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For more than a year now, the Nintendo Switch continues to take the world by storm. After a highly-anticipated launch, a steady stream of AAA and indie games, and countless aftermarket accessories, the big N’s seventh flagship console has certainly proved to be an unstoppable force. Those who want one most likely have gotten one right now, and for those on the fence – well, here’s a few points of discussion to help you make up your mind.
Before we get started, here’s a quick background on the Switch. Released back in March of 2017, the Switch is the latest system in Nintendo’s game console line-up. It succeeds the less-successful Wii U and is unique in the way that it offers different modes of play, a feature heavily marketed by Nintendo. As of date, it has sold more than 17 million units worldwide and primarily competes with Sony’s Playstation and Microsoft’s Xbox brand of consoles.
Why should you get one? Here’s why.
The Hardware
Nintendo was never known for competing with high-end, high-performance hardware, always opting for lesser internal specs but otherwise still being able to deliver a rich gaming experience. For the Switch, however, the company has decided to try and “catch-up” with hardware specs seen on most devices nowadays.
The Switch’s 6.2-inch screen outputs in 720p when in handheld mode, and climbs up to 1080p when connected to your TV. It runs on a Nvidia GM20B Maxwell-based GPU and comes with 4GB of RAM, and 32 GB of internal storage, with a micro SD slot for expansion. In addition, Nintendo opted to put in a USB-C port for charging, a standard that more hardware manufacturers are starting to adopt these days. What stands out the most, however, are the system’s detachable controllers, which provides different ways of playing games.
The Games
As with every gaming system and smart device nowadays, great hardware won’t sell well if its system is void of must-have software (we miss you Windows Phone), and fortunately for the Switch, it has an immense library of big-name games, such as the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, and the newly-released Octopath Traveler. Indie games and ports are also abundant on the system, with games like Hollow Knight, the successful Steamworld series of games, and even older retro titles from systems like the NEOGEO being available for download on the Switch Eshop. There are literally hundreds of different games for the Switch.
The Different Styles of Gameplay
Nintendo has a reputation for experimenting with different hardware configurations for unique gaming experiences, as seen with the touchscreen features of their DS line, the motion controls of the Wii, and the tablet-home console combination of the Wii U, which resembles the Switch the most. In their initial advertising campaign for the Switch, the company was very clear in telling everyone that the Switch can be used at home, on the bus, in a plane – well, anywhere you can think of.
With the Switch’s detachable Joycons, you can play the Switch at home, like you would a regular home console, or put the controllers back in and play it as you would a handheld device. Some games also make use of the touchscreen, if you’re in the mood for simpler touch-based games.
The Bottom Line
Simply put, the Nintendo Switch has something different for everyone. Whether you’re into portable gaming or would like to chill out from the comfort of your couch, the Nintendo Switch is certainly worth your money. With the wide variety of games and Nintendo’s reputation for making good quality hardware, you can’t go wrong with the Big N’s latest gaming breakthrough. And it certainly has convinced this reviewer to uhm, make the switch. Pun intended.
Three things I like about the Switch!
Thank you for the thorough article. I am thinking about buying the Nintendo Switch and it sure looks Great!
I especially love it’s versatility – the fact that you can use is both at home and outside. I do have one question though:
How long does the battery last if you play with it outside?
Hi there Jacob,
It usually depends on which game you’re playing and screen brightness. For example, I’m playing Mercenaries Saga, a game with basic 2D sprite graphics – the battery can usually last me 4.5 hours, plus more if I turn off wi-fi and bluetooth. For graphics-heavy games like Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, the Switch can last up to 3 hours, or 4 if on very low brightness.
Thanks for reading!
Hey Mike,
Great article! Also a huge fan of Mario Kart!. Admittedly the switch seems pretty cool. My first big concern would be storage capacity, I know it has 32gb but I’m just wondering how that handles a catalogue of games. Does this utilize some kind of cloud for storage? Thanks
Thanks for reading and commenting, Kasey.
As of now the Switch has no cloud storage, Nintendo is planning to launch its online service in September, which will allow cloud saves. But as for storage for games, the only options at the moment are the local 32 gigs of storage, which you can boost with a micro SD card.
Thanks for the great article Mike, found it to be very informative. I never know much about the Nintendo switch before reading through this, glad I stumbled upon your post!
I’ve actually been looking at buying a new handheld gaming console and your article has certainly shed some light on a tough decision! I love how portable they are, they’re perfect for home and travel alike. I have fond memories of playing Pokemon on my old Gameboy colour when I was younger! How far we’ve come since then!
Thanks again for the article, look forward to your future reviews.
Much appreciated, Thomas!
The Switch has certainly continued to be successful due to its handheld-home console capabilities, and Nintendo’s making sure that more games will come along the way. So far there’s rumors of a new Pokemon game coming for the Switch next year. For the meantime there’s the announced “Pokemon Let’s Go’ spin-off, which will be a “lighter” game of sorts compared to the main series.
We’ll also be doing a write-up on the Nintendo 2DS soon, so hopefully you can check it out too.
I personally don’t have time for games but my son is. He always gets mad at me because I’ve not bought him a preferred games kit.
I didn’t know much about Nintedo games before reading this post and so this would be timely riddance. I’m glad I found your article and I will be sharing this information with my son and if it’s exactly what he likes I will definitely go for it.
Appreciations for providing this detailed information.
Best wishes
Paul.
Thanks for taking time to read and comment Paul! We appreciate it.
The Switch is pretty popular at the moment, so if you and your son decide to get one there will be no shortage of new games and accessories. We’ll also do a Switch games list in the future, so we hope you check that out too, but we did mention some of the most popular Switch games in the article.
The Nintendo Switch is an excellent machine and one that Nintendo fans have taken to heart extremely well.
The graphics are keen for a handheld device and large AAA titles such as Skyrim and Wolfenstein II are welcome additions to the roster of childish games that come with the Switch.
That brings me to my main point; for the last year, 80% of the top ten Nintendo Switch games each week (give or take a game) are self-published Nintendo games such as Legend of Zelda and Mario Odyessey and most of these are remasters of Nintendo Wii-U titles such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Donkey Country: Tropical Freeze.
Until Nintendo starts churning out some new IP or at least new AAA titles for exisiting IP, I’m giving the Switch a miss.
Great article though.
Thanks,
Michael.
I agree, Nintendo really hit it big with this one.
It’s mindblowing that one could now play Skyrim anywhere, anytime. Years ago when the GBA came out, I’d freak out if it got any FPS or other action games and thought that those were the best thing ever. And now here we have titles like Wolfenstein and RE Revelations. I hope they get some of the Metal Gear games on the system too.
But you do make a valid point. Nintendo should come up with newer IP or at least games which aren’t ports, I’m sure its wide audience would greatly appreciate more variety.
Thanks for reading and commenting!
Hello Detechtors! Great website topics, just waiting to be filled with information. I love Nintendo games,who doesn’t especially kids,so they will certainly take interest in all of this. Having sturdy phone case to protect your phone is another great idea as i myself wish not to buy phones often, so protecting they with the right cases is very important.
We’re glad you liked our articles! We’ll keep putting new articles to fill the site with more content.
The interesting thing about Nintendo is they also have a popular user based with teens and young adults, so it’s no surprise they’ve managed to carry on through the years as a massively profitable game company.
And yes, getting a case for your phone is a viable option if you don’t upgrade that often.
Thanks again!