If you look back at Nintendo’s track record with consoles, they’ve been always innovative, even from their humble beginnings as a playing card company in 1889. Now, seven home consoles and over 720 million unit sales later, the company has released a hybrid console- the Nintendo Switch.
When I opened my Nintendo Switch, the first thing that surprised me was the physical size of the kit. In fact, the limited edition Zelda box is three times the size of the box the actual console came in. Like the rest of their consoles, the design is simple and clean.
Out of the box, the Nintendo Switch consists of the tablet, the dock, 2 Joy-Con grips, the Joy-Con grip holder, an HDMI cable, and the power cable. In short, comes with everything to get you up and running within 10 minutes of unboxing. The setup is extremely simple and not a mangle of wires like the PSVR, which we’ve reviewed recently. The only thing left to do was dock the console to get it topped up on a charge.
I can honestly say that, after experiencing the Nintendo Switch, the adverts are true to life. When I took it off the dock to play, it was instant, seamless, and without any odd hiccups. Vice versa when redocking. The only issue I’ve found is when taking the Joy-Con off when it’s docked. It just doesn’t sit firm and easily comes undocked. Not a massive problem, mind, just a minor annoyance.
At the time of this review, I’ve only played two games, which, unfortunately, is nearly half the available games that you can buy upon release. The first game is Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which is phenomenal. I’m only a few hours in and can already say that the positive reviews are warranted. It’s the best Zelda game since Ocarina of Time. The other game I’ve tried is 1-2-Switch. It has 28 mini-party games and is basically the Wii Sports of the Nintendo Switch.
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My main gripe 1-2-Switch is that it should have been bundled with the console and not have the same price tag as Zelda. Personally, they should have also had Mario Kart and Mario Odyssey out on release. With that being said, Odyssey is currently set for a Christmas debut, which might be decent marketing from Nintendo to boost sales around the festive time.
As you’d expect, the portable aspect of this works fantastic. Even though the speakers are at the rear, the sound still sounds loud and crystal clear, even in noisy environments. When the Joy-Cons are attached to the side, it is comfy to hold for extended periods of time. It also has the benefit of detaching them when you’re not at home and playing them in tabletop mode.
When the Wii U didn’t do very well, I was worried the Nintendo Switch might be the final console outing for Nintendo. Perhaps they’d go the same way as Sega. But, the success of the Switch gives me hope that they’ll continue on. When more games come out, it will definitely raise its appeal, but at the present time, it’s essentially a device to play Link’s latest adventure.
