Final Thoughts
After spending some time with the Switch, I came away with the feeling that Nintendo has one foot on either side of a chasm. The way you think about it shifts as it leaps from shelf to hand. Thinking of it as a handheld makes it a very premium handheld indeed; a hell of a lot of power, a massive screen, and some really nice multiplayer options arrive at loggerheads with a 2.5 hour battery life (depending on what you’re playing), and a closer-to-home-console price tag.
It’s marketed to emphasize its clout as a home console, and sure enough when it’s on the shelf and you have a controller in your hands, it is one. But it’s one that costs the same as its direct competition from Sony and Microsoft, and one that’s significantly less capable than either one of those machines. It isn’t a massive performance jump from the Wii U.
That the Switch will marry Nintendo’s console and portable output feels risky as well. It’s an admirable vision, and one that represents what would have to be a huge commitment to software, but with combined potential comes compounded risk if that software doesn’t show up, and show up fast.
Here’s the real kicker in all of this: I really like the Switch. It feels great; it has a brilliant magic trick at the heart of its design; and I feel a stubborn desire to want to get used to the thing in my hands, to banish any doubts and to jump in with both feet. I want this to work, and I want Nintendo to prove that it still has the magic touch. There are aspects of the machine that do show potential, but the proof will be what it always is with Nintendo: software support from third-parties. There are looming question marks and clouds hanging on the horizon, but after playing the Switch, I feel compelled to try and focus on the light.
