Is it worth getting a Nintendo Switch – Part two

Family Gamer Reviewer April 9, 2017 No Comments 2458 views News

Now that the Nintendo Switch is out and available for purchase (good luck finding it!) we are going to talk about what we liked and did not like about the Nintendo Switch and if it is worth getting one for your gaming family.

After having the Switch for over 3 weeks now and playing the games that are offered at launch we have seen some interesting things that the Nintendo Switch can do. First off the Switch is a great console. On the night that we were able to get the Switch there was a long list of people that people wanted it but Nintendo had a shortage and only people that pre ordered the console way ahead of time were going to get one, well that and the 4 extra consoles that they had for sale and the people (some of which were in line for about 12 hours or longer) were able to get one.

When we got home, we were going to do an unboxing and show what comes with the console but then we realized that there were a million other people doing this and decided to concentrate on doing reviews of the games and how the console works. So during out testing of the console we did see a lot of promising things with the console as well some concerns of the Nintendo Switch.

The Good:

Overall Feel: When playing on the Switch, the console feels surprisingly light and very responsive. Both the left and right Joy-Cons feel right at home on the sides of the console. The buttons are well placed and that there does not seem like any disconnect when playing “on the go” We recommend if you are picking one up and that you will be playing the Switch on the go that you should get a carrying case to keep it in. Also the fact that the Joy-Cons can be taken out for multiplayer gaming, this makes the Nintendo Switch a great console for younger children for multiplayer gaming.

Visuals: For being on a smaller screen, the game is very sharp. At times when playing a game I forgot that I could play the game on our 42″ screen here at the office but I wanted to play it on the mobile view, however when plugging it into the dock the game looked very sharp at 1080P. Zelda was breath taking in 1080P and there was little to no difference from the mobile view to Smart TV viewing.

Audio: With it being a table style of gaming console the audio from the Nintendo Switch was not that bad. The sound from the console was loud and very clear. We would advise to wear a good pair of headphones to fully get the feel of the audio from the games. As it went from mobile view to the Smart TV there is no sound from the tablet when docked but depending on the game you play we only heard stereo sound from our speakers. One of the reasons behind this is because of the size of the games on the Nintendo Switch (more on this in a bit) stereo is the best as it is a mobile console. Do we believe that more games in the future will come out in surround sound, maybe, but we will have to see.

Nintendo Switch Pro Controller (separate purchase): The Nintendo Switch Pro Controller is a separate controller that is available for those that do not want to use the Joy-Con controllers with the grip. The controller surprisingly was very comfortable and with a 40 hour internal battery life, it is the go to choice for those that want to have more of a controller for home use. When using the controller playing Blaster Master Zero and Zelda it feels very responsive and very comfortable in use. Is it as nice as the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One controller, the answer is yes, as when I personally was using it, I could not tell that I was using a Nintendo controller and it felt right at home for hardcore gamers. This is a must have for any gamer that is going to use the Nintendo Switch at home.

3rd Party Support: One of the things that have been keeping Nintendo from becoming a breakthrough console for the home was 3rd party developers support. While Microsoft and Sony will see a lot of the best games come out on their respected console, Nintendo has been left on the outside looking in but with the Nintendo Switch it gives both 3rd party and independent developers a new platform to bring out games. This is especially a good thing for independent developers as there is already a fan base on the Nintendo brand and this will introduce new gamers to games that were only available only on Sony, Microsoft and the PC.

The Bad:

Battery Life: Let’s be honest for the Nintendo Switch being a handheld console it does not have a very long battery life. Nintendo claims that it is “based on the activity that you are doing with the Nintendo Switch” and activity they mean what game you are playing but the console does not have a very long battery life. When playing Zelda the Nintendo Switch will last around 2 to 2 1/2 hours before needing a recharge. Now some may say that is more than enough time to play a short session but for other games, that may not be enough time. Especially for those that want to play multiplayer games, the question will be then, how long can we play the game on the go before recharging?

Game Memory Storage: One of the many concerns about the Nintendo Switch is that how much on board memory will it have and how will game sizes affect this in the long run. In our review we saw around 25 gigs available out of the 32 gigs that the console comes with. Now think of game sizes and how this will play into how many games are stored, already off the bat Zelda takes around 13.4 gigs of space and that is a lot and this is not even counting any other games that you will pick up. We had to purchase a micro SD card to help contain all of the games, but we fear that this may be a necessary purchase for parents picking up the Nintendo Switch. Only time will tell if this will be a issue for the Nintendo Switch users and developers.

Joy-Cons: As the Joy-Cons themselves are a small size. We did see that during long sessions of multiplayer that our hands were getting cramped from holding the controller. Now again the Joy-Cons have a long battery life (around 30-40 hours). The size of each Joy-Con is around the same length of a Twix candy bar. So think for people that have larger hands that how uncomfortable that it will be for those to use the controller. Again I can see why they made the size smaller but maybe they will have a special attachment or another type of Nintendo Switch Joy-Con in the near future.

So overall the Nintendo Switch is a promising console for anyone that is either a fan of Nintendo’s first party games and for gamers that want more of a mobile gaming platform. One thing that Nintendo does right is cater to its fan base and from the first party titles like Mario Kart, Super Mario Odyssey, Splatoon 2 slated to be released this year and many more titles that are still to come. If you are either a fan of mobile gaming and/or Nintendo then you will not be disappointed with the Nintendo Switch.

As always if you have any questions please hit us up with the #FGRSwitch and we will be happy to answer any questions for you.

Also check out our Podcast about the Nintendo Switch Here!

Here are some great accessories that you can get for your Nintendo Switch:

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Family Gamer Reviewer

Primary game reviewer of Family Gamer Review. A loving father to two children, loving husband and avid gamer. As the primary game reviewer, my responsibilities are to make sure that the game titles that I review that I can provide the most unbiased reviews for parents and guardians out there for the game, subject matter and other items within the game. I provide the honest review for the game, not based on what the game is, but for how this would fit in for the library for the whole family to play.