Nintendo Switch: My review

Since the release of the Nintendo Switch, I kept thinking about buying this console. I've always liked the concept very much, but I also had a few points of criticism. Now I was able to borrow a Switch from a friend for a week to see if I liked the console and if my criticisms came true. My experience report.

The console

The console itself is a tablet made of plastic, with a display and a kickstand on the back. Okay, it's not that simple after all. On the right and left are the metal rails that serve as holders for the Joy Cons. I will come to the latter later. On the bottom there is only the USB C port for charging the console and for connecting to the television.

There's a little more than a single connector on the top. In addition to a power button and a volume control, the slot for the game cards and a headphone jack made it there.

In addition to two fans, a kickstand was installed on the back, with which the console should be able to be set up. But this has some disadvantages. If the console placed on the table with the kickstand becomes empty while playing, it cannot be recharged since the charging connection is covered by the ground. Apropos underground: this should be as stable as possible, otherwise the console can fly over very easily. From this one can almost conclude that the whole thing was not processed properly. And yes, this is exactly the case here. But what the kickstand does quite well is protect the space for the microSD card. It's right below it.

This is what the switch looks like in handheld mode (Image: © 2017 digitaltrends.com)

On the front is the six-inch touchscreen. This dissolves in 720p. That may sound like little at first, but I never felt the need for a sharper display. The only stupid thing here is that the touchscreen turns into a mirror when exposed to sunlight.

The input options

JoyCons

The option of controlling the Switch with the Joy Cons is probably the best known. But what are the Joy Cons actually? They are the two controller sticks that you attach to the right and left of the Switch using the metal rail mentioned above. Despite the small size, it has all the buttons that are also available on the Pro Controller. This means that in addition to the ABXY buttons, you also get the directional arrows, two joysticks and four shoulder buttons. I have often heard people complain that the ABXY buttons are directly above a control stick and that this is uncomfortable to play with because you always have to reach over the stick.

I couldn't understand that at all. In my opinion, I was always able to comfortably play the games that were available to me with the Joy Cons. Maybe it depends on the size of your hand, whether you can cope with this arrangement of buttons or not.

These are the Joy Cons (Image: © 2017 curved.de)

The Joy Cons have one crucial advantage over the Pro Controller. They can be used in a variety of ways. First of all, you can mount the two controllers on the right and left of the Switch, giving you a handheld device that you can take with you. If you don't like the Pro Controller, you can put the Joy Cons in the included Joy Con Grip and play like a controller.

Unfortunately, this is not the most pleasant combination, as the distance to the other Joy Con is quite small. For Mario Kart, two players can each grab one of the two controllers and use it to navigate through the game in landscape mode. For my part, I often only took the Joy Cons in one hand and placed the Switch on a table. This gave me more freedom and was not tied to the Joy Con Grip.

I also noticed two more annoying flaws. The first thing I noticed was that the L shoulder button was no longer working properly. When I borrowed the console, I was justified in saying that it fell down exactly on this button. The second thing that struck me was that the Joy Cons in the holder directly on the switch already wobble quite a bit, which suggests that processing was saved at this point.

Pro Controller

The Pro Controller is more for use at home, when you're using the Switch on your own TV. It looks very similar to the XBOX and PS4 controllers. In my opinion, however, it was much more comfortable to hold than the ones just mentioned. The buttons are the same as those on the Joy Cons. In addition to the ABXY buttons, there are four shoulder buttons, the directional arrows and two control sticks. I could reach all of the buttons easily and they all responded quickly and accurately.

I never had to charge the controller. But if that is the case, you can recharge it with a USB C cable that is included with the controller itself. Charging via a charging station, as is possible with the Dualshock controllers of the PS4, would definitely have been a great thing here.

Here you can see the Switch with the Pro Controller (Image: © 2017 curved.de)

Specs

The Nintendo Switch is powered by an nVidia Tegra processor and the associated GPU. This processor was also used in the company's own Shield gaming tablet. When navigating through the menus, the console ran very smoothly and without a single stutter. When playing Zelda, I only noticed very small interruptions now and then on the Switch itself and on the TV, which weren't really annoying. I had the prejudice that the Switch wouldn't be able to cope with the 1080p resolution that the console can basically output on the TV. Luckily, I was wrong.

With the console 32GB of internal memory is available for, for example, scores and entire games from the eShop. The memory can also be expanded using a microSD card. Bluetooth 4.1 was installed for the connection with the controllers and WLAN can be used for game downloads or the like.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any precise information about the battery. All I can say is that it was enough for the week I had the Switch. I even came across the trip from Graz to Vienna and back again. Both trips took about two hours.

The range of games

As far as the range of games is concerned, I was pretty disappointed when Nintendo was released. On the one hand, there wasn't a single Super Mario game at the time and I could count the number of game games that were already available for purchase on my two hands. Also, from my point of view, Nintendo is charging quite a bit of money for these games.

The prices haven't really changed until today, but at least a little more games are available. And with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Super Mario Odyssey there are two pretty great Super Mario titles, at least what you hear should be pretty funny.

In my week with the Switch, I had three games to play. The first was Fast RMX. And that rather disappointed me. Basically you only race with different space gliders. Such games are also available for Android, some of which are even more fun and free. The game currently costs around 20 euros - that's okay.

Here you can see Zelda on TV (Image: © 2017 curved.de)

I was also able to play Splatoon 2. And that was a lot more fun for me. The concept of this game is just fun and time-wasting. In any case, an hour or two was lost during this week in this game. I spent by far the most time in Zelda. This game also fascinated me the most. The game mechanics, the story and the open world are just perfect. You should definitely check out the gameprohave beer.

The gaming experience

As for the gaming experience, Nintendo did a great job. In my opinion, that could have been the most important point in the development.

As everyone knows for sure, the console can be used as a simple handheld or via the TV dock on the television. It's really handy that you can continue playing where you left off at home on the go. The change from handheld mode to television mode and vice versa was always pretty quick for me. The only thing that bothered me was that fonts are not upscaled in TV mode and therefore they can be really small from time to time, especially in Zelda.

It is also practical that you can switch between many possible uses of the controller. So the name Switch fits the console pretty well.

Conclusion: will I buy it now?

No, I won't. Even though the decision was very difficult for me. And there are a few reasons for that. First of all, I think the prices are far too expensive. The Switch alone costs just over 300 euros. But then you don't get a game, a protective case or a Pro Controller. All of that is on top of that. On top of that, in my opinion, there are some pretty unnecessary titles, such as Fast RMX. So the total bill quickly comes to 400 euros.

And things like the Pro Controller are, in my opinion, essential accessories that shouldn't be missing. But one of them costs 70 to 80 euros. Then I'm still unhappy with the Joy Cons. The Switch that I was allowed to use had been in use since it went on sale and the Joy Cons no longer worked as they should and were no longer firmly attached to the Switch. Another 60 euros that I could have to pay after perhaps half a year? As great as the console is, no thanks. Overall, it's not worth it to me, as experience shows that Nintendo consoles are no longer of interest to me after half a year anyway and end up switched off and unused in the corner.

It all sounded a bit harsh, but I don't only have criticisms. I also had a lot of fun using the Switch. The concept behind it still fascinates me as it did on the day of the performance. With that, Nintendo has simply outdone itself again. I am excited to see what we will see next from the company.

"Thanks Dominik for letting me borrow your switch for the week!"

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