Nintendo’s newest console, the Nintendo Switch was released on March 3, and right away one can tell that the hardware of the system is quite unique. The main draw of the console is the ability to take it anywhere you go, and play the games wherever you want. This feature works very well. The screen looks very nice, being 720p, and is pretty sizable.

Being able to take the two Joy-Cons out, and putting them on the Joy-Con grip also makes a nice controller when I didn’t want to use the screen by itself.

There are three different ways that Nintendo has marketed that the system can be played in. The first is TV mode, where the Switch is hooked into the television, and use the Joy-Cons as the controllers. Then there is portable mode, where the player takes out the Switch, and can take it anywhere they want and play. Finally there is Tabletop mode, where one can use the kickstand on the back of the tablet, and use the Joy-Cons, but still not use the television.

I personally found myself using the TV mode the most, but I did go in Portable mode a lot. I didn’t really use the Tabletop mode much because the angle that the kickstand is at doesn’t really give a good angle to look at the screen. Overall, the Switch hardware is great, and I think that it will turn out to be a successful system, but it will take a little while. That’s simply because the Switch just doesn’t have many games available at the moment.

“If you are buying a Switch then there is one game that you most likely will seek out: ‘The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.’”
Jacob Clary

Currently, there are only a few new games on the system. One of them is “1-2-Switch,” a game where two players use the Joy-Con controllers in a variety of ways against each other. This game consists of 28 mini-games that last around a minute each. Another launch game is “Snipperclips.” In this game, you and a partner, or by yourself, try and complete levels while cutting each other’s character apart.

There are a couple more games available, but if you are buying a Switch, then there is one game that you most likely will seek out: “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.” It is the first truly open world Zelda game since the first one, and it is really the only reason to buy a Nintendo Switch right now. The Nintendo Switch version of the game is the better version, as it also released on the Wii U. Even though this game is spectacular, having played it on the Nintendo Switch, I don’t know if it is enough to buy a brand new system exclusively for one game. The Nintendo Switch has a lot of potential to be a great system in Nintendo’s library, but until it gets more games, I don’t think the Switch has enough good games yet to be worth a purchase.