The Switch Thread

[Keyrock]

I scooped up the Binbok Joypad Controller to replace the joycons on my Switch (nothing wrong with them):

I chose this over the Hori Split Pad Pro because, unlike the Hori, it's feature complete with the joycons. The Hori is missing bluetooth, so it can only be used in handheld mode, and gyroscope (granted I don't currently have any games that use gyro and possibly never will).

As you can see it's not much bigger than the joycons when used as a separate controller. 95% of the size difference comes from the insert in the middle that links them into a controller, like the shell does for the joycons (and adds grips). I mainly bought it for handheld mode, but it's nice to have the ability to use it apart from the Switch so that I don't have to lug them and the joycons both around to be able to play while docked. I was hoping the shoulder buttons would be spaced a little more apart, but, as you can see, the spacing between the bumper and trigger is basically identical to the joycons.

The face buttons are technically bigger, but only microscopically so. I very much like the analog sticks on the Binbok better than on the joycons, they have a bigger range of travel and stiffer resistance, which I like. I also like the D-Pad better on the Binbok. There's turbo, which I haven't tried yet but may come in useful some day. There's RGB around the sticks, as you can see, which can do rainbow and cycling and whatever. I don't much care, I just set it to whatever color catches my fancy at the moment (currently violet) and leave it at that.

The built-in grips make the Switch much more comfortable to hold in handheld mode. I didn't think the Switch was uncomfortable to hold before, but it's certaily more comfortable with the Binbok.

The one concern I have is how light the Binbok is. It certainly feels flimsier than the joycons. Only time will tell how well the Binbok holds up.

Edited November 13, 2021 by Keyrock

[the_dog_days]

I use a battery pack for my Switch. It extends the battery life up 6 hours, though it does take awhile to charge and makes the switch around a third again as heavy.

https://www.amazon.com/10000mAh-Nintendo-YOBWIN-Portable-Extended/dp/B07QD5T6MJ&ved=2ahUKEwieicDzuJT0AhWpnWoFHYAaCSMQFnoECAcQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2kNTP2dxlB47_P_-0HlmW3

[Bartimaeus]

6 hours ago, Keyrock said:

There's turbo, which I haven't tried yet but may come in useful some day.

Surprised Nintendo doesn't mandate no turbo, since it could be quite unfair in some online games e.g. Mario Party.

Doesn't look half bad, but be sure to let us know exactly how quickly it falls apart.

5 hours ago, the_dog_days said:

I use a battery pack for my Switch. It extends the battery life up 6 hours, though it does take awhile to charge and makes the switch around a third again as heavy.

https://www.amazon.com/10000mAh-Nintendo-YOBWIN-Portable-Extended/dp/B07QD5T6MJ&ved=2ahUKEwieicDzuJT0AhWpnWoFHYAaCSMQFnoECAcQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2kNTP2dxlB47_P_-0HlmW3

https://www.amazon.com/10000mAh-Nintendo-YOBWIN-Portable-Extended/dp/B07QD5T6MJ

Corrected your link, since yours wouldn't open.

[Keyrock]

8 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Surprised Nintendo doesn't mandate no turbo, since it could be quite unfair in some online games e.g. Mario Party.

Mario Party is already a game that ruins relationships; what better way to alienate your friends than by having an unfair advantage? 

Quote

Doesn't look half bad, but be sure to let us know exactly how quickly it falls apart.

I'll report back in a year or when anything starts to malfunction, whichever comes first.

So far so good. I tried out the turbo; there are 2 modes (burst and auto) and 3 speeds, it's fine. I like the thumbsticks so much more than the joycons. Trying to precision aim with joycons in Metroid Dread sucked because the stick is too easy to move and the short range of travel meant the smallest movement would swing Samus' arm pretty far. With the Binbok it's much easier to be precise.

Edited November 13, 2021 by Keyrock

[Jozape]

I was considering getting some of the Binboks to have a decent split controller that I can use for more than a few minutes. I tried Nintendo's joy-cons recently and I couldn't use them without a lot of discomfort. I've been a bit hesitant with the Binboks though as there seems to be a lot of manufacturing variation.

[majestic]

I caved and ordered an OLED Switch for myself, my mother can keep my old Switch. It should arrive today. Not an upgrade I expect to get much use out of since I play docked most of the time, but hey, no point in buying a new old Switch when the price difference is this small. I'm also kind of hoping that the WLAN module in the new Switch is better, because the WiFi on the old one is a bit spotty.

[Bartimaeus]

36 minutes ago, majestic said:

I caved and ordered an OLED Switch for myself, my mother can keep my old Switch. It should arrive today. Not an upgrade I expect to get much use out of since I play docked most of the time, but hey, no point in buying a new old Switch when the price difference is this small. I'm also kind of hoping that the WLAN module in the new Switch is better, because the WiFi on the old one is a bit spotty.

I had an opportunity to purchase an OLED Switch, but we don't really use the one we have undocked for various reasons + if I personally want to play a Switch game, I usually just emulate it instead. So it's kind of like...what's the point? Now if you were in the market for a Switch right now and it was available (i.e. you), that would make a lot more sense, .

[majestic]

32 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

I had an opportunity to purchase an OLED Switch, but we don't really use the one we have undocked for various reasons + if I personally want to play a Switch game, I usually just emulate it instead. So it's kind of like...what's the point? Now if you were in the market for a Switch right now and it was available (i.e. you), that would make a lot more sense, .

Not going to lie, I hoped for an actual hardware upgrade that leads to more stable frame rates* and I never would have upgraded to the OLED Switch if I still had my old one. The new dock has a LAN port now that I can't use (no cables anywhere near the TV, that wasn't a thing way back when), not even that is helpful. Emulation... yeah, for that I would need to emulate a hardware upgrade, so that's sorta out of the question.

*Well, maybe they are. It's nominally the same hardware, but it is more efficient, so core temperatures should be lower. There's a chance the little hickups in games like Celeste are gone or at least lessened in docked mode - if they come from hardware issues at all. While I love Celeste, that game has no right to stutter and frame drop even on something as weak as the Switch. I can probably find out by tonight, but I'm more likely to try SMT V than Celeste. I've been sitting on that game for a while, unable to play. Heh.

[majestic]

3 hours ago, majestic said:

I can probably find out by tonight

Looks like I can't. While there's still 30 minutes left until the planned delivery window runs out, we're not that far down on the regular delivery route. Should have been delivered about an hour ago, give or take a few minutes. Sigh.

[majestic]

On 12/11/2021 at 7:34 PM, majestic said:

Looks like I can't. While there's still 30 minutes left until the planned delivery window runs out, we're not that far down on the regular delivery route. Should have been delivered about an hour ago, give or take a few minutes. Sigh.

It arrived today. That display is really fine, I have to say. It's too bad it won't get much use. 

No trouble connecting to my WLAN, doesn't at all connect to my parent's Neatgear router, but the old Switch barely ever did that too. Guess that thing is just broken somehow. The only thing that got worse, and I did not  think that possible, is the way the console rests in the dock. That's even less stable than the old one. Looks pretty nice though with the white dock and the white Joy Cons.

Mom wasn't too happy that I wanted my Pro controller back, but yeah, we'll just order a new one. I'm not playing with the Joy Cons.

It's a bit too late to start SMT V now, but hey, I'll maybe give Furi a shake. I tried playing that a while back when I only had the Joy Cons and that did not go over too well.

[Bartimaeus]

Yeah, I bet, that sounds terrible. ...Of course, I'm not sure there's much of a scenario where the Joy-Con is better outside of where it's literally strictly required.

I played Furi on PC a few years back, the gameplay was decent enough. The story/dialogue, though...

[Sarex]

11 hours ago, majestic said:

It arrived today. That display is really fine, I have to say. It's too bad it won't get much use. 

No trouble connecting to my WLAN, doesn't at all connect to my parent's Neatgear router, but the old Switch barely ever did that too. Guess that thing is just broken somehow. The only thing that got worse, and I did not  think that possible, is the way the console rests in the dock. That's even less stable than the old one. Looks pretty nice though with the white dock and the white Joy Cons.

Mom wasn't too happy that I wanted my Pro controller back, but yeah, we'll just order a new one. I'm not playing with the Joy Cons.

It's a bit too late to start SMT V now, but hey, I'll maybe give Furi a shake. I tried playing that a while back when I only had the Joy Cons and that did not go over too well.

Try changing you wifi channel (lower it to 1 if you can), also check what encryption is being used. Could be due to some of these things.

[majestic]

3 hours ago, Sarex said:

Try changing you wifi channel (lower it to 1 if you can), also check what encryption is being used. Could be due to some of these things.

It's something specific to the Switch, all other devices connect just fine, including five separate smartphones (two iPhones and three Android phones). The encryption is OK too, I checked that. I can still try the channel switching if there's an option for it (not sure). Not really a high priority, I just needed the connection to re-download updates and the saves that were on the SD card that I also removed and kept for myself. Can't really work with that built-in memory. Although 64GB is better than the old 32GB, still not nearly enough.

The router is pretty old too, so I wouldn't put it past any protocol issues or other problems. Should really replace it at some point.

12 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

I played Furi on PC a few years back, the gameplay was decent enough. The story/dialogue, though...

There's a storyline? It's just a boss rush and a weird guy in a rabbit hat saying silly nonsense in between. Heh.

Plays fine with the Pro controller, but something about the gameplay keeps being problematic for me, maybe it's the default button layout, I should really change the parry button if that's at all possible. Can't be that I can parry myself through Sekiro without issue and defeat the final boss of the game easily (where others cry and give up for reasons I can't fathom, to be honest, if you can reach the final boss there's nothing stopping you from beating him, dunno) and get whacked like a noob in Furi. Hmmm.

edit:

Yeah, me too dumb for the game. Not sure why though. Shucks.

Edited December 14, 2021 by majestic

[Bartimaeus]

6 hours ago, majestic said:

There's a storyline? It's just a boss rush and a weird guy in a rabbit hat saying silly nonsense in between. Heh.

Yes, and it's not very good, .

6 hours ago, majestic said:

Yeah, me too dumb for the game. Not sure why though. Shucks.

Weird, don't remember it being too difficult to get the hang of. However, while I did say it was "decent", I don't think you're missing that much if you don't end up playing it all the way through, . It's a boss rush game and if you're not even into the combat that is 99.9% of the game, it would simply be torture to play all the way through.

[majestic]

4 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Weird, don't remember it being too difficult to get the hang of. However, while I did say it was "decent", I don't think you're missing that much if you don't end up playing it all the way through, . It's a boss rush game and if you're not even into the combat that is 99.9% of the game, it would simply be torture to play all the way through.

Yeah, no, the gameplay is okay, so that's fine. I just keep pressing the wrong buttons, and I'm not sure why.

edit: Checked my Nintendo statistics, my mother has played 232 hours of Pikmin 3 so far. Pretty impressive.

Edited December 14, 2021 by majestic

[Keyrock]

I picked up the GuliKit King Kong 2 Pro controller:

It's absolutely better than the Switch Pro Controller and LIGHTYEARS better than joycons. The main selling point is that the thumbsticks use the Hall Effect for positioning, rather than the potentiometers of traditional analog thumbsticks.

The problem with traditional analog thumbsticks is that they use parts that physically roll against each other to measure distance from neutral. No matter how well built these parts are, eventually they will wear and that's when you get drift. It's inevitable.

In Hall Effect thumbsticks, on the other hand, the parts that measure distance from neutral never touch, hence they should theoretically never drift*. They use electromagnets for the measurement.

****ING MAGNETS, HOW DO THEY WORK?

The GuliKit King Kong 2 Pro is primarily made for Switch, but it also works on PC, iOS, and Android. Best of all, it's not expensive, it's roughly the same price as a regular first party controller for <insert name of current gen console>. Curiously, it doesn't currently work on Xbox out of the box, despite it being essentially a carbon copy of a Xbox controller.

Top: King Kong 2 Pro  Bottom: XXxBOxXx Controller. 

I believe that it's possible to get the King Kong 2 Pro to work on xXxBOxXx with a 3rd party USB dongle and GuliKit has said that Xbox support is eventually coming, probably with their own dongle, though just a firmware update would be ideal, if that's feasible.

The build quality seems solid, it feels lighter than a xXxBOxXx Controller, but only slightly so; it doesn't feel like it's flimsy and mostly empty, like some cheap 3rd party controllers. It's not perfect, though, so let's tackle the negatives first.

The knurling on the bottom of the grips is not as good as on the xXxBOxXx Controller. The pattern is identical, but the bumps aren't raised as high, so it feels a bit slippery in my hand. The D-Pad isn't as crisp and clicky as on the xXxBOxXx Controller. It's perfectly usable, but it has a longer travel distance and lacks that satisfying click sound. The springs on the triggers are weaker than on the xXxBOxXx Controller. Again, perfectly functional, but I prefer the stiffer resistance of the xXxBOxXx Controller triggers.

Now for the positives. The bumpers are fantastic. They're super crisp and make a satisfying click sound when pressed. The thumbsticks feel terrific. They are slightly taller than on the xXxBOxXx Controller and they feel great moving around. The face buttons feel really nice. It seems like they wobble slightly less than on the xXxBOxXx Controller. The King Kong 2 Pro is very adjustable. You can change the strength of rumble, the sensitivity of the gyroscope and other things.

So far I'm super happy with the King Kong 2 Pro. This is now my primary Switch and PC controller and will eventually become my primary xXxBOxXx Controller. Time will tell how durable it is and if the promise of no drift ever* holds up.

* Eventually even electromagnetic parts will wear out, but that should be waaaay beyond the scope of a human lifetime

Edited November 27, 2022 by Keyrock

[Bokishi]

I’m familiar with halls and encoders in robotics, when I’m calibrating industrial servos. Interesting they brought that tech to game controllers
 

I’m still stuck with this awkward dude. Should probably upgrade so I can be more comfortable playing Pokémon 

[Bartimaeus]

On 11/26/2022 at 10:24 AM, Keyrock said:

I picked up the GuliKit King Kong 2 Pro controller:

I bought one because I wanted to try it out, and also because my cache of Xbox One controllers that I bought for $20 each has reached its end and the final one I have has a busted right joystick that makes using it annoying for many games.

With regards to the d-pad, I actually hate the new style of d-pad for the Xbox controllers, and this one is more of an old school d-pad, which is what I want. Mind you, I understand WHY Microsoft changed the design of the d-pad, and I'm sure it's good for modern games where it's not used as a main control input, but it's really terrible for retro games. Otherwise, I think I agree with everything you said - I particularly like that you can easily switch input modes and it remembers which system it's paired to (for example, you can have your Switch mode paired to your Switch and your XInput paired to your PC and painlessly switch between them with just a button press), and I like that you can completely disable rumble from the controller itself (actually, this was a bit of a selling point, as I despise rumble and it drives me insane whenever a game has it and there's no way to disable it...I've literally quit playing and uninstalled games purely because of it - this controller allowing me to disable it entirely on the controller itself is great for me).

I haven't tested the sticks enough to determine how well they work in comparison to traditional sticks, but they seem like they're fine. If the controller is able to last 2 years without major issue, then it'd be well worth the money, because I am so freaking sick of every Xbox-styled controller I buy breaking in some major way within six months.

Edited December 6, 2022 by Bartimaeus

[majestic]

Does the controller come with a cable, or do I need to use a bluetooth dongle for use on computers? Not that it makes much of a difference, it is out of stock in every store that would ship to my address, but it would still be nice to know. I'm not doing wireless only.  

[Bartimaeus]

11 minutes ago, majestic said:

Does the controller come with a cable, or do I need to use a bluetooth dongle for use on computers? Not that it makes much of a difference, it is out of stock in every store that would ship to my address, but it would still be nice to know. I'm not doing wireless only.  

It came with a USB cable, but I did not test it to see if it worked - in my experience, wireless controllers often don't work except through the wireless, and the USB port is only there purely to charge. But that is not the case here, as I unplugged my crappy USB Bluetooth adapter (which I already have for my headphones), then plugged it in via the cable, and it immediately worked. Neat.

Edited December 6, 2022 by Bartimaeus

[Keyrock]

It comes with a USB cable and using it while connected via cable works just fine on both Switch and PC.

[majestic]

Whee, thanks a bunch guys, Amazon just put them back in stock. Three week delivery time, but if everything really works as advertised it'll be a great replacement for my ailing XBOX Elite (A button is dying) and my old Nintendo Pro controller (nephew played with it, much to its detriment). At 80€ it is a little pricier than I would like, but hey, 'tis the season, right?   Besides, definitely still cheaper than replacing both controllers.

[Bartimaeus]

It was a long shipping time for me as well - I ordered it the day Keyrock mentioned it, and it arrived yesterday, so that was about two weeks. It also came with like...a hard plastic shell that you can use to encase it. I've heard that you're supposed to cover up controllers when you're not using them, presumably to prevent dust from getting into the internals, but I'm not sure how effective that strategy actually is. But since I did pay a bit for it and it came with it, I have and will probably keep using it...

[majestic]

So, like, Amazon decides to ship the controller earlier. When I ordered, I had the choice of ordering directly from Amazon, or through Marketplace, with the marketplace offer being slightly cheaper. I went for the one sold by Amazon purely because there's less hassle with their deliveries, usually. Usually. Turns out they shipped the controller from a French warehouse, and Amazon in France apparently has the good sense to use Universally Pisspoor Service (UPS for short) as their parcel delivery service of choice.

Obviously I was not at home today, not expecting any deliveries, because why would I get a delivery notification (like, one that every other parcel service on the planet can send! Except perhaps for those even dumber dweebs at Globally Ludicrous Service). UPS tells me they dropped the package at one of their UPS Access Stations™ and can be picked up within the next 10 days.

On the one hand, I'm not too unhappy about the controller coming two weeks earlier than anticipated, on the other hand I'm of half a mind to just let it go back and order it through Amazon Marketplace just to spite everyone involved. If I had wanted that parcel delivery hassle I could have just ordered for 2€ less. And yes, I am that spiteful over that... little money. And UPS. God, damned, motherf****** UPS, that spawn of Satan and his goat.

[Bartimaeus]

At least it wasn't stolen? In the states, you would have to specifically get signed/verified delivery (i.e. face-to-face, make sure you're actually home) for them to bother with that, otherwise they just drop it on your front porch or whatever and you hope somebody doesn't take it, particularly if you have no idea if something was delivered and you only check hours later. Usually you only get that service for extra money or on high value items.

Edited December 14, 2022 by Bartimaeus