- Hey guys, this is Austin.
The Switch is nearly two years old at this point.
And while it's absolutely smashed sales records
and given Nintendo a very important win
after the disaster that was the Wii U,
it's now going on sale for the holidays.
Which, of course begs the question:
is now the time to buy?
You can't talk about the Switch
without being impressed with
the flexibility of the hardware.
Drop it in the dock
and you have a proper dedicated console.
It's kind of even better as a portable
especially when you compare this to the 3DS,
it is a way better experience.
Detach the Joycons
and you can see one of the many, many
ways of playing the Switch.
So, now that you have a stand
that you can play it in tabletop mode.
But you can also sync other controllers
including the pro controller
or even if you're docked you can use the USB controller.
There's a lot of different options
of playing the Switch.
This is clearly what Nintendo wanted the Wii U to be;
a tablet-sized console that's actually portable.
The Wii U is a good comparison here.
A lot of titles from it have imported over to the Switch,
including Mario Kart, Splatoon, Toad
and, of course, the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
There's a great selection of indie games as well,
such as Overcooked 2, as well as Dead Cells
and this is a little bit of a trend for the console.
Lots of games have found their home on the Switch,
especially the ones that aren't super graphically intensive
that run really, really nicely here.
This is also the spiritual successor
to the 3DS which means that we're finally getting games
such as Pokemon, moving over to a full,
proper Nintendo console.
For a portable it's also got some serious power.
Take one look at a game such as Wolfenstein II
and it is hard not to be impressed.
Now sure, it's way lower resolution than the PS4,
Xbox One but it does look reasonably close
and it is incredible impressive
that this is running in a handheld console.
Fortnight is a great example.
This is a game that runs on basically
every device out there but this
is the best mobile version on the Switch,
mostly thanks to the physical controls.
The thing is though, the Switch really doesn't make sense
if it's your only dedicated console.
Most big AAA games take months to make it to the Switch
and that's if they make it at all.
And on top of that they generally
don't perform as well as other consoles
and they cost full price.
This is totally fine if you wanna play
the excellent Nintendo exclusives.
But if you wanna play other games
such as Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed
or Gran Turismo, this is not the console for you.
The thing is, both the base PS4 and X Box One
are cheaper than the Switch and with those consoles
you are getting a better dedicated gaming experience.
If you don't care about the portable stuff,
they make a lot of sense.
You also don't have any kind of backwards
compatibility or virtual console here.
This is bizarre considering that it was
Nintendo who kind of pioneered
the whole idea of doing a virtual console.
Both the Wii and the Wii U could play a lot of older games
via the virtual console.
And on top of that they could also, you know,
work with a disc that you just
pop in from your last generation system.
Instead, on the Switch, I'm buying Mario Kart
for the third time on the second different platform
in the last couple years.
Is that just me?
I guess Nintendo just has to keep selling
those mini consoles, right?
Sure, you've got access to some NES games
if you pay for Nintendo's online service
but well, let's get into that.
Both PSN and Xbox Live include
current generation games for free every month
as opposed to a couple of old NES titles.
And on top of that you actually
don't even need to necessarily
pay for the Switch online service to play online.
Now yes, if you wanna play Smash, for example,
online you have to pay.
But if you wanna play something like Fortnight
you actually don't have to pay anything
because that makes sense.
There's also no proper party system,
you can't do voice chat on the console itself.
While it does support cloud saves
it doesn't work for all games.
The entire online system does just feel
a little bit half-baked.
I will give them credit,
at 20 dollars a year at least
the Nintendo Switch online service
is less expensive than PSN or Xbox Live.
But, well, that makes sense because
it's not as good.
Probably the biggest reason to hold off
on buying a Nintendo Switch right now
are the rumors that there's
an upcoming Switch Pro due out next year.
Supposedly, the Switch will have an upgraded screen
as well as potentially a little bit more power.
Now, that's all fine and good
but if you take one look at the 3DS
you'll know that there is very little chance
that the Switch is going anywhere anytime soon.
Even though there are upgraded versions
of the 3DS available,
pretty much all games do support the older version.
I expect that to be the exact same case
for the Switch.
I really do enjoy the Switch.
It feels like a glimpse of the future
of where consoles are headed over the next few years.
Now, of course, with an upgraded version on the horizon,
it might not be a crazy idea to hold off and wait.
But you could also just not do that,
buy a Switch right now
and come play Pokemon Smash with the rest of us.
Your call.