Nintendo’s Switch isn’t quite the mobile console hoped for, but it comes close
NINTENDO is taking a big risk with the launch of the US$300 (RM1,350) Switch, which follows the company’s unsuccessful Wii U - a two-screened console concept that failed to capture the sales or great reputation of the Wii. This time around, the company jumps into the game console conversation with a twist.
I’ve played with the Switch for several days now, on a review unit provided by Nintendo. Overall, it marries the portability of the 3DS, which is Nintendo’s mobile system and its bestselling piece of hardware, with the sophistication of homebased console game systems. And despite all the ways you can play the Switch, it’s easy to understand.
You can set the screen itself on a table and play with a JoyCon - Nintendo’s name for the palm-sized controllers - in each hand, or with a friend. You can also slide both controllers into a dock that gives you the feeling of a traditional console controller or dock the screen and play on your television.
The idea behind the Switch is that it’s a lower-investment, easy to play console that can be used for party games when friends get together as well as 40-hour epics.
I was dubious about how portable the Switch would actually be. After all, the 6.2-inch tablet isn’t what you could call inconspicuous. Essentially, it’s a Game Boy for grown-ups.
Nintendo provided “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,” its exploration-focused addition to the classic franchise, for review.
In its mobile mode, the battery held out for about three hours - as Nintendo predicted.
Nintendo also sent along “1-2-Switch” — a collection of smaller, two-player games that show off the console’s social possibilities and the capabilities of its controllers, which, like the Wii, can sense motion. But “1-2-Switch” is more of a proofof-concept game than anything else. One game lets you virtually milk a cow, for instance. That does more to demonstrate the sensitivity of the controller’s ability to sense pressure and height than it does for having fun with friends.
You’ll be able to buy games separately in physical or digital form. The Switch doesn’t have much storage capacity for games – at just 256 MB – so you’ll have to pay close attention to the size of games you want to play or buy a larger memory card.