Gaming Nintendo Switch review

The Switch is sure fun.

https://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/2017/03/06/nintendo-switch-review/1

 

Don't really get the mobile aspect if I'm honest - to me it's too big to be useful for short journeys (where most people would be happy to use a smartphone or a DS), and doesn't last long enough for long journeys... The multiplayer aspect is definitely something new, but I reckon after a couple of 1-2 switch BBQ's people will lose enthusiasm.

And thats the problem with this direction that Nintendo seem so glued to, there's only so many variations of these short, drop in/out, anyone can have a go, games you can come up with before people get bored.

I'll continue to wait for a successor to the GameCube. Patiently.

 

Eh, it's a bit early of my review, but this Zelda game is the best I've played so far. If you wanted to plug it in under your TV just to play the latest nintendo titles, i doubt you would be disappointed.

 

Bring on a new Bayonetta, Monster Hunter, Fire Emblem, Metroid Prime and so on... Zelda and Splatoon are not really enough to justify buying a secondary console.

 

Love the idea of playing a bit of a "proper" game at lunch-time at work; but then I remember the backlog of TV shows to watch, books to read, and really trying to get out and walk for fresh air/only exercise I really get.

 

£280 for an EOL Nvidia Shield in a Nintendo shell...no thanks.

..not to mention you'll need to spend at least another £100 on accessories such as joypad and memory cards to make the most of it.

It will be the usual story with this thing from Nintendo, a handful of classic 1st party games from Nintendo that will get rave reviews from the gaming press and not much else from 3rd party developers.

Trouble is, those bona fide classics from Nintendo will only come along every 12-18mths, meaning people will leave it gathering dust in-between such releases.

...and the battery life in portable mode is woeful.

 

I love the fact it's something different. It has so much going for it, but I'm not going to get one for me or the kids.

Proper controls? Check.
Multiplayer? Check
Portable? Check
Sufficient battery life? Check
Easy to top up on the go? Check

But for the kids...

Massive catalogue of titles? No
Good selection of free / low cost titles? No
Supports popular kid titles (Minecraft, Terraria etc)? No
Can do web research etc? No
Does something an iPad won't do? No
Has more 'must play but haven't played yet' titles on it than the PC & consoles we have already? No

Is similar enough in spec to PC/PS4/XBOne so that devs can easily add the switch as a build target for their new games? Hell No! It can do more than the average tablet, but much less than the average top end gaming device. So who (other than Nintendo) is going to target the hardware properly?

There's hundreds of awesome games to play on other platforms, the switch has a LONG way to go on the software front. One for the hardcore nintendo fans for now I fell.

So they'll stick with their rationed iPads.

 

I think its more a shame that the switch seems to have captured peoples imagination more than Nvidia's original Nvidia Shield portable concept.

The shield portable was a better design in my opinion and was originally at the same price point and with the same portable/console mode that the switch now has, plus the shield project as a whole is continuing to get a steady flow of AAA PC games ported across from PC - but it never seemed to take off. The power of Nintendo seems to have made the same concept successful but its a closed expensive ecosystem of games compared to the shield concept

 

Can you get another dock so it can be docked on different screens without unplugging crap?

 

Yep. I'm planning to pick one up myself for the office / travelling, but they're a bit pricey right now ($90) so I'm going to wait until the financial sting from the first load of Switch stuff has passed.

 

Not for me I don't think. I don't do mobile gaming and the Wii seems like a better execution of the multiplayer party console, which you can pick up for about £30 now

 

Looks like I'm the only one who's thinking of picking up a Switch then I have a fairly powerful PC, so the PS4 and Xbox One don't appeal to me, as I can play most of their games on my rig.

So, the Switch, with its Nintendo exclusives appeals to me. I'm not going to buy yet - I'll wait a few months for all the early adopter pains to go away, but I think I'll be getting one soon. The mobile part doesn't appeal to me - if I buy a Switch it will spend most of its time in the dock - but I can see it coming in useful if I travel.

 

I can agree to a certain extent, but things like the PSP back on release had a lot of features that tablets today have excluding downloads of apps.

 

Two things:
1) I do think the Switch has many things going for it, but, alas, there are some major drawbacks for me. Battery life, the tiny and (probably) uncomfortable controllers, the already mentioned fact you have to invest quite a bit more than just the money for the console itself to properly enjoy gaming (SD card, Pro controller), the fact performance on the go is worse than in the dock even though it does not even upscale anymore, ... I see this as a massive step forward, but at the same time it does feel more like a proof of concept than the finished article.
2) This article seems to me to just skip over the surface of a proper review. I miss depth and actually asking the right questions about the (possible) issues mentioned above. Not meaning to offend, but it does feel like the review was written by someone who was sold before he got the Switch and is just trying to quickly reel us in, onto the hype train.

 

Couldn't give a damn what drivel Nintendo peddles anymore since they ripped me off with my Wii points. They couldn't even be bothered to contact me back, what utter contempt for your customers.

Hope they become dead and buried, quicker the better as far as I'm concerned.

 

I find it interesting that the resellers resale value doesnt seem to be there - AFAIK you cant really get the console anywhere now so ive been dropping some bids on ebay for consoles there - generally they are going for either side of £300 which, after ebay fees, means the resellers are often making a loss.

Kind of torn on the whole switch device to be honest - I actually preferred the original shield portable design that came out in 2014 and so by now could've been more slimmed down but kept the general concept of a clamshell design - plus it would've been nice if the switch just did more than it does - its basically a shield tablet so why not run android or add android support so it has the option to run android apps - then it can replace my usual tablet which would make it a must have

 

I'm neither negative or positive about this one, I think there will be plenty of people who will enjoy this, but I'm not sure if it's enough to be the success over the medium/long term Nintendo is hoping for,
And frankly, it seems a bit dated already, saved mostly by those controllers I would say.

 

A couple of questionable facts in this review. You can use LAN via USB adapter, and the joy con, when a player just has one of them, also have two buttons on the face of the rail (the bit that slots into the Switch).

A few years back this site was full of people saying tablets would never take off and don't fulfil a need, and now we've got people saying no to this hardware because they've got a tablet

Until you've played a game as good as Breath of the Wild in handheld mode, you really can't judge this thing. As far as I'm aware, consoles and PC cannot compete with the pick-up-and-play and take-anywhere aspect of this. Using Sleep Mode (which only consumes about 2% battery in 8 hours) you can resume a game in less than 2 seconds. That convenience makes a massive difference to how your games become. I've played some Zelda everyday since it launched cos it's so easy to sleep and resume - I wouldn't have achieved half as much play time otherwise.

Oh, and the pro controller... totally optional IMO, I don't plan on getting one at all.

Also optional is an SD card, as there's no requirement to install games.

 

I'd like to point out the Switch is using modified nVidia Tegra X1 SoC, only Shield Android TV box (£190 no screen/battery), and Google Pixel C (£480) use it. The EOL nVidia Shield tablet is using earlier generation K1 SoC.


Personally, I am very interested in one. I will buy one now if I commute by train/tube or autonomous car. But current I have to drive. So like almost everything else, I'll wait until it reaches second hand value and pick one up.