Weeknote: 2 July 2023
A quick one this week, because I’m very tired.
Published stuff
For Stuff, The Nintendo eShop is a bag of hurt compared to Google Play and the App Store, about my own personal hell when attempting to buy games for my daughter’s new Switch. And an update to my best browser games piece, which brings a different kind of hell, in the form of The Password Game.
Meanwhile, over at TapSmart, I write about a month with Duolingo and induct the wonderful Threes! into my classic apps series.
Other stuff
My family just got back from a trip to Alton Towers, which I’ve not been to since I was a teenager. Some lessons learned there. One was about how it’s a really good idea to bring a nine-year-old up to the faster roller coasters, so they don’t clam up for an entire day. (Oops. Day two was better.) Another is that if you’ve placed a ban on cuddly toys, accidentally winning a gigantic one in a fairground-style game isn’t the smartest parenting move. Sigh.
You know, the only thing I hope to see from the Switch successor is a store that allows me to keep my purchases, and not start over. And even that seems like shooting for the stars, given Nintendo’s history.
Wasn’t there a recent Q&A with Nintendo, where the company said it would look into this? Although it probably meant in the context of looking into how it can convince people to buy the same games again, like that’s offering great value to them.
Yeah, I mean, how can they sell me the fourth HD upgrade of Windwaker (or a monthly subscription fee to play a bunch of old games) if they don’t first take it away from me?