) and are advising agressive physical therapy, even at a a Rehabilitation CenteNursing Home type facility. Veronicas response was positive, but positively NOT during the COVID-19 scare that was devastating such facilities.
(I've been saying this also, he likes to lay down and watch TV WAY too much... With some simple motivation and physical therapy, he would have no need for hospice type care at all, and could possibly even live on his own again.)
Sorry I've begun writing a darned novel again. Tuesday morning I found a decent priced Switch (NOT a Switch Lite, we can play a traditional Switch on the TV together and I can take it to go if I desire). I paid $430, and then realized that it was missing the top slider-on shoulder button straps for the Joy-Cons (no big deal at all, but I decided to Lyft to Wal-Mart/Best Buy anyway because I wanted to grab a couple games. Mario Odyssey, and Splatoon 2 were crucial in the first wave, beyond that I couldn't afford much more.
I bought Mario, new Switch games are pricey and I decided to wait on Splatoon until I could talk it over with the roomie and maybe we could either order it used or get Mario Kart or Smash Bros. (Although I wanted to try something new...)
When I arrived at the Best Buy in the Lyft I should have immediately left when I saw the "drive thru" line. I thought I'd be able to go inside like Wal-Mart and Target. I had to sit on a bench outside and shop online only to end up ordering the parts from Amazon (go figure).
It was while sitting on this bench after ordering the shoulder pieces that I noticed my Switch was gone. I had my backpack still, the reciept for Mario stuffed in my front pocket with the remaining cash I had, but somehow while I was... Ordering on Amazon..?? Someone .. I don't know. It's painful, very very painful to write this, and it's still very raw. I'm extremely emotional over it and still can't stop crying whenever I think about it or someone asks what happened to "my Switch," or asks what happened to my plan of buying a switch. Veronicas been gentle, and comforting (she actually hugged me and held me and let me cry on her shoulder instead of her usual tactic of yelling or blaming me or something 😭)?
I swear to all of you, this is the only reason I didn't relapse right then and ther because somebody cared.
Police cant really do anything, except, it seems, to look at me sideways like they're thinking "So where's the pawn ticket you junkie fuck?" ... they're so used to Heroin users NEVER quitting, I understand and don't blame them, but at least TRY to help me you know? If a homeless addict had stolen it and pawned it for dope, I would kiss their feet and beg them to let me have the pawn ticket, no questions asked and I'd never prosecute. Probably also give them 50 bucks or so on top of that lol. I just want my shit back >.<
As far as getting another switch? Unforseeable at any point until I'm able to get a regular job, or we get another "Stimulus Check" (I was doing my supremely patriotic duty and stimulating the economy dammit!! Lol). I won't have that kind of money to spend for a long time without having to first worry about bills and other considerations.
So- life sucks sometimes. True story- someone we know who relapsed was a recipient of a Paper Stimulus Check today- after receiving his $1200 direct deposit Stimulus last week lol. Not fair! Cant lie, I'm a bit jealous but I've learned not to cover what others have. I'm happy being me.
Back to the part about helping someone else! I need to replace my ratchet ass phone, but I'm disgusted with this Stimulus. After I meet the people from LetGo or OfferUp to get a decent phone, I should have in the range of 20 bucks or so left. I want to give it away to someone else who has endured, and continues to endure, and has the kind of sense of humor that allows them to appreciate the humor inherent in such things. Often people tell me I complain too much, but to me complaining ironically is my way of dealing with it.
You have to laugh, otherwise you'd go crazy right? Anyone else out there feel like they are God/The Universe's own personal joke?
I'll help ONE person with the very last bit of my Stimulus check.
Just tell me what you need it for and som stupid funny/absolutely horrible chain of events thats happened to you recently. Let's have a complain-fest and all laugh about it together!
(BTW-Vero's dad is NEGATIVE for COVID-19 and coming home Monday).
(BTW-Part 2- my unemployment claim was denied because although I had decided to start doing artistic Glassblowing work again and running my own business, I hadn't yet made it far enough along to claim lost income.). THATS A PERFECT EXAMPLE LOL. Also true heh.
Love you Guys, assistance!
Remember, that's gonna be Chime ONLY okay? And I cant guarantee the amount except to say most likely above 15 and less than 30! Also, it may be a day or two!

I know most people started on Pokemon when they were far younger than I, but sadly my family was never particularly wealthy and so I never had stuff like a Gameboy or Nintendo DS when I was a kid. My older brother did. He had a Gameboy from a fairly good Christmas and he worked for his own DS when he was 15. I remember being really young and waiting for when he'd go off to work or hang out with friends so I could hijack his DS for a few hours, playing Platinum, but I'd always have to start at the beginning because I couldn't save the game over his own playthroughs. But that's really all I ever played of Pokemon for most of my life, and it ended when he moved out, and I just sorta forgot about it.
I'm kinda a gamer now. My brother bought me a PS4 last year and I've been saving up scraps of money for games, and the laptop I bought for school is good enough to run some older games too. However Pokemon was never really on my radar. I can't afford to buy a console like a Nintendo 3DS just to play a few specific games when I can play plenty of other games on my PS4 and PC, so I just didn't bother with it, and was content with barely understanding references I saw on the internet to Pokemon or when my friends would make Pokemon jokes and stuff.
Recently, however, that's all changed.
My left lung collapsed a few weeks back. Pretty nasty shit. I honestly think the name "lung collapse" sounds more dire than it actually is, but I wouldn't reccomend the experience. My lung couldn't seem to heal itself, so I had a 12 day long stay at the hospital, and let me tell you a hospital is not an exciting place. You lay in bed, maybe getting a bit of sleep before a nurse comes in to deliver meds or take your blood pressure or whatever, and lazily watch TV.
My brother visited on day 2 though, and brought with him his entire Pokemon collection: his ancient Gameboy with a Leafgreen cartrige, his DS Lite with all the Gen 4 and 5 games, and a 2DS with X, Omega Ruby, and Moon. Told me I might as well have something to do and since I wasn't allowed my PS4 in the hospital, he brought that stuff instead.
And wow. I love him so much for it.
I started from Leafgreen, then Platinum, Soulsilver, Black and Black 2, Omega Ruby, X, and Moon. I know that's not the entire franchise, but it's all I have access to, and it's more than enough. Getting used to building my team and the rather harsh grind was a bit difficult at first, but I eventually got a grasp on party composition (though honestly I mostly just use Pokemon if they're cute) and what moves to use and when. Took me a day and a half, but I got to the Pokemon League in Kanto and won all the fights. From there, I was hooked.
After that, I cleared Platinum for the first time, which was actually quite nostalgic (not a feeling I get very often). Soulsilver blew me away when I got to the Pokemon league and discovered I can go back to Kanto, and I spend hours trying to beat Red at the end in one of my favorite fights of the series. The faster pace of Gen 5 threw me off at first, but the story was oddly well written, and I loved the progression of the characters as Black and Black 2 advanced, and seeing all the new Pokemon was really nice because some of the designs were so pretty. I know I missed the original Ruby, but Omega Ruby was actually really fun, and Hoenn is probably my favorite region. I had some trouble getting into X cuz I was blowing through the gyms with no trouble at all, but even the weakest link of my playthrough was still quite fun. Moon was really great too, especially character wise (<3 Lillie), and it was the only game that I leveled a dragon type (Bagon to a Salamance) and he easily became my favorite Pokemon because of how hard he carried me in the totem fights.
There's just something that's magical about Pokemon that's a bit hard to describe. The allure of building your own team and setting out to a world against you, steadily climbing the ladder to the peak, and overcoming even the hardest fights. Few games can make me feel the way I did when I finally beat Red down, my Flareon with barely any HP left while completely out of potions and money, or overcoming Ghestis and his hacked Hydreigon (it evolves at level 64 you cheat!).
I finally got out of the hospital recently, and I can safely say that even with surgery and all, I still had something I can call a good experience, with my nose constantly buried into a Gameboy, then a DS, then a 2DS. They were such good games, and I'll treasure the playthrough the same way I treasure my first playthroughs of Mass Effect or Bloodborne: extraordinary experiences, and I'm sad I'll never experience something like it again.
I'll never be able to afford a Switch, so Pokemon moves forward without me. But I'm so happy to have played what I've played, to have built up so many teams and spent so much time going gym to gym, collecting badges and winning. Maybe one day I'll catch up with you guys with what the future holds, but for now, I just wanna give a great shoutout to the lovely people who made this series, and thank them for helping to get me through one of the most stressful and depressing experiences in my life, and giving me such great memories. Even at 20, it seems people can still love a series designed for kids.
Anyway, thanks for reading. And big shoutout to my bro for helping me finally be able to play these games.

Hey y'all, Zak (me) here, and I'm here to ask some internet strangers to pretty please gift me a game that costs $59.99. But before I start writing out a long and winding tale about how much I NEED this game and how if I don't get it I'll fall into a deep deep depression because I was unable to play a video game (gasp), first, a little history on my time here; (BTW if you think reading is for chumps then skip straight to the bottom there's a TL;DR section.)

The earliest thing I can remember from my childhood is a very vivid memory of my nanny (grandmother) playing Tetris on her gameboy while I was sitting on her lap, without a care in the world. Fast forward about 5 years and in an attempt to teach me about how to properly save up money, my mother had me save up to buy myself a gameboy advance. I'm almost 100% certain that the amount I ended up saving wasn't enough to cover even half the needed amount, but none the less, on my 7th birthday I ended up getting a purple gameboy advance. (Not the SP version though, because I was stupid and thought the regular one looked "cooler". (I would end up getting the gameboy advance SP like 2 years later as a present because I kept complaining about the screen or something)) Now skip ahead to like, 2009, where I get given my friends secondhand DS Lite after she got a new DSI. Then, In uhhh, 2013? Maybe 2014, me, my younger brother and my younger sister got a Wii as a Christmas gift from our mum (thanks mum). Then in 2016, I was able to snag myself a secondhand 3DS XL for cheap from a facebook buy sell swap group. Now why have I told you all of this? Because I want you to understand that I have more or less grown up with Nintendo consoles throughout my life.

So now, in 2020, after 2 years of saving up while I'm in Uni, I've managed to buy myself a Nintendo Switch after wanting one since 2017. The only game I own for it at the moment is Mario Odyssey because I bought it alongside the Switch. (I don't regret it as I've only had the switch for about 3 weeks but I've already put roughly 40 hours into it.) However, I don't think it would be too much to ask to maybe own another game alongside Odyssey, and the game I want the most would have to be a digital version of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wil d. Now, if you were to go into my post history, and find my Steam Account you may end up saying to yourself "Wow, this douchébag owns over 400 games on steam and some of them are really expensive, why the hell is he e-begging for a damn video game?" Now obviously while many of these games I got for free, or as gifts, or from humble bundles, I did actually buy a lot of them myself, so I would now like to get to my final point, which is why I can't buy Zelda for myself at the moment.

I live in Turkey, which is a country that Nintendo straight up just does not care about. Nintendo, for whatever the reason, unlike steam, refuses to incorporate regional pricing into their online store. Hell, if I even register my switch as being in Turkey, I can't even access the eshop. 60 buckaroos is almost 370 turkish lira, which is half of what I make a month from my side job as an English teacher. Unfortunate as it may be, I kinda need that money for rent and food to, yknow, live. And just in case your wondering how I was able to get games for the other systems I owned, the answer is; for gameboy, cheap bootleg cartridges, for the DS flashcards, and for the Wii and 3DS I was able to jailbreak them and use homebrew.

TL;DR and Conclusion
So in conclusion please buy me vibby game because I live in a country that Nintendo doesn't like, thank you for coming to my TED talk. (If you read this far thanks for reading.)

Hello and Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to all! I've seen many, many threads this year with basic Nintendo Switch questions and so thought I'd craft a handy guide for first-time Switch owners (and parents/gift-givers)! Let's get started.

Q: I want to buy my little one(s) a Switch for Christmas.

Don't get swindled! Nintendo recently released a newer version of the Nintendo Switch console that has a longer battery life. As a result, retailers are trying to get rid of their stock for the older models. The new Switch model with the improved battery life comes in a box with an entirely red background. The older model Switch comes in a box with a white background. Both of these models still retail for the same price.

Q: My little one(s) is/are getting a Switch for Christmas. What should I buy to go with it?

Great question! When you buy a Nintendo Switch, you'll get the console, two joycons (controllers), a dock, an A/C adapter, an HDMI cable, and a joycon grip (for using both joycons as a single controller). If you choose to go the Switch Lite route, you'll get the console with the joycons built-in and an A/C adapter. Regardless of how many people will be playing the Switch, you will definitely want the following:

A MicroSD card if you'll be buying games digitally (size varies depending on how many digital games you'll have and what kinds; if you're buying 1st party titles like Mario and Pokemon digitally, get a 64GB card)
A tempered glass screen protector (not that cheap plastic garbage)
A carrying case (the Switch is advertised as portable--assume your little tykes will want to take it to the park/on the road/vacation)
Games!! If you can only pick a few, you can't go wrong with Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8, and Minecraft. If you need to go the multiplayer route, Super Mario Bros U Deluxe and Overcooked will be winners.
A joycon charging stand (if you will have more than two people playing at the same time).

Speaking of multiplayer, if you have more than two people playing at the same time be sure to buy extra joycons. These are sold in pairs--one box will come with two and you can choose the colors. Joycons will charge when attached to the Nintendo Switch system, however if you need to charge more than two at once you will want to pick up the charging stand mentioned above.

Q: Should I do anything with the console before wrapping it?

You'll see a lot of comments here that suggest to open the console and set it up if you'll be giving the kids digital games. The reason for this is big games take a long time to download. Depending on your internet speed, your kids will be waiting anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours to jump into the action! During setup you will be asked to create a profile and link a Nintendo Account to it before you can download from the eShop. Have that microSD card handy if you're downloading big titles. If your kids love the "new out of box" feeling, you can reset the console to factory settings while keeping the downloaded games--see below for this.
About that "new out of box" feeling...
After you've downloaded whatever digital games you want ready, make sure they've all been moved to the microSD card. After you verify they are, power off the console (hold down the power button to get to the menu option) and remove the microSD card. Next, hold down the power button and both volume buttons on the console to boot it into maintenance mode. Here, you can choose to initialize the console which will restore it to the state you unpacked it in. The only thing you will need to do when the kids fire it up is link the Nintendo Account you used to the profile they create and pop in the microSD card. The games will be ready to go!

I have several parent questions

Here is a guide for Nintendo's parental controls
Unlike other consoles where you need some technical knowhow to set up and maintain controls on the console itself, the Nintendo Switch has a smartphone app for parental controls that let you make adjustments without having to use the console after initial setup.

Miscellaneous

If you're picking up the new Pokemon Sword or Pokemon Shield and have multiple kids, you should know that these games only allow one save file per profile. Each child will need to create their own profile on the console in order to avoid playing on their sibling's save game. This is a good practice to follow for any games, however.
Already done your shopping but didn't realize you needed extra joycons/an SD card/some other accessory? No problem! Simply leave one or more of the digital games untouched and tell your kids you'll let the game download while you're all at the store.
If you are buying Fortnite, be aware! The $30 physical edition is actually just $30 worth of in-game cosmetics and other enhancements. Fortnite, the game itself, is a free download on the eShop. I saw a scenario where grandparents were forced to choose between this and Minecraft. Know that you don't have to spend money on this to get Fortnite for your kid(s).

Edit: Blog is live on Gamasutra now!
https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/TristanBarona/20191016/352273/My_3_year_Journey_to_Create_DONT_GIVE_UP_a_bare_all_Postmortem.php
I submitted this to Gamasutra but it hasn't been approved yet but here is an album of everything I'm talking about in this post:
https://imgur.com/a/mbZeNQp

Hey! Quick background, I spent 3 years working on my RPG DON’T GIVE UP, a semi-autobiographical and humorous game about my triumph over depression.
You can see it here to get an idea of what it looks/plays like:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/960710/DONT_GIVE_UP_A_Cynical_Tale/
It’s an adventure lite RPG with a focus on storytelling and charm.
Mostly a 2 man team! (music and illustrations were contracted)
I will talk about 3 things: The history behind the dev, what I did to try to make it a success and reflections on each, and results (release).

The Beginning
6 years ago I’d been laid off and decided to try my hand at making games. I've worked in the industry, and had been playing them all my life, so why not give it a shot? I made a couple of small mobile games, and after I felt confident enough, tried my hand at making a full length commercial platformer. Well, long story short, I made the big mistake of trying to outsource a studio of both artists and programmers. I was too trusting, maybe even naive, and things that were quoted to be a certain amount would end up tripling. To make things worse, when it was hinted that I was running out of funds it became apparent to me that there was no intent to at least provide the source code in order to have me pick up where I left off should I ever recover.
The game had not been able to be polished enough for me to really be able to find funding but I was in too deep to start a new dev. I couldn’t program, and while I actually went to art school, I certainly didn’t have the spectrum of experience to animate a platformer. So.
This in conjunction with many other things led to the beginning of “The Great Slump”. Starting to work on DON’T GIVE UP was sort of like learning how to walk again after being knocked down by the world over and over. I’d never done pixel art before and started working through my depression by making some crappy pixel sprites based on Pokemon from the Gameboy days, and some really saturated areas and buildings. Eventually I had confidence in creating the sprites and attempted to do a ¾ view instead of the ugly 2D sidescrolling I’d started with.
I did this for months, and I actually had no idea what I was doing, so finally one day I said “Okay. I gotta actually start writing some stuff or I’m gonna have to find a way to fit all of these areas in the story”. After working on a script that was I believe around 60 pages, I started reaching out my feelers for talent and eventually connected with an awesome man named Jarnik from Prague and we worked to make the first version of the game Cynical 7.
It was an okay game, but it could have been better, it was clear people liked it enough for it to have the potential to be a thing, so I decided not to quit, rework the combat and some of the pacing and we tried again with DON’T GIVE UP. This version was a lot more well received… and well after that, there was just no stopping me.
Eventually I was able to get a tiny amount of Kickstarter funding and a Humble Original deal to push the dev through. With what I considered to be a solid base game to push forward, it was time to continue finding its community throughout the course of its development.

Community Building Efforts
DON’T GIVE UP was always on a shoestring budget, even when the contract with Humble stood to bring in some extra cash, I decided to pour those funds immediately back into the game, primarily on music, polish, and features. The full budget for the game was < 30K USD.
DON’T GIVE UP’s BIGGEST problem in my opinion has always been its reach. The internet is unpredictable, and while games that are gorgeous and AAA are always going to turn heads, it’s particularly hard for indies to convince people to check out your story heavy game with no senior artist to catch eyes.
Despite having no marketing budget I pushed forward and made what I consider to be a major effort to develop a community. Here is a list of notable efforts I made. Below I’ll talk about my efforts further and the effect I felt each one had:

The game was featured on Game Jolt for 3 days (demo phase), and throughout the course of devlog updates ended up amassing over 7K Followers
My Twitter started out at 200 something followers and has now crossed the finish line with over 1K
I’ve been active on Facebook, Tumblr, and a few indie developer forums
The game was featured on itch.io (demo phase)
The game had 2 Kickstarters (small amounts but both successful)
I attended DreamHack, PAX South, The Portland Retro Game Expo (twice), and XOXO Fest
I got distribution through Humble Bundle to (possibly?) 100’s of thousands of subscribers
I was featured by a popular Let’s Player
I have written over 200 press and influencers to try to cover the game (at times more than once over the course)
I have an official site dedicated to the game!
I had quite a few trailers (the demo, gameplay, pre-release, and release)
Posted on LOTS of Undertale everything
Before launch I setup an event to demo the game at my local barcade

Despite all of those efforts, if I’m honest MOST of them had little bearing on the community of the game itself. I’ll go through each of them step by step and shed some light on what it was like for me and my personal take. Keep in mind while I’m going to be honest about my experiences this in no way reflects on the storefronts/venues as they have no control over how people respond to the project or choose to engage.

Game Jolt Feature
The Game Jolt feature put the game at the top of the banner on the front page of the site. They provided buttons to my Kickstarter and Game Jolt game page. Over the course of this I believe I accrued over 1K followers. I learned, however, through Kickstarters analytics, that my Game Jolt traffic accounted for less than $60 that went to my Kickstarter. My personal opinion? Lots of people who use Game Jolt or Itch.io are mostly looking for games to play for free. They’re usually not looking to spend, which means they are probably not leaning toward investing in something that doesn’t exist yet.

Twitter Growth
My Twitter has seen steady growth over the course of development. However, it’s sad to say that I don’t think that’s personally due to any effort I put into posting there. I’d posted so much on Twitter; screen shots, updates, thoughts, even a few video vlogs. Everytime something cool or new was finished it went up on all my social media, but it almost NEVER resulted in new follows. Most of my new follows I think came from people who saw the game ELSEWHERE. Even releasing the game and dropping the release trailer that got 4.2K views didn’t net me almost any follows. For an indie who has no marketing budget, it’s hard for me to say that posting on Twitter isn’t worth it, but in my case, it really was almost not worth the effort versus other things I could have done. For me Twitter is mainly a tool to keep your current fans up to date, not trying to find new ones.

Other Social Media and Indie Hubs
I have been pretty active over the years on other social media and forums like TIGSource, Tumblr, and Facebook.
TIGSource is really kind of a ghostland these days in my experience unless you are creating something really exceptional. Not to put my game down, but it would take me many, many, many years before I could even attempt to make anything as detailed as Blasphemous or Children of Morta, but then again these projects definitely have more than 2 people working on them.
Tumblr has been a huge waste of time for me. My previous project I worked on used to easily garner 40ish likes or more on average, it was more detailed visually, but had not a sliver of the depth DON’T GIVE UP has. It was just an adventure platformer that didn’t really focus on any character development and only ended up having one stage, and it still got more attention than my completed project. When I say my game is ugly people who have played it will usually respond “I like the art” or, “I think it’s good”, but I don’t really mean ugly literally, I guess I really mean it doesn’t look modern. It is proven that retro minimalist art can still do well in this age but in my opinion is diminishes your visibility odds even further. It’s the, “If I have to give my attention to one game, why take a chance on the one that doesn’t look as good?” And for this, DON’T GIVE UP rarely has an argument besides “You just have to try it”, which in this vast sea of games is really not enough.
Facebook has been okay. My official page hasn’t been able to grow for A WHILE, and release didn’t change that. But posting on all the groups I was in was surprisingly positive. People were liking the game and sharing for a few days and even saying that they bought a copy! Sadly, it didn’t really circle back to the Facebook page.

Itch.io
Being featured on Itch.io was cool, but it didn’t have any noticeable impact. Games get uploaded on Itch.io FAST. By the time I put my game up it was pushed out of non-scrolling view in less than an hour! Itch.io was also cool enough to tweet the game as well, it got some interactions (not as much as my release post) which was cool, but I didn’t really see any change on the site. The problem I have with Itch.io is I think interaction with your community could be a lot better. I would almost prefer just about any other platform to using it, Steam Discussion IMO is just superior.
The game had 2 Kickstarters. My goal for DON’T GIVE UP was not to get a buttload of cash so that I could live a cushy startup life from my home while I made my game over the course of 8 hour work days. I only wanted enough to give my own funds the boost it needed to be completable. I ultimately believed if people wanted the game it would make more; I also thought it would be a great way to get additional exposure. But it didn’t, I’m not sure why- I’ve seen many games that are far less along, and far less visually attractive do leaps and bounds better. Knowing lots of people and having some form of virality obviously helps a lot with Kickstarter, something I just didn’t have. Even though I only raised around 8K altogether, I will say a lot of that funding came directly through people discovering me on Kickstarter so it was extremely useful. Having completed a game, I would never start another project at a funding goal that didn’t allow me to complete a project without diving into my own funds. My fire to make it in this industry made me willing to make that sacrifice and it’s something only you can decide.

Conventions
Throughout the game’s development I attended 4 shows:
Portland Retro Game Expo
DreamHack
PAX South
XOXO Fest
Portland Retro Game Expo was cool because my game has a retro feel to it. It’s local and small, but was great for getting my feet wet and talking about my game.
DreamHack was okay, to be fair they are really kind and awesome enough to offer free booth space to the indies. Although the deal is less sweet when you have to travel from out of state. DreamHack is in a huge part, for folks who are into eSports. It’s no secret that the indies weren’t a highlight and still a growing part of their venue. Traffic was slow but that’s no reflection on the people who invited me to attend. With my budget I probably could have invested the travel funds a bit differently.
PAX South was great. I was selected to be in rising, I know a lot of rough around the edges games can make it in there but still it felt good. More people obviously played my game than at the other venues, the feedback was good, and people were visibly jamming to the music on most of the playthroughs. I felt like my game was really, finally on its way to shine, but real life set in pretty quick afterward. I didn’t really see any growth when I came back even though I totally did recognize a few followers that I’d met down there. However, the experience was still worth it. Why? Because I got to see people play the game dozens of times a day, seeing people play your game over and over in its development days will almost inevitably bring about some ideas you’d never thought of that will make something even better, or make you realize that something isn’t as good as you thought it was and might actually be better removed. A fresh set of eyes on your game is PRICELESS, more so in large quantities.
XOXO Fest is another local, very exclusive event. I wasn’t a headliner but a part of a local showcase, and with less than 600 attendees traffic was obviously not going to be bustling. The feedback that I got here was the best of all the venues I would say because the crowd was a lot more invested in the creators and not just the games. I left XOXO Fest feeling energized and confident as a creator!

Kickstarters
After my Kickstarter I signed a deal to become a Humble Original, to be honest, in order to take the game where I wanted it to go this was a bit of a necessity. I won’t say too much about this or the terms because I’m not sure if that would be proper etiquette. But basically, they get to have the game be exclusive to their bundle for a set amount of time and I’m able to create an expanded version and sell it later. When the game was released in the bundle, my abysmal wishlists did spike and it was helpful, but absolutely not as much as I had hoped for with a potential 400K subscribers, but it was better than I was doing on my own. The terms really weren’t unreasonable.

Press
I wrote over 200 press and influencers trying to just get them to try the game. Offering someone something for free just isn’t really a selling point anymore. I really did my best and tried to target lots of folks who did let’s plays of Undertale. Writing to press and being unknown is a masochistic game of sorts; I literally only ended up getting 1 let’s player to play the game off of my emails, and a very rude review from a press site after release. Honestly, this is another thing that isn’t really worth the effort, much like busting your butt on Twitter, but when you have no marketing budget, not really worth the effort is all you’ve got.
Let’s Play Traffic
I had a let’s play from a popular YouTuber named YuB, it actually came out of the blue and they didn’t contact me until the video was actually up. It also led to a trickle down where some other mid ranged YouTubers checked it out. I was really excited when this happened, it was sort of the universe saying, you’re not crazy and someone who has a crap ton of viewers thinks your game makes good content. This was quite helpful, and the video resulted in over 60 followers. I know this isn’t a lot, but nowhere else was I able to garner that kind of surge, and that’s over a video that got over 60K views. Being an indie is hard :P

Trailers
Each time I hit a major milestone toward release I made a trailer. For the new major public versions, a gameplay version (in order to feed less narrative and show how the game plays), a pre-release trailer, and a release trailer where I revealed more of the game than I had in the 3 years.
Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rfGnrqU1IQ
Undertale
Finally I posted on Undertale hubs anywhere I could: Reddit, Facebook Pages, Discords, etc. When people are always telling you that your game reminds them of Undertale, even if that wasn’t your intent, you might as well try to use it to your advantage, right? People here and there were interested, but for the most part I think the thing with hardcore Undertale fans is that…. Well, they only want Undertale. They don’t really want to bother with something else because it isn’t Undertale, so you see, there’s a big problem.

Local Barcade
I'm a Portland dev so why not show the game somewhere in Portland?! We have a few barcades, and the one that let me show the game was REALLY helpful and supportive. The problem is, for one, Portland has a HUGE pinball crowd, and probably people looking to get drunk with friends aren't looking to play or process an RPG about quirky humor and depression. There's also a lot of people that aren't gamers who go to Barcades for once in a while fun. That being said, I made some fun connections with folks and had some AMAZING conversations, and I'm certain I converted a couple of people into sales. It was worth it especially with launch just two days away.

Which finally brings us to the heart of this journey…

The Release
I want to note that about a month and a 1/2 before wrapping production I ran 2 in person QA sessions locally where people played the FULL game, gave me feedback, and reported bugs. (Partially to ensure I wasn't crazy and I'd created something good). I think it was around 14 people in all. ALL of that feedback and bug reports were fixed before launch!
Before release I obviously rallied all my troops and let everyone know, especially my Kickstarter backers that it was coming. I’ve posted probably an average of 2 updates a month since my project was funded keeping them in the loop almost every step of the way. I worked really hard to build trust with my backers and have them see how dedicated I was to delivering a good game. I’d hoped that of my 400ish backers that I would hopefully see at minimum 20-30 reviews on day one. I warmed myself up by looking at articles from other folks who had the release day jitters with things not ending up nearly as bad as they thought. My confidence began to rise, my game that I’d spent 3 years on was good enough to sell itself, sure it may not be destined for 5 digit sales, but surely a few thousand would be an easy task for such a labor of love.
Well. Reality often has a complicated sense of humor. I’ve only cried twice in the past 6-7 years, once was when I found it too hard to medicate my mood, and the other was the day after release.
As of today, approximately one month after launch, DON’T GIVE UP has sold a mere 235 units, which equates to $2082 USD in revenue. To put it in perspective, working for minimum wage for a month where I live would have surpassed my first month sales.
That being said, let’s put my expectations into perspective. Despite not having made a cent off this game all I ever wanted was 3 things: to tell my story, to get my name out as a developer, and to have at least enough funds for the next prototype. As far as I’m concerned 10K in sales was my bar for success, or in other words my best case scenario hope, worst was somewhere around 5K. With these tools I felt like regardless of what happened beyond that I would have what I needed to keep the dream alive. To put it in context, where I live, even at minimum wage I could eclipse these in a month, but no need to beat it over the head. I think if you’re even reading this you know how bad that is.
I am also really lucky to have someone in my corner who supports me doing what I love and believed in my vision. We get by okay because the field they have decided to be in allows for that. The morale of a supportive partner is… huge, I’m not saying that you should go out today and find yourself someone who will blindly support your indie dreams, but it was a huge pillar of motivation to carry on for me.

So what could I have done different?
Well honestly, not much. Not in my specific situation anyway. I tapped every funding source I had, the soundtrack came out great, the game is a good length, I’m happy with the script, and even though the art isn’t the greatest, I did it ALL myself. I got better along the way, and didn’t cut corners. The final boss areas have the most complex sprites in terms of size and animation frames so I had tangible proof that I’d grown as a creator.

What COULD have been different?
If I had the money I’d have had better sprite work for sure, even if it was just for the combat and the overworld remained the same. Secondly, I’d have invested in marketing, it exists for a reason, and while it isn’t as vital as having an actual project worth playing, if you want reach, it practically almost is.
I don’t think this would have made a total difference but IMO I released in quite possibly the worst week of the year for games, Goose Game, Link’s Awakening remake, and Borderlands 3 and others all came out during that week. (This release date was planned far in advance and with the little fanbase I had I decided putting out confusion or discrepancy in the release date was really not wise so I rolled with it).
I don’t think it was wise for me to sink this much time into my first commercial game, for obvious reasons now, but also, it was just…… a lot. I wrote over 260 pages of dialogue, did all the art, social media, QA sessions, conventions, marketing (by marketing I mean blind emailing editors in vain) and a lot of other stuff. But I was raised on the SNES RPGs and that’s when my love for what games could be really developed. I grew up poor, and could only get 1 used game per month, so I would always go for the SNES RPGs because they would get so much mileage. I HAD to make this game. Going forward I’m definitely making something more simple in depth.

A Final Gold Lining
Prepare to get sappy. Yes, the sales are as bad, but I don’t need to let that dictate the gravity of my accomplishment. I created the game I wanted to make! Not only that, it turned out the way I wanted it to! I had a story to tell, and I told it. And while 1000’s of people aren’t playing it, there are people who have who enjoyed it, I’ve even been thanked numerous times for making this game. Every review I’ve gotten (even this scatching one https://techraptor.net/gaming/reviews/dont-give-up-cynical-tale-review) makes it clear that the story is emotional and the character development of the main character was done right, which is all my game aimed to do. To tell the story of my trials in a captivating way, so I say I’ve succeeded. I’ve earned the respect of my peers for taking the chance to do something I love, and yes, I know that respect doesn’t pay bills, but there are a lot of people who are afraid to take that chance, and instead of having a period in their life where they’ll get to truly do what they love for them, they’ll play it safe, and only know the corporate rat race. No one can take this accomplishment from me. People can always say, yeah I worked here for X amount of years and so on, but I get to straight up say yeah I MADE A GAME. And, it’ll likely be the same for you should you cross that finish line.
And listen, 2K isn’t a lot, but it’s something, and it will certainly find its use, and the sales will (hopefully) continue to trickle in over time, so I see it as an asset going forward.
What’s Next
Well the journey isn’t over! I’ve got a couple of features still coming up and currently waiting to hear back about approval for porting to Nintendo Switch! Who knows what the future holds?
TLDR: To summarize, my sales sucked, but I made the game I wanted to make, and a portfolio piece I’m genuinely proud of. No one can take that from me and it’s awesome. Period. I’m no worse for wear, I’m in relatively good health, and I can make another game or do whatever else I want.
Well thanks for reading, if you want to support my work, obviously the best way to do that would be to check the game out for yourself if it’s your cup of tea! Good luck fellow devs!

Top of the Day for 26/04/2020

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Most Upvoted Posts of the Day

First Place

My dog is 16, so I figured it’s time for some driving lessons
posted by LamboSamba on /pics
Click here to view the post. ● 164,419 Upvotes ● Posted: 24/04/2020 at 23:59:37 UTC

Second Place

nice try kiddo
posted by paolols on /WatchPeopleDieInside
Click here to view the post. ● 125,255 Upvotes ● Posted: 24/04/2020 at 23:18:50 UTC

Third Place

Dog food doesnt grow on trees
posted by GallowBoob on /aww
Click here to view the post. ● 114,905 Upvotes ● Posted: 25/04/2020 at 11:07:28 UTC

Fourth Place

Man built a whole underground pool with a stick
posted by Swish_Fate on /memes
Click here to view the post. ● 107,112 Upvotes ● Posted: 25/04/2020 at 03:51:29 UTC

Fifth Place

This toy car on a treadmill
posted by TrasedRX on /interestingasfuck
Click here to view the post. ● 105,375 Upvotes ● Posted: 25/04/2020 at 05:08:44 UTC

Most Downvoted Posts of the Day

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Most Upvoted Comments of the Day

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First Place

All cheering while the kid is crying somehow gives me joy.
posted by Lunamoon1995 on /WatchPeopleDieInside
Click here to view the post. ● 28,276 Upvotes ● Posted: 24/04/2020 at 23:39:02 UTC

Second Place

What a little shit
posted by n0t_a_lawyer_ on /WatchPeopleDieInside
Click here to view the post. ● 20,447 Upvotes ● Posted: 24/04/2020 at 23:26:51 UTC

Third Place

Why does this kid look likes he's made out of pure rage and chaos energy ` Edit: WOW thanks for platinum`
posted by BurnStar4 on /WatchPeopleDieInside
Click here to view the post. ● 14,559 Upvotes ● Posted: 25/04/2020 at 00:25:22 UTC

Fourth Place

Looks about as confident as I did when I was first got behind the wheel
posted by NanPakoka on /pics
Click here to view the post. ● 11,397 Upvotes ● Posted: 25/04/2020 at 00:59:07 UTC

Fifth Place

That guy looks like he’s enjoying himself.. gotta be the uncle haha
posted by lola2203 on /WatchPeopleDieInside
Click here to view the post. ● 9,908 Upvotes ● Posted: 25/04/2020 at 00:38:39 UTC

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First Place

Trump without his fake tan and hair
posted by gitarlarm on /pics
Click here to view the post. ● 67,248 Upvotes ● 3 reward(s). ● 1 silver reward(s), 1 gold reward(s) and 1 platinum reward(s) ● Posted: 25/04/2020 at 19:24:56 UTC

Second Place

A friend offering some advice to the covid conspiracy theorists in Madison, WI
posted by statdat on /PublicFreakout
Click here to view the post. ● 100,544 Upvotes ● 3 reward(s). ● 1 silver reward(s), 1 gold reward(s) and 1 platinum reward(s) ● Posted: 25/04/2020 at 01:43:23 UTC

Third Place

I received 25 upvotes on one of my comments today. For the first time on Reddit, I feel like I have made it.
posted by Kp248 on /CasualConversation
Click here to view the post. ● 15,706 Upvotes ● 3 reward(s). ● 1 silver reward(s), 1 gold reward(s) and 1 platinum reward(s) ● Posted: 25/04/2020 at 14:43:26 UTC

Fourth Place

Final Giveaway for TWELVE MORE Nintendo Switch Lites and your choice of games! [US/CA only]
posted by TheEverglow on /nintendo
Click here to view the post. ● 7,775 Upvotes ● 2 reward(s). ● 1 silver reward(s), 1 gold reward(s) and 0 platinum reward(s) ● Posted: 25/04/2020 at 16:00:01 UTC

Fifth Place

The Offspring did a cover of Joe Exotic's diss track \"Here Kitty Kitty\" and I think It's better than the original.
posted by infernalspawnODOOM on /videos
Click here to view the post. ● 39,961 Upvotes ● 2 reward(s). ● 1 silver reward(s), 1 gold reward(s) and 0 platinum reward(s) ● Posted: 25/04/2020 at 12:06:01 UTC

Most Gilded Comments of the Day

IMPORTANT NOTE: This section may be not be accurate as it is under development.
First Place

Dude fuck you for letting me know that you exist
posted by mdh1987 on /RoastMe
Click here to view the post. ● 6,898 Upvotes ● 3 reward(s). ● 1 silver reward(s), 1 gold reward(s) and 1 platinum reward(s) ● Posted: 25/04/2020 at 20:45:34 UTC

Second Place

Hey folks. To answer a few questions that keep popping up here and elsewhere: `**Was a Chinese medical team dispatched to treat Kim?** Yes, this apparently did happen. A Chinese medical team, including cardiac specialists, was sent to North Korea on either Wednesday or Thursday of this past week. Much of the information that's racing across the internet right now is the result of text conversations between them and their colleagues that leaked on Chinese social media. I don't know if the reported screen captures of their phones are legitimate.` **Why did they go?** It's being reported that Kim Jong-un suffered a cardiac event earlier this month and underwent surgery on April 12th. He either didn't recover well, or didn't recover at all. `**Is this plausible?** Maybe. Kim Jong-un has definitely not looked healthy in recent years. Even in his earliest public appearances, he was on the chubby side, but you can argue that that helped him. He resembled his grandfather (Kim il-Sung, the \"Eternal President\" of NK) a great deal and it was thought that that would help him ingratiate himself with the people. However, he became morbidly obese as time passed, and was rumored to have been diagnosed with high blood pressure and diabetes.` **What was the first sign that something was wrong?** Kim failed to show up at North Korea's celebration of his grandfather's birthday on April 15th. This is basically unheard of. He also hasn't made an appearance today, which is the anniversary of the founding of NK's armed forces and another public event that NK's leader nearly always attends. ` **Is North Korea hiding something else that happened?** Maybe. We know that COVID-19 has reached North Korea, although it's not clear when. The severity and spread of the virus within NK are also unknown. When Kim failed to show up on April 15th, one theory is that he was holed up somewhere waiting for the virus to burn itself out, especially because he's got some of the co-morbidities that are associated with poor outcomes if you get sick. ` **Super basic and probably unhelpful timeline:** This is what I've pieced together from umpteen million news reports, and it's almost certainly incomplete and (more maddeningly) inaccurate. ` - On Monday, the Daily NK (an online newspaper in South Korea run by North Korean defectors who have contacts in the country) reported that Kim Jong-un had had surgery on April 12th and was recovering. ` ` - Reuters subsequently picked it up and ran the story internationally. ` ` - CNN picked it up and went to its sources in U.S. intelligence, who weren't willing to be named but said they were monitoring reports that Kim wasn't doing well.` ` - On Tuesday, U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien acknowledged this on Fox News. ` ` - South Korea pushed back and stated that no evidence existed of a dire prognosis. (NB: The U.S. and South Korea are not necessarily operating off different sets of intelligence here. SK just tends to be a lot more circumspect about news reports that result from spying on NK, for what I imagine are obvious reasons.)` ` - China's team (maybe -- timing is iffy) left for NK on Wednesday/Thursday. ` ` - Late Friday, the Japanese magazine *Shukan Gendai* was reporting that its reporters managed to get hold of one of the Chinese doctors who traveled to NK, and who said that Kim had most likely suffered a heart attack and that complications had happened during the attempted insertion of a stent. ` ` - Friday is when a whole lot of people, from Chinese government officials to the U.S. Department of State to South Korean intelligence, all suddenly decided that they had no comment on the matter. ` ` - The most recent reports of the Chinese doctors' text messages broke late Friday night/early Saturday morning US EST and added rumors that the North Korean doctors treating Kim had little to no experience placing stents in obese patients, had either made a mistake or decided to wait, and that the Chinese specialists arrived too late to make a difference.` **So what are the odds that something's seriously wrong with Kim Jong-un?** I don't know. I think it's very likely that the initial report of a procedure on April 12th is true, and I also think it's *plausible* (not necessarily true, but at least plausible) that Kim is ill or incapacitated. He's been notably absent from two of NK's biggest public events, and NK's state media is reportedly recycling old quotes of his to encourage peoples' efforts with respect to the military and the economy. `Having said that, accurate information is incredibly difficult to get out of NK, and we've been fooled multiple times before. His father Kim Jong-il (most of you know him better as the *Team America* villain with the platform shoes and the bouffant hair) had his own \"death scares,\" and Kim Jong-un has disappeared from view a few times previously, and once emerged with an obvious limp and a cane (reportedly the result of severe gout -- yet another health issue).` **So if Kim Jong-un is out of the way, who takes over?** The most likely immediate successor is his younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, who is around 30. She has been the public face of the North Korean government previously and has assumed a notably higher public profile over the last few weeks (which is another reason I think current reports may be true). `**But doesn't Kim Jong-un have kids?** He has one child whose existence we can confirm, and possibly three overall with his wife, Ri Sol-ju. He may have others with mistresses (though they would most likely not be in the line of succession). However, his oldest \"official\" child is likely ten at most, and is obviously not well-placed to assume leadership. Kim Yo-jong may assume power as a regent in the interim, if NK wants to continue Kim Jong-un's line.` **Does the potential for instability exist with a young, female, inexperienced leader in a totalitarian dictatorship?** Does the Pope shit in the woods? `**For real, what's gonna happen?** Your guess is as good as mine. If news reports are true and Kim Jong-un is out of the way for the foreseeable future (or even permanently), I think NK will attempt to unify behind Kim Yo-jong, at least in the short term. It does not want to project uncertainty or weakness for either the domestic or international audience, and she is definitely the most high-profile and publicly visible Kim family member at the moment. And with COVID-19 and a lot of economic instability rocketing across the world (including their patron state, China), I think there's definitely an incentive for people to accept this for now. Westerners also tend to underestimate just how omnipresent the Kim family is in every aspect of North Korean life; they have controlled the country for almost three-quarters of a century. And North Koreans have also learned what happens to people who are visibly unhappy about that.` But ... there's always something going on that you don't know about. Are there rebellious elements in North Korea's military or society who see this as an opportunity? Or will they wait to see what Kim Yo-jong (or whoever the next ruler will be) is like in office? `An equally interesting question is what happens over the long term if Kim Yo-jong remains in power and has children of her own. Will she cede power to her brother's children, or would she rather pass it to hers?` **Are there alternatives to Kim Yo-jong?** Yes. As [I wrote earlier this week](https://old.reddit.com/worldnews/comments/g55qo5/north_koreas_kim_getting_treatment_aftefo1v798/): These range from their great-uncle Yong-ju (although the guy's gotta be pushing 100 now if he's even alive) to former rivals for the throne like Uncle Pyong-il (kicked into far-flung ambassadorships when their dad became the heir apparent) to their brother Jong-chul (previously passed over for leadership). Their other brother, Kim Jong-nam, is out of consideration because they had him killed. `There are probably others, but this is the family tree from hell and my brain is mush right now.` **Are we all gonna die?** Yes. Sorry. `**I mean, from this?** I don't think there's any realistic threat from NK's nuclear program, if that's what you're asking about. The news on that front has been relatively quiet ever since fall 2017. NK had a nuclear test in September of that year that resulted in the partial destruction of the test site, Punggye-ri, followed by further collapses in later weeks that killed a bunch of workers and scientists. There were also reports of elevated radiation in the area and a lot of tree and animal deaths. (I don't know if this was actually true, but NK has definitely played fast and loose with nuclear safety previously.) Behind the scenes, China reportedly told NK to get its shit together, and the site was later demolished. This is likely one of the reasons that NK was unusually well-behaved in the first half of 2018.` Having said that, NK continues to tinker, particularly with missile engine development. It's something to keep an eye on, but you probably don't need to be worried about NK's new leader lighting up an ICBM and frying New York. [Here's why](https://old.reddit.com/worldnews/comments/g7o6nm/japanese_media_reports_n_koreas_kim_jong_un_in/foj91bh/). ` And to repeat: Please remember to take everything with a grain of salt. There is a LOT of false or misleading information that circulates about North Korea, in part because NK is rarely interested in providing information that gives real insight into the regime. It is entirely possible that ALL of the recent news reports are bullshit, but either way, it may be a while before we get accurate information on what's happening.`
posted by Cenodoxus on /news
Click here to view the post. ● 18,957 Upvotes ● 3 reward(s). ● 1 silver reward(s), 1 gold reward(s) and 1 platinum reward(s) ● Posted: 25/04/2020 at 14:24:01 UTC

Third Place

As Father to an 8 year old boy with Moderate to Severe Autism who is non-verbal (except for his garbled echoic mimicry) who actually rides the short bus every day I take great offense to this statement ` My son is WAY smarter than Trump`
posted by Jkoechling on /WatchPeopleDieInside
Click here to view the post. ● 1,291 Upvotes ● 3 reward(s). ● 1 silver reward(s), 1 gold reward(s) and 1 platinum reward(s) ● Posted: 24/04/2020 at 04:44:20 UTC

Fourth Place

Creedy from V for Vendetta
posted by NoTrickWick on /pics
Click here to view the post. ● 7,060 Upvotes ● 2 reward(s). ● 1 silver reward(s), 0 gold reward(s) and 1 platinum reward(s) ● Posted: 25/04/2020 at 20:07:54 UTC

Fifth Place

Vegetative? Then he's achieved his goal: to become Kim Chi.
posted by DZP on /worldnews
Click here to view the post. ● 3,260 Upvotes ● 2 reward(s). ● 1 silver reward(s), 1 gold reward(s) and 0 platinum reward(s) ● Posted: 25/04/2020 at 08:03:33 UTC

Nintendo Switch Lite review: A great Switch, without the ...

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First Look at Nintendo Switch Lite: A New Addition to the ...