Topic: Unpopular Gaming Opinions

I've probably made this point before but I do have one VERY strong opinion about tech in general and it certainly crosses into gaming. People put too much emphasis on products ticking of feature check-boxes and not enough time thinking about how they actually tend to use the product. And of all of those feature checkboxes "wireless" is probably the worst one people look for

A few examples, firstly there's a non-zero chance that Nintendo's next hardware will drop the headphone jack. Some people will pretend that this isn't an issue and that anyone complaining should "get with the times". Because Bluetooth is wireless and wireless is "better". Dropping the headphone jack would not be a good thing, wired headphones are still better for portable gaming devices (you're not running while playing the Switch)

Another example, the Switch's LAN adapter. Of course now they have the OLED dock with built in Gigabit which makes sense given Gigabit is pretty cheap these days. However, 100Mbps for something like the Switch? That's plenty. For a gaming console your main concern is latency not bandwidth. Any wired connection will have consistent <1ms latency on your LAN, insignificant compared to the latency you'll get connecting to a server. The only time bandwidth on a console would be an issue is when downloading content, and I'm fairly confident Nintendo's servers aren't giving you 100s of Mbps even if you do have 100Mbps+ internet

Third example, resolution. When there are speculation threads about Nintendo's next hardware the only thing people seem to care about is resolution. And this is going to also be the only thing the average consumer cares about when buying this new hardware. But resolution doesn't really matter that much, it's almost the last thing that matters. When the new hardware comes out odds are DF is going to do a frame-by-frame analysis and show that a patched Mario Kart 8 or something hitting 120fps at 1080p with significantly higher details. And the only thing people will take out of that will be "1080p". Or the portable screen will be 720p/90Hz and people will say "720p? IT'S 2024 NINTENDO!!!"

I think the one that annoys me the most are wireless PC peripherals. To be clear, there's definitely a use case for them. I have a wireless KB/Mouse sitting on my coffee table, a cable across the room would be dumb. But outside of that? Wireless is objectively worse

On a desk or table or something when you're right next to the USB ports, what advantage is there to getting rid of the wire? Not much. What's the cost? Well you paid more for it and now you also have to worry about batteries. And also it has batteries so it's heavier. You paid more for a worse experience. But hey, it's wireless, so you can feel smug that it's more "modern". Good job

@skywake I don't get the people who want a wireless only system. I can get people who want to use wireless devices with their systems, but for those who want to strip away a feature, what do we gain by getting rid of that option? Like seriously, what? If anything, a lot of consumers lose, since not everyone owns a pair of wireless headphones or earbuds, or prefers them. I use wired headphones, mainly because I sincerely can't afford good quality wireless ones. It sucks with phones when I want to listen to music, because I can't just charge my phone while listening anymore. Due to the removal of the headphone jack, I legit have to chose to either charge my phone or listen to music.

People who say that getting rid of wired devices is the "future" don't understand that this is just what big tech companies planted into their head. Apple and Samsung legit told people this is what they wanted, and people ate it up without a second thought. Having more options is better than having none.

With the headphone jack specifically I have a bit of a tin-foil hat conspiracy theory on it. The average consumer couldn't care less about audio quality, they just flat out don't care. They were more than happy with the cheap bundled headphones. But the problem with cheap wired headphones? The margin is low. Not having a battery in it they don't really wear over time to the same degree. And because they're literally connected to the device? Harder to lose them

But by removing the headphone jack? Suddenly people are paying $100+ on wireless earbuds. Earbuds that are relatively easy to lose. Earbuds that become outdated when a new model comes out. Earbuds with a non-replaceable battery in it that will wear out over time. I mean, I'm not one for conspiracy theories but.... seems a bit convenient how much that move benefited these companies

On an entirely different tangent, and this time even less gaming related, I did think of another example of this. Smart door locks. What is the point? In an office space where you're handing out NFC keycards? Sure, they make sense. But for residential use? They're just dumb, entirely pointless. But as a lock they have to have a backup mechanical lock in the event there is no power. Which means adding a digital lock to this is doing nothing but adding an additional point of entry. By definition smart locks are less secure. But hey, smart homes are the "future" so lets get them right?

... to be clear, I'm super into smart home stuff and am far from a technophobe. It's just that people don't actually stop and think about what they're actually using these things for. What is the goal. They just look at what marketing bullet points it ticks of. And it's dumb

/rant

Just to add, audio quality is worse with wireless headphones as the sound get compressed for Bluetooth compared to wired. It’s less of a concern for gamers where you’re listening to pew pew sounds and soundtracks on a loop anyway but I go with wired for when I’m listening to albums.

This has been a feature of gaming since the 90s, and it won't change. I don't know an equivalent in English, but in Finnish there's a term "hifistely" in that one puts so much emphasis on the minutiae of the tech to squeeze out the last few drops of quality a media piece could questionably provide with that expense.

I certainly hope this doesn't come to pass, or that if it does, the next-gen dock would still have the jack. I have a mixer that allows me to derp on the computer while I play my Nintendo consoles. I'm about to upgrade for one that allows for more inputs because moving the cable from the screen (got Wii U on HDMI) to the Switch to the 3DS is a bother.

Recently had to upgrade to a wireless internet connection, and the box only has two ethernet ports, so my Nintendo devices are wi-fi only. I'm certain this is situational, but I trust cables more than wireless.

I've never gamed on Nintendo for the resolution and I've never understood why so many people clamor for it. The PC exists for that. Nintendo is the engine of playability and games with great storylines, which I consider to be a far more important investment than raw graphics power. And besides, graphics are reaching the point when further fidelity is becoming a game of diminishing returns. Evolution of 3D graphics since 2005 has been IMO slower than before then. Ballooning the screen and cramming more pixels on it seems like an artificial way of making it seem like there's progress.

Mario galaxy is kinda overrated. I mean don’t get me wrong I still love galaxy but it’s not better than other games like Odyssey and Maker 2.

@TheBigBlue For me, 3DS was better than Switch because it had actually good games, where as the switch disappointed me with every single first party release aside from Luigi's Mansion 3 and BotW.

@TheBigBlue
It's the same thing with any media, nostalgia and survival bias. People develop their tastes early on in life so they tend to like stuff that existed when they were younger. At the same time people only tend to remember stuff that was memorable. So you have this two hit combo of people subjectively liking a "style" of thing that was of the time. Same reason why you get people saying "music was better in the <decade of music that was on the radio when I was 10-20>'s"

To bat for the Wii U for a second, there were definitely some things the Wii U did better. MiiVerse was a net-positive. Sure it wasn't really a place for browsing but there were games that integrated it well. There weren't many but they did exist. Also I booted up the eShop for one last look at it the other day and remembered something. The Wii U and 3DS eShops had a feature where you could rate games you'd played. Why was this dropped?

But ultimately yes, folders and themes. They're like a meme at this point and I think people just kinda forget how those UIs behaved when compared to the Switch. Booting up the Wii U yesterday, the folder system in the way it was implemented on Wii U? It wasn't better. Game/storage management and the menu system on the Wii U are so far behind the Switch it's almost comical. Themes on the 3DS? I mean, they were nice for sure. But I'd take no themes and the Switch UI over the 3DS any day....

...... with the exception of the ability to rate games you've played on the eShop

I feel the PC port (as in DOS) of Mortal Kombat 2 is better than the original arcade version. Having played the DOS version from GOG and the arcade original via Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection, I like how the AI in the DOS port is not as difficult as the arcade original (obviously meant to suck up quarters).

Unpopular opinion because I remember people on GOG didn't like it was the DOS port and not the arcade version.

Maybe an unpopular opinion since some console gamers don't like PC, but I can't help but think PC gaming is just better for gaming in terms of longevity. Great example, I have a copy of Midway Arcade Treasures 2 for GameCube, I can only play it on GameCube or Wii, if those systems were to fail, or the disc stops working, I can never play my game again.

Meanwhile, my GOG copy of Mortal Kombat 1, 2 and 3 has no DRM and the offline installer can be backed up easily, it can be installed and played on any PC I get, even future PCs I may get, and can always be played. I can see this outlasting my old copy of Midway Arcade Treasures 2 because of it.

Just some thoughts that were on my mind this morning.

Mario and Luigi is better the Paper Mario

@Sunsy PC really is better than console. You lost all your data? Go resign into Steam and you got all your games again.

@Sunsy
Console / handheld gaming are still better than PC gaming in my opinion as I don't need to fuzz about PC specs.
Just insert the disc or cartridge to play and I call it a day.
Also, PC have tendency of short lived than console / handheld machines.

@Anti-Matter Yeah that's fair. Sometimes games are better on console. But, like, playing osu on a 3ds would be dang near impossi-
Just remembered osu was inspired by a 3ds game, nevermind

@EllaTheKawaiiNeko Pretty much, also in case of GOG, you can backup the games to a hard drive, DVD-R, USB stick and always have them, even when Internet isn't available.

@Anti-Matter That's why I feel it might be an unpopular opinion. I have to respectfully disagree, as PC games do last longer than console. Throughout the years, I've had different PCs due to needing to upgrade from older PCs in general, but older games all come over on PC. I have Steam games I played since my old desktop, and they were played on my previous PC, and my current PC.

Same with GOG games, got a bunch with my previous PC, and they all play. Plus games with no DRM on them can be backed up and installed and played without Internet, a feature I really like.

Meanwhile, for example, my GameCube games can only be played on a GameCube and Wii, but not my Wii U, and Wii U games can't be played on Switch, and so on. Most games stay behind unless there's backwards compatibility added. PC games move if one needs to buy a new PC or upgrade it.

Unless it's a F2P games that relies heavily on an online connection, that's a unanimous thing across both PC and console, especially mobile.

We can agree to disagree, just basing this on my own experience with PC games that had me thinking this morning.

I'm very sick to see this modern society which glorified too popular franchises and the developers like 2K / EA / etc take a chance by milking the over popular franchise into money draining games.
I really hate the over popular franchises being popular and then the dirty business practice keep going to tell the world this is the best games ever.
It's beyond disgusting for me !
Over Popular stuffs = disgusting and lame !

@Sunsy
My PC cannot even have longer live span and thus I don't play PC games anymore.
Even I cannot enjoy The Sims 3 PC for more than 2 years.
My PC got crashed and I lost all my data.
Since then I will not trust PC gaming anymore despite I still want to play The Sims 1 - 3.
My consoles and handhelds have way longer lifespan than my PC before I used laptop in June 2020 for my PC replacement since I'm working at school and need to bring my laptop to print at teacher office.

@Anti-Matter I can understand why you have some frustrations with PC gaming at least, crashing is something all computers have to deal with. Even consoles crash, sometimes I play a Switch game, next thing I know, I'm back at the home screen.

Taking good care of a PC can help it last. My old laptop still works, and recently booted it up, and it's over 10 years old and still runs the games I had on it.

More or less, I'm thinking about the games themselves. How my 18 year old Steam games I had on a mid-2000's desktop are playable on my current PC, vs. GameCube games stuck to GameCube and Wii, and I need to use those systems to play them.

I feel like the value proposition of PC gaming has only gone up thanks to the Steam Deck, too. I have gone on record on this very forum not understanding the point of the Deck, but I'm happy to eat crow on that one. The fact that Steam is just this giant library of games I've been building for over a decade that I'll always have access to even as generations pass by in the console space feels increasingly like a true gift that deserves to be treasured. We've seen an increasing locking of people out of massive portions of their library unless they are willing to maintain aging hardware through time, Microsoft are trying to break down these walls again, but it is clearly not in the interest of many to make things backwards compatible, when they can just charge you all over again for a remaster/remake instead.

And now you can also access that library anywhere via the Deck too, I dunno I just think console gaming is such an outdated model to experience games and it sorta becomes funny to me that console gaming seems to only be getting more expensive with time, too, as companies nickel and dime you with so called "next gen" experiences at a undefined premium (well still forcing you to buy a bunch of MTX crap in their shop too) I just... I dunno. The PC title will just be like 30 quid or whatever, and you can run it in as high specs as your machine can handle, you don't have to pay an extra ten or twenty quid because your PC can run it in 4k or whatever. How do consoles get away with this crap.