Switched: How Nintendo Won Me Back

[Steven]

Let me preface this by saying I have not bought a game system in nearly 12 years. In fact, for the last 12 years I would say 95% of my game playing has been via the SNES. I don't hate "modern" games. I just never cared enough to buy the systems and thus, I missed out on most games released in the past 12-15 years. In fact, I think this is the first time I'm posting in DP Modern Gaming !

And honestly, I never thought I would ever buy another system ever again.

The Nintendo Switch recently changed all of that.

I've had it for two weeks now and have devoted around 15 hours into The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and I am freaking blown away. I've only played it portable thus far and it's the only Switch game I've allowed myself to play so far. But I have also bought six other Switch games in the past two weeks. The Sinister Six being:

1. Doom ($53)
2. Rayman Legends ($25)
3. Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 ($40)
4. Lego City Undercover ($20)
5. Resident Evil Revelations Collection ($30)
6. Axiom Verge ($27)

My first game, Breath of the Wild, was an early Christmas gift given by my brother, and my girlfriend is getting me Super Mario Odyssey for Christmas.

And I haven't even explored the eShop yet, but I know I want to eventually buy titles such as The Mummy Demastered, Golf Story, Stardew Valley, Slain: Back From Hell, the Metal Slug trilogy, all those other Neo Geo classics, Blaster Master Zero, Sonic Mania and the list goes on and on. God damn, not enough time and not enough money. I haven't been this excited about game playing and collecting in a long time. I still love my SNES but the Switch is fast moving into second place for favorite consoles, knocking the Sega Saturn off its perch. With 2018 looking very promising and depending on how the following years go, it's even possible that the Switch may bump the SNES to #2.

I love the portability of the thing. It's allowed me to do simple things like playing in bed while the GF reads a book. It's just different from both of you doing the same activities on the couch. It doesn't have the same feel or zest. Kind of hard/weird to explain, but I'm sure you get my drift. I plan to travel more next year and can definitely see where playing this on the plane or back at the hotel at the end of a long exhausting day would be extremely appealing. Honestly, if the Switch were SOLELY a "play it on the TV" kind of console, I might not have been so keen on picking one up. As I get older, life gets busier and busier and I find it harder to plop myself down in front of a TV to play video games for a good length of time. The Switch somehow makes me WANT to play. I can jump right back in with the Sleep Mode and play a Breath of the Wild in bed for 15 minutes before sleeping. It's so convenient and Nintendo has truly outdone themselves this time.

Anyway, I could keep rambling on but Hyrule calls. For anyone who wants to read my way too long Switch story, you can check it out here:

http://rvgfanatic.com/wordpress/index.php/switch/


If anyone has recently "made the switch" (sorry) over to the Switch as well, I'd love to read about your own experience!

Also, I'd like to hear from those who still don't have a Switch or those on the fence. What's stopping you from getting one? Do you plan to get one eventually? Take it from a stubborn "one system man" of nearly 12 years, the Switch is more than cheat-worthy :P

[SpaceHarrier]

I have a pretty competent PC for gaming, so I only need a console for exclusives. PC gaming annoys me sometimes though, as a lifetime console guy. I hate having to trawl forums right after getting a new Steam game so I can figure out how to get the thing to launch properly, or what magic button to press just to confirm selections in menus just so I can configure controller support. Also, DRM. I am not a patient person, so even little technical hitches impeding my entertainment really get to me. I should never need to be online to play an offline single player game. It seems whenever there is an update of some kind, be it graphics card, or an update for a particular game, maybe somethings get better, others worse. For Example, I've had GTA V PC improve performance drastically with one update, then the ocean waves just turned off entirely with another, then work fine again, and the last few times I tried to log in it would just crash. I haven't even bothered in months.

I bought a Switch for exclusives, but also to escape the aforementioned annoyances. I got Snake Pass on Switch because the PC version freezes in the same spot about halfway through the game with my graphics card (still unsolved). I got Sonic Mania on Switch because I won't tolerate invasive DRM that treats me like a criminal. While consoles are more like PCs then ever before, in general you don't have 1/5 the audience for a given console having a software issue that the other 4/5 don't have to deal with, on that same console. So if something is seriously broken (initially or via patch) on console, the response will be more united in demanding a fix, since everyone is having a shared experience.

Mostly though I got Switch for first party stuff -- and the fact that it is portable. I mostly play portables these days, it's just the convenience factor. And I mostly play Switch in handheld mode. But unlike 3DS, when I want to 'demo' a game for a friend, I can do so in a way that really impresses by using docked mode. We have a bit of a 'Switch Party' whenever I get a new title, and that has been a lot of fun.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I haven't bought a Switch yet because I have no need. Unlike most, I was and continue to be a huge supporter of the Vita. I own nearly 100 physical Vita games now and have at least that many digitally. The amount of money and time I've invested into the Vita makes the Switch unappealing to me until the day comes with Vita releases stop, which despite claims that the system has been dead since 2015, is still not the case. I suspect that 2018 will be the final year of major support for Vita, but who even knows. Development is cheap, so it's possible it could be 2019 or even 2020 when we finally see an end to releases on Vita. Until then, I have no need for a Switch.

[PreZZ]

Im also a huge fan of the vita, but the only releases now are ultra niche japanese novel games and rpgs, it lacks diversity imho, sony dropped the vita way too early they could have got the same type of success as the switch if they kept pushing it with first party games. But man , portable online Doom is amazing, it is now officially my favorite portable fps of all time with kz mercenary

[Tupin]

I do indeed love the Switch. I noticed recently that a lot of shovelware is jumping onto it, though. And honestly, it needs a tech update. The inevitable New Switch will hopefully make things like, 2017 and beyond PC ports possible.

[kupomogli]

I'll be purchasing a Switch once the second revision comes out, but I'm still of the opinion that it's not going to do as well as people think it's going to. It's been exceedingly successful during its first year, but I'm under the impression that most people are the Wii U fanbase who are desperate to actually play something after going three years with next to nothing, Nintendo fans who refuse to purchase another console or go PC. Supply has caught up and the system isn't selling any better, kind of telling you the demand is dropping off, especially when it's no longer rare and hard to find, the reason it was probably selling as high as it was in the first place.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Im also a huge fan of the vita, but the only releases now are ultra niche japanese novel games and rpgs.

Fortunately for me, those are among the games I look for most; they are the games that I enjoy playing because I do most of my portable gaming time in bed when I'm about to go to sleep. Reading a visual novel is very similar to reading a book. I enjoy it very much.

it lacks diversity imho, sony dropped the vita way too early they could have got the same type of success as the switch if they kept pushing it with first party games.

Yes and no. I would LOVE to see more high quality efforts like the amazing Gravity Rush, but The Vita also has a lot of well, bad AAA games shoehorned onto the platform. The same thing will befall the Switch. You have to make games that make sense with the platform.

portable online Doom is amazing, it is now officially my favorite portable fps of all time with kz mercenary

Glad to hear that. I bought Killzone Mercenary too, but I prefer to play it on the Vita TV, not the actual Vita. If I bought Doom 4 for Switch I think it would be used docked, so I might as well stick with my PS4 version. I think when it comes to Switch games, I'm going to buy games I specifically want to play in handheld mode that I can't get on Vita.

[Tupin]

See, I don't see the appeal in weakened PC ports on the Switch. I mean, good for support, but I'd rather play the superior version on a PC or a more powerful console.

[PreZZ]

Fortunately for me, those are among the games I look for most; they are the games that I enjoy playing because I do most of my portable gaming time in bed when I'm about to go to sleep. Reading a visual novel is very similar to reading a book. I enjoy it very much.



Yes and no. I would LOVE to see more high quality efforts like the amazing Gravity Rush, but The Vita also has a lot of well, bad AAA games shoehorned onto the platform. The same thing will befall the Switch. You have to make games that make sense with the platform.





Glad to hear that. I bought Killzone Mercenary too, but I prefer to play it on the Vita TV, not the actual Vita. If I bought Doom 4 for Switch I think it would be used docked, so I might as well stick with my PS4 version. I think when it comes to Switch games, I'm going to buy games I specifically want to play in handheld mode that I can't get on Vita.

Dont get me wrong, I own over 40 physical vita games and probably more digital, and i also have the vita tv! I do enjoy some japanes rpg and novels , but when all the games released in past 2 years are only of this genre its overkill !! I also own doom on the pc and xbox, but there is something that keeps me going to the portable mode of the switch, I can play online at my girlfriends or in my car with my mobile phone data, and I also like playing online while watching hockey or tv shows

[gbpxl]

Also, I'd like to hear from those who still don't have a Switch or those on the fence. What's stopping you from getting one? Do you plan to get one eventually? Take it from a stubborn "one system man" of nearly 12 years, the Switch is more than cheat-worthy :P

I don't like trading my information in exchange for entertainment, nor do I like the fact that modern games are overly dependent on internet connectivity to function as they are intended. The controller is not simple enough for me. Beyond that, there are not a lot of games that interest me. The pick-up-and-play factor of old games is very appealing to me.

Props to Nintendo for going back to non-optical disc media. It's definitely a step in the right direction.