New Nintendo Switch
March 30, 2017
It has been five months since the Nintendo Switch was revealed on Oct. 20. Now, the revolutionary household and portable gaming console hybrid is finally here. On March 3, it launched at a retail price of $299.99, and released alongside 10 physical video games in the form of small cartridges instead of the standard disc, as well as six digital games.
After the initial announcement, Nintendo hosted the Nintendo Switch Presentation 2017 on Jan. 13. This hour-long live stream uncovered the price, release date and some upcoming games. These included “1-2-Switch,” “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe,” “Arms,” “Splatoon 2,” “Super Mario Odyssey,” “Xenoblade Chronicles 2,” “Fire Emblem Warriors” and “Super Bomberman.” However, of these titles, the only one that was available on March 3 was 1-2-Switch, and many reviewers criticized it of being a glorified tech demo. The Switch did not launch with many games overall. This was a problem with the Wii U as well, and Nintendo did not fix it this time.
However, the Switch does have a highly anticipated game under its belt with “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild”. Despite its small launch lineup, this game alone is enough to sell consoles. “Breath of the Wild” currently holds a 97 percent review score average on Metacritic, making it one of the highest rated video games of all time. In addition, Nintendo has a relatively large 2017 lineup ahead, including most of the games that they announced at the Nintendo Switch Presentation 2017.
The Nintendo Switch has faced many critiques since it was shown to the public in January. Its online infrastructure takes after Microsoft and Sony’s Xbox Live and Playstation Plus programs respectively, requiring customers to pay in order to play their games on a network connection. However, both of its primary competitors offer multiple free games every month as an added incentive. Those games are then playable anytime that you have an active subscription. Nintendo only plans to offer one game each month, and it will expire after that month. Also, Nintendo is only giving away classic games and not any new ones. This and the lack of a voice chat feature without the use of a mobile phone application are both questionable choices for a company that has already struggled to find its place in the modern gaming market.
Despite its flaws, Nintendo Switch still continues to show promise. It has a wide range of developer support as well as a unique mechanic in its portability. Only time will tell if Nintendo’s newest console will be a success, but the ball is in their court.