Nintendo Switch: Hands on with Nintendo's fascinating new console

Nintendo Switch
The Switch will be release in March Credit: Nintendo

There is something about Nintendo that brings out the excitable child in us all. The Kyoto company’s commitment to video games as giddy, family-friendly escapism has seen it travel a very different path in the industry to its peers.

Its long history of crafting innovative, accessible, tactile consoles has it approaching games more as toys, in the finest sense, but its technological design is as assured as any electronics firm on the planet. Nintendo’s path doesn’t always lead them to success, as the Wii U will attest, but how much poorer this industry would be without it. How much less colourful. Less fun.

And so it was a mix of excitement and apprehension that crackled through journalists and industry figures waiting in the snow outside London’s Hammersmith Apollo. We were waiting for our first hands-on with Nintendo’s new console Switch, a fascinating hybrid of home console and handheld device, which had been fully unveiled in Tokyo just a few hours previously.

But despite optimism about the machine itself, reaction from fans and investors was muted, the general feeling being that Nintendo had again bungled its strategy with a higher than expected price and a startling dearth of launch titles. But more on that later because, as one beaming colleague said as we reached the welcome warmth of the venue: “it’s playtime!”

The Switch

The Switch’s big idea is that dual-purpose. Pushed primarily as a home console, the machine itself is a tablet that slips into a dock which then outputs to your TV via HDMI. Should you need to take your game on the go - leaving for work or surrendering the telly to a family member- you simply slide the console out and, with the press of a button, can instantly resume in handheld mode.

I got to try this with Nintendo’s fantasy epic (and flagship launch title) The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. First I was exploring Hyrule on the TV using the familiar "Pro" controller, before lifting the console from its dock and it immediately, ahem, "switched" to the tablet’s screen. I could then carry on using the "Joy-Con" controllers attached to either side of the console.

The Switch can be placed in a dock for viewing on a TV, or used portably
The Switch can be placed in a dock for viewing on a TV, or used portably Credit: Rex Features

It is an easy and instantly understandable concept, with no menu wrangling to swap between modes. The console itself is a lovely thing too, its 720p screen popping with vivid colour and sharp visuals. If anything it looks sharper on the smaller screen, while the smart use of those Joy-Con controllers mean that you aren’t losing anything in translation when it comes to control.

It’s comfortable too. The Switch seems a little heavier than most tablets and handhelds, but smart, slim and manageable, while the positioning of the controls means your hands should be able to bear long play-sessions without too much trouble - although battery life will vary between 2.5 and 6.5 hours.

I could definitely see myself slipping the Switch into my bag to take on the train into work, while the Joy-Cons mean it should be well equipped for taking full-fat home console games on the go. But while the console’s main trick impresses, it is those tiny controllers that really make the Switch tick.

Joy-Cons

The Joy-Cons are essentially small versions of the Wii remote, with precise motion control and improved rumble, but they manage to pack a great deal onto a tiny frame. Each one has an analogue stick and a plethora of buttons and can be used independently, either "pistol-grip" style or sideways. Or they can be snapped together on the provided dock to resemble a more traditional controller.

Small as they are, the Joy-Cons are a delight. Whatever configuration you use them in, they are a quality piece of kit. It is clear a huge amount of R&D has gone into making them feel just right and while I can imagine adults with larger hands will find them tricky to use for long periods while turned sideways (I only have small paws), their flexibility is impressive.

The idea you can simply undock the controllers to hand one over to a pal for instant multiplayer gaming on the go (the console comes with a kickstand to prop it up) is a selling point in itself.

But it is also in how the Joy-Con’s flexibility allows for different play-styles. Arms, the delightfully idiosyncratic boxing game, has you holding the controllers in a pistol grip and punching at your opponent, twisting your wrist to curve your stretchy appendages around a block. 1-2 Switch, meanwhile, is a barmy collection of mini-games that use the motion control and ‘HD rumble’. From a Wild West ‘quick draw’ game to ‘feeling’ how many balls are simulated within the controller due to the subtle, precise vibrations.

Will it sell?

First impressions, then, are that the Switch is a triumph of invention and engineering where all of its promised features work. Its Joy-Con controllers beguile, while as a handheld it looks to be the most capable and luxuriant ever made.

But despite its clear quality, there remains the worry that it simply will not sell. When Nintendo revealed the price at £279.99, the internet balked. Early rumours had the pricing at a more tantalising £200, which undoubtedly contributed to the initial shock. Its peripherals are also eye-wateringly pricey, with a set of Joy-Cons setting you back £75 and the Pro Controller a whopping £65.

If you compartmentalise what you’re getting with Switch, its pricing starts to make more sense, comparing favourably with most tablets, but £280 before you have even bought a game knocks it out of impulse-buy territory that did so well for Wii which launched at sub £200.

I have seen the salient point that you can now get a higher-powered PS4 or Xbox One for a similar price to Switch, which does present a conundrum when it comes to choosing a home games console. Where that comparison does make me uncomfortable is the inherent suggestion that sheer technological grunt trumps everything else, particularly when the Switch’s unique quirks are what makes it so interesting.

Launch line-up

Of more pressing concern than the price, and where that comparison should start to concern Nintendo, is the flimsy launch line-up the Switch currently has in place. On day one you will have just five games to choose from; two of which (Just Dance 2017 and Skylanders Imaginators) are already available on other platforms. I’m not sure Bomberman will sell any any consoles. And while they potentially have one of the finest launch titles in history with Breath of the Wild, even that comes with the caveat that it is also releasing for Wii U.

1-2-Switch, meanwhile, remains a hot point of contention. It appears to be a thoroughly silly and enjoyable collection of tech-demos for the Joy-Cons, more Wii Play than Wii Sports granted, and seems an obvious pitch to show off the console’s more idiosyncratic charms.

Yet instead of packing it in to drive interest and make that price more palatable, Nintendo are asking for £40 for it. One of the advantages of the Switch releasing in March is that it can build up a head of steam for Christmas, which is surely Nintendo’s real target for 2017, yet that buzz needs to spark at launch and the way the machine is arriving at market seems questionable at best.

Things look rosier beyond launch, with decent releases popping up before the holiday season. Arms and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, a clear pitch for those that didn’t buy a Wii U, arrive in Spring. Splatoon 2 joins in Summer. While all eyes are on Super Mario Odyssey when the famous plumber returns for Christmas.

That is when we will really get a sense whether the Switch will prove a success. You never get a true sense of where a console will be on day one, but Nintendo will need strong word of mouth from early adopters as the releases trickle in. They will need a solid future line-up from both first and third parties unveiled, potentially at E3, and they will need to push the console’s quality, quirks and flexibility when gift-buying season rolls around. It feels like Nintendo are playing a year-long game with the release of the Switch and, given the apparent quality of this fascinating console, I sincerely hope it is one they will win.

Third-party support is there but currently patchy, giving the impression that the big publishers want to see where Switch goes before giving it full-blooded commitment. They have had their fingers burnt with low attach rates for the Wii and the underperformance of the Wii U and tentative contributions from Ubisoft (Just Dance, Steep), Activision (Skylanders) and EA (FIFA) hasn’t done enough to dispel concerns.

Availability and Price

The Nintendo Switch is available from 3 March and will cost £279.99. Pre-order it now from Argos, Toys R Us and GAME.

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