What the God is a Geek team think about Nintendo Switch
There’re a few of us here at God is a Geek who have a bit to say about Nintendo’s latest announcement, the Nintendo Switch. Are we looking forward to it? Is there anything we’re worried about? Read below to find out what the collective mind thinks about it.
Mikhail Madnani – Having enjoyed the 3DS more than almost every other gaming handheld I’ve owned, the Nintendo Switch excites me. It may come as no surprise to you but I prefer playing on portable devices and carrying my PS Vita and 3DS with me when I’m out; I even play a lot on my iPad, and I know the Switch in portable mode will be my jam. I cannot wait to play Splatoon on it and hopefully Nintendo can get Rocket League and Overwatch so I can basically throw money at them. The form factor looks comfortable as well and at this point I hope they manage keeping third party support.
David Hunter – I love off-TV play on Wii U so having that with the freedom to take it anywhere, plus multiplayer, sounds like a dream come true for me. I just hope the Switch packs a punch in the specs department or we might see all those 3rd party developers jumping ship again.
Nick Gillham – I didn’t know what I was expecting as the minutes counted down to 3pm. Would the NX be what people said it would be? Would it be great? Would it be a disappointment? I mean, people were saying it’d only be a 3 minute presentation and that it was a teaser trailer…I had no idea what I was going to think. As soon as that trailer started playing though, I was captivated. Nintendo showcasing their newest console in a living room setting showed Nintendo finally joining the 21st century, and it only improved from there.
The idea of a handheld that can dock to your TV and become a separate gamepad is one of those ideas that are totally Nintendo in quirkiness, but also such a good idea you wonder how no-one had ever done it before, and not to the stylish degree Nintendo portrayed in their 3 minute trailer. This is something that’s normally the remit of tech companies like Apple, Samsung or NVidia, but here’s family oriented Nintendo actually ditching their kiddy image for something that looks like high end tech.
Then there’s the fact it can be taken on the go to play, but then turned into a separate TV with extra controllers for social gaming away from your TV. It’s literally a revolution in home console as well as handheld gaming, and it’s Nintendo who have done it. Sony have tried this with the Vita and sort of managed a halfway house solution with streaming to their beleaguered handheld, but Nintendo have shown them how it’s done. And they’ll support it too – you know they will – with the greatest games that only Nintendo can create. I don’t know about you, but I am ready to Switch.
Dan Murphy – I’ve never been a massive Nintendo fan, but the Switch is easily the most excited I’ve ever been about anything the company has done, be it game or console. It amazes me that the same company that, first of all, designed and named the Wii U, and then horrendously marketed it, have been able to so clearly convey and garner hype for their next piece of hardware. With the Switch, the first steps into mobile gaming and an open world Zelda, It’s absolute madness how Nintendo seem to have finally modernised in a few short years. I adore the idea of the Switch and, if the console is powerful enough to finally have real third party support and priced correctly, I could finally see them actually being a real competitor to Sony and Microsoft. Some concerns remain, especially on the tablet’s battery life, the quality of the controls and if games like Skyrim really will run on it, I’m also extremely gutted 3DS games won’t be compatible, but all in all I’m very impressed with this bold, modern direction from Nintendo and look forward to seeing how it all unfolds.
Gary Bailey – The Switch, then…it looks alright. Those rumours of a part portable, part home console turned out to be true, and the potential is huge. Take your home console game with you, continue it on the train, outdoing Microsoft’s “play anywhere” concept by quite some margin. So why do I remain unconvinced? Nintendo’s 3DS and WiiU never quite delivered on their promised third party support for me, so all these developers/publishers pledging support just doesn’t inspire confidence yet. And I can’t justify dropping a (possibly) hefty sum solely for first party exclusives, no matter how good they may be. While there is still a degree of excitement surrounding the Switch’s unveiling, I need a lot more than a few minutes of video to convince me.
