It could be argued that the Switch is natural progression for Nintendo; the Wii U, Nintendo’s last console, had a screen that could be used instead of the TV, thought that was tethered by a weak wireless signal which meant that even leaving the room to play a game was impossible. The console before that had Wii Remotes, motion sensitive batons which promoted new and exciting ways to play games, especially in multiplayer.
Consider Switch the next evolutionary leap, then, in Nintendo’s console history. It takes the Wii remotes and makes smaller but far more accurate motion sensors, this time with real analogue controls built in, then it takes the off-screen play idea and transforms it into a proper handheld device, capable of not only leaving the room but also the house, both as a dedicated handheld and a portable TV with separate controllers.
My first real impressions of the Switch, earlier in the week, were that it was a little smaller than the pictures made it out to be and immediately much better looking than the plastic shiny shell of the Wii U’s screen-controller. The quality turned out to be the same across the board, from the stand which houses the console for TV play to the slide in wrist straps which hark back to the Wii days but also bring improvements to the controllers themselves.
In the box you get a neatly packed screen and Joy-cons (Nintendo’s name for their latest controllers), the stand, power cable, HDMI lead and a grip which transforms the 2 controllers in to a single, slightly more traditional device. It takes all of 5 minutes to set up, if that, and then the fun begins.
If you’re getting a Switch the best thing you can do is avoid the temptation of sliding the controllers in before you turn on the system. For one, the initial menu will guide you through the rest of the set up, including the sliding in of said Joy-cons, and secondly because it means that finally sliding them in gives you the same satisfying ‘click’ from the adverts, cue grin.
Setup is intuitive and soon has you up and running, with 2 further day one firmware updates bringing the eStore and large SD card support online. The UI has a clean, easy to use feel to it, with option icons lining the bottom of the screen, games centre stage (blank until you insert a cart or download a game) and information boxed off to the left.
The eStore has been online for over 24 hours now, so I’ve played around with it for a bit, but it’s certainly not the most comprehensive of stores at present, lots of coming soon titles and some launch indie games to download, as well as Nintendo’s big hitters like Zelda, Bomberman and 1 2 Switch.
In docked mode the console runs at 900p with the UI, upscaled to 1080p. It should be able to provide 1080p standard on any game that requires it but the 900p compromise may be to keep the UI fast and responsive. When taken out of the dock the console only needs to run in 720p, the resolution of the screen, so the GPU clock is reduced to save power. Unfortunately, even with this power-saving trick, the handheld lasted just over 3 hours.
Handheld mode is a seemless transition from TV mode, where lifting the console out of its dock will switch the picture from the TV to the small screen. Gameplay continues from this point, either with the joy-cons attached to the sides (to form a ‘proper’ handheld gaming device) or using them as you would with the TV and using the main device as a portable screen. The second option is great for taking the console around to a friend’s house and playing multiplayer games with the screen propped up on a table. Viewing angles from the side are good enough for this to work but I did find that moving above the screen washed the colours out considerably, so you’d need to ensure the screen was at full height. Although the docking station isn’t currently available separately, it’s thought Nintendo will bring these out as added extras, allowing you to dock the Switch on different TVs. Without the docking station you won’t be able to connect to a TV, even though the console’s main connection is through the standard USB-C port.
As mentioned, battery life in portable mode is a little disappointing, though it’s not all that different from the 3DS. Nintendo states 3-6 hours depending on the game, I found that just over 3 and a half hours on a medium brightness was all it could take play Just Dance, for instance (a game which streams from the internet at times and therefore will require the power-sapping wireless connection). Indies may require less power, so last longer but I’ve not had a chance to test the power of other games in this mode as yet.
The console, when docked, can manage 1080p though, as previously stated, the UI runs at 900p. It’s also clear that 1080p/60fps gaming will depend on the sort of game being played. At launch, I only know that Fast RMX manages this. That said, graphical fidelity has never been a top priority for Nintendo hardware and the focus is purely on fun and innovation. Even Zelda is running at native 900p resolution but still looks great, despite this, which bolsters Nintendo’s claims that it really doesn’t need to be competing for graphics.
Are there issues? Well there have been occasional Joycon issues with syncing to the console while I played from about 6 feet away. Moving nearer seemed to solve it, but the issues were few and far between. There are also reports of scratches from the dock, which I haven't experiences but still used a few kids stick-on foam shapes to line the inside of the dock just in case.
Overall, then, the Switch is Nintendo at its finest. For the most part, other than the dock issue, this is good quality solid feeling hardware that tries to push gaming in a different direction and provides a new way to think about playing games. If you’re anything like me, someone who doesn’t always have time to play a game on the main TV, then the idea of taking your main games catalogue on the move with you rather than some cut down mobile version is pretty amazing. Now all we need is a continuous catalogue of quality software to go with it.
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Love it!!
Great console, just lacks launch games. The system looks/ feels great. Very small to what I thought it would be. I got my switch at launch at Game and I have been playing BOTW. Iv not experienced any problems with the joy cons or any frame rate so far.The console is 1080p when in TV mode and it is 720p when in portable mode. Honestly I don't see much of a difference but iv been mainly playing it in portable mode.The controls feel small at first BUT I have gotten use to them. Iv played a good amount of hours in portable mode and the controls are still at full percentage. Where I'm so use to Xbox/ps4 controls I find it unconftable when in portable mode and the joy cons are lose in your hands. That's when you notice how small they really are.I love the fact that you can play with up to 8 controllers (bomberman R does this). It's simple to change the settings of the controls by the setting on the main screen. This means you can play them vertically or horizontally and the setting can change them to player one or two or both to be one large control.The console is very quick and responsive. There is not much of a loading time when starting up a new game. It took literally 1 minute or so to load Zelda and that is a big open world game. Iv known my ps4 to take 90 minutes to load and update a game before I can play single and multiplayer. Consider how small the console is that's amazing.Switching from portable to TV is literally a blink of an eye. As soon as you put it in the dock two seconds later it's on the big screen.The console seems quite sturdy However I do recommend a screen protector ASAP because there are reports that the dock scratches the edges of the screen!! Not happened to me thankfully. The joycons are attached to the console and accessories by sliding them into a metal frame. They seem strong enough to hold the controllers with nearly no movement at all so I'm confident it will last.It seems the motion isn't that great. I'm not sure if it's the game or the controls but in Zelda you get a puzzle board where you tilt the switch to move a ball around a maze. The maze kept getting stuck in a certain way where I had to reset the puzzle. Because there isn't many games out I can't really test the theory... I'm thinking it's the game but even aiming an arrow wobbles about a bit so we shall see in other games. Also the battery doesn't last very long when in portable, iv gotten about 3 hours of Zelda with the light all the way up.The internet connection isn't very good. From my bedroom which is upstairs and the hub is downstairs I get one bar at most. However this didn't effect me when I played the splatoon demo!There are a couple of flaws but what system is perfect in every way? Every console has a flaw even years after launch. Considering it is £280 I think it is a great device. I would hold out for more games if you are unsure about it but if you own Nintendo consoles and enjoy them then this may intrigue you. Think of it as a 3DS/ vita but with better controls, games, hardware and more ways to play.!!EDIT!!My grey switch had trouble with the battery this week so I went to the store I bought it from (Game) and they gave me a replacement after testing it. They only had the neon at the time so I took that. The colours are fabulous, I expected them to be a horrible dull colour but the joy cons are really bright and great. The battery in this console is really noticeable as I got over an hour gameplay and less then 20% was used up. Still love it however, just bad luck is all. I also noticed that when you click the joy con into place you get a grey line on the side for the grey switch and for the neon you get red on one side and blue on the other. It's to show you the controls have clicked into place!! It just shows how detailed the switches are programmed!
