I used to be an avid Nintendo player. By “used to,” I mean back when I was like 12 and the original Legend of Zelda came out. I played the snot out of that, and out of its sequel.
But that’s about forty years ago. I played a little on the Nintendo Plus, and when my brother got a Wii I tried that for an hour or so. And that’s about it. Almost all my gaming has been on PCs (or iPhones).
What I’m hearing about Tears of the Kingdom, though, is making me jones for a console. And I finally have a decent screen–a 65" wall screen–on which I could play it. And I have a couple of kids who would enjoy it, and I’m coming into a few hundred dollars of money I can use for fun.
So, those are all the reasons for getting one. Against that, I realize that the Switch is old technology now, and that they might be releasing something different as early as next year. And if I do buy one, I’m not sure what specs I should look for. I’m also used to Steam sales for PCs, where I get games for really cheap, and I don’t know if the sticker shock for Nintendo titles is gonna prove too much. The resale market for Nintendo games looks like almost no discount at all–I’m seeing Breath of the Wild for sale for like $45.
If y’all have any thoughts–both on whether it’s worth it, and what specs I should look for, and whether a used Switch is the way to go–I’m all ears!
I did not buy one until 2020 and it is a terrific console. I’ve never cared about having the latest “PS5-level” graphics and the Switch is fun and you can even take it with you.
Breath of the Wild is the greatest game of all time and is a Switch exclusive(and Wii U, but I don’t recommend that system really).
Tears of the Kingdom, which I just got this morning, will probably equal Breath of the Wild.
Yeah, it’s a fun and inexpensive system that has a lot of great games. I’d totally recommend it.
You can get used games. I bought Breath of the Wild a couple months after it came out for $45, so I would expect used copies to go up of the new one fairly soon.
I would say you should, yeah! It has a ton of great exclusive games, and the advantage with multi-system games since you can take the Switch on the go. In addition to Zelda, Super Mario Odyssey is another must-have, especially if it hasn’t been spoiled for you already (since the game really hinges on the element of surprise). Some multi-system games I recommend you get are classic Sonic games and Crash Bandicoot. They’re great titles to have wherever you go IMO.
The Switch is also probably the best system besides PC to play indie games on. If you’re into platformers, I recommend Celeste and Shovel Knight. I’ve also played A Year Into Springs, a visual novel, which I’ve fallen in love with.
Y’all are super-encouraging in a way that I hoped you’d be . To betray my ignorance: are all Switch games playable on the go, or only certain ones?
I’m not anticipating building up a huge library of games, since that sounds really expensive, but maybe buying a Switch and two games to begin with, and then a couple games a year. PC gaming is likely to remain my first true love, given the joy of Steam.
Certain games that require motion controls are not compatible, such as 1-2 Switch, Just Dance games, and Super Mario Party. However, if those types of games aren’t your forte anyway, that shouldn’t be too big of an issue. Most are.
Like, every single game I’ve tried is playable docked. It’s a requirement of the system. But I guess the other Doper said a few games don’t work that way. 99% of games are dockable and portable.
They basically merged their home console with their handheld. Very neat.
If you’re willing to pay just $20 a year on Switch you also gain access to its Netflix style service where there are dozens of free to play games for the original NES, Super Nintendo, and Game Boy. If you’re willing to pay $50 a year you gain access to all the above and Sega Genesis, N64, and Game Boy Advance games.
It’s an incredibly good deal if you like to play old games with minimum fuss.
Nintendo games, even 3rd party games in their digital store, almost never go on sale. First party games almost never get discounted. Six years later, Breath of the Wild is still 55 dollars new. Nintendo is like Apple, it takes advantage of its ecosystem being self contained.
The controls that come with the system are garbage, so expect to want to spend money on better.
The classic game library is neat, but also shockingly anemic in terms of selection. You’ll be really into it for a while and then you’ll start wondering why they don’t have this or that awesome classic.
Breath of the Wild is much less awesome if you’ve played other open-world games. Nintendo’s target audience, as always, is people who aren’t really playing other platforms.
My suggestion: make a list of your “must play” Nintendo exclusives. Note that their current price is also their future price. Decide how badly you want to play them.
Then look at your Steam library and consider that a Steam Deck will let you play all of those games portably and on your TV.
I don’t regret buying the Switch, it’s a fun little system. But in retrospect I should’ve gotten a Steam Deck instead. I still kind of want one.
This is not true in my opinion and in many other’s opinion as well. I’ve played a pretty good amount of open world games and I would say it is the best. Famous ones I have played are:
Elder Scrolls 2-5
Red Dead Redemption 2
Elden Ring
Grand Theft Auto V
I think Skyrim, RDR2, and Elden Ring are often mentioned and strong contenders for best open world games. They are terrific.
Breath of the Wild is a lot better than those and I liked every single one of those games. Heck, those games are really amazing as well. I’m not even putting them down at all by saying they are below Breath of the Wild.
Edit: Just as a “not just Mahaloth says this” link, here is IGN’s list of best open world games of all time and BotW is #1 there. Having read the list, I also played Witcher 3 in full(both full expansion DLC packs) and would rank BotW higher than Witcher 3 as well.
I’ve played every game on this list aside from Spider-man and Metal Gear Solid V and I would agree BotW is better than all of them, even if just judging open world aspects.
My daughter has had a Switch for four or five years now. The only downside she found was that the “Joycon” controllers sometimes start drifting and can’t be reset. She’s replaced them a couple of times. The latest pair hasn’t started doing it after a year or so of heavy use, so maybe they’ve fixed whatever problem caused that.
I’d quibble with the “almost never” part of this but the generally high price point does mean that second hand value also holds up.
For games that I think I’ll only play once I can feel comfortable buying a physcial copy for £39 knowing that the very worst I’ll get on ebay resale is £30.
Indeed we are a two switch household and have just bought “tears of the kingdom” and are seriously thinking about buying a second copy knowing that we can get it for £50 and sell it on in a few months for £40 no problem.
Ooh–I had completely not thought about the resale bit. Steam games are cheap, but there’s no way to resell them. That definitely helps to offset the high cost. Thank you!
The last one I did was Metroid Dread which I got for £48 and sold on ebay three months later for £44. I reckon if you bought a game pre-owned then sold it on you are probably only going to lose 10% or so at most.
It is a valid way of doing it if you aren’t the sort of person who is going to replay so much and don’t feel the need to hang on to stuff.
I got a Nintendo Switch when Breath of the Wild came out, specifically for that game, and really should have just saved my money. The console’s been sitting on a shelf since before Covid, and apparently at some time during that it just up and died. Tried to use it for a work-related thing last month, and it just doesn’t power on any more. I’m entirely unmoved by this loss.
A big part of it was that, as a mobile device, I couldn’t use it for more than ten minutes without my hands going numb. And plugging it into a TV just really emphasized how low quality the graphics on the system are in general.
BoW itself was just incredibly underwhelming. Its widely regarded as one of the best video games ever made, and… I just don’t get why. I put maybe ten hours into it, and just didn’t find anything in it that compelled me to play any more. There wasn’t anything novel in it, nor anything that was particularly well executed, compared to similar games. I’d just finished Horizon: Zero Dawn, and it felt like a dumbed down version of that game. They even had the same plot, IIRC.
But apparently it’s just me and Johnny Bravo who feel that way, because every other person I know who’s played BoW treats it like the Second Coming, so I accept that I’m just out of step with popular taste on this one.
I’ve had systems back to the Atari 2600 and Intellivision and got the Switch upon it’s release. I found it useless for gaming on the go since the screen was just too small for 3-dimensional games and the controls were just too cramped for my hands. I’d say I played it 95% of the time on a tv set with the optional $70 pro controller. Without that I would never been able to complete Mario Odyssey or Breath of the Wild.
I have used the portable mode for the new Advance Wars game which is fine since the game is more strategy and doesn’t rely on quick reflexes.
I’d say the Switch is worth it just for the two Zelda games, Mario Kart 8, and Mario Odyssey. Outside of those titles there aren’t many “must have” games and you can find better elsewhere.
. To betray my ignorance: are all Switch games playable on the go, or only certain ones?