Switch, is it worth it?

[Blackmagezero]

Hey anyone have a Nintendo switch, if so is it worth it? I have been thinking about getting one but so far there are only 2 games I want for it. So any pros and cons of the system would be nice to know.

Also are the controls good? They look a little small for my big hands.

[Zainox]

I've got one. Barely played it. But with that said, I think it's a great console. It has it's few quirky Nintendo-esk games. Splatoon, Mario + Rabbids, Arms, Mariokart. Zelda's new Breath of the Wild is an amazing game and a must buy in my opinion. But I think the real shine of the new console is how willing it is to take on 3rd party games. If that's your thing, I think this is a great console for it. When I'm at home, I usually just want to sit down and grind some good ol' triple A title games. So most of my time is spent on that. Thanks to the switch, I can also play some of the decent 3rd party games out there on the go. It's pretty damn nice and really convenient. I'm planning on buying Stardew Valley for it soon. There will be lots of hours lost on my switch to that game.

[ZombieWolf2508]

If you get a good one, I'd say it is. My dock stopped working after a week, but I also have a console from launch. There's plenty of interesting games out for it, the big one being Breath of the Wild (an amazing game aside frim the plain and easy "dungeons"). Controls are fine for me. Joycons may be too small if you have big hands, though.

[Takatofan1986]

It seems to be a really nice console, what I've played of it, they just need a better selection of games. It seems to have a great design, and it has really great graphics. I bed when Mario Odyssey comes out, sales will go up.

[Kaitou Ace]

I'm pondering getting one sometime this holiday season, I've played with one, and it seems like a solid device with a decent amount of power and I am a fan of portability.

[Zainox]

I also wanted to note that I think the joycons are very "meh", but I haven't played a game yet like Arms or something where they can truly shine. I instead went out and bought a game pad controller for the Switch.. They feel good and do the job well.

[Blackmagezero]

Well thank you all I think I'll wait until after thanksgiving to buy one, but I do plan on buying one now. Also I found out there is a metroid game coming so ya I have to have that.

[Pinkuuuu]

I want to be able to get a pink switch!!~

[MilkyShoe]

I would say that it's worth it, just a little bit hard to actually get a hold of one and hopefully the console can do more then just play breath of the wild, mario and smash.

[Pinkuuuu]

GAME stores in my city have loads of them in stock lol

[Hanamaru Kunikida]

I'm waiting for Xenoblde 2 to come out.

[.:neuko:.]

I don't own a Nintendo Switch (yet), but having played on someone else's Switch for countless hours, I think it's certainly "worth it". As a portable it's an amazingly powerful and flexible gaming system. As a home console, well, it's a quite a bit more powerful than the Nintendo Wii U and that's good enough for me. Of course, I wouldn't expect a gaming system with such a small form factor to be as powerful as say, an XBox One when the latter is many times larger and designed to draw power from a mains outlet as opposed to a lithium battery.

I'd say the Switch controls are okay for casual gaming, and my fingers are pretty long if that's any indication. If you're going to play games like Ultra Street Fighter 2 though I'd strongly advise using the Switch Pro Controller (sold separately) instead of the standard Joy-Con controllers as the latter isn't ideal for such games. Vigorously sliding your thumb over four separate buttons to pull off fancy moves is cumbersome at best and feels like rubbing a cheese grater. Also the left and right triggers could be more resistant to pressure as it's too easy to accidentally press them in more intensive games. The analog controls are nice and responsive without feeling overly sensitive or sluggish. The size and button layout the Joy-Cons are acceptable for a portable and the grip is surprisingly good considering the underside of the switch lacks any grooves. I can only speak for myself of course but I managed to play Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for 3 hours straight (damn I love this game!) and only felt a slight cramping sense in my fingers. I get this with all portable devices I use though, so either it's just my piano fingers or this is the inevitable drawback of portability.

There are many games I've already slated on my wish list for the Switch (should I buy one), including Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Splatoon 2, Super Mario Odyssey, Arms, Bayonetta 2, Sonic Mania, Snipperclips and Fast RMX. I would have added Xenoblade Chronicles 2 to the list as well had it not been for the many issues that plagued it upon release and even after several patches. Moreover, the somewhat unstable performance of this title has led me to question the Switch's ability to run certain open world games. Now it might sound like I'm going off on a tangent here, but I am going somewhere with this. You see, while I do like the Switch, I'm also realistic about the games I expect it to run... smoothly that is, and this goes especially for ports.

Thankfully, the Switch hardware is designed such that most ports perform solidly enough and compare well with the competition as far as I'm concerned; it's just... well, they're not exactly utilising the Switch's more innovative hardware features (the kind that seem to give Nintendo games an edge), which is a shame though not unexpected. On the other hand there are some open world (or open world like) games that may be indeed optimised, but are clearly too demanding for the Switch. Personally, I would include games such as Payday 2, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and, as excellent the port turned out to be, Doom. There is a common theme with these games: they all require the Switch to quickly stream assets in and out of RAM, and in turn this takes a hit on one of its biggest bottlenecks: the shared bandwidth of the CPU and GPU. That's not to say the Switch can't handle open world games given the stable performances of titles such as Super Mario Odyssey, Yooka Laylee, Lego City Undercover and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. However, these games are either last gen, or designed such that they don't require assets to be streamed constantly. In any case, it doesn't bother me that the Switch can't handle (or won't support) every open world game I would like to play on the go. On the contrary, I don't want to see open world games shoehorned on the Switch just because it can barely run them or because fans are demanding them.

I raise the above point because the Switch is doing extremely well and I don't want it to lose its momentum. For now it's thriving nicely off high-quality Nintendo titles, indie games and some excellent Wii U ports; but it could easily loose its foothold if Nintendo release too many games like One-Two Switch or third party publishers start pandering to unrealistic expectations. Not to mention, the Switch is a very accessible platform which is ultimately a good thing but without some robust quality control could be reduced to a shovelware-infested cesspit. I truly hope this doesn't happen. If I wanted easy access to shovelware I'd get a Steam account. Games like Payday 2 and Xenoblade 2 are perhaps cautionary tales of what happens when excessive pandering and sales-guaranteed release dates take precedence over scalability and rigorous game testing.

The Switch itself is arguably a return to what Nintendo does best, and frankly what the Wii U should have been. Yet outside of its gaming flexibility it's not without some inexcusable oversights. While they are far from deal breakers, it's hard to understand how some of the most basic features can be so inadequate on an otherwise well designed gaming system. A year on and the Switch still doesn't have an integrated voice chat (last time I checked) and you cannot password protect your user profile, so all of your gaming data is at risk of deletion should you let, idk, a 5 year old play on it. These features feel so half baked and tacked on that I wish they were not there at all; it just feels like an insult... like being given $1000000 and then being limited to spending $1 dollar a day. Also the price for an extra Switch Dock is ridiculous.

Still, all things considered, worth it!

[Hikarin]

"Is it worth it"?!!

Well, in regards for the controls, attached to the switch they are fine. It's just like a massive DS.... maybe easier.
When detached, they are still quite useable albeit seemingly weightless (coming from a tall girl with somewhat large hands). If this is a problem for you though, the box comes with an attachment to put onto the Joy Con. It makes it a little bit smaller than your typical console game controllers, but it's probably about as comfortable as holding a PS4 controller.

I was somewhat nervous about what the resolution would be like on the Switch screen (I can't have a TV set up at the moment, so I can only play it that way for now).
Not so much about simpler games, but thinking about Zelda: Breath of the Wild, it made me a little nervous. And yet my fears were unfounded! Even in such a detailed game as that, it was easy to play on the smaller screen without missing anything. Nothing was ever out of focus, and it wasn't a struggle to see.

The touch screen is also such a blessing when it comes to needing to type. I hate the "scroll over to the next letter" method that you must suffer with most other consoles, unless you buy a separate keyboard. It's very easy to use, and it has never missed the mark.

The sound from the system itself is also better than expected.

Fitting the switch into its console dock is also very easy and quick to do, and the way they have designed it makes it hard to make a mess with cords.

So hells yeah, I recommend getting the Switch.

If you want to know about games on it, I'll let you know what I have and you can ask me more about that title. It's a small list for now, but it's still new. I only got my Switch in December. =3
So far the games that I have are :

Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Bayonetta
Bayonetta 2
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Fire Emblem Warriors
Pokken Tournament DX
Rocket League
Death Squared

I doubt that I will get the new Hyrule Warriors release since I already have it on Wii U and 3DS. I've heard that the only extra is a costume, so that's not likely.
I've also pre-ordered Octopath Traveller.

On a very random note, I learnt this month something surprising about the Switch game cartridges.
Did you know? If you lick the top of the cartridge, a really bad taste will spread across your tongue. It's to discourage little children from putting them in their mouths and/or swallowing them.
Seems like it's becoming a bit of an unexpected prank amongst adults, though. xD

[Logi]

"Is it worth it"? Why, yes, if you must know.

[Reynoso]

I agree. I think Switch is definitely worth it. The games so far have been pretty solid. I just hope more devs will start making/porting their games to Switch.

[erwingame]

Seems still worth it.