Nintendo Switch In-Depth

After having the Nintendo Switch for a full week’s times, I feel like I am able to give my full opinion on it.

It’s not bad.

For the $300 dollars and the two and half hours I waited in the cold to get mine, I will say the initial purchase was worth it. The system isn’t infallible though and we are going to break it down piece by piece.

Docking and Cords

The dock is fairly simple. Inside in the dock, on the bottom, you can see where the switch falls into place on its USB C connector. With this, most users shouldn’t have to deal with scratching the bottom of their systems trying to get the Switch in the docking port like a drunk person trying to put their keys in the ignition. That part is great.

On the other hand, it has been reported that the inside of the dock has been scratching the screen. First I thought this was just user error but as careful as I have been, I have a small scratch, about an inch long. I’ve been nothing but careful but that doesn’t seem to be enough.

The cords themselves don’t reach too far from my TV to the dock forcing me to have to place it diagonally along my desk. I haven’t found a use for the USB ports in the back but it’s nice to have them. There is a USB ethernet adapter for the Switch for those who are interested but my Wi-Fi is good enough for my purposes.

JoyCons

First thing I immediately noticed was the size. As I have mentioned in my previous pieces on them, there are still a tad tiny to me. One of my hands almost covers the controller. The buttons on the right JoyCon are even smaller than the 3DS buttons, which I thought was weird. I do like the raised feature of the buttons but I will have to take away a point for the awkward placement of the “-“ and “+” buttons when the JoyCons are attached to the Switch.

Referencing the commercials, it is NOT as easy to remove the JoyCons from the device. The button to release them will take some getting used to especially if you using it on the go as often as I am.

Also, with how delicate the screen is when it is in the dock, you don’t want to push too hard but just enough to hear the click. I haven’t quite mastered the art of removing the JoyCons without hitting the “-“ and “+” buttons at the same time and that gets annoying mid game.

Here’s a quick tip. Do not keep your phone near your system with your JoyCons detached. You might, see that word “might”, experience interference. I actually did while playing Breath of the Wild and walked right into some lava. That wasn’t annoying at all.

Switch Console

First thing I experienced was what I already knew; I was going to have to buy another charging cord because BOTW is a battery hog! After a full charge, without changing any of the default settings, I got a about 4 hours of playtime. That doesn’t sound too bad but with an immersive game like BOTW, seeing the “Battery Low” signal after what feels like such a short time is a bummer.

I like how easy it is to get back to playing whatever it is you are playing after docking and undocking. I was worried that there would be a delay similar to the PS Vita which is about a second a half but the only thing stopping me was a necessary unlock feature of hitting the same button three times in a row. I’m sure Nintendo added that function so that the system didn’t accidentally turn on in your bag.

The system is light and feels fragile mainly because it is. I had my system in a small computer case before I bought my real case.

Took about three trips to GameStop, blech…

Now here is where Nintendo shot themselves in the foot in my opinion. I know that they want to beat piracy and exploits wherever they can but the fact that my save data is locked to the internal memory that I can’t get to is a piece of garbage. That’s putting it mildly.

The system is expandable up to 2TB but only for your downloaded games and screenshots. I am sure that people will eventually crack it like they are known to do, but if Nintendo doesn’t start working on cloud save storage soon, that’s going to be someone’s pet project.

Oh, and if you broke your system, say “Goodbye” to your data. That can’t be transferred either. You can get your games back on there after deactivating and activating your new Switch, but not the save data. You will be starting from the beginning.

I will say the system has a lot of potential and though it didn’t have a lot of games that I wanted to buy on launch, I bought the system for its potential; what it could do. I have to wait until April to get what I really want and Nintendo has had me waiting for this long so why not.

IF you don’t immediately have $300 plus burning a hole in your pocket, I would recommend waiting until the end of April to try and get one. First of all, that might be when most of them are available. Second, you are going to want some sort of variety with your new purchase and I would never suggest buying a system with only game to play.

Verdict

Nintendo Switch – 8.5 /10