Nintendo’s Switch presentation was a bit of a downer, if I’m honest. The hardware didn’t surprise me because of the early leaks. The software lineup was shockingly scarce and the price was far too high compared to its contemporaries. But then there was The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey which captured my attention.
The Price
Let’s address the elephant in the room right away: the price. $399.99 is far too much for the Canadian market. This is well beyond impulse buy territory and into “compare & contrast before I buy” territory. If I didn’t own any of these new consoles, why would I buy a Nintendo Switch when I see Sony and Microsoft offering console bundles with games at a lower price point. At the time of writing, I can buy the PlayStation 4 Uncharted 4 Console bundle for $328.96 — that’s a more powerful console with a quality game for $70 less. Then I can use that $70 to buy another game. For nearly the same amount of money as the Switch alone, I could be playing two games on a PlayStation 4.
Nintendo are asking a lot out of parents and neutral gaming fans with the hardware price.
But let’s say you’re a Nintendo fan and love their first party efforts and don’t mind paying more for a console class portable. Nintendo aren’t playing nice with the accessory pricing either. A Pro controller for $89.99. A pair of extra Joy Cons for $99.99? Apparently, Nintendo believes its ardent fans have deep pockets. The extra Joy Cons are a nice luxury but I feel the Pro controller is a borderline must with certain games. The lack of proper d-pad on the Joy Cons is reason enough to pick up a Pro controller. The Joy Con Grip configuration may be sufficient but it appears very unorthodox and for the sake of comfort in character action games and shooters, the Pro controller may be superior.
Then there’s the matter of paying for online services. The company who notoriously bungles online implementations at every corner is attempting to charge a fee for online services. Good luck with that. And offering a month of access to an NES and/or SNES title is an insult considering the competition’s offerings.
The Hardware
It’s not as powerful as the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One so anyone expecting third party developers and publishers like Electronic Arts or Activision to bring their heavy hitters to the Switch shouldn’t get their hopes up. That FIFA title for the Switch — EA’s sole Switch title — is presumably based off the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game aka “Legacy Editions”. I believe that’s also the case for 2K’s NBA title as well.
I’ve seen plenty of photos and videos of the hardware in action and in human hands and I honestly think it looks well made. There’s an elegance to its design that makes it look like hardware targeted at older demographics. Moving away from glossy plastics was a wise move on their part.
The Software
- Super Mario Odyssey
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Those are the three titles that I have intentions on buying. Two Wii U “ports” and a new Mario game that won’t see the light of day until Holiday 2017. That’s not a strong lineup whatsoever and if I wasn’t a gaming dork with disposable income, I wouldn’t be able to convince myself to pickup a Switch. I would have waited until the launch of Super Mario Odyssey.
The rest of the lineup doesn’t look too compelling either. Enhanced port of Mario Kart 8 is welcomed but for $79.99? And what about their new title Arms? Is it a $79.99 title as well? The same question could be laid at the feet of Skyrim if it fails to match the offerings of the Skyrim: Remastered which many were able to get for $30 during the holiday sales. The most egregious example of wacky pricing is Puyo Puyo Tetris which sees the Nintendo Switch version command a $54.99 price tag when the PlayStation 4 version sits at $39.99.
I’m also genuinely shocked by the lack of pack-in game for the Switch. 1-2 Switch seemed like the perfect successor to Wii Sports and Nintendo Land but instead of sweetening the launch of the platform with a hardware bundle, they’re going to charge $64.99 CAD for it.
Switch Pre-ordered
Despite my misgivings concerning the price, I decided to pre-order one. I would like to play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey and it is unlikely that Nintendo will budge on the price between then and now. If they do decide to drop price like the Nintendo 3DS, I expect them to conduct another “Ambassador” program.
I may pick up Mario Kart 8 Deluxe after trading in my Wii U copy of Mario Kart 8 for $33. Something about a portable version of Mario Kart 8 is compelling to me.
It may be a long drought between launch and the holidays but as a Wii U owner, droughts like this are par for the course.
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