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[SpacePirate Ridley]

Lol no. Second screen was amazibg abd splatoon 2 will resent not having it.

And we lost miiverse in the process, that could still work with one screen if Dena wasnt so shitty making the OS though.

 

[Ban Puncher]

I cannot agree with that.

 

[Steve.1981]

As I said, the two implementations are inherently different.

I would argue they're not that different outside of off-TV play, but that's beside the point. OP asked if second screen gaming was always a bad idea. It wasn't a bad idea, for a handheld system.

 

[Arklite]

Wouldn't call it bad, but certainly a gimmick with limited appeal. You're right though, I don't see much lament over its loss, but it was a trivial thing from my experience.

 

[feint_ruled]

DS and 3DS were a bit incoherent when it came to dual screen gaming, as the touch method could only be used on one screen. You had to then concentrate on touch gaming and use the lower screen as the main one, or traditional controller gaming and focus on the top screen (even more pronounced on the 3DS, as only the top screen allowed the key feature of 3D).
In theory this could have led to imaginitive uses of the non-dominant screen, but it seemed to be mostly relegated to map or shortcut button screens. The Wii U also found itself locked into this paradigm, except even worse as games were expected to be able to drop into a single screen mode as well so really couldn't do anything too fancy without disallowing off-screen play.

 

[Busaiku]

Sucked on Wii U outside of Nintendoland, but it was amazing on DS/3DS.
RPGs, puzzle games, exploration based games, and so on were so much better.

 

[Vincent Grayson]

I've always felt like most of these "gimmick" things beyond playing games on a single screen with a traditional controller are perfectly fine so long as they're utilized because the game's design suits it, rather than just because the option is there.

 

[Cipher Peon]

Second screen gaming was a godsend. Incredible for portable devices and I miss it dearly. RIP

 

[xenorevlis]

I think it was cool on Dreamcast for things like picking plays privately in local mp.

Still use it with my PS4 for games that use PS app or things like Jackbox party pack as well.

 

[MåndagSöndag]

A bigger and better screen >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> two small ones.

 

[RurouniZel]

Nope. Too many of my favorite games were on the DS, which is also by far my all time favorite portable gaming system (I could never get into gameboy much as a kid). The Professor Layton games in particular used it very well, as did 999.

 

[Lifeline]

Playlink and Hidden Agenda looks cool.

 

[Giga Man]

Hell no. The DS and 3DS utilized the second screen masterfully. It made RPGs like Pokemon and ESPECIALLY Fire Emblem extremely more user friendly. Fire Emblem will feel slightly less comfy now that the next entry won't use two screens.

 

[AerialAir]

No. It isn't dead. I had and will still have countless hours of fun on my Nintendo devices due to the second screen.

 

[squall23]

2 screens made Monster Hunter much more bareable. I know World is going to be on a bigger screen but for portable Monster Hunters, the second screen helped so much.

 

[Keinning]

DS and 3DS success shows that two screen gaming can work out pretty well

It just wasnt meant to be as nintendo tried with Wii U for home consoles

And even home console games can benefit from two screen gaming anyway when the set up is well planned and using smartphones for example. The APEX app for Andromeda is incredibly handy

 

[ReitStuff]

Loved second screen gaming. Made Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD amazing.

 

[Mozendo]

OP was probably expecting tons of replies agreeing with him lol.

Thread backfires are always fun to see

 

[Barrel Cannon]

It gave us many great games and helped jump-start a handheld revolution with a quirky idea at a time which helped bring gaming to a huge new audience of people who never played games. New and unique ideas are what keep the medium thriving. I will always admire gaming companies and devs for pushing boundaries with innovative ideas whether they fail or not.

 

[Panajev2001a]

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

So I think it's fair the say the Switch has started well, in terms of sales and it's general reception by players. However, while every thread is full of people asking for every game ever made to be ported to the Switch, very few people seem to be asking for these ports to come with second screen functionally

In fact, even Nintendo doesn't seem to want to support it with the Switch.

Off screen play was pushed as a big feature on the Wii U, however you can't really have a game that is designed around off screen play and a game that is also designed around using both screens to play, as you lose one screen the second you switch off the TV

I remember people passionately explaining how Splatoon can "only work with the gamepad being used as a map" and this was "an essential mechanic of the game", as an excuse for the game not offering Pro controller support. Yet Splatoon 2 seems to work fine with only one screen

The Wii U screen was great when being used as a map or an inventory screen, I think we can all agree on that, but other than that, as something that can be used to push gaming into new territory, it's quite simply a bad idea, and always was a bad idea

What do you think, GAF?

Mods, please look at the Wii U gamepad if thread is not appropriate

I think that the tag line “decent if not good ideas, suboptimal execution of the plan around then” could be Wii U’s slogan and Nintendo does not want to have anything reminding people Wii U exists hence they are staying far away from its USP’s.

Personally, I liked it quite a lot. It enabled a kind of asymmetric multiplaye, think about the two co-op modes for NSMB U and SM3DW, that helped casual gamers share the action .

 

[GSG Flash]

It was pretty awesome for some multiplayer games on the Wii U. Nintendoland, for example, used it really well. So did some 3rd party games like CoD(where one player gets the TV screen and the other player gets the gamepad screen). It's too bad that we didn't get more experiences like that.

I think it would've worked well with BOTW as well, but unfortunately Nintendo nerfed the gamepad implementation in favour of the Switch version of the game :/

 

[Harmen]

I won't miss it and disliked having my eyes switch between seperate screens all the time, even on the DS where the screens were very close to each other.

 

[Fiendcode]

It was usually great on DS and 3DS but super awkward on Wii U except with a few async multiplayer games. I'll really miss quick touchscreen supplementary commands, inventories and maps.

 

[KtSlime]

No, it was a great idea and still is.

 

[Flopfan]

I am glad it's finally gone. Switch with a single big HD screen is glorious.

 

[Champion]

DS is still the GOAT handheld. Sorry if you missed out OP.

 

[NandoGip]

I hated it tbh. Wouldve preferred one large high resolution screen. Also touch screen sucks too

 

[PuppetSlave]

No, I liked it.

 

[Gunstar Ikari]

Hell no.

Etrian Odyssey alone is going to require a pretty large mechanical retool to work on one screen, assuming that Atlus doesn't retire the series. That thought doesn't make me particularly happy.

 

[tryagainlater]

I wouldn't say it was amazing but I generally liked it. Playing xenoblade chronicles x, I like having the map in front of me. Although switch games should be designed with one screen in mind, it would be nice if developers had an option for second screen stuff.

 

[NintendosBooger]

No, I don't agree.

Second screen gaming was awesome on the DS/3DS and it produced some of the more unique gaming experiences I've had, from the nonary games to the early EO classics.

Hell, second screen gaming was wonderful on the Wii U, now that you ask.

 

[Monochromaticx]

3ds usage of dual screens was/is great

 

[Zutrax]

For the DS and 3DS I disagree, the screens being so close together made it much easier to focus on the content contained on both screens and even simple things like utilizing one screen for maps/inventory is incredibly helpful at getting rid of clutter and tedious menu navigation. Take Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D for example, that game was vastly improved by being able to simple tap the bottom screen inventory to swap out the iron boots in many areas, practically removing a large tedious portions of that game and making them more engaging.

For the Wii-U it was a bit more cumbersome because it required you to physically look down at it, it still has the same benefits but that added downside made it a feel more gimmicky than it's counterparts.

Using phones and special apps as second screens however, yes, was a bad idea.

 

[Bobo Dakes]

Splatoon and my personal favorite game of all time The World Ends With You say hi.
Also, Scribblenauts, Big Bang Mini and GTA Chinatown Wars.

Even if it wasn't essential to gameplay, putting menu and UI things on the bottom went a long way to making certain games better, Pokemon, Fire Emblem, Mario Kart, Ace Attorney

 

[Bobo Dakes]

I remember people passionately explaining how Splatoon can "only work with the gamepad being used as a map" and this was "an essential mechanic of the game", as an excuse for the game not offering Pro controller support. Yet Splatoon 2 seems to work fine with only one screen

There's a difference between working "fine" and doing something that feels natural.

That's a compromise that most of us understand, but no one thinks the game is better for it. I was able to look down briefly to see how the match was going and I could tap to any one of my teammates with ease.

I'm willing to adapt, but it'd be silly to call this an improvement.

 

[Spman2099]

It has always been my opinion that the DS and 3DS were awful, awful systems. Don't get me wrong, they have tons of amazing games on them, but those are all games that triumph over the stupid design of the systems they run on. I hate the duel screens. I don't think they add anything, in fact, I think they detract. When the duel screen systems are fully dead I will be a happy man.

 

[Foldedpencil]

For me, the take away from the Wii U is not that second screens on consoles are a bad idea, but rather that they don't enable the same level of exciting new gameplay possibilities as they do on handhelds. And certainly not enough to be the main feature hook of a console. However, I believe that if the ps5 and Xbox2 had second screens, no one would complain.

 

[Greddleok]

WiiU was bad. Having to look down is disorienting.

3/DS was amazing. The screen is right there, it's essentially a larger screen with other info displayed.

 

[Apathy]

I loved it for handhelds. Some games did some great qol things with it and inventory/map screens

 

[Hedge]

3DS and its dual screen is amazing, honestly. Can't see anything that would improve by removing it. Made the upper screen much cleaner when the UI was at the bottom screen.

 

[InsaneTiger]

OP declares second screen is dead now he wants everyone to agree because reasons? No.

What else does OP want to declare?

 

[Tain]

Wii U was super disorienting and immersion-breaking.

DS wasn't so bad, but would have functioned every bit as well (better, generally) as a continuous vertical screen.

In a social setting having detached screens is cool (Nintendoland-style), otherwise I don't think it's very worthwhile.

 

[Jaruru]

So many great games utilized the 2screens well.

 

[BassForever]

Spoken like someone who never played pacman vs or 4 swords adventure on gamecube

 

[Attack You]

Only on NeoGAF can something push as many units of hardware and software as the DS line and be considered a bad idea.

 

[Gilby]

For single player it was needless, anything could be done with a button to bring up a different screen/UI/overlay. For local multiplayer it had some cool benefits, but multiple handhelds or handheld-tv interaction can do the same thing.

 

[GamerJM]

More often than not it wasn't the basis for a game so most games that had second screen gaming could be ported elsewhere, but it was always a nice convince to have for things like maps and inventory. I think people are just so tired of low resolution gaming that they place getting a huge resolution bump over the QOL gained from a second screen. Also there's not a whole lot coming out atm that would benefit from it. I'm certainly going to miss it when Ace Attorney Switch or Etrian Odyssey Switch comes out.

This is all, of course, ignoring the one single game that justified it in its entirety and blessed us with an experience that can never be recreated again.

Spoiler

That game being 999: Nine Persons, Nine Hours, Nine Doors.

 

[Nosgotham]

zombi u made it worth it

 

[see5harp]

Nope, I loved it on the DS. But it was important that the screens were equal size and quality. 3DS and Wii U threw out that. Wii U was dumb because you had to keep looking up and down. 3DS was dumb because the size was unequal and scratched themselves.

I would have loved a DS successor with equal screens.

3ds they couldn't even get the colors to match. Every system I ever bought was shitty including the 3ds xl that I finally thought would be their premium holding nothing back sku. Super glad dual screens is no longer a thing.

 

[Mdk7]

Splatoon worked so well with a second screen, not to consider The Wonderful 101 and dozens of (3)DS games.