Nintendo have just released some details about their new games console the Nintendo Switch.
It is going to be released on the 3rd of March 2017 and will cost $299.99 in the US (I assume plus tax) and £279.99 in the UK (including tax).
The switch has different play modes and can be linked to a TV to play like a console, played like a tablet or as a hand held console. It also has touch screen and detects movement.
I feel like it’s trying too hard to be a Jack of all trades, master of none and appeal to more than just hard-core gamers.
As well as announcing the release date and pricing, Nintendo have said there is about 80 games in development including a new Super Mario game.
Other than the Super Mario game there will be a new Zelda game, a new Splatoon game, a new Street Fighter game and a new Super Bomberman game. Those are the standout games I’ve read about, I’m sure there will be more.
One good feature is the games will not be regionally locked which means you could buy a game in the US and play it on a console in the UK.
One bad feature is they have announced a battery life of 2.5 hours to 6.5 hours, that seems a big difference and if it only lasts 2.5 hours it wouldn’t be very good for long journeys where you can’t charge it up.
Another bad thing about it is that it only comes with 32gb of storage plus a micro sd card slot. Given that any decent game on the Xbox One is usually over 40gb it makes me feel like the games for the Switch will either lack content or need an micro sd card installed which is an added cost if you wanted a decent sized one.
Multiplayer online gaming will be available on the Switch for free (good thing) but later on there will be an associated cost. I don’t mind paying a monthly fee for multiplayer as I currently do with Xbox Live if I use it often enough, I’m just not sure if the Nintendo Switch will have enough multiplayer games to justify a cost, especially as I don’t think it can compete with PS4 and Xbox One when it comes to the big multiplayer games like COD, Battlefield, FIFA etc.
Having looked into the Switch and seen the price I can safely say I won’t be rushing out to get one and probably never will.
It’s not that I think it’ll be a total flop but at that price there is not enough about it to justify the cost. From a purely game playing perspective the PS4 and Xbox One will out perform it.
I would like to play its Nintendo only games like Mario and Zelda which won’t be available on other consoles but I couldn’t justify buying it just to play those games only.
I’d love Nintendo to release those games on all consoles and if the Switch does flop that might be the way the company will go in the future and stop developing their own consoles and focus on games for other consoles.
Its a shame that it doesn’t appeal to me as I’ve been a Nintendo fan most of my left. The first games console I owned was a Nintendo when the NES was released back in the 80s. Since then I also owned a Gameboy, a Gamecube and a Wii but that’s where I stopped playing Nintendo consoles.
The problem with Nintendos are in my opinion a lack of quality games and they don’t perform as well as a Playstation or Xbox.
The Wii was a fad and was good at the time for family parties but it never felt like a games console and I would always buy games on my Xbox if it was available.
Also a lot of gimmicky games were released that while utilising the uniqueness of the Wii they lacked depth and replayability, Xbox Kinnect had/has the same problem. I feel like the Switch might also end up like that where games concentrate on utilising the unique features but after a short time people will lose interest in the games.
I’m interested to see how it does when it’s released, I think initially it’ll get a lot of sales as Nintendo fan boys/girls will be queuing up to get it at midnight but after that I think sales will slow down and it might be the last new Nintendo console we’ll see for a while.
– Sparko Marco