How to Convince Your Parents to Get You a Nintendo Switch

Convincing your parents to buy you a new console can be a harrowing and challenging mission. They’re all “You’re 41, buy it yourself,” but that’s easier said than done. It sucks but don’t panic, there’s a few simple and effective ways to convince your folks that a Nintendo Switch is a worthy purchase, whether you are indeed 41 or are a youngster without the money to spend.

Let’s start with the obvious. Your parents don’t want you owning a console because it’s too distracting from life and games these days are too violent and provocative. Luckily, the Nintendo Switch has your back thanks to its family-friendly lineup of quality titles, the perfect counter-point to any apprehensions they might have both in their age ratings and their family-oriented content. There’s a ton of content both in stores and online via the eShop that are perfectly age rated for just about everyone that teach the important of team work (Splatoon 2), puzzle solving (Mario Odyssey) and resource management (Breath of the Wild) among others.

The Switch also has the advantage of its parental control system, for when your Mum and Dad are concerned over the hours you play at a time. Hand them a phone with the free to download app and link it to your console, providing them peace of mind that you won’t download or play anything inappropriate or play for too long at a time. The Switch is perfectly suited to the concept of playing ‘a few quick rounds,’ so you’ll be able to achieve quite a bit in just an hour or two, unless the battery life beats you to it.

Speaking of time, what about those moments when Dad wants to watch the football or Mum is dead keen on watching her favorite cooking show? Never fear, you reply, because the Nintendo Switch allows you to play on its own screen and away from the TV. Continue to play without interfering with family time or reducing the quality of your experience thanks to the Switch’s hybrid design, plus they’ll never have to worry about you complaining about long distance travels in the car as you’re knee deep in a Mario + Rabbids challenge.

What’s that? You already own a Nintendo 3DS and your parents aren’t convinced it’s worth replacing? You simply can’t have as engrossing and as colorful an experience on the older handheld hardware when compared to the Switch and its power, but more importantly, the next Pokemon title will be exclusive to Nintendo’s newer hardware and you do not want to be on the wrong side of a child without their new Pokemon.

And what of the cost? The Nintendo Switch comes in at a similar price to the PS4 and Xbox One, though depending on where you get it from or what bundles are available in your area you might find it at a slightly higher cost in comparison. Its advantage, however, is the added extras you’ll get in the package such as the second controller. Normally you’d have to pay extra to have your little brother or sister playing along with you, but now you can kindly point out they can play with you for free… but only if they use the red controller. No negotiations.

Long term looks good too. With the console selling at much higher numbers than the Wii U, Nintendo will no doubt be supporting it for some time to come. As parents go, long term viability and value for money play a large part in purchasing expensive items these days, so rest assured the Switch will be around for a long while with plenty of support across the board.

Ultimately, the Nintendo Switch is a quality product with an entertaining lineup of content that should appeal to any family member. Just remember, if you’re parents are still teetering on the edge of a decision, remind them that Call of Duty isn’t on the system. That should help… as long as they don’t discover Doom, that is.