Ugh. Sometimes, the code you’re writing sucks, and the library’s API sucks, and the language reference sucks, and everything you have to eat in your cupboard sucks.

You know what doesn’t suck? The Nintendo Switch screenshot button. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a new device feature I approve of so wholeheartedly. There’s no confusing button combination you have to stop to press, no weird menu, you don’t have to hold it. Though if you DO hold it, it’ll take a video of the last 30 seconds (or back to the last video captured) – which is excellent for capturing things you didn’t know were going to happen. I’m not sure there’s any improvements I can really think of to make, except maybe to allow customization of the length of video. 30 seconds is usually enough for surprises, though, and if it’s not a surprise, you should be able to arrange another form of video capture if you really want.

I take SO. MANY. SCREENSHOTS. I ran out of built-in memory with the videos, haha. (I later added an sd card.) This is true on every device I have that supports it. It’s a fast and easy way to make a note of something you might want to reference (or just grin at) later. And if you don’t – no big deal! It’s a screenshot! It’s not that large. You can delete them if you want.

Long story short, I approve of the Screenshot Button, and I wish it were present on every device-with-a-screen that I own. If you’re making a game device (or other device-with-a-screen), consider giving it a dedicated screenshot button, with hold-for-last-30-seconds-video function.