Nintendo had (two weeks previously) brought out a completely new way of playing with the Switch, involving lots of cardboard some elastic bands, washers and some stickers! The possibilities are endless though, but today our main feature was the RC car.
We also had the Robot Kit to try out (Thanks to Danny), and most of the Variety kit to try out too.
We had the Fishing rod, the piano and the house available to try at the front of the room- people could make their own waveforms or fish, using the templates that were free to take.
The raffle was Zelda themed, to mark the Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition, which is due out this Friday.
Firstly the RC Car Challenge...
Emma and Jen had been building various obstacles for what was to be an "assault" course for the day. Some hints were shared on the instagram over the two weeks.
The course itself took up 6 tables, and featured a number of obstacles which the RC car had to negotiate. Due to its size (and a bit of improvisation) we weren’t able to test it beforehand, so we built it on the day and let one of the first guys in test it out. After a few tweaks, we were ready to go. We had to acknowledge that the bridge ramp was a little bit too optimistic, and there were a few bumps which would render the RC car stuck, but it still proved a good challenge. We timed it on a stopwatch (we were using the timer within the software, but the first guy to enter the challenge had to go again because his timer had randomly stopped!) and if any obstacles were touched/hit, they got a 5 second penalty added on to their final score. (Or +10 seconds if they feel off the marked out track, or physically moved an obstacle!) If they got stuck in an obstacle they had to start from that obstacle again. The start point was at the top of the bridge, and the finish line was marked by black gaffa tape at the bottom of the ramp leading to the bridge.
Any time from 11.30, people were able to attempt it. They could have a practice run and then a real go. (We were short on time towards the end, so only the people who’d got over 4 minutes before penalties, could have a second attempt.)
Here's a full video of the course in action:
(Credit to Rhodri for filming)
- a highlight video can be found on our Instagram (@nintendonwales)
- a highlight video can be found on our Instagram (@nintendonwales)
Paul had made templates of the RC car so that anyone who wanted to customise one (who didn't have one) was able to.
All day there was also a craft corner, where people could customise their Labo stuff with whatever they could find. Rhys quickly realised that after customising his RC car (Ned), it gave him a much slower time than the plainer cars! Good effort though, Ned, despite trying to destroy half the course, and dropping glue everywhere, that time of over 7 minutes was well deserved! ;)
John crafted a Lakitu for the start line...
and we experimented with the "auto" function in a game of tag...
The league session rounds were spread throughout the day, as the main tournament was the Labo challenge.
Due to an odd number of pairs signing up, we grouped the "leftover" pair with a pair who had the lowest score when they played in their original bracket. The team who got a second go, had their best score noted at the end.
Round 1 was Puyo Puyo Tetris, 2v2, Swap mode.
Most people were more familiar with Tetris than Puyo Puyo, so were relying on that to win their game, but the ones who were used to Puyo Puyo won their games pretty quickly!
Round 2 was Snipperclips, which many hadn’t played before, but we did 2v2 “Roundup” where you’re trying to get fireflies into the correct side’s basket! People quickly realised they could snip at each other though, so it just ended up turning it a bit of a messy one!
Round 3 was 2 v 2 ARMS: V-Ball
There was a mixture between people using button controls vs motion (Thumbs up grip). John and Rhys ending up drawing 4 times against their opponents at one point.
Generally, the overall scores were quite low this time. The games were a bit more random, and not everyone had played them all. Feelings were very mixed about Snipperclips, and the ones who did know it, were expecting a slower paced round! Tetris always has its quick people, and ARMS is a fighting game which appeals more to certain people.
Of course, the league session prize is singular, so they had to fight it out again at the end. They fought it out in a standard fight on ARMS.
Two teams were tied, so 4 people fought it out for that £10 eShop credit!
Well done to Danny who won overall for the session!
Of course with it being during exam season, we tried to advertise it as a good idea to have a break from them just for a day, but there was one hardcore revising guy in the back anyway :)
We also managed to fit in some Death Squared...
We promised we would finish on time this event, and that we did! The ending was a little bit of a rush, but we finished with a couple of minutes to spare!
Well done to Steven who grabbed the top spot on the Labo challenge in the last few minutes of the competition, knocking Paul out of the running, and putting John into second place! (£20 eShop credit and £10 eShop Credit were won respectively.)
Well done to all the raffle winners too, and of course we finished off with our group photo :)
