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Filed under: Super Smash Bros. Series

First Thoughts on the Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch is finally here! Today, we would like to provide our first thoughts on the Nintendo Switch. Feel free to share your own in the comments below.

 

Real quick impressions before I head to bed (I still have a full day of work tomorrow before I can fully dive into Breath of the Wild and the Switch). I’ve played for about 5 hours today, so these might not be my final impressions.

 

Here’s a list of things I was impressed about.

  • The sheer size of it. Nirbion wasn’t kidding in his Germany impressions! It’s one thing to hear it, but to see it and hold it is another. It’s smaller than I imaged, and very light. It’s a well made machine.
  • The set up was quick…very quick. By the time I finished the day 1 update had almost finished downloading as well.
  • The UI is quick and responsive. Switching happens instantly.
  • There’s a lot of tech inside the JoyCons. I’m looking forward to seeing how Nintendo and other companies will utilize it.
  • The dock set up is very clean. Wires can be semi-hidden.

 

Things I wasn’t impressed about:

  • The friend system.It’s not that good.
  • I don’t like the locking in mechanic for the Joy-Con…I feel that I’m going to break it at some point.
  • The system is very bare bones. There’s not much extra stuff here.
  • The taste of the carts (kidding, kidding).
  • I don’t like the L/R button placement for the JoyCons. They feel too close to their ZL/ZR counterparts.Maybe it’s something I’ll get used to.
  • I don’t like the home screen. I hope some improvements are made in the future.

 

I’ve spent a few hours with the system thus far, mostly with Zelda. Tonight I’ll be diving into 1-2 Switch at an event. After having gone to the New York City demo event back in January, I thought for sure I’d be “used” to its size…and yet, I’m still finding myself amazed at just how comfortable and sleek this console is. I think my roommate told me I said “I can’t get over how sleek this is” about three times. Other first impressions?

  • The Mii maker is super satisfying to finally be able to give myself unnatural hair colors. It just feels super neat.
  • I’m…really surprised at how bulky the charger is. I actually had to move some other chargers/cables around just to make it fit in a surge protector.
  • Believe it or not, I don’t mind the buttons for the Joycon locking, nor the overall placement of the Joycon buttons…what actually irks me slightly is the placement of the Power Button. I think I turned down my volume a couple times accidentally instead of turning it into sleep mode when I finished my play session.
  • All of my playtime with Zelda thus far is in handheld mode. Love how it runs, looks, and has little to no frame rate drops, as far as I noticed.

I’m looking forward to playing more soon, and trying out 1-2 Switch tonight!

 

 *Insert ‘if I had one’ meme here*

 

Okay, I kid. But I’ll have one soon.

So, my thoughts on the Switch? It’s a hell of a handheld and the table top mode is a lot nicer than I anticipated. I brought the system to work and played a few rounds of Snipper Clips with a coworker and also showed off a few other games with the system in its table top setting and it was an amazing way to showcase what the Switch can do. It’s also a fun handheld console, and I surprisingly had more than one coworker compare it to an Atari Lynx (what? We’re all in our late 20’s to mid 30’s). A lot of this has to do with the size and profile of the system, obviously. Speaking of wich, the main unit is tiny! It’s so much smaller than I thought it would be, yet it is a bit on the long side with the Joycons attached. The stick placement on the right Joycon bothers me; it’s fine in the grip but it’s just strange to use when not attached. I also feel like the buttons are a bit cramped, and this comes from someone with only average size hands. I’m also not a fan of the triggers, but I understand that their design was likely a concession to ensure a good portable form factor.

I’m still not sure how I feel about it as a home console, though. Dock mode performs as advertised; it was easy to set up and “switching” back and forth is pretty satisfying, but it doesn’t wow me on this front. Perhaps I’ll feel more at “home” with it when my Pro Controller arrives. The UI is pretty slick and modern…but I’m not sure that’s a plus, really. Quirky Nintendo is the best Nintendo, in my opinion, and navigating the Switch feels way too safe and boring. We’ll have to see if the big N can’t jazz it up in future patches. I have to say that, overall, the Switch is a neat little system. I can’t wait to really spend in depth time with it this weekend!

 

I’ll make it a bit short, since I already went in great detail about my impressions from the germany Switch Preview-Event (Here’s my big Switch-Preview in case you’re interested). When I first tested the hardware, I was quite impressed and was really looking forward to the launch.

So, has my opinion changed? Not really! I still love the Switch and holding it in my hands still gives it a very good feeling. I was worried about the left JoyCon-issue but luckily, I never run into troubles. The UI is also nice and I love the simplistic design. I just wish Nintendo would have added more music, because it really feels very empty. And hallelujah for Region-Free. Buying games from the japanese eShop was never that easy. Kudos to Nintendo, who finally made an easy account-system on the Switch.

So I’m glad with my purchase and I don’t regret it…for now. To be honest, I didn’t had enough time to really test out everything. But I already forgot time, when I played Zelda and I think I will have a lot of fun with Nintendo’s Switch!



I’ve now spent a pretty good amount of time measuring up Nintendo’s latest system and I’m more impressed than I thought I would be.

Positives:

  • Everything is smaller than I thought it would be, and the system itself is lightweight. But not so light that it feels cheap. The sound and picture quality in handheld mode are beyond adequate.
  • The joycons are surprisingly comfortable. I was apprehensive about the grip & joycon combo, but it works well enough that I don’t feel the need to rush out and buy a pro controller.
  • The menus. Sometimes simple is best and navigating through them is easy, as it should be!
  • Transitioning between handheld and tv is instantaneous and buttery smooth.

Negatives:

  • Friend codes again…
  • I can’t seem to get the kick-stand out, and I’m terrified to really force it just incase it breaks.
  • The selection of profile icons is poor.
  • The power cable is very short.

The system itself is brilliant. My complaints are mostly nitpicky, but Nintendo need to follow through and deliver on the software now!

one comment
  1. The choice of icons is poor indeed. I’d like more variety as every series featured was made by EAD (or Nintendo EPD now…) and I’m sure people would complain that they don’t have Pikachu…

    Strange that given every icon is based on a series made by EAD, that F-Zero isn’t among them… But when you look at it, it makes sense considering they put so much into F-Zero back in the day only for it to fail, that they don’t consider the series recognizable enough or important enough for a profile icon…

    It makes sense why we don’t have Kirby, Fire Emblem, or Pokemon – especially Pokemon (It is the only reason why I think Nintendo Kart will never happen): They’re 2nd party, although granted with all the Miitomo and Miitopia and that Kisake plate thing featuring Kirby despite not being 1st party, you’d think that the little guy would have some more presence.

    KL-Cobalt on March 5 |