Will's Blog: Permission or Forgiveness?

[ccexplore]

It's a pretty broad category anyway, both video game puzzles as well as even traditional non-digital puzzles.  Tetris definitely leans quite heavily on luck and action though, in particular those are the sole elements of the game's difficulty curve.

[Dullstar]

I feel like it's difficult to really categorize Tetris. It's kind of a puzzle game not entirely unlike how Portal is an FPS. But while categorizing Portal as a puzzle game is a pretty obvious choice even if it's a game where you walk around in first person and shoot things, I'm not sure the action label fits Tetris either. It's definitely more action than puzzle, though - fitting the pieces together is trivial - it's reacting to what's hapening that's the hard part. A Tetris game with NeoLemmix's control features wouldn't be a very compelling game.

[WillLem]

I've just recently bought Tetris Effect and started playing it (since my new laptop can keep up with its incredible graphical fireworks display) - it's definitely taking the game to a whole new level. It's still Tetris, but there's something more tangible, even emotional about it.

The music responds to your playing, as do the visuals, which makes it all the more immersive, and because each stage has a completely different setting (one minute you're playing alongside dolphins in a vast ocean, next minute you're playing in a rave club at 3AM, then you're playing in a tribal village sat around a fire, etc) - again, it's still Tetris, but the setting adds a whole new dimension which makes it feel almost like some sort of bizarre Quantum Leap-style RPG, in which you're jumping seamlessly from world to world, all the while keeping those tetrominos under control, and the character is you!

Its potential for being incredibly addictive and its innate connectiveness can actually be somewhat off-putting initially - I felt quite wary of it for the first half an hour or so, but once I realised just how rich and varied the game is in terms of its visuals (and, of course, music), I realised that the game is far from just another way to make Tetris even more addictive: it's an experience as therapeutic and self-exploring as walking through an art gallery or even travelling around the world. I'm trying to say these things without too much exaggeration, but I genuinely felt like I was on a journey whilst playing.

Thankfully, its familiar puzzle element and visual fireworks do keep it just superficial enough that it doesn't completely draw you in, and it's possible to stay fairly near the surface of it all for the most part; I was able to hold a conversation with someone whilst playing, which certainly can't be said of all video games.

I can imagine playing it in VR is a different story, though!

[WillLem]

What is, in your opinion, the perfect game controller?

For me, the Top 3 would be:

1. Nintendo GameCube Controller


Far more than just a go-to Smash Bros. controller (I very very rarely play Smash and don't even own a copy of Melee yet!), the GameCube controller wins the top spot due to simply how it feels when it's in your hands. The designers knew what they were doing when they set out to make the perfect ergonomic controller, and the result is a chunk of loveliness that is now in its 4th generation of console compatibility, and for good reason. The perfect height of the joystick makes it a first choice for 3D platforming and RPGs, and the beautifully sprung trigger buttons make performing grabs in SSX Tricky an absolute joy. It is, of course, also fantastic for fighting and racing games.

It also looks the part, with its appealing colourful interface enduringly reminiscent of classic Nintendo gaming, and its unique, mesmerizing shape simply asking to be picked up and played with.

Downsides? OK, so it isn't wireless (unless you get the ugly and expensive Wavebird which isn't actually compatible with a lot of games and can't be used with GC-to-USB adapters, bafflingly), and the D-Pad leaves a lot to be desired. Also, it would have been nice to have twin shoulder buttons; I have no idea why Nintendo decided to only have one, it seems obvious that two would have been better, opening up more options and greater compatibility.

However, despite its flaws it still stands as my favourite controller: it looks great, feels even better and plays like a dream. Little wonder, then, that 4 generations on, Nintendo gamers are still reaching for this controller even in the presence of more technologically capable alternatives.

A deserved 8.5/10.


2. Nintendo Wii U Pro Controller


Whilst its surface may be somewhat more bland than the other entries in this list, this one is arguably the best at simply being a controller! It's wireless, superbly weighted, all the buttons and joysticks feel smooth and well-made and have perfect click travel, and its layout and decently-sized D-Pad make it ideal for many different types of game. What it perhaps lacks in aesthetics it more than makes up for in its premium build quality and usability. Nintendo were savvy enough to make it compatible with almost every Wii U game as well, making it a necessary and worthwhile accessory for the console.

Its only downsides are a lack of USB support (it would have been nice to be able to hook this up to a PC like you can with the X-Box and DualShock controllers), and some may not like the position of the analog sticks as compared to a DualShock. Personally, I like the layout and can switch between this and a DualShock pretty much seamlessly during a gaming session.

A solid 8/10.


3. Sony DualShock 3


Is the DualShock 4 better? Definitely. But, I don't have a PlayStation 4 and so would have felt a bit of a hypocrite placing that controller in my list! I have a PlayStation 2, and I use a DualShock 3 as a controller via an adapter.

Controller designers during the PS2/GameCube era knew what they were doing - the DualShock 2 (which is basically a wired 3) is a controller you can pick up and start using like you were never without it. Instantly familiar, instantly classic, it felt just how game controllers always should have felt, despite its initially intimidating design (intimidating, that is, to those of us used to the comparitively basic and cartoony SNES, Megadrive and N64 controllers).

It's a controller that does everything you need it to without showing off too much or demanding too much of you. It's quite neat and compact compared to other controllers, but it has a chunkiness and heft to it that lets you know it means business, and it'll handle pretty much anything you want to throw at it.

Available in a variety of colours to suit the player, usually with a tastefully premium metallic finish, it also looks the part as well.

The main downsides I find are the height of the joysticks, which stick out just a little bit more than I'd like, and the low button travel which can make them feel somewhat soft and mushy. Ultimately, a controller needs to have it down in these areas as much as possible, or more than make up for it in others.

A comfortable 7/10.

[namida]

the DualShock 2 (which is basically a wired 3)

Not quite true. Although very few games use them, DS3 supports motion detection, whereas DS2 does not. The triggers are also redesigned on the DS3 compared to the DS2 - although they're actually capable of detecting a "partial press" on both, the DS3 has redesigned them so this is actually practical. (The L1, R1, and shape buttons are also pressure-sensitive on both controllers, but on both, they're not practical to really make use of this so basically nothing uses the feature. The DS4 realised this, and dropped the pressure-sensitivity on all buttons other than L2 and R2.)

DS4 is a great controller. It also works much more tidily with PC than the DS3 does, with some newer games even having native support (but if not - DS4Windows is much cleaner than the various solutions for DS3), right down to showing PS buttons instead of Xbox ones on-screen. My understanding is that DS4 is compatible with PS3 too, so even if you don't have a PS4, you still have two systems (three if your DS3 adapter for PS2 also supports DS4) you can use it on.

I've never used either of those Nintendo controllers, but I can't say I like the look of either. Both have the Xbox style "swap the dpad and left stick" setup, which I'm very much NOT a fan of - to the extent that it's outright one of the reasons I prefer Playstation over Xbox. The Wii U one takes this even further and applies the same swap to the right half of the controller too (which IMO is even worse than doing it on the left); while the Gamecube one, what's wrong with the traditional diamond layout for four buttons (although this is a much lesser concern than the other points here; this one feels like the kind of thing I'd adjust to soon enough).

[Dullstar]

The GC controller is great for 3D games, IMO. It feels very good to use.

The Dualshock has a really good D-pad in the most comfortable position on the controller, which makes it really nice for 2D games, which I play a lot of.

The Xbox controller makes me die inside because it uses the same button labels as Nintendo controllers, but they're arranged differently, which gave some bad first impressions to it. At least with learning the Playstation layout, it was more like, "Oh, I don't know where the Square button is, let me look at the controller" while Xbox was more "It says to press A and I'm pressing A, wtf? Oh wait, that's not actually A." Combine that with a few of those games that have stupid quicktime events where you have to remember which button is which, and that first impression stuck. I mean, I guess you could use the colors instead of the labels, but then it's still kind of like trying to do the thing where you have to say what color the word is and then get presented with a color name where the colors don't match the word, e.g. red blue, purple

[WillLem]

"Oh, I don't know where the Square button is, let me look at the controller" while Xbox was more "It says to press A and I'm pressing A, wtf? Oh wait, that's not actually A."

This is another reason I love the GC controller: basically no chance of hitting the wrong button!

[WillLem]

I've made a short but sweet video sharing my GC controller collection, if anyone's interested

[WillLem]

Current Hobby: Retrobriteing!

I've recently got into Retrobriteing: this is the process of taking old grey/white plastics that have "yellowed" over time due to the ageing of the flame-retardent chemicals in the plastic, and restoring them to their former grey/white glory! It usually involves a general refurbishment of the items as well, which is something else I've always enjoyed.

So far I've done a grey GameCube memory card (which now looks brand new again!). Unfortunately I didn't think to take "before" shots, but here's a picture of the memory card as it is now after the RB process. I'd say the procedure was an emphatic success - the part of the cartridge that sticks out of the GC was noticeably more yellow and discoloured before, to the point that it looked like a yellowy-grey strip across the bottom. It's now virtually disappeared (this photo reveals a very faint line which is actually much more difficult to see irl), and the cartridge looks a much more uniform colour. It's also so much cleaner - it really pops, just like new. I'm super happy with the results:



And, here's my old DMG GameBoy shell - it had already been in the salon for a few hours by the time I realised I should probably take a picture so the process had already begun to take effect - but, you can see that the part of the shell that's protected by the screen cover is a much lighter grey than the part that's exposed:



And here it is in the salon itself - it's a small, shallow cardboard box with a closing lid:



As you can see, I've attached a UV strip light to the underside of the lid and coated the interior of the box with foil to reflect the light at all possible angles - standard Retrobrite procedure. The idea is then to coat the item to be RB'd with a 12% Hydrogen Peroxide solution and wrap it in cling film to ensure as even a coat as possible. The HP reacts with the UV light and creates some sort of magical chemistry combo which restores the original colour. It's also possible to achieve this by putting the item in direct sunlight, but concentrated UV light provides a much more efficient way of doing it, and - by most accounts - gets the most even results.

I'm going to leave it in overnight and see how it looks in the morning. If it's much better, I'll clean it up, put the system back together and share some photos of the finished project! It might need some time in the sun as well just to polish it up - this was very yellowed before I started.

The GameBoy is by far the most affected of the items I'm looking at doing. Next up is the grey controller-port-cover from my GameCube. This isn't too bad tbh, but there's a slight yellowing gradually spreading from one corner, and I'd like to give the fans a really good cleanout as well, so I'm looking forward to taking that on.

---

Footnote: My GameCube was given to me by a friend who didn't see the point of having it anymore after they bought a Wii, but I'd always been quite fond of the GC so they were kind enough to let me have it. It's a black one, which is super cool, but I've always really liked the classic purple one. If this whole RB thing turns out to be a success, I might get a cheap, dirty and discoloured purple GC from eBay and do a full clean-and-restore project. Discoloration of the unit very often lowers the price significantly, and I love the idea of giving old, unwanted and uncared-for items a new lease of glory!

[WillLem]

Quick update:

The GameBoy shell is coming along very nicely, but the progress has now slowed down significantly. Yesterday, the first 6 hours or so showed the biggest amount of noticeable difference, but I'd say it's definitely going to need another 12 hours or so, maybe even longer, to finish the process:



You can see from the picture that the grey of the main body is now much closer to the grey of the screen area than yesterday's picture (see previous post) - but, it's now taking more and more hours to notice any difference. We're forecast some sunshine tomorrow, so I will give it a few hours on the parcel shelf in my car, see if a bit of natural sunlight helps to finish it up.

In the meantime, I've ordered a replacement glass screen protector for it and I've also picked up a purple GameCube for £25! - it's got quite a lot of discolouring to the controller socket cover and the lid, and it looks like it could do with a clean and polish. I'll make sure I take some before and after shots for this one; I plan to restore it as fully as possible.

[WillLem]

Got there at last!



This took 3 days and nights in the end. For anyone else interested in doing a bit of Retrobriteing themselves, UV lights is definitely the way to go rather than leaving it in the sun - I found that the latter method dried up the Peroxide solution and made it sticky. I managed to rescue it in time, but I think this would definitely have caused streaking if left for too long. Using UV lights is slower, but ultimately more controlled and you get nice even results.

Anyways, here is the freshly Retrobrited GameBoy in all its glory:



Again, I really wish I'd thought to take before pics of this so you could see how badly yellowed it was before I started. It looks better than ever now! Oh, and it works as well

[Dullstar]

I wasn't aware it was possible to get replacement screen protectors. I should probably look into that; I've got a Game Boy Color as well as an original Game Boy in my collection that have badly scratched up screens.

I had one of the later model GBA SPs that had a backlit (rather than a front-lit) screen, but it doesn't charge anymore. I also have a DS Lite with a similar-ish problem. I should probably look into that; getting them repaired would be quite nice.

[WillLem]

I wasn't aware it was possible to get replacement screen protectors. I should probably look into that; I've got a Game Boy Color as well as an original Game Boy in my collection that have badly scratched up screens.

I had one of the later model GBA SPs that had a backlit (rather than a front-lit) screen, but it doesn't charge anymore. I also have a DS Lite with a similar-ish problem. I should probably look into that; getting them repaired would be quite nice.

I picked mine up from SuperSmashMedia on Amazon, it was only £5. Most (if not all) of the available replacements are third party, but they look basically identical. The lettering on the one I got is slightly clearer and the colour of the stripes is a touch darker, but I actually prefer that. And - of course - it's brand new, so gives the GameBoy that pristine look. It's currently on display on my bookcase, I keep glancing over at it and feeling chuffed that I actually bothered to do it after years of thinking about it!

Have a look at Handheld Legend. These guys are USA-based so may charge shipping fees outside the US (and they're not the cheapest) but they sell pretty much everything for Nintendo hand-helds.

[WillLem]

Whilst I'm waiting on the purple GameCube arriving, I got to work on my existing black GC. I RB'd the controller port cover and memory card slots, plus took the whole thing apart, cleaned it, got rid of all the dust, and polished the jewel on the lid. Really happy with the results, and it's given me a lot of experience working specifically with the GC which I'll be able to apply to the purple one when it arrives.

Here's the black one, looking cooler than ever!

[WillLem]

For anyone who's been reading the recent posts on retrobriteing: I've had the purple GC for about two weeks now and it's in progress: I'm waiting on another set of UV lights and still figuring out what to do about the base, which has a chipped bit of plastic.

I'm making a video documenting this one; it will be up when I've finished the project.

Thanks for reading!