Nintendo Switch: Yay or Nay?

The first gaming console I ever owned was the PlayStation 1, which I got for Christmas back in the ‘90s, and along with it, was Spyro the Dragon (an absolute favourite of mine). In the last couple of decades, the gaming world has developed some of the most advanced consoles ever, and one of those is Nintendo’s newest development: the Nintendo Switch. The official worldwide release date was March 3rd, 2017 and it is Nintendo’s seventh home video game console, one of its biggest launches yet since the Nintendo Wii. Therefore, the question remains… should you buy it?

The answer is simple: if you have around £279 lying about, yes. Allow me to reason with you here. The Switch with its colour filled HD 6.2-inch IPS screen presents the most innovative portable gaming console that money can buy. You have the ability to take it anywhere and yet be able to dock it and plug it back into the home TV without issue. The Joy-Con controllers, with their matte finish, are another unique characteristic, allowing the option of multiplayer with the two detachable controllers on each side, coming in the colour options of either grey or red-and-blue.

In addition to its portability, the Switch holds upwards of 3 to 6 hours of battery life (1300 mAh), but the majority of gamers have recommended to go and buy an alternative charging cable, and instead of waiting an entire night for it to reach 100% charge, players should grab a 24W Anker Charger (finding them online shouldn’t be too hard). Although the sheer power doesn’t quite reach the likes of the PS4 and Xbox One, it creates a median between those and something similar to the PSP or a PlayStation Vita (other portable gaming devices), which is another reason as to what makes it so unique. Not only is the Switch a small powerhouse in playing the open world action-adventure game, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, without any drag with the 4K HDR graphics on its touch screen display, the rich colour gives gamers an amazing gaming experience.

“Not only is the Switch a small powerhouse in playing the open world action-adventure game, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, without any drag with the 4K HDR graphics on its touch screen display, the rich colour gives gamers an amazing gaming experience”

Apart from the device itself, Nintendo has released some incredible games to put on the Switch’s display. The aforementioned Zelda: Breath of the Wild has received nothing but ecstatic reviews from gaming corps by the likes of IGN, who see the new world that Link runs about in as one of “sheer freedom”. Just from observing neighbouring friends playing it, the ability to go in depth into such a vast world is incredible and allows players to play for months on end.

“Zelda: Breath of the Wild has received nothing but ecstatic reviews from gaming corps”

While Breath of the Wild is an amazing game, Nintendo has also released Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, its predecessor being Mario Kart 8, and can be referred to as one of the best kart racing games Nintendo has put out (and Nintendo really knows how to make them). One of the games that is to come later this fall, a game that may cause even myself to go out and purchase a Nintendo Switch once UoN releases me, is the release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. This would be another incredible game to have, similar to the interface Breath of the Wild gives players currently, but going back to the days of “Fus-Ro-Dah” has got me a bit excited.

Here’s a list of all current games available on the Switch:

• Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
• 1-2-Switch
• Splatoon
• I am Setsuna (personally recommended)
• Lego City Undercover
• Fast RMX
• Super Bomberman R

In saying the many positives about the Nintendo Switch, it was not without a few faults here and there, to begin with. Software bugs had been quickly fixed after a couple of weeks following the release, but where users have dealt some (minor) complaints is the frailty of the screen itself. The rich-coloured screen with its 4K Graphics was what Nintendo wanted for the players, and with that came the Switch’s ability to scratch (so be careful).

To reiterate, the Nintendo Switch is a game changer . . . IGN mentions that while Nintendo has not yet released any official statistics of what rests under the hood, they do reveal the NVidia Tegra X1 chipset, a “powerhouse in the mobile world” which explains as to why it can’t fully compete with PlayStation 4 or Xbox One.

“The Nintendo Switch is a game changer”

Overall, if you want something portable that has stunning graphics, a sleek portable display and plays some extraordinary games such as Zelda or Mario Kart,  then try to break the bank a little this summer. Once you’re out of UoN and get that summer job, add it to the Amazon basket, because you aren’t going to be able to find any portable gaming system like it.

Matthew Johnson

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