Nintendo Switch Review

The Nintendo Switch is Nintendo’s entry to the ninth generation of consoles, and they tried something new. Instead of releasing a home console and a portable, like the Wii U and 3ds, Nintendo combined the two ideas together, making a portable with the power of a home console. Nintendo’s known for their innovative ideas, but do they work this time?

Hardware

The Nintendo Switch is actually only the size of a kindle. That’s the part that you carry around and is the screen to play on while you’re on the go. The way you plug it into a TV is by connecting it to the dock, which sends the screen’s image up to the TV.

The way you actually control the games and console are with the joycons. The joycons are a pair of small controllers, that you can play holding both of them, sliding them into the controller, for a more standard gaming feel. The last way to play is to have one controller with a joycon strap, letting you hold on better.

Interface

The interface of the Switch is very clean cut and organized. The home menu is very organized, and you can access the news, eShop, and other tabs without having to exit your game. Speaking of which, the console doesn’t actually turn off. It goes into sleep mode when you’re done playing, so you can play it in the morning then turn it off, go do something, and when you come back later, the game will be right we’re you left it. One problem I do have is as soon as you put in a new cartridge, a block for that game appears on your screen, and it doesn’t go away when you take the cartridge out. There are also a limited number of blocks on the home screen, so I assume the empty spaces will go away, but it’s just a minor nitpick.

Final Thoughts

The Nintendo Switch is a great console, but it does have its flaws. One main problem is that it doesn’t come with a game when you buy the console. It also locks you out when you turn it off, but that’s just a minor inconvenience.

9/10

Pros

• New console
• Joycons feel comfortable
• Cheaper than PS4 or Xbox One at launch

Cons

• No game bundled