PRODUCT REVIEW: Nintendo Switch
(Lady Writer - Dire Straits)
In the great pantheon of video game consoles, Nintendo certainly wasn't the first, but they are arguably one of the largest. Every console they've released has created a serious impact on the industry, either because of the console itself, or what the console inspired. The Nintendo Switch is no no exception.
Clearly born from the smoldering remains of the Nintendo Wii U, the Switch represents Nintendo paying attention to the one really captivating part of that console: The game-pad with the touch display in the center of it. Perhaps more than anything else, Nintendo heard their fans when they all applauded the ability to take their games off of the big screen and into their laps.
The console itself is a departure from what most would consider the 'norm' of consoles in that the Switch is designed to be both portable and multiplayer friendly right out of the box. The console itself rests beneath a 6.2" screen rendering its games at 720p and 60FPS. It comes with a dock that you can rest the Switch inside of to throw the game up on your television at a full, glorious 1080p. Some people might frown on the lower resolution while in hand-held mode, but the simple fact of the matter is that you don't need high definition graphics when you're dealing with a screen that size. Lower resolution means lower battery consumption through less power requirements for the console's graphics hardware. And speaking of battery, the on-board power cell easily provides 4+ hours of battery life. (Nintendo claims over 6, but my results haven't lived up to that at all.)
Control is handled by familiar-looking buttons on each side of the console, complete with trigger and bumper functions that have become so popular in current consoles. Part of the Switch's appeal lays with these controllers, which Nintendo calls JoyCons. You can remove both JoyCons from the console and, depending on the game, two people can each use one for some on-the-fly multiplayer action. The Switch's excellent remaster of Mario Kart 8 is an excellent example here. JoyCon battery life is excellent; I've never had a JoyCon threaten to go dead on me before the central console's batteries go, and I've played with them for hours without needing to charge them up.
Released in March of 2017, the Switch is now host to hundreds of game titles, the majority of which are available through its online shopping service, built into the console's OS. It's easy to buy digital game codes through places like Amazon or Big Box stores and then go right online to download even triple A titles in a matter of minutes. I downloaded the new Super Mario U Deluxe title today in about 20 minutes over WiFi.
The Switch comes with 32GB of internal storage, and a wise man would reserve that storage for games you cannot buy physical copies of. Believe me, there are a lot of them out there, and 32 Gig goes away FAST. The good news? The Switch comes with a MicroSD/SDXD port on the back for expandable storage. Given that they were showcasing 1TB SDXD cards at CES a few days ago, you shouldn't ever be at a loss for storage. For the games you can buy in the flesh, Nintendo has wisely gone away from optical media and moved to solid state cards that are quite similar to MicroSD in format. It seems almost wasteful to have a huge Jewel Case for each game when the game itself is the size of your thumbnail.
Nintendo has easily claimed a strong spot in the current console market, and they've solidified it with several must-have titles like Breath of the Wild, Hollow Knight, Mario Kart 8, Super Mario U, and a plethora of other incredible titles. It might be a perfect win for Nintendo, if not for one very, very large problem:
Bluetooth.
Heavily publicized when the console was launched, the Switch is notorious for its JoyCons unsyncing and disconnecting from the console when not directly connected to it. The reason? Nintendo elected to take the cheap way out when manufacturing their consoles and their JoyCons. The bluetooth arrays on the JoyCon main boards are In-Line rather than discrete, making their signal strength and connectivity weak and erratic. Even now, well over a year after the console's launch, the unit I purchased in mid-December of 2018 has the same issues. While Nintendo hasn't fessed up to any of these accusations, they -have- started offering to repair or replace JoyCons for free, no questions asked. In the mean time, multiple hardware teardown sites have analyzed JoyCons pre and post repair by Nintendo, and the only real thing that the gaming giant seems to be doing to resolve the issue is to put a small blot of conductive foam over the BT array to help signal strength. While this appears to have resolved connectivity issues with anyone seeking the repair route, it's a rookie move that Nintendo chose to make. It's doubly disappointing when you consider that the Wiimote controllers were rock-solid in terms of connectivity, as were the Wii U gamepads.
Alas, the troubles don't stop there.
Nintendo, more than any other vendor out there in the space, is known for their razor-sharp controls and games that leverage them. 2D Mario games have always been the gold standard for platforming over the years. Unfortunately, Nintendo dropped the ball here too with controller lag. Remove your JoyCons from the Switch, dock it to your TV, and attempt to play from the couch? Do so at your own peril. Playing with JoyCons removed injects a noticeable amount of button lag into the equation. This is less of an issue with some games like Mario Kart where controls are doughy and sluggish, but on games like Hollow Knight, Dead Cells, or Super Mario U Deluxe, sloppy controls ruin the entire experience. Yes, you can just connect your controllers up to the console and play the games in your lap, but that effectively destroys the ability to play games multiplayer using the JoyCons, to say nothing of preventing you from playing on your TV.
The Switch is an incredible achievement. It places a full-blooded game console in your lap and allows you to play AAA titles on the go. The UI is good, the eShop is full of excellent titles and Nintendo even offers a $20/year subscription that gives you access to a growing library of NES titles that you can stream endlessly as part of your membership. It's just a shame that they couldn't go the extra five percent to bring the console's status from incredible to legendary.
Do I regret my purchase? No. I just wish Nintendo hadn't dropped the ball on such an obvious necessity.
In the great pantheon of video game consoles, Nintendo certainly wasn't the first, but they are arguably one of the largest. Every console they've released has created a serious impact on the industry, either because of the console itself, or what the console inspired. The Nintendo Switch is no no exception.
Clearly born from the smoldering remains of the Nintendo Wii U, the Switch represents Nintendo paying attention to the one really captivating part of that console: The game-pad with the touch display in the center of it. Perhaps more than anything else, Nintendo heard their fans when they all applauded the ability to take their games off of the big screen and into their laps.
The console itself is a departure from what most would consider the 'norm' of consoles in that the Switch is designed to be both portable and multiplayer friendly right out of the box. The console itself rests beneath a 6.2" screen rendering its games at 720p and 60FPS. It comes with a dock that you can rest the Switch inside of to throw the game up on your television at a full, glorious 1080p. Some people might frown on the lower resolution while in hand-held mode, but the simple fact of the matter is that you don't need high definition graphics when you're dealing with a screen that size. Lower resolution means lower battery consumption through less power requirements for the console's graphics hardware. And speaking of battery, the on-board power cell easily provides 4+ hours of battery life. (Nintendo claims over 6, but my results haven't lived up to that at all.)
Control is handled by familiar-looking buttons on each side of the console, complete with trigger and bumper functions that have become so popular in current consoles. Part of the Switch's appeal lays with these controllers, which Nintendo calls JoyCons. You can remove both JoyCons from the console and, depending on the game, two people can each use one for some on-the-fly multiplayer action. The Switch's excellent remaster of Mario Kart 8 is an excellent example here. JoyCon battery life is excellent; I've never had a JoyCon threaten to go dead on me before the central console's batteries go, and I've played with them for hours without needing to charge them up.
Released in March of 2017, the Switch is now host to hundreds of game titles, the majority of which are available through its online shopping service, built into the console's OS. It's easy to buy digital game codes through places like Amazon or Big Box stores and then go right online to download even triple A titles in a matter of minutes. I downloaded the new Super Mario U Deluxe title today in about 20 minutes over WiFi.
The Switch comes with 32GB of internal storage, and a wise man would reserve that storage for games you cannot buy physical copies of. Believe me, there are a lot of them out there, and 32 Gig goes away FAST. The good news? The Switch comes with a MicroSD/SDXD port on the back for expandable storage. Given that they were showcasing 1TB SDXD cards at CES a few days ago, you shouldn't ever be at a loss for storage. For the games you can buy in the flesh, Nintendo has wisely gone away from optical media and moved to solid state cards that are quite similar to MicroSD in format. It seems almost wasteful to have a huge Jewel Case for each game when the game itself is the size of your thumbnail.
Nintendo has easily claimed a strong spot in the current console market, and they've solidified it with several must-have titles like Breath of the Wild, Hollow Knight, Mario Kart 8, Super Mario U, and a plethora of other incredible titles. It might be a perfect win for Nintendo, if not for one very, very large problem:
Bluetooth.
Heavily publicized when the console was launched, the Switch is notorious for its JoyCons unsyncing and disconnecting from the console when not directly connected to it. The reason? Nintendo elected to take the cheap way out when manufacturing their consoles and their JoyCons. The bluetooth arrays on the JoyCon main boards are In-Line rather than discrete, making their signal strength and connectivity weak and erratic. Even now, well over a year after the console's launch, the unit I purchased in mid-December of 2018 has the same issues. While Nintendo hasn't fessed up to any of these accusations, they -have- started offering to repair or replace JoyCons for free, no questions asked. In the mean time, multiple hardware teardown sites have analyzed JoyCons pre and post repair by Nintendo, and the only real thing that the gaming giant seems to be doing to resolve the issue is to put a small blot of conductive foam over the BT array to help signal strength. While this appears to have resolved connectivity issues with anyone seeking the repair route, it's a rookie move that Nintendo chose to make. It's doubly disappointing when you consider that the Wiimote controllers were rock-solid in terms of connectivity, as were the Wii U gamepads.
Alas, the troubles don't stop there.
Nintendo, more than any other vendor out there in the space, is known for their razor-sharp controls and games that leverage them. 2D Mario games have always been the gold standard for platforming over the years. Unfortunately, Nintendo dropped the ball here too with controller lag. Remove your JoyCons from the Switch, dock it to your TV, and attempt to play from the couch? Do so at your own peril. Playing with JoyCons removed injects a noticeable amount of button lag into the equation. This is less of an issue with some games like Mario Kart where controls are doughy and sluggish, but on games like Hollow Knight, Dead Cells, or Super Mario U Deluxe, sloppy controls ruin the entire experience. Yes, you can just connect your controllers up to the console and play the games in your lap, but that effectively destroys the ability to play games multiplayer using the JoyCons, to say nothing of preventing you from playing on your TV.
The Switch is an incredible achievement. It places a full-blooded game console in your lap and allows you to play AAA titles on the go. The UI is good, the eShop is full of excellent titles and Nintendo even offers a $20/year subscription that gives you access to a growing library of NES titles that you can stream endlessly as part of your membership. It's just a shame that they couldn't go the extra five percent to bring the console's status from incredible to legendary.
Do I regret my purchase? No. I just wish Nintendo hadn't dropped the ball on such an obvious necessity.
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