It’s the hottest new console on the market right now and damn near impossible to get your hands on.. The Nintendo Switch is the latest console to join the Nintendo Family. Retailing at $299.99, it has sold over 2.5 million units since its launch on May 3rd.
New or Not So Much?
The Nintendo Switch is the latest installment since the New 3DS which made its debut in 2014. It is the little brother of the Wii U and a cousin to the New 3DS. Since then Nintendo opted out of its usual path of smaller handhelds and homing consoles and decided to go down the middle of these roads.
Portability
“Nintendo Switch is designed to go wherever you do, transforming from home console to portable system in a snap. So you get more time to play the games you love, however you like.†Brags the Nintendo Switch website. The Switch is not fully handheld nor full console but fully functions as both. The nice thing about being able to take the console on the go is that you can pick up where you left off in the games. Just as you’re about to beat Mario in the last stretch, your stop approaches and you don’t want to lose this intense battle! Simply pause the game run home and put the Switch into its dock and pick up where you left off, show Donkey Kong who’s boss!
Display
So not only is it portable it’s lightweight and compact. It is small enough to fit in a backpack or for you women gamers, it fits nicely in a decent sized clutch and is less than one pound. The touchscreen features a nice HD LCD display that spans a 6.2-inch screen, with a 1280 x 720 resolution.
The graphics of the game are crisp and clear. It sucks you into the game, it’s easy to get lost in the games you hardly realize that five hours have gone by and you can’t actually throw turtle shells at other people, nor are you a cartoon character with a souped up James Bond ride that has speed boosters, turns invisible/invincible, not to mention glides in the air and can be driven under water.
If you ever played with the Wii U, you’ll notice a major improvement in the feel and look of the handheld device. You will also notice a great difference in the touch response in the touch screen and the display. The Switch has more of a well-engineered tablet feel to it versus the oddly old cheap feel of the Wii U gamepad. It feels like more comfortable and durable to play with and not something made by Fisher Price for a toddler.
Holes, Plugs, & Slots
It has an audio jack input for playing on the go, as well as a USB-C charging port just in case those six hours aren’t enough play time for those long trips. The Switch battery can last up to six hours but it all depends on the game you’re playing, and it takes approximately three hours to charge according to the Nintendo Switch website.
Speaking of games, the games start at $39.99 and go up to $129.99. The games are no longer in disc form, they are more similar to that of the New 3DS games, they are small and squarish and almost look like memory cards which slide into the back of the console. Speaking of memory, the Switch comes stock with 32gb of memory but can be easily expanded with a memory card which also slides into the back of the console. It can take up to a 2TB memory card, which will basically all be saved for the new anticipated release of Mario Odyssey. A few other games in the Switch line up include Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Arms, Splatoon 2, and Zelda.
The device also comes with a nice built-in stand that can be used while battling against your latest opponent instead of having to consistently find something to prop it up against. Both the joy-con and the Switch Pro controller are NFC compatible. They both feature NFC readers within the controller for gameplay with Amiibos, just like that of the Wii U gamepad and the New 3DS. That is another plus side of the Switch, other consoles require a separately purchased portal to activate 3D action figures within the games. When using the Amiibo’s with the Switch, you can unlock hidden features in the game.
Player Experience
Another thing the Switch is known for is their removable side controllers, also known as joy-cons. The detachable joy-cons can be put into a controller specifically made with slots for the joy-cons mimicking the controllers of a PlayStation or an Xbox called a joy-con grip, or even be used as a single controller for two players with the joy-con strap, both of which come included in the box. This is the first console to have two controllers built in, so thank you Nintendo for that. Every other device comes equipped with a single controller made for a single player requiring a separate controller for any additional players, or a handheld device meant for solo gameplay.
The detachable joy-cons also make for a more comfortable game play when playing game likes 1,2, Switch, and Arms. It also gives you more freedom to play pretty much anywhere. With the exception of the Wii, every console has made controllers that lock your hands to 3 and 9, the joy-con give you that option but takes it a step further allowing a wide range of movement which is also pretty awesome. The joy-cons also have the same vibration features of the previous game controllers and consoles before it including the Wii, Wii U, New 3DS, and other gaming platforms like the Xbox and PlayStation remotes. You can also buy the Nintendo Switch pro controller, sister to the Wii U pro controller.
Should You or Shouldn’t You?
The big question is, is it really worth getting? If you own any of the previous Nintendo devices Nintendo has to offer it’s a little hard to compare. Games like 1,2, Switch lose the fun, Tennis on the Switch is uncomparable, you don’t have that same 1st player experience, so if you like games like Wii Sports or Wii Play it’s a little disappointing. On the contrary games like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe make it worth it. The dual player gaming is a whole new experience, especially how you can do so pretty much anywhere you like. The size of the screen doesn’t hurt either.
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