Okay so this whole thing started because I was cleaning out my game drawer. Found this old Switch cart – Pokemon whatever-it-was – felt kinda funny. Licked it? Tasted like plastic, not that weird, bitter stuff Nintendo puts on ’em. Weird. Took it apart anyway, got my little toolkit out. The casing cracked way too easy, flimsy.
The Ranking Hunt Begins
Screw the fake cart, I thought. Time to finally settle those arguments about the real top-tier Switch games. Everyone online was shouting about rankings lately. Grabbed my Switch, coffee, and just dived into the eShop. The goal? Play at least an hour each of the top contenders people were raving about this year. Portal Collection was everywhere. Played it. Felt as fresh as people said. Xenoblade 3? Epic. Neon White was… frantic. Good frantic. Thirteen Sentinels made my head spin (in a good way). Cuphead, pure pain (the fun kind).
Wanted physical copies for my shelf. Found a decent online shop. Added stuff to cart… BAM. Game key cards? No actual game cartridge? Just a card with a code? For stuff like Persona and Octopath? That felt wrong. How am I supposed to lend those? Sell them? Collect them? Just felt cheap. Guess fake carts and fake boxes are problems now. What a mess.
Surprise Silver Lining
Since physical was getting weird, I leaned into all-digital for a bit. Needed that multiplayer fix. Fired up:
- Fortnite – Always works.
- Warframe – Runs smoother than I remembered.
- Apex Legends – Actually kinda fun.
Free was great, but something was missing. Kept going back to that Portal Collection itch… so I finally caved and bought it digitally. Zero regrets. Pure genius, even years later. That was the best surprise: rediscovering pure brilliance I almost skipped because the cartridge thing stressed me out.
The Distraction
Right in the middle of ranking Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (which honestly slapped), my stupid work Slack blew up. Something about the damn payment portal glitching again. Been happening all week. Remember that post I did last month about backend chaos? Yeah, feels exactly like that – Java bits screaming at the Go bits, nobody can figure it out. Had to put the Switch down, handle that disaster. Wasted half my gaming night. Frustrating doesn’t even cover it.
Finally logged off work, annoyed, scrolling news… saw a headline about Nintendo orders surging. Felt ironic. Here I am, playing their games, loving/hating their choices (key cards!), stressed about my job’s system… while their stuff apparently flies off shelves. They win either way.
Ended the night seeing rumors about a dual-screen Switch patent (like the old 3DS). Makes sense actually, trying to play those classic 3DS ports on my TV feels weird. Maybe there’s hope. Overall? Lots of hype exceeded (Portal!), some genuine surprises (digital freedom!), and a pile of annoyances (fake carts, key cards, payment portals exploding). Par for the Nintendo course.