Topic: I did the Millennial thing from the Switch commercials.

You know all those silly things in the Nintendo Switch commercials, where young adults meet new people while out and about and then play Switch together and we all laugh and talk about how it doesn't happen?

Well as it turns out. It does happen. It happened to me yesterday in Osaka. I met a person at a small outdoor restaurant. There weren't any other free tables so she asked to join me. Much to my very pleasant surprise she likes games and anime as much as I do, so we talked and ended up playing Switch together. Then later that evening we went to that same bar that NL did an article on a couple weeks ago. Which turned out to be right down the street. (which I admit was the original reason I was in that part of Osaka yesterday)

Go figure, Nintendo was right!

I was on the bus a few weeks ago playing my Switch and some random guy told he bought one for his kid. Then went on to tell me he ended up putting a profile on there for himself so he could play on it when his kid was in bed.

I play my Switch at a local cafe occasionally. Sadly I only get weird glances from people. The downfalls of living in a not-so-big city.

@Pianist88 Unfortunately people often think it’s weird when you play games in public. I don’t know if that’s way in bigger cities though. The way I see it, you probably aren’t going to talk or ever see these people again. Plus big YouTubers play games in public all the time

@Aaron09 I usually chuckle inside. The weird glances generally come from people who are sitting around complaining and gossiping about everyone and everything in their life. 😏

I've never seen someone use a Switch outside, I see the occasional 3DS player but they're usually a child or an extreme Pokémon fan (with Pokémon clothes and bags)...

I play games outside sometimes but only if I have a long train journey, I wouldn't bother if it was only for 10/20 minutes.

I see a bunch of people with Switches in my university out and about when waiting for classes. Though outside of university, I only saw one person with a Switch when out grocery shopping.

My sister's boyfriend and other friends also have Switches too.

Of course though, your mileage may vary.

Looks like i did like from Switch commercial.
Play Switch anytime, anyplace, anywhere.

Whenever i lined up in queue, if i brought my Switch, i will started to play, let other peoples saw what did i do.

Whenever i ate at Food Court, if i brought Switch, i will started to play on Table top mode while waiting my food & drinks were being served.

Sometimes, when i bought something at Supermarket inside Mall, if there were a long queue at Cashier and i brought my Switch, i will started to play while keep my eyes on the line in front of me.

I didn't care what people said or react, as long i didn't disturb them.
If they didn't interested, they could go away.
If they showed any interest, i will introduced them my Switch.

Also, at some occasion, i had ever helped a family that wanted to buy a new video games for their kids. They were confused whether to choose Sony product or Nintendo product for their young kids, they didn't know about gaming world. I suggested them to choose Switch since there were a lot of games that suitable for kids, also i helped them to set up their Switch for the first time. I also explained how to access E-Shop, understand the Age rating and how to add Funds for E-Shop. I helped them to find suitable games for their kids based on their ages. Their kids were still around 9 - 11 years old, their kids showed an interest about Splatoon 2. I suggested them with other Switch games that suitable with their ages. Also, i lectured them about the danger of choosing rated 18 games without realizing.
At the end, they were satisfied with their purchase and said Thank you to me for helping them to understand gaming world.

Sounds thrilling....
What "dangers" did you tell them about? The kids would either be fine with it or scare themselves so much that they'll avoid it for years.

Well, i told them the Negative effects from playing rated 18 games. I explained that to their parents so they will understand and raise their awareness about inappropriate contents from video games.

I carry my switch everywhere and I find it hilarious that other women mistake my case for a purse (although I do stick my wallet in there if I'm wearing trousers as opposed to pants that day) and comment on how cute it is (I have the BOTW LE case). So I guess I'm Karen.

People give you weird glances for playing with your expensive electronics in public, because you are basically saying “mug me”.

^Depends on where you live. I've always played my games in public with no issues, but I had my clothes stolen when I was living out of my car (truck- Toyota Tacoma) several months ago...so yeah.

It doesn't mean it will ever happen. It's just a human reaction.

Even if you live in a safe place where everyone is a saint, there's always the odd outsider or tourist who wonders and stares.

It's kinda like seeing a person with ten kilograms of jewelry in full display. You'll stare, at least a bit.

OK... I've never heard an American distinguish between trousers and pants before... This is freaking me out...

I've once struck up a conversation with a fellow Switch user in the train. It was fun - we even ended up chatting about anime, which goes to show what a cliche I've become. I've seen a handful of other Switches out in the wild, maybe three or four times on my London commute, but no eye contact was made.

Love the comparison with wearing 10kg of jewellery. Yeah, the train's OK; the Tube, maybe; the bus - no.

Ironically enough, my only experience with finding gaming friends in a public space was with the Wii U. That's right, not the Switch, but the old, antiquated Wii U.

I was in the cafeteria of my college and I noticed two students at another table leaning over something that looked like a tablet. I assumed it was a Switch or an iPad or something like that. But then I saw that it was distinctly chunky, and saw that they were playing none other than Smash 4 on the Wii U Gamepad, with the console hooked up nearby. I went over to them, we talked about Nintendo things for a while, and then we played a few rounds of Smash together (you can probably guess the character I played as).

Honestly I find it a bit ironic that my only in-public gaming encounters so far have been with the Wii U rather than the Switch, which was literally built for things like that!

@ilikeike The Wii U may have been the unloved child of Nintendo, but it was still one of the best couch multiplayer options that could ever exist. Back when I used to live on campus in my university (now I commute), if people didn't hook up a GameCube in the lounge for Melee, it was a Wii U for Smash 4 or Mario Kart. In general Nintendo consoles have always been the de-facto way to have couch multiplayer, and I'm glad that the Switch can still provide that and even take it to the next level with the detachable Joy-Cons.

Of course, again, your mileage may vary. Not every university will be lucky to have people like that.

@EvilLucario I absolutely agree, Nintendo consoles have always provided the best local multiplayer titles IMHO. My fondest gaming memories are neighborhood tournaments with Melee and Brawl, followed by college-wide championships organized by my brother back when he was in school, so I know how wonderful Nintendo could be for local multiplayer. I'm thrilled for those memories to continue when Smash Switch launches.

I guess I was just surprised to see people still playing the Wii U in 2018 in the cafeteria of my little college, of all places!

@Heavyarms55 Good for you, my friend. That is awesome.

I see a lot of people mentioning having issues playing games in public? What kinds of things have happened to you? I have played my games in public for years without issue. But what surprised me with this event was the fact that I met someone, a total stranger, and we ended up chatting and playing together like in the commercials - which was something I have never experienced outside of a dedicated game convention or store. Further, we are adults. She works in translation and I am a teacher. Despite the pervading idea that gaming is a kids thing, a lot more adults play games than the mainstream is willing to admit.