My Experience with the Nintendo Switch

Well, hello there! As you may know, if you followed this blog, I bought a Nintendo Switch with the money you helped me make on this very site. Today, I am going to take a look at how it fared during the time that has passed since the acquisition.

I have to mention that I never used the dock, given that there is no TV in the dorm room. It was mainly used in handheld and two player mode, while sitting on a desk.

Chapter I: The Controllers

I will start with the jolly little (and I mean that word) controllers that you use for the console/tablet. They are, of course, called Joy-Cons, and I like how they feel when they are stuck to the console, but when separate, used as two individual controllers, they feel very cramped, which is a given, seeing as the system must somehow be very portable. Still, deducting points because they were too small for the hands of every individual friend of mine who tried to use them. At least this problem can be somewhat bypassed by acquiring another set of Joy-Cons or a Pro Controller, so it is not a permanent blemish on the system's curriculum vitae.

Chapter II: The Games Line-up

From what I have seen, Nintendo went for a quality over quantity approach to the release schedule of their first party games, which is always a nice thing to see. I bought Super Mario Odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as soon as I got the system, and, so far, they have been really solid games, with nice graphics and tight controls. The third party support is also pretty substantial, compared to the Wii U, with such publishers like Ubisoft and Bethesda and Rockstar backing Nintendo up, but also a lot of indie games have been ported to this platform, like Rocket League and Worms W.M.D (which are also in my collection, because I wanted to have local competitive games to play with my mates), Darkest Dungeon, Lichtspeer and many, many others. The support does not stop here, because the digital store of the console also has ports of retro games from the old days of Nintendo, like Double Dragon and Super Mario Bros. In this regard, I give the Switch a huge thumbs up for the amount of games available.

Chapter III: Hardware and Power

The Nintendo Switch is clearly not as powerful from a performance perspective as a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, and especially not as a PC. It's strength is the fact that it is powerful enough to handle sized down versions of games from these platforms, something that has been shown through the mind blowing, although not really playable, version of DOOM which was released for it. Of course, that means that the games will be sold at the same price as on other platforms, but with less bells and whistles, but what you give up in graphics, you gain in portability. You should count this as a cautious thumbs up, because a great port is not guaranteed.

I also have an objection to the design of this neat little system: the kickstand. That piece of plastic is really flimsy and it can not be trusted. It is simply really cheaply made and the fact that the SD card must sit behind it is even worse. I do not understand how a design flaw like this could slip through.

A plus, which is particular to me, is the fact that the tablet charges through USB Type C, just like my smartphone, which means that I can avoid cable clutter. It also means that I can charge it from the power bank which is always on my person.

Chapter IV: Conclusion

All in all, I am happy with the acquisition of this system and I have high hopes that it will receive many more great games, because the portability of this device really gives it an edge in the competitive market of video games. I also expect to sink a lot more time gaming on the Switch, so Nintendo would better continue to release quality fist party games.

Sources: cover, versus, images taken by myself

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