{"id":7312,"date":"2017-04-11T14:09:01","date_gmt":"2017-04-11T13:09:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/?p=7312"},"modified":"2017-04-27T14:18:37","modified_gmt":"2017-04-27T13:18:37","slug":"is-the-nintendo-switch-worth-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/2017\/04\/11\/is-the-nintendo-switch-worth-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Two months on: is the Nintendo Switch worth it?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Nintendo Switch hit shelves two months ago and reaction to the console has generally been positive. But is it worth splashing\u00a0your hard-earned cash on one? Here\u2019s our verdict&#8230;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h4><strong>The Concept<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Nintendo love a gimmick, although their experiments don\u2019t always pay off. The DS and the Wii were huge successes (they&#8217;re the 2<sup>nd<\/sup> and 5<sup>th<\/sup> best selling consoles of all time respectively), but the Wii U flopped badly due to a confusing name and concept.<\/p>\n<p>The good news is that Nintendo have nailed the Switch\u2019s concept. It\u2019s a near-perfect hybrid of console and handheld gaming, switching seamlessly between the two with no noticeable performance drop. The fact you can play a game as deep and detailed as <em>The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild <\/em>on the go is pretty mind-blowing.<\/p>\n<p>This quick switch between handheld and home console makes the Switch an ideal choice for time-strapped gamers and families, and it\u2019s different enough to justify a purchase if you already own a PS4 or Xbox One.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Verdict: <\/strong>There was some scepticism about whether Nintendo could pull off a true console\/handheld hybrid, but they\u2019ve nailed it.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h4><strong>The Games<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>One Switch game stands head and shoulders above the rest: <em>The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild<\/em>. Link\u2019s latest adventure, set in a sprawling open world, has received rave reviews from critics, with some even claiming it\u2019s one of the best games ever.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1rPxiXXxftE\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, the Switch\u2019s current games line-up is quite weak beyond <em>Breath of the Wild<\/em>. <em>1-2 Switch <\/em>is a good party game and <em>Super Bomberman Z <\/em>offers some retro thrills, but there\u2019s nothing to really get excited about.<\/p>\n<p>There are loads of potentially great games on the horizon though. <em>Mario Kart 8 Deluxe <\/em>is out in a couple of weeks, while <em>Splatoon 2, ARMS, Skyrim: Special Edition <\/em>and <em>Super Mario Odyssey <\/em>are all due out before the end of the year. Throw in a bunch of third party titles (including a Switch version of <em>FIFA<\/em>) and indie games, including the much-loved <em>Stardew Valley<\/em>, and the Switch\u2019s future suddenly looks a whole lot brighter.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s not forget Nintendo\u2019s frankly ridiculous back catalogue of classic titles either. Virtual Console isn\u2019t available on the Switch yet, but it should arrive at some point this year and that means you\u2019ll be able to play the likes of <em>Ocarina of Time <\/em>and <em>Super Mario 64 <\/em>on the go.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Verdict: <\/strong><em>Breath of the Wild <\/em>aside, the Switch\u2019s current games line-up isn\u2019t that exciting but it should improve dramatically by the end of the year.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h4><strong>The Cost<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>There\u2019s no getting around it: The Nintendo Switch is expensive, with the various accessories required to enjoy the full experience bumping the price tag up even further.<\/p>\n<p>The console alone costs \u00a3279.99, although that includes the dock, two Joy-Con controllers and the Joy-Con grip.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, you\u2019re going to need some games to play on it. The average retail price for a Switch game at the moment is around \u00a345, so you\u2019re looking at a further \u00a390 for two games (although <em>1-2 Switch <\/em>is a more reasonable \u00a330). That takes our total to just under \u00a3370.<\/p>\n<p>You could leave it at that, but you\u2019ll probably want some accessories too. A \u00a315 carry case (the cheapest we found) is essential if you\u2019re going to take your Switch into the big bad world, and you\u2019ll probably want a Joy-Con charging grip (\u00a324.99) if you spend most of your game time on the TV.<\/p>\n<p>If you play with friends a lot, another set of Joy-Con controllers will set you back \u00a369.99. Oh, and the Switch only has 32GB of internal storage, so you might need a microSDXC card too.<\/p>\n<p>In short, a Nintendo Switch can\u00a0end up costing\u00a0well over \u00a3500. That\u2019s a lot of money to spend, especially when you can <a href=\"https:\/\/store.musicmagpie.co.uk\/category\/?keyword=ps4%20consoles#prm_creative=ps4_consoles&amp;prm_name=ps4_consoles-TNG&amp;prm_position=L&amp;prm_id=TNGL\">buy a refurbished PS4 from our Store for around \u00a3170<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Verdict: <\/strong>The Switch is expensive. If you\u2019ve got the cash and you desperately need one now, go for it. But maybe wait until the inevitable Christmas discounts and bundles if you\u2019re unsure. Alternatively, <a href=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/sell-tech\/trade-in-consoles\/\">sell your games console<\/a>\u00a0to us and use the cash to buy a Switch!<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h4><strong>Performance<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Nintendo gave up competing with Sony and Microsoft on specs a long time ago, so don\u2019t expect top-of-the-line graphical performance from the Switch. It\u2019s not bad by any stretch of the imagination (<em>Breath of the Wild <\/em>looks incredible) but the lack of power means bigger third party games probably won\u2019t appear on the Switch.<\/p>\n<p>That said, Nintendo have never let the limitations of their consoles stand in their way before. They know how to work with what they\u2019ve got (see: <em>Breath of the Wild<\/em>) and we have no doubt they\u2019ll release some brilliant games over the next few years. \u00a0Hopefully third party developers utilise the Switch&#8217;s full potential too.<\/p>\n<p>Physically, the Switch is a great console. The Joy-Cons are a great idea and work brilliantly whether on the console or on the Joy-Con dock, although they\u2019re a little too small when used in isolation for multiplayer, while the 6.2 inch tablet screen is bright and clear.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Verdict: <\/strong>If you want groundbreaking graphics, the Switch isn&#8217;t\u00a0for you. Nintendo have a history of making the most of their hardware though, and the actual console looks and feels great.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Are you thinking of buying a Nintendo Switch but need some extra cash? Why not <a href=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/entertainment\/trade-in-games\/\">sell video games<\/a> and consoles with musicMagpie? It\u2019s easy: just get an instant price, send your stuff for FREE and, thanks to our Super Fast Same Day Payments, you\u2019ll get paid on the same day your items arrive. Why wouldn\u2019t you?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/start-selling\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6492\" src=\"http:\/\/192.168.3.178\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/startselling.jpg\" alt=\"Start Selling\" width=\"400\" height=\"80\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/startselling.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/startselling-300x60.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Nintendo Switch hit shelves two months ago and reaction to the console has generally been positive. But is it worth splashing\u00a0your hard-earned cash on one? Here\u2019s our verdict&#8230; The Concept Nintendo love a gimmick, although their experiments don\u2019t always pay off. The DS and the Wii were huge successes &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":7313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[593,4],"tags":[1557,1585,1864],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7312"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7312"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7378,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7312\/revisions\/7378"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicmagpie.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}