We've had the Nintendo Switch here in Ars' orbiting HQ for a few days now, and while we're still working on a more thorough review ahead of launch, we're now able to share some initial impressions of the final retail system to add to our hands-on time from last month.
So far, testing out the Switch has exclusively meant playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the only one of nine confirmed launch games we have our hands on as of yet. Any significant non-gaming or online functions are tied to a "Day One" system update that likely won't be available in time for pre-launch reviews. Further thoughts on the experience of motion controlled games (like 1-2-Switch), or games that support individual Joy-Cons held horizontally (like Super Bomberman R) will also have to wait.
[...] My favorite way to play Breath of the Wild so far is with the Joy-Cons detached from the system, one held in each hand. You can connect the individual controllers to a centralized Grip to make them feel more like a standard dual-stick controller, but I'm not sure why you would want to. Held separately, you can lounge around comfortably with your hands and arms resting literally anywhere, rather than having to scrunch them together directly in front of you.
[...] Despite its thin profile, the Switch feels relatively hefty in the hand and comes across as much denser than the likes of the 3DS or Vita (and especially the airy, toy-like tablet on the Wii U). The tablet itself is solidly built and doesn't feel in danger of snapping apart under stress.
[...] We'll be putting the Switch through as much testing as we can leading up to its March 3 launch next week. For now, though, my inner seven-year-old is still marveling at how far Nintendo handhelds have come since the original black-and-white Game Boy.
-- submitted from IRC
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 26 2017, @08:19PM (2 children)
for me, nintendo enlighten me.
i got the old second gen "flip-phone" nintendo consoles with two hearing-aid batteries more then once (twice?). any game was a novelty (LCD).
however i never got much further then 100 points.
at that trump-kindda age, 100 points was alot made me feel like i got somewhere.
then i was on a trip to india with my family and with nothing to do but play donkey kong on flip-phone nintendo on the bus i discovered that it was possible to get 300!!! and more points on the device.
NES .. yes but it was wall-plug.
SNES ... yes, but it was 50 Hz and not available.
super famicon ... yes! sure with a 60 NTSC to PAL converter. everybody borrowed it.
n64. yes. it traveled the world and is a deity.
cube? no ...
next? no ...
next2? ...
maybe it's time to revisit 9-10-do?
(Score: 2) by jasassin on Monday February 27 2017, @01:33AM
Mario64 would have been enough for me to get the n64, but it has Zelda and star fox, wipeout, jet force Gemini, sin and punishment, have to mod your us n64. Awesome console. No load times.
jasassin@gmail.com GPG Key ID: 0xE6462C68A9A3DB5A
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 27 2017, @02:11AM
"flip-phone"
The word you are looking for is clamshell.
Sounds like the old Game & Watch [wikipedia.org] handhelds from before the launch of the Gameboy.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 27 2017, @02:18AM (3 children)
Buying Nintendo products has been a recurring nightmare recently. The NES Mini, Pokemon Go+, most models of New 3DS and of course preorders for the Switch have either been completely sold out or intermittent since the holiday buying season. Part of it has to be blamed on scalpers, as you can find most of those are grossly inflated prices online, but Nintendo needs to get it together. I ended up placing an order to import a HK Switch, so my big test will be to see if I get that before Nintendo can get retail units in the U.S. again.
(Score: 2) by Magic Oddball on Monday February 27 2017, @09:20AM
It's not just lately — the same thing happened during the 1996 holiday season with the release of the N64. My brother only got one for Christmas because relatives in rural Oregon somehow managed to snag the last one at a Toys R Us that "nobody goes to anymore." Though from what I've read, Nintendo has been overly cautious since entering the industry out of fear they'll land in the kind of inventory nightmare that flattened Atari in the early 80s.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday February 27 2017, @05:24PM (1 child)
I don't find that to be a problem, probably because I don't try to get the new shiny toy right after its release (or in the first 3 months, in the case of Nintendo).
Turns out the games are just as good a few months later. I don't have stupid friends.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 27 2017, @06:26PM
Amazon is listing the Pokemon Go+ as being available March 6th. It was released and has been out of stock since September 16th of last year. Scalpers have had them listed with a 300% markup, down to about 150% in the last month or so. As for the Switch specifically, first shipment consoles are often the most desirable hardware revision for jailbreaking and other uses.