Nintendo Switch

Is the world surprised that I bought a Nintendo Switch? No. Does the world care what I think of it? Probably not. But anyway, I like to write these things down, so here's my thoughts after nearly a week of ownership.

The Nintendo switch is properly different. It's not just a console. It's trying to be a way of life. My Xbox One sits under the telly and when I fancy a bit of Forza Horizons I can fire it up. And that's that. Walk away from the Xbox and I walk away from the game. But the Nintendo Switch wants to go everywhere with me. It can be connected to the TV. But I can also undock it and carry my games with me. The controllers can be attached to the side of the tablet, or they can be undocked and used individually, or clipped to a carrier to be used as an external controller. There's no need to buy a second controller if I fancy a bit of two player action, each player can have their own tiny controller. And I can prop the tablet on its kickstand and use it as a tiny free-standing display.

And everything I've described above just works. But there are niggles. The hardware is nice, but the screen looks incredibly easy to scratch. The slide on/slide off side controllers can be fiddly to remove and re-attach. They also have a wrist strap attachment that is horrible to use, and makes you feel like you're breaking something each time you detach it. There are not that many games available. Zelda: Breath of the Wild is awesome. A properly vast and detailed world that you can inhabit. 12 Switch is a real curate's egg. Great in some parts, very ho-hum in others. And horribly over-priced. But the SnipperClips game is fantastic. One of the best two-player games I've ever seen. I'm not sure if it was just made for the Switch, but the gameplay and the way that you use the controllers feels like it was. Great fun. If you have a Switch, you must get this game. But that's about it for the release games. Everything else is either out on other platforms or looks a bit ropey to me. Although I've heard some good things about Shovel Knight.

I've grown to like the Switch. If I'd bought a new console and stuck it on a screen in the house I'd probably have played with it quite a bit in the first week. But I've used the Switch a lot, simply because I can. I can cart it around with me, and wander around the Kingdom of Hyrule any time, and any place I want, It's not got graphical quality that I've not seen before, although Zelda does look very good on the big screen, but it does have a portability and a package that I think will appeal to folks, as long as Nintendo can keep "Zelda quality" games coming.