In the introduction to this series, I talked a lot about how I got over my irrational hatred of the Nintendo Switch, and came to accept it for what it is. In these next few posts, I intend to break down the console and its ecosystem feature by feature, bit by bit, in extreme (arguably excessive) detail. In each case, I will explain how I used to think about each characteristic, then about how my opinion has shifted (assuming it HAS shifted).
I do not expect anyone to gain anything from reading these posts, but as I alluded to in the intro, writing it all down helped me get a lot of lingering thoughts out of my mind, which made it an extremely therapeutic process.
For this first entry of my analysis of the Switch, we take a look at what I consider the “core features”, the aspects of the console that are the most visible and important.
Side Note - I have one of the newer models with the better battery life, which is going to inform some of my opinions.
Size and Weight
What I thought then - The Switch is too big and too heavy to be a true portable
What I think now - The Switch is not too heavy, but It’s merit as a portable still varies per individual use case.
The Switch is not by any means featherweight, but it is not heavy enough to fatigue me, even after hours of handheld play. It only really feels heavy if I stop and focus on it. This is exactly what I was doing when I first tried playing it back in 2017, as I had an axe to grind. But now, when I am focused entirely on having fun with it, the weight of it never registers.
As for its size - and the impact of it size on its portability - that’s a bit trickier. As a “portable for you to take with you to different rooms in your home”, the size is fine. As a “portable to take with you when you are out and about”, the calculus becomes more complex. I am the kind of guy who thinks the 3DS XL and the Playstation Vita are both perfectly pocket sized - but the Switch? Not a chance. The only way that thing is leaving the house is if you put it in some sort of bag. If you do not typically go out carrying a bag - or you go off to places where having a bag is not feasible - using the Switch as a true “on the go” portable is a nonstarter.
Back in 2017, I considered this … characteristic (I use to call it a flaw) a dealbreaker on its own. Nowadays, I still think this is something people should keep in mind when deciding whether a Switch is right for them. As for me personally, I finally came to the conclusion that it is not a problem for me - I just thought it was.
Back in the day, when I was younger (and single), I hardly went out the door without either my DS or PSP in my pocket. I took a lot of public transportation back then, and I was the kind of person who couldn’t sit ten minutes in a waiting room without itching to play something.
My assessment of the device’s portability was based on those old needs. But things are different these days. I rarely take public transport, and if I have ten minutes in a waiting room, I am taking a power nap. In other words, in cases where I normally do not go out of the house with a bag, I cannot see myself having any desire to bring my Switch along.
Then I did a mental inventory of when I would want to have it. The list consisted of things like “going on a road trip”, “going on a flight”, “going on vacation”, and “going to a family member’s house”. In all of these cases, I would have some sort of bag, so the Switch’s lack of “pocketability” becomes moot for me.
Screen Quality
What I thought then - The screen is … kinda crap. Why the big fuss?
What I think now - It’s pretty good
My original, negative opinion of the screen was born from two factors. The more important one is that my first experiences playing a Switch was when I got a chance to use my (then six year old) nephew’s console. It was about as sticky, and had as many fingerprints on it as you might imagine. On top of that, the brightness was cranked all the way down. Not exactly the best conditions under which to evaluate the quality of a display.
The second factor - and I admit this is a hot take - is that some of my earlier impressions of the Switch came from seeing Breath of the Wild in Handheld mode, and … well … I think that game looks like a hot blurry mess in Handheld mode.
Once I got my own Switch - with a clean screen and a copy of Smash Bros - I realized that I was just having fun, playing games, and not really thinking about the screen quality at all. That is when I realized it was at the very least, good enough.
Battery Life
What I thought then - The battery life is trash!
What I think now - The battery life on this new model Switch is good enough
This is the one area in which I think my original stance was valid - the original Switch model had some atrocious battery life. Playing Breath of the Wild on high brightness would allegedly kill it after roughly three hours. That is simply unacceptable for a portable device, and I don’t see how you can honestly argue that it does not detract from the device’s utility.
But the new model Switch apparently doubles the battery life in some cases, with a minimum life of around five hours on max brightness. The way I see it, if you can play it for longer than a standard work shift before needing to plug it in, it should provide most people with enough juice to get them through between charges.
Other Thoughts
- I looked into why, exactly, people think the Switch’s screen is so good. This is the explanation from one Reddit user. I have no idea how accurate this is, but it certainly sounds plausible:
Thats because the Switch’s 7-inch display has a greater pixel density than most 4K Monitors at 24-inches. If anything, thats why games are able to look so good on the more limited hardware.
- Depending on your age, experience level with gaming, etc. I either feel lots of sympathy, or zero sympathy for you if you bought the Switch at launch. For someone my age, with my gaming background, the prospect of buying it at launch - even if I wanted one back then - was zero percent. Nintendo always does hardware revisions of its portable systems. I knew it was only a matter of time before the same happened for the Switch. And I was right! We already have two revisions - the Switch Lite, and the OG model with better battery life. Either way, the wait was wise.
In the next part of this series, I take a look at the controller situation.