20ish years ago…

ELI5 How come paid cable TV channels are now running commercials? Is that not bad for business because most if not all people got it to avoid commercials?

Based on what?

But there is something wrong with emailing Nintendo to say “No matter what you do, I’m going to help more people pirate your games!”

…why? Pirating games and streaming games don’t correlate to skill in testing games.

That’s a good point. They probably gave Eggman the spotlight because he’s the leader of the Dark side. But Shadow’s stages were just more fun, lol

I like both games, but they’ve got very different feels. I did miss the Adventure Stages from SA1, but SA2 has some great stages. I think the early Knuckles/Rouge stages are alright, but the later ones just get too big if you don’t know where to look.

If you liked E102’s stages in SA1, there’s no reason to dislike Tails/Eggman in SA2 imo! And like you said, Sonic/Shadow stages are still great.

Keep in mind that SA1 has the Big stages as a requirement for completion…haha

I also prefer physical games. I have very few digital games on my Switch – only for massive digital-only sales, or for games that had limited physical runs that I missed. Or when I didn’t know a game had a physical release, lol

Some people prefer digital games, and I get it. Especially with kids who might break, lose, or “trade” physical games.

That makes sense! I was picturing a scenario where each kid was begging for a Switch.

If there are two kids who each want to play their own games independently (or niche cases like they really want to trade Pokemon together or play games online together that can’t be played with couch co-op), then having multiple devices would be important. Of course, it depends on where the budget is, lol

Buying two SNES consoles would be crazy. Buying two Game Boys probably happened in some households.

Great addition! I was trying to keep budget in mind, but truthfully, I don’t know the price difference.

It’d be good for OP to know the different capabilities of what the Lite vs. the other consoles can/can’t do. But I think my comment was long enough as it is! Haha

Yes, they can be a personal device like a game boy, but they can also be a shared device.

The regular Nintendo Switch (and I think the OLED one) can be played handheld or docked (aka. plugged into the TV). I’d recommend this version.

The Nintendo Switch Lite cannot be plugged into the TV, and is also harder to play multiplayer with other people in the same room. So avoid the “Lite”.

The controllers on the regular Nintendo Switch are removable. This means that you can buy a console and have two controllers for some games. Some games require more buttons, so each player would need a pair, but some simpler games like Mario Kart or Mario Party can be played with just one half (aka. Joy-Con).

The games are generally sharable between consoles and within consoles.

Between consoles: The cartridges will work no matter how many consoles you swap it between. Only the console with the game inserted will be able to play the game. However, the saved games (progression in a game) are usually saved to a console, not the cartridge.

(The same holds true for digital games only if the account that bought the game is connected to a console. Accounts can be connected to multiple consoles. An account can only be logged in to one console at a time, so ALL digitally-owned games on that account are locked to one console at a time…but if they aren’t logged in, then the another console can log in and play the digital games. So no multiplayer, but taking turns playing the digital game on different consoles. Saves might be shared here, though)

Within consoles: Almost every game allows each profile on the console to have their own saved game. So you could buy one Pokemon game, and up to 8 people can have save files for that game. Depending on the game, they may not be able to play simultaneously (e.g. trading), but they can all have their own save files with their own progression.

So, what you suggested is overkill. Here’s my advice:

If you want family game time, you just need…

• One OLED Switch (connects to TV)
• Buy games physically if you foresee anyone wanting their own console in the future, or digitally if not
• Check if the games you’re buying can be played with a single Joy-Con. If so, the console comes with 2. If a player needs 2 Joy-Cons each, you have 1 controller with the console. Buy enough Joy-Cons or Pro Controllers (which are equivalent to a pair of Joy-Cons, but can’t be “split”) so that you have enough for all your players.
• This console can still be played handheld whenever someone wants solo game time or when someone else wants the TV.

This will allow everyone to play single-screen multiplayer games on your TV together. Note that most games allow up to 4 players at once. More is rare.

Or, if you’ve got older kids who want their own individual games that they’ll play independently at the same time, it gets more complicated. But here’s what I’d suggest.

• Get at least one dockable (non-Lite) Switch in the family. This Switch “gets” access to the TV, but may also have to “share” for family multiplayer time.
• Get Switch Lites for anyone who REALLY needs to be playing something else independently when the TV/“main” Switch is in use
• Get physical games: Any kid can play it in any console, and as long as they’re on the console that has their profile, they can continue their saved game. You DON’T need multiple copies of any game except in very rare scenarios.

Having extra consoles is rarely necessary to play games together. The only time they’d need It is if they’re playing games online together and the game doesn’t offer split-screen. Maybe Fortnite? But then they can take turns, unless you really want to buy separate consoles, lol

Please ask any follow up questions you have. I’d be glad to help clarify anything! Typing this up was surprisingly fun, lol

Less cable management than a real 32x!

If you think pigs, chickens and cows have the same level of awareness and perception as broccoli, tomatoes or potatoes than you’re the potato.

Eat people because they’re potatoes, got it!

Or wait, it’s “than”? Hmm…no, I can’t think of how to turn it into a joke with a punchline of “than” being there instead of “then”, lol

It gets worse – that doesn’t kill the grass. It just mutilates it.

The 3DO FZ-10 looks much cooler than one would think the console deserves based on its reputation

Someone else here mentioned that Crazy Taxi doesn’t have the licensed music, but it can be modded back in.

…maybe they’re locking down mod support, too? Lol

Which is a bit ironic, considering all of these are in two compilation packs.

They’re probably going to have a new compilation pack that costs about the same price and has a few additional games…but they didn’t want to just sell DLC/standalone games for the Collections that already exist.

And actually, a lot of these games that are getting delisted can be purchased separately. And maybe even have ROMs that are easily extracted. So maybe they just want to lock things down into an all-or-nothing ROMs-hidden collection or 10.

That’s games that you can and do buy of Steam. Delisting changes nothing except that you won’t be able to give them money in exchange for not owning the games.

It’s amazing that this went undocumented for so long!

That’s awesome. The Dreamcast was the first console I played online.

Ooga Booga was a great game, and would probably still be fun today if it had some players.

Right now, I’d really like the Gex games. Underrated 2D platformer, and a pair of goofy early 3D collectathons!

Hopefully the remake of the trilogy is still in production. I’ve got it on my wishlist from Limited Run Games, lol