Switched: How Nintendo Won Me Back

[RVG_Steve]

Let me preface this by saying I have not bought a game system in nearly 12 years. In fact, for the last 12 years I would say 95% of my game playing has been via the SNES. I don't hate "modern" games. I just never cared enough to buy the systems and thus, I missed out on most games released in the past 12-15 years.

And honestly, I never thought I would ever buy another system ever again.

The Nintendo Switch recently changed all of that.

I've had it for two weeks now and have devoted around 15 hours into The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and I am freaking blown away. I've only played it portable thus far and it's the only Switch game I've allowed myself to play so far. But I have also bought six other Switch games in the past two weeks. The Sinister Six being:

1. Doom ($53)

2. Rayman Legends ($25)

3. Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 ($40)

4. Lego City Undercover ($20)

5. Resident Evil Revelations Collection ($30)

6. Axiom Verge ($27)

My first game, Breath of the Wild, was an early Christmas gift given by my brother, and my girlfriend is getting me Super Mario Odyssey for Christmas.

And I haven't even explored the eShop yet, but I know I want to eventually buy titles such as The Mummy Demastered, Golf Story, Stardew Valley, Slain: Back From Hell, the Metal Slug trilogy, all those other Neo Geo classics, Blaster Master Zero, Sonic Mania and the list goes on and on. God damn, not enough time and not enough money. I haven't been this excited about game playing and collecting in a long time. I still love my SNES but the Switch is fast moving into second place for favorite consoles, knocking the Sega Saturn off its perch. With 2018 looking very promising and depending on how the following years go, it's even possible that the Switch may bump the SNES to #2.

I love the portability of the thing. It's allowed me to do simple things like playing in bed while the GF reads a book. It's just different from both of you doing the same activities on the couch. It doesn't have the same feel or zest. Kind of hard/weird to explain, but I'm sure you get my drift. I plan to travel more next year and can definitely see where playing this on the plane or back at the hotel at the end of a long exhausting day would be extremely appealing. Honestly, if the Switch were SOLELY a "play it on the TV" kind of console, I might not have been so keen on picking one up. As I get older, life gets busier and busier and I find it harder to plop myself down in front of a TV to play video games for a good length of time. The Switch somehow makes me WANT to play. I can jump right back in with the Sleep Mode and play a Breath of the Wild in bed for 15 minutes before sleeping. It's so convenient and Nintendo has truly outdone themselves this time.

Anyway, I could keep rambling on but Hyrule calls. For anyone who wants to read my way too long Switch story, you can check it out here:

http://rvgfanatic.com/wordpress/index.php/switch/

If anyone has recently "made the switch" (sorry) over to the Switch as well, I'd love to read about your own experience!

Also, I'd like to hear from those who still don't have a Switch or those on the fence. What's stopping you from getting one? Do you plan to get one eventually? Take it from a stubborn "one system man" of nearly 12 years, the Switch is more than cheat-worthy

[Tanooki]

Sounds reasonable to me there. I was fed up after Nintendo decided to slap around it's fans with its Wii for a decade and it was not a good time. Switch brought me back into wanting to buy and use their stuff again. Your reasons on ease of play for when, how, and where are big factors, and the play against it being life/time to do so. I can't say I made the switch, never lost faith in their handheld line of stuff though. It's just so easy to pick up and use considering how easily it can sleep for minutes or weeks right where you left off on a game. Not being disc based the loads are very fast in general too which helps.

 

2, 3 and 5 on your list I don't own and don't care to, but the others plus your Mario gift coming I have them and they're great games.

[flickertail]

Last year I was convinced by a friend to buy an XBox One S, which was the first console I had purchased since I bought the family a Wii 8 years ago. And right away the Xbox began to irritate me because of how much it locked up, which seemed like alot, and at the most inconvenient times... and when I say I lot, I really mean more than I would have otherwise expected for a console.

 

Maybe I'm naive, but part of the reason for buying a console instead of a computer is for reliability. You just want it to turn on and work. And it seems like an incredible chore just to get a game to boot and start playing. I guess we're not hardcore gamers, but I don't see why it has to be such a pain to navigate the menu system.

 

Anyway, this is a Switch thread, not an Xbox thread. We still play the Wii, and I even managed to lose 40 lbs this year using Wii Fit. I don't think we've touched the Xbox in months. As such, I decided to buy the family a Switch this year for Xmas. The kids and I are big Mario Kart fans, so it's time for some new tracks.

[Punisher5.0]

Welcome aboard! How did you get Rayman for so cheap?

[Rev]

Nice story. The Switch turned out to be a nice little system!

 

Here is a couple of games I like, check them out.

 

Bomberman

Retro city rampage

88 Heroes

 

 

Ive linked this in other threads. If you like actual carts vs downloadable games take a look at this list someone keeps updated.

 

http://www.nintendolife.com/forums/nintendo-switch/switch_physical_boxed_games_list_and_release_dates

[kisrael]

Here here! Switch is great - I got it for Mario Odyssey, just finished Blaster Master Zero.

 

When it first came out I was skeptical - having been burnt by the Wii U, which heck, still played the Mario Kart and Zelda game - and fact is, there aren't that many times I "need" a system to be portable, my commute is driving not subway, and at home I might as well use a TV. But there's something so nice about the options! (Honestly Blaster Master Zero probably is a bit too much on a big TV screen)

[kisrael]

Oh, one thing I wonder - with the Wii and the Switch, Nintendo has proven that form factor and low power consumption can carve out a space away from other mainstream gaming, but still terrific. My question is - is this system as powerful as an Xbox 360? Not that I'm holding my breath for it, but I would love love love to see GTA4 or GTA5 on a portable system.

I guess I'm forgetting that I've heard the system has more juice when its plugged in, at least the GPU. Don't know if there ever would be a game that would say "only works in TV mode"... (it's funny to see the return of dithering for shadows in Odyssey, vs what I assume is more "expensive" transparency... Blaster Master Zero had some of both as well)

[Tanooki]

Power is kind of relative but from what I've picked up on, it's a little bit over the edge of what the 360 could do, just not much. But it can also come down to your choice of how you code it, what tools you use and so on if it ends up running better or worse as well. I mean there's a large variety of quality on the system from 8bit looking Nicalis stuff, to that insane engine that is iDtech6 that powered 2016's DOOM and 2017's Wolfenstein II which are Switch games (and game to be Wolf in early 2018.)

 

When plugged in the system has more speed it can tap into with the processor is correct which allows for a resolution higher than 720p which the handheld mode uses. People make a big deal over it, but in the end it's not that dramatic because some of that loss is accounted for in the fact the handheld can't go over 720p with its screen. I'm sure there may be a TV only game because there are like 1-2 games now (digital,not physical) that are touch only I've read but I don't own them so I don't know the names.

[DesertJets]

My GF's cousin is visiting and she brought her Switch with her. Now before this I think she wanted a new console to replace or supplant the PS3 and for whatever reason wanted an XBox One. I was sort of tempted to get one for XMAS seeing how cheap the S was, but nothing in the game library appealed.

 

But then the Switch came into our living room. Mario Kart 8 is great and almost good enough on its own to justify buying a new console. But I saw and began playing Zelda.... holy crap. Never played any Zelda game before, never felt compelled to play one even with watching the GF play Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask on the N64. Zelda justifies the Switch by itself hands down. If there ends up being say a half dozen big titles that are must haves plus a handful of solid indie or eshop titles then I think the system is fine.

[Jess Ragan]

Nintendo burned me pretty badly with the Wii U, and by recently shuttering Miiverse. The Switch would have to be INCREDIBLE to win me back, and so far, I'm not that impressed.

[Tanooki]

My GF's cousin is visiting and she brought her Switch with her. Now before this I think she wanted a new console to replace or supplant the PS3 and for whatever reason wanted an XBox One. I was sort of tempted to get one for XMAS seeing how cheap the S was, but nothing in the game library appealed.

 

But then the Switch came into our living room. Mario Kart 8 is great and almost good enough on its own to justify buying a new console. But I saw and began playing Zelda.... holy crap. Never played any Zelda game before, never felt compelled to play one even with watching the GF play Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask on the N64. Zelda justifies the Switch by itself hands down. If there ends up being say a half dozen big titles that are must haves plus a handful of solid indie or eshop titles then I think the system is fine.

That Zelda game I know you must be aware of is unique. The old format was such a played out burnout that it was bleeding off fans for years slowly with large picture here declining sales. This who new format is nothing like they've really done depth and all before and it paid off huge. Depending how you feel about new or remastered content there's so much there to justify really digging into it and it's not even still a year old yet which is amazing.

[Silverfleet]

I've wanted a Switch since the thing got announced, and I finally got my hands on one the week of Christmas via an online purchase. The site was having a 20% off everything deal, including the Switch, so I jumped at the chance to buy it! Since Nintendo stuff rarely goes on sale or has console price cuts, I figured this was my only chance to get a deal on a Switch.

 

So far, I love it. I absolutely love it!

 

I only have two games right now: Zelda and Blaster Master Zero. Both are keeping me busy, and are great games. Zelda has really blown away my expectations and in short order has become one of my favorite games ever. Blaster Master Zero is a nice, thoughtful update to the NES classic, and stands alone as a solid Metroidvania-style game. I'm finding myself playing more and more retro-style games lately, like Shovel Knight, Shantae, Axiom Verge, etc, and the Switch seems to cater to that crowd.

 

What I like about it is that it's a real home console that you can bring anywhere as either a handheld or as a standalone console using the screen as a TV. Although some recent handhelds, like the New 3DS XL and the Vita have come close power-wise, the Switch feels like it has more horsepower under the hood and you can never have enough of that.

 

The only drawbacks I have are the following:

 

Storage: 32gb is just not enough. Yes, I can always toss a high capacity Micro SD in it, but it sucks that you have to resort to that. The same can be said about all the other consoles, though.

 

The left Joy Con's D-Pad: I wish it had a classic D-Pad, but I get why they didn't do that (because detatchable controllers that are symmetrical). At least there are other solutions, like the 8bitdo pads and Nintendo's Pro controller.

 

I'm looking forward to see how the Switch does in the coming years.

[Tanooki]

The funny thing is I do and don't agree about the 32GB storage on the Switch. It creates for me an interesting paradox with third parties that love to be lazy asses who guinea pig out broken beta level games to release buyers which is just wrong and exploitation. With so much limited space, and they can't just assume people will buy a memory card, it makes it harder for the masses to just have these 1GB+ roll out day one patches to make the game right like they do with HDD based consoles. Yes you can get smaller fixes or even some 1.1+ updates with added content and DLC, fair enough, and stuff like that, a lot, can fit into that space.

 

And I really don't see the problem with the d-pad being buttons, you have to take for account of it being out of the box a 2 controller console when they're popped off and a d-pad for buttons would not work well with lots of bad/accidental presses hitting or missing.

 

Yes the pro controller (wireless) is an expensive joke, but if you can find a well treated second hand one, you can grab those for $50 instead of $70 new. That's what I did.