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Now second screen gaming is dead, can we agree it was a bad idea in the first place?

I

Iva Demilcol

Member
How does it feel to be so wrong OP?

I didn't like it at the beginning but I ended up loving it. There are some games that cannot be made without 2 screens: Good bye Etrian Odissey.

:/
 
PSFan

PSFan

Member
No way. The DS and 3DS have so many great dual screen games. I'm really don't think I want to go back to single screen Pokemon after playing so many games with the dual screens. And I still can't figure out how they'll do Yo-Kai Watch on the Switch when the battle system is completely dependent on the second screen and touch control.
 
mindatlarge

mindatlarge

Member
Personally, no...I liked the options a second screen gave developers. What I'd like to see more of is screen tech getting improved for Nintendo portables. It's hard going from something like the Switch or Vita back to the lackluster screen quality of the 3DS.
 
L

Ludist210

Member
I thought it worked great on the DS and 3DS when executed well. The Wii U was a good idea, but because the Gamepad and TV were naturally so far apart, it wasn't practical and it lost its appeal.
 
P

Pureauthor

Member
Hell no. Leaving aside games that work as well as they do only because of the 2nd Screen like Etrian Odyssey and TWEWY, the ability to just move all the UI stuff to a different screen is such a boon to so many games.
 
G

Gravy Boat

Member
oni-link said:
Funnily enough I didn't like Mario Maker

Discussion is always good, the thread would be dull if it was just a page of people saying "yes" or "no" and it's not as one sided as you think

A lot of people so far also seem to be talking about specific systems they like (DS/3DS) and not the idea as a concept, and other than "It's nice to have my inventory on the second screen" no one is really posting about all the amazing gameplay innovations the concept has produced
Click to expand...

Games like Jackbox and Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes wouldn't work without more than one screen. These 2 examples alone prove that it's a great idea when used correctly.
 
T

Tyraniboah

Member
I don't think it was a bad idea on handhelds, however I didn't care for it too much on the Wii U. When the second screen is attached then that's fine. The World Ends With You was a great game with a second screen. It's still fun on mobile, but it's not the same without that second screen. Meanwhile on Wii U I found myself incredibly annoyed when I was forced to look at the gamepad screen and take my eyes off the TV entirely. Outside of maps and inventory, I don't think there are many games that are definitively better with a second screen. Edit: second screen on a home console
 
J

JCX

Member
Hell no.

RPGs' UIs were far less cluttered with dual screens, see Fire Embem Bravely, SMT4. I can maybe see this if you like action games, but even then we got Ninja Gaiden DS and Kirby Canvas Curse.

I would love a chromecast like device that allows me to cast my switch screen to my tv so I don't need to dock it, with he option to move some menus to the second screen. Pipe dream , I know.
 
M

Metaternal

Member
I won't say it was a bad idea because TWEWY exists and Pikmin 3's use of it was so good I think Pikmin 4 will be worse by default. It just didn't have its true power unleashed by enough devs.
 
P

PsionBolt

Member
Auxiliary Bro said:
Bro, that one puzzle from Another Code still blows my mind.
Click to expand...

It's the most unforgettable part of the game, for sure. Without you even explaining it, I'm pretty sure everyone who played Another Code will remember that you're talking about the puzzle where
you have to almost close the DS, so that one screen shines on the other
. Stuff like that was pure brilliance.
 
J

Jon of the Wired

Member
I've never owned a Wii U, but I have played a lot of games on DS and 3DS, and I can't think of a single game where the second screen meaningfully improved the experience (whereas I think the touchscreen was great).

The problem is that even on the DS and 3DS, where the screens are relatively close together, you still can only look at one screen at a time (due to humans' relatively narrow foveal field of view) so when you're looking at one screen, it makes absolutely no difference what's on the other screen. In that case, though, you might as well just one screen, and switch between the two views with a button (i.e., the way any game with a map works on any other system). As long as switching views is sufficiently responsive (this is the real trick, since it's often not true) then the second screen conveys no advantage.
 
K

Kthulhu

Member
Made more sense on the DS and 3DS when they were next to each other. It just seems like it only works well that way, and it wouldn't translate well to a console.
 
S

Sumio Mondo

Member
It gave me some really interesting fresh new games (like Hotel Dusk, Nanashi no Game & 999), so no, can't say I agree at all.

The touch screen also led to a mini revival of adventure games on the OG DS as well, which was really nice to see (especially from Japanese developers).
 
T

thiscoldblack

Unconfirmed Member
I honestly don't mind the 2 screens on the DS line. It was nice when it was used properly in games. However, I wasn't a big fan of the Wii U implementation.

Still, I prefer a single screen overall. I want to stay focus and immersed. On the Wii U, the immersion would break every time I needed to look down on the gamepad. Thus, to some extent, I'm happy the Switch moved away from that.
 
X

xealo

Member
No. Having a second screen on the DS was never a bad thing, when utilised for things like maps, inventory, HUD info etc. It keeps the main play screen from becoming cluttered.
 
Pokemaniac

Pokemaniac

Member
Second screen gaming was awesome and I'm really disappointed it's going away. Games like Pokémon or Mystery Dungeon are going to be hurt by this.
 
E

emb

Member
I don't think having a second screen was bad. I think the Wii U's implementation was rough; having to look away from the TV all the way down to the gamepad in your hands left it with almost no advantage over a snappy menu screen ready at the push of a button. In fact, I'd say using Wii U's second screen is usually more of a hassle than just pausing in normal games.

Wii U did some cool things. Zombi U took advantage of how distracting it is to use the second screen. Hyrule Warriors (and I'm sure others) let you play local multiplayer on one system without need split screens. But all the small victories didn't amount to much.

DS and 3DS were a fair bit better. Having the screens close together made it actually useful to have a map or inventory always handy. It also allowed some neat moments where games would have a ton of vertical space to work with, and stuff like book mode in Brain Age, or that one clever puzzle in Phantom Hourglass where you had to
close the system
. It was good on (3)DS, but not something I'll miss horribly.
 
C

casiopao

Member
2 Screen also give us top quality goodness like Osu Tatakae Oendan which i don't think is possible outside of DS so nope. Dual Screen is still top quality goodness.^^
 
B

BigTuna109

Member
I see the argument that the idea was good but overall executed HORRIBLY. I keep telling myself that makes sense, but I have such a bad taste in my mouth after wii U and years of DS/3DS. I'm just so freaking glad its finally dying. Only games where it actually, truly BENEFITED the gameplay experience on Wii U were Mario Maker and Splatoon. Good riddance second screen gaming. See you in hell.

Edit: being able to look down and see my inventory/map instead of just hitting one button does not equal real benefit imo. Splatoon at least used the feature to jump to your teammates.
 
A

Auxiliary Bro

Member
Actually coming back to this, I hear Zombi U had a pretty cute idea that didn't translate as well to its port? I played that game on PS+, and man I hope that was a better game on Wii U cuz it was real forgettable on PS4.

Maybe it would've been nice to see more games that took advantage of the inconvenience of looking at another screen lmao, as dumb as that sounds. Who knows, but there's definitely still time to experiment. Hopefully uh... I mean y'know, maybe not with a Star Fox game? I still wanna play Zero cuz Platinum have a certain infamy with unjust review scores imo but it....didn't sound like the gamepad usage was the best part of that game.

PsionBolt said:
It's the most unforgettable part of the game, for sure. Without you even explaining it, I'm pretty sure everyone who played Another Code will remember that you're talking about the puzzle where
you have to almost close the DS, so that one screen shines on the other
. Stuff like that was pure brilliance.
Click to expand...

I love how it's so easy to know what puzzle people are referring to haha. God it was so cute, I got a mix of confusion followed by a "THIS MAKES SO MUCH SENSE!!" at that part.
 
B

BitStyle

Unconfirmed Member
I actually enjoyed it for the most part. I just would rather have one, higher res screen instead.

Etrian Oddyssey titles were amazing because of it too
 
C

Caronte

Member
Yes, it was dumb. At least for the games I played on 3DS and DS. The games were good despite the double screen, not because of it.
 
Kamina

Kamina

Golden Boy
It was good in some games, but mostly unnecessary. I wont cry after it, but it wasnt bad in any way.
 
Head of Vengarl

Head of Vengarl

Banned
The_World_Ends_With_You.jpg


This game alone made it worth it.
 
F

FinalAres

Member
DS and 3DS didn't sell well because if the second screens. They sold well because of the games, and the second screens made literally no difference.
 
O

Oxirane

Member
xealo said:
No. Having a second screen on the DS was never a bad thing, when utilised for things like maps, inventory, HUD info etc. It keeps the main play screen from becoming cluttered.
Click to expand...

It always irked me when people would complain that 'all the developer did' with the second screen was put the map, some display or UI elements etc. on it, as if that was somehow a lazy, illegitimate use of it. (Although it was good to see games that used it in other interesting ways).

I will miss using the touchscreen as a place for customizable buttons; as I got used to them in Monster Hunter.
 
O

Omikaru

Member
I wouldn't say it's bad - there were some amazing games on DS and 3DS that used the two screens well - but it's made game preservation more difficult.

My gut tells me we won't see DS or 3DS games on Nintendo Switch Virtual Console; even if it's technically possible to fit both screens at a decent size/resolution on the Switch's display, Nintendo may not see it as an elegant-enough solution. It makes me sad that a lot of those amazing games could vanish into a black hole at some point in the future when the original hardware is no longer available and there is no system that can play digital versions. I'd love to be proven wrong on that one, though.

I will agree with the some people when they say that the Wii U's second screen stuff was largely bad or mediocre. Second screen gaming on that system had one use - off-TV play - and the Switch offers a far superior version of that.
 
O

Opa-Pa

Member
I don't get why everyone argues that it was great on 3/DS when OP is only talking about the Wii U and likely meant this was only the case for 2 screen gaming on home consoles lol.

It worked wonders on portables but yeah, it was pretty shit on Wii U. I called it right when they announced it and in person it just wasn't a justifiable gimmick. Like yeah it did work with some games, but even with those it felt like gameplay could be readjusted to work without that setup and not lose much.

It sure did help the Wii U be one expensive piece of disappointment though, ugh.
 
Nydius

Nydius

Member
Second screen was garbage on the WiiU. It was never fully used, not even by Nintendo themselves, and mostly was nothing but map and inventory space. Which still required taking your eyes off the main game to use, so it didn't solve any issues opposed to simply having these functions in a typical one-screen menu. When they did try to use it for more than simple logistical functions, it was crippled by bad control schemes and eyestrain from needing to constantly switch eye levels (as was the case with Star Fox Zero).

Splatoon 2 shows that the second screen gimmick was largely unnecessary. The first game's concept of using the screen for map and jumping to teammates was novel but not anything that couldn't have been accomplished through a main screen map.
 
H

Hydrus

Member
Yes OP it was horrible. HATED it on Wii U. It's so damn distracting that I have to play with a pro controller and lay the gamepad face down just so I dont see it. Didnt care for it on DS/3DS. Would rather have a bigger screen.
 
O

oni-link

Member
Gotdatmoney said:
Who cares about amazing gameplay innovations? Having a clean hud and an always accesible map or inventory with a quick glance down made a lot of those handheld games better with their limited screen space.

You also would never get something unique like The World Ends With You with out it.

Something doesnt have to be revolutionary to be a great feature. Sleep function introduced as standard on the DS was one of the best features ever brought to handhelds and it never "enchanced" games either.

Also, Mario Maker is god tier.
Click to expand...

You know, that's a fair enough position to take

That said, The World Ends With You is also on iOS, is it not?

But my phone only has one screen...
 
Tizoc

Tizoc

Member
OP, I think you're a cool guy, but I wholeheartedly disagree.
There was nothing bad about the dual screen/2nd screen. Some good games utilized the 2 screen design impressively such as Hotel Dusk. Furthermore, the 2nd screen can act like a map in certain games which allowed for good navigation.
 
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