Goodbye NX, hello Switch

[Aikouka]

Ars posted their thoughts on the Live Home Circuit kit. I think the biggest takeaways are that the camera quality wasn't nearly as good as Nintendo made it look, and make sure you vacuum first.

 

[purbeast0]

Ars posted their thoughts on the Live Home Circuit kit. I think the biggest takeaways are that the camera quality wasn't nearly as good as Nintendo made it look, and make sure you vacuum first.

Well that definitely isn't a ringing endorsement.

 

[Aikouka]

Well that definitely isn't a ringing endorsement.

I think a lot of it is pretty expected. For example, the remark about enemies appearing in front of obstacles when they should be obscured by the obstacle is just a result of the lack of any depth sensing or LiDAR setup (like what Apple has on their more recent iPhones and iPads). It is plausible that they could use some image recognition and neural processing... if they had far more horsepower and a newer Nvidia SoC (that has Tensor cores).

Although, I think the big stinger is probably the weaker video quality. I'm sure a young kid wouldn't mind, but it would likely sour an older audience.

One thing that I mentioned in the comments was that I'm curious what hackers/tinkerers could end up doing with the device. Unless Nintendo has implemented some sort of crazy protection scheme (it appears to just be WiFi though), I don't see why we couldn't eventually create our own devices. We'd just need to get our hands on the data that's sent between the two to mimic it.

 

[purbeast0]

Well I got me one for pickup at Best Buy. Most BB's near me still have em in stock and Target does too. I'm going to pick it up this morning as long as they actually have it in stock lol.

I probably won't use it until tomorrow though but will post some reactions to it once I do.

 

[Aikouka]

Well I got me one for pickup at Best Buy. Most BB's near me still have em in stock and Target does too. I'm going to pick it up this morning as long as they actually have it in stock lol.

I probably won't use it until tomorrow though but will post some reactions to it once I do.

I looked a bit later than intended, but awkwardly... it was easy to find a Mario in stock at Target and Best Buy, but Luigi is a bit harder to find. I ended up ordering one from a Target that's about 25 miles from me, but we'll see if I actually get it. I'm guessing they just made more Mario units because he's more popular?

 

[purbeast0]

I looked a bit later than intended, but awkwardly... it was easy to find a Mario in stock at Target and Best Buy, but Luigi is a bit harder to find. I ended up ordering one from a Target that's about 25 miles from me, but we'll see if I actually get it. I'm guessing they just made more Mario units because he's more popular?

I noticed that too this morning. Luigi's impossible to find but Mario's were pretty easy to come by. It's gone at most Target's in my area but some Best Buy's have it like 15-20 miles away.

I ended up getting mine from Best Buy since I had $20 in rewards since I just bought a new washer and dryer last month. I will probably not play it until tomorrow though but will post impressions after we play around with it. My son is going to be so excited when I surprise him with it tomorrow.

 

[Aikouka]

I noticed that too this morning. Luigi's impossible to find but Mario's were pretty easy to come by. It's gone at most Target's in my area but some Best Buy's have it like 15-20 miles away.

I ended up getting mine from Best Buy since I had $20 in rewards since I just bought a new washer and dryer last month. I will probably not play it until tomorrow though but will post impressions after we play around with it. My son is going to be so excited when I surprise him with it tomorrow.

After a bit of a drive, I did end up getting both through Target today. (I do wish that I would have adjusted my order and got them both from the distant store though.) I figure I'll try one of them out, and determine whether to keep the other one based upon how I like the first one.

Have you scoped out any fun areas to build tracks? I have a bunch of boxes that I've been meaning to tear down for recycling, so I'm wondering if I could build something fun with that.

 

[purbeast0]

After a bit of a drive, I did end up getting both through Target today. (I do wish that I would have adjusted my order and got them both from the distant store though.) I figure I'll try one of them out, and determine whether to keep the other one based upon how I like the first one.

Have you scoped out any fun areas to build tracks? I have a bunch of boxes that I've been meaning to tear down for recycling, so I'm wondering if I could build something fun with that.

I honestly only really have one room that this will work in lol. Our living/dining room is really the only large open area without carpet that this will work on. And I guess our kitchen too but obviously it's not like a track can stay setup there for a long time. My sons playroom is all carpeted unfortunately otherwise that would be the ideal place, if we could clean it up a bit first.

I guess in theory too we could use the garage AND keep the track there too since we don't put our cars in there, but it's not very big.

 

[purbeast0]

Amazon has both in stock right now.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08H9JWWK5/

Gamestop you can order both too but for shipping only.

 

[Aikouka]

I honestly only really have one room that this will work in lol. Our living/dining room is really the only large open area without carpet that this will work on. And I guess our kitchen too but obviously it's not like a track can stay setup there for a long time. My sons playroom is all carpeted unfortunately otherwise that would be the ideal place, if we could clean it up a bit first.

I guess in theory too we could use the garage AND keep the track there too since we don't put our cars in there, but it's not very big.

I got a chance to try it out today. One thing you may want to do is take the kart out of the box and charge it before you start playing. I'm not 100% sure how long it lasts or how much charge it comes with out of the box. Although, my boxes weren't taped closed and the kart is at the top-front of the box. So, it's pretty easy to take it out and put it back in if you want to make it seem unopened.

There are some things that I'd recommend. For example, keep the course area well lit. We made a multi-room course, and some of the rooms didn't have lights on. It mostly just affects the video feed as the camera is a bit lower quality to begin with, so darkness doesn't help with that. Also, I'd highly recommend keeping the track to one room if possible. We did receive a few low signal warnings during the drive, and the video would get choppy at times. I haven't tried out the multi-player yet though, but the cats seemed to enjoy going after the karts quite a bit. Also, you can drive around outside of a race, but by default, your speed will be set to 50cc. You'll have to go to the settings to switch the drive around mode to 100cc. To unlock faster modes, you have to win cups.

 

[purbeast0]

Okay this Mario Kart Live thing is pretty damn cool. I don't know how long the novelty will last but first impressions are very good.
I am not getting any crappy video like that one review. It looks just like those trailers for me. I did get into a hiccupy part when I made a track that went behind walls and was literally a lap through my kitchen, dining room, and living room, but once I moved seats it worked fine.

I also can't believe how they have drifting working and feeling like drifting in Mario Kart. Obviously the RC car doesn't drift but the way they make it turn and on screen shows you drifting truly feels like drifting.

It's also crazy how much faster it looks like you are going on screen than if you look at the RC car.

I swept up my floor before we started playing and there is so much dust and stuff already built up on the tires of the car after like 90 minutes of playing. I am concerned that it will get into the wheel part and start to effect the speed but hopefully if we clean it after each use it doesn't.

The way items and stuff work is neat too. The enemies are kind of an after thought though at least what I've played so far. I feel like I'm just racing with myself most of the time. There is a lot of commotion on the courses sometimes though too so it has that MK feel.

Again not sure how long this will last for myself as being cool, but it is neat as hell so far.

Oh and I didn't realize MK Live the game was a free download. I thought it came with the whole thing. That is both good and bad to me. It's bad in that you are literally paying $100 for an RC car and cardboard. It's good that it means you can just get another car and as long as you have another Switch you can play multiplayer because the game is free to download.

EDIT:

We just did a course where Kamek does magic and it mirrors the course mid-race and it's wild. When that happens the course flip flops mirrored. And the way it works is the RC car goes left when you push right and right when you push left. Very wild seeing your house mirrored and it controlling as though you are playing it mirrored.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Tempted to import 真・女神転生IIIノクターン which just came out today but I also just started RDR2 a couple of days ago so I guess I'll wait.

 

[sactoking]

Are joy-cons in super short supply or something? My kid broke our blue (left) one and it's irreparable given my capabilities. I was shopping for a replacement on Amazon and just the blue one was $40! Sets of two (left + right) were close to $100! Tried Walmart and similar result. Ditto, Best Buy. I picked up the blue + red pair a couple of years back and the set was barely more than a single one is going for now. Am I missing something? Is there some not-expensive place to buy these things?

 

[purbeast0]

Joycons have always been $80 retail for a pair.

 

[KentState]

$80 and you hopefully won't get one with drift out of the box. I got a brand new set a month ago and the left one was bad from the start.

 

[Fallen Kell]

So anyone have to debug a switch that won't turn on? I hadn't played mine in a few months and now it won't turn on. It was left in the OEM dock the whole time.

I tried the hold the power button in for ~15 seconds, wait a few seconds, then attempt to power on, but didn't see any change. I do get a quick green led blip when placed into the dock, so I think the dock at least sees it connect. Any suggestions? I probably need to pickup a USB power meter to see the voltage/amps being pulled by the switch when attempting to charge. I don't think there is any physical damage to the charging port (it has only ever been placed in the OEM dock, and never used the charging cable directly to help avoid breaking any pins/placing too much torque on the connector).

 

[purbeast0]

So anyone have to debug a switch that won't turn on? I hadn't played mine in a few months and now it won't turn on. It was left in the OEM dock the whole time.

I tried the hold the power button in for ~15 seconds, wait a few seconds, then attempt to power on, but didn't see any change. I do get a quick green led blip when placed into the dock, so I think the dock at least sees it connect. Any suggestions? I probably need to pickup a USB power meter to see the voltage/amps being pulled by the switch when attempting to charge. I don't think there is any physical damage to the charging port (it has only ever been placed in the OEM dock, and never used the charging cable directly to help avoid breaking any pins/placing too much torque on the connector).

My buddies USB port on his Switch broke a while back and he couldn't charge it once it died. But it was because his son jammed it into the dock and screwed it up so it's a bit different than yours just sitting and it stopped working.

Have you tried plugging it into another USB-C cable and seeing if it powers on that way?

You could kind of rule it out as if the dock is messed up or if it's the actual Switch.

Or maybe the power plug on the dock has become unplugged so it wasn't actually giving power to your Switch the whole time? If you didn't fully power of the Switch then it was in stand by mode and it uses very little power while in that mode, so eventually it would have died since you said it's been months since you played it.

 

[KentState]

This happens if the battery is dead. I play mine rarely and that's the behavior it has when left off the charger for long periods of time. Try another USB-C cable and charger.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Thanks. I will give that a try. I had been hesitant to use a different cable/charger since (at least when first released), Nintendo warned about using third party chargers since they didn't seem to fully comply to USB standards. I have been reading up more on it (since this issue occurred) and it seems like it isn't as big an issue now (especially if you monitor what is happening through a USB power meter). I ordered a meter yesterday (should be here today), and the converter cables/adapters I need for it should arrive tomorrow.

 

[purbeast0]

Thanks. I will give that a try. I had been hesitant to use a different cable/charger since (at least when first released), Nintendo warned about using third party chargers since they didn't seem to fully comply to USB standards. I have been reading up more on it (since this issue occurred) and it seems like it isn't as big an issue now (especially if you monitor what is happening through a USB power meter). I ordered a meter yesterday (should be here today), and the converter cables/adapters I need for it should arrive tomorrow.

I have used the USB-C cable that came with the pro controller to charge mine while I'm on vacation.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Well I took a look at what my switch was doing with the USB power meter and it is basically not properly charging. It does initially start out with the slow charge (~0.44amp draw at 5V), but never moves into the fast charge cycle (which would be over 1amp draw at 5V). Some digging shows that it could be an issue with the battery, but could also be some other things.

Given I know I havn't spilled anything on it, or done anything else (such as drop it or attempt to short certain pins to mod it), it seems most likely that the battery is simply dead (it was a switch that I bought on launch day). I ordered a replacement (~$20), the bonus being that it is a higher capacity cell than the original. When I get the battery I will also do some probing with my fluke to see if it is something worse (like a bad/fried CPU since that also presents itself the same way as my problem).

 

[Fallen Kell]

Well, now I don't really know what is wrong with this switch. I swapped out the battery with a replacement, but still has issues. It does not seem to want/need to charge (i.e. according to the USB power meter, it is drawing between 0.13 - 0.15amps at 5V when first connected to the switch. If I hold down the power button for ~12 seconds, it drops to 0.00amps, meaning it is completely off and is not drawing anything, but if I then hit the power button, it goes back to 0.13 - 0.15amps).

I didn't test a ton of the caps, especially none on the backside of the board (since I didn't need to remove the board to swap out the battery), but I didn't find any of the usually suspects that were shorted (i.e. there are about 5 around the M92136 chip which is the larger chip next to the heatsink/emi cover that is over top the NAND chips and CPU almost dead center in the switch when you take off the back cover). One or more of these caps are usually shorted with systems that have charging and screen problems, but I couldn't find any with a problem.

I also was able to test the fuse that is connected to the USB port that protects that switch from too much power, and it was still working (i.e. it shows continuity).

I did try to test some of the caps around the chip that is near where the battery connects, but the probes I have on my fluke are only the default ones so it was hard to say if I was just hitting the component I wanted to test of if the probe was hitting multiple components. I have since ordered a set of precision probes which have a much finer tip, but I didn't find anything obvious that was shorted.

I really didn't want to have to take the motherboard out, but I guess I am going to have to do that to look over the backside to see if there is something wrong there (I really didn't want to have to deal with the tiny ribbon cables that this uses). Not sure I want to go much farther myself anyway, since I don't have a hot air station to perform any kind of fix (and with the size of these components, it is just unfeasible to use a soldering iron to do anything other than a few repairs on this board)....

Might be time to take it to a professional repair center (or just wait and pickup the new switch that seems to be coming out early/mid next year).

 

[purbeast0]

I had never played Celeste but heard great things about it and randomly saw it is $2.73 on the Argentina shop.

I just followed this process here and got it. It's $19.99 on US store.

https://gbatemp.net/threads/has-anyone-been-able-to-buy-from-argentina-eshop.542503/#post-8758940

 

[JujuFish]

I had never played Celeste but heard great things about it and randomly saw it is $2.73 on the Argentina shop.

I just followed this process here and got it. It's $19.99 on US store.

https://gbatemp.net/threads/has-anyone-been-able-to-buy-from-argentina-eshop.542503/#post-8758940

I have Celeste on my list of backlog games I want to play next year.

That said, there's a reason it's only $2.73 in Argentina. You probably make as much in two weeks that the average Argentinian makes in a year. Circumventing regional pricing like this hurts those places, so you really shouldn't do it.

 

[purbeast0]

I have Celeste on my list of backlog games I want to play next year.

That said, there's a reason it's only $2.73 in Argentina. You probably make as much in two weeks that the average Argentinian makes in a year. Circumventing regional pricing like this hurts those places, so you really shouldn't do it.

How would them getting my money hurt them more than if I just got it from the US shop and paid $20 netting the AR shop $0?

You realize this is NIntendo's eShop right? Like all the money goes back to Nintendo either way.