The Switch is Nintendo’s brand new console that doubles as a home and portable video game console. Having only released last week, gamers are excited to see what Nintendo has in store. I am a big fan of Nintendo games, and I want to see them do much better with this new console than the Wii U. To some degree, it seems like that is happening, but there are a few problems I want to see ironed out.
For starters, I like a few of the business practices Nintendo has implemented. I like the lineup of exclusives that Nintendo has. With titles such as “Splatoon 2,” the sequel to the Ink shooting game on the Wii U, a new fighting game called “ARMS,” “Super Mario Odyssey,” “Fire Emblem Warriors” and an improved port of “Mario Kart 8,” you got a handful of quality titles from the publisher in just the first year.
I also like that Nintendo has finally done away with locking products from different regions, also known as region locking. You can now play imported Switch games, and you can access the e-shop from different regions. This is a good thing since there were certain titles on the Wii U, like the HD remakes of “Yakuza 1” and “2,” that weren’t available for purchase in the U.S. and were exclusive to a certain region.
When Nintendo announced that you would have to pay for online services, I was fearful, but it’s cheaper than its rivals and you get free virtual console games you can download to your system each month. I am also excited for a few of the third-party titles exclusive to the Switch, like new iterations of the “Shin Megami Tensei” series and “No More Heroes” series. Both series haven’t received a console release in a long time, so it’ll be exciting to see what they come up with.
Third-party support does sound great, but it does raise some questions. While Nintendo does have a lot of game developers making titles for the system, some of them are still up in the air. Bethesda has announced they are bringing Skyrim to the Switch, an old title that is dirt cheap on PC and also available on PS4 and Xbox One, with more features including community mods and potentially charging you $60.
It’s also strange that the console has only 32 GB of hard drive space. You can buy an SD card to have more space on the console, but it’s very inconvenient to buy extra storage space. There’s also the fact that games are increasing in size. For example, last year’s “Doom” by id Software needs about 45 GB of storage, which is already bigger than the Switch’s hard drive.
I was able to go to a launch event at a GameStop and got hands-on experience with the new “Legend of Zelda” game: “Breath of the Wild.” I kept my eyes on this game for a while, and from what I played, I really enjoyed it.
“Breath of the Wild” is one of the best in the open-world genre. It is the best iteration in the series, and I think it was worth the hype. This is one game I think you don’t want to miss if you are getting the new console, but if you aren’t up for purchasing a Switch at the moment, the game is also available for Wii U.
Overall, I want the Switch to succeed, but there are some setbacks that leave me worried about the future of the console.
The titles are great, there’s no more region locking and the online is cheaper than the competition. But some third-party support is lacking, and it has a small hard drive. It also has one of the best launch titles I’ve seen in a long while. I want to see Nintendo return to the glory days back when Nintendo meant quality, and I think the Switch is on the right path to put Nintendo back on top.
