NINTENDO SWITCH - A PC Gamer's Perspective
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2017-05-06
·
2,041 words · ~10 min read
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the switch is Nintendo's New Home console successor to the Wii U but it's
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also a powerful and interesting portable handheld device or you can put it down
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on a table if you'd prefer it's actually really cool with that said evaluating it
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wasn't an easy task for me sometimes
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with reviews of things that I really like I'm hard on them out of love and
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with the switch you'll see some of that because I do love it but you'll also see
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some criticism that comes from a different place all together my time with the switch has
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been a roller coaster of emotions and persons with these conditions probably
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shouldn't
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ride Side by power is lineup of gaming desktops feature Intel 7th generation
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core i7 processors check them out on Amazon at the link below the joy-con
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controllers are so important to the unique experience of of gaming on the
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switch that they literally form the logo for it they both feature normal things
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batteries that charge when they're docked onto the console itself all of
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the thumb sticks and buttons that you'd expect other than an analog trigger then
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we get into the more unique stuff they also feature quick releases on the back
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and pairing buttons between some shoulder buttons then the right joy-con
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controller has an NFC Reader in its thumb stick for amiibo pairing and an IR
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camera for games like eating contest to where you hold it in front of your mouth
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and make eating motions quickly HD Rumble is a cool concept and it's
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definitely better than previous versions of Rumble but I don't think it's quite
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as awesome as they actually make it out to be when playing something like ball
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count in one two switch it just gets frustrating it's not real enough to be
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genuinely immersive and it ends up being a tiresome gimmick usability wise I'd
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say it ranges from an acceptable to a bad experience when they're mounted on
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the side of the switch in handheld mode it's on the acceptable end but not great
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the joysticks being off axis which I generally prefer having grown up on the
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Xbox side of things sucks in handheld mode because the right side joystick
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being lower on the right joy-con your hand has to be positioned in a really
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weird way in order to support the weight of the console and I'm not the only one
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who felt this way yeah I mean it's a it's a hell of a lot better than playing
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on a tablet or a phone that's for sure but I think for me the one issue is like
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with my right hand if I have to switch up and down switch I have to shift my
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hand a little bit it feels kind of weird
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mainly the right side of things just cuz the joystick feels like it should be
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there but it's there and it's kind of weird to grip I think when they're
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detached they're fine but this is pretty
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weird sorry the joyon they kind of like
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crippled the functionality because they wanted to have each thing be its own
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controller it's just it's so twiddly and small I can't even deal I think the
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joysticks they are probably just not balanced and it's kind of hard to hold
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in one side but I have no
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reference so it's still cool the Wii U tablet
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controller had both the joysticks at the top this made sense I understand why
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they did it this way on the switch but I don't think it's Justified and I'll get
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to that in a moment in tabletop mode when you have the joy-con controllers
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off the switch and are playing by yourself it's acceptable two players in
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that same scenario is pretty bad however just due to how cramped your hands are
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when you only get to use one of these pretty tiny controllers this is also why
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they have the thumb sticks off axis because it makes it easier to use them
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when they're by themselves but as this scenario is just bad in general it
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wasn't worth sacrificing the ergonomics of using it as a handheld then there's
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the grip it sucks in my opinion especially considering Nintendo's vast
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controller design experience from the giant Gap in the middle to the lack of
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an actual d-pad to the lousy mobile
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device gray joysticks to the vertical alignment of all the controls when
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you're trying to use it at once everything about it contributes to the
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poor ergonomic experience which luckily for Nintendo will likely drive a lot of
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Zelda breath of the Wild players to go out and buy the switch Pro Controller
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which and again I'm not the only one who feels this way actually feels pretty
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great and can charge over USB type-c which is a really nice bonus it's an
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awesome controller now this I like it should
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come with this the one thing I can see people missing is the uh the linear
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control triggers here but other than that man the ergonomics feel good the
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Plastics are just really solid I like this thing I think the Pro Controller
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feels like a normal controller if I had a Nintendo switch this would probably be
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what I use most of the time the joy-con grip just felt kind of awkward and this
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just it's Hefty it's got a good feel to it everything's in the right spot all
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the buttons are easy to reach yeah pretty dope I feel I can get to um each
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buttons and the this thing very easily
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like you can do whatever like it's all in
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here this is a lot more normal thanks
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Nintendo for giving us
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options okay let's talk gaming experience now handheld mode first you
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get about 2 and 1/2 hours of play in something like breath of the wild
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without any charging but Nintendo's decision to go with USB type-c instead
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of their own proprietary power connector makes it really easy to charge up on the
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go I love this decision thank you Nintendo it wakes up from sleep super
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fast getting you into the game almost instantly and it doesn't doesn't weigh
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that much at 0.88 lb does it replace
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something like a 3DS not for everyone but for battery Bank Warriors Like Me
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Maybe yeah next up is tabletop mode flip
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out the kind of weak sauce feeling kickstand prop it on the airplane tray
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or table in the lunchroom and boom you're gaming it's really that easy and
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it's really cool and makes the console that much more versatile Nintendo seems
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to have overlooked The Importance of Being able to run off of wall power in
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this mode however maybe there's a 3D printing solution to this problem but
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most other aspects of it are well thought out if you apply too much
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pressure to the stand it just pops out rather than breaking and you can put it
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back on which is nice but before we do that now is a great time to check out
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the more standard non-proprietary IO who are you and what have you done
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with Nintendo this is so weird but awesome there's an SD card slot under
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the kickstand and this is a huge step forward in Mobility allowing you to pack
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games onto it to avoid carrying around game carts when the onboard storage
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overflows now and I understand if you've forgotten by this point as we've only
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talked about the mobile experience but the switch is a living room console so
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if you want to use it as one you throw it onto a dock that charges and Powers
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the switch gives you HDMI output to your TV or something like a monitor and
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provides three USB connections for accessories like Ethernet adapters and
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charging for the Pro Controller that I consider basically a necessary add-on
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it's pretty much a glorified USB hub you'll still be using the power button
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volume buttons game cart slot and headphone jack from the top of the
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switch console itself and I'll save you the trouble of trying it none of the
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offbrand USBC hubs that I tried worked and I tried a lot of them TV mode was a
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mixed bag for me 4K TVs are becoming quite popular and outputting 720p on a
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4K display in 20 2017 feels like a
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pretty heavy compromise and this comes from someone who fully understands that
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the Nintendo gaming experience is about
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gameplay not graphics and their art style makes up for it a lot I just can't
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help but notice that the performance hasn't really come very far since the
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Wii U and I also understand how it happened mobile performance for them is
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fantastic just having a highquality upscaler in the dock would have been
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deeply appreciated and while we're at it a working virtual console and Bluetooth
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headset connectivity would have appeased retro nerds like me and wireless
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headphone enthusiasts like uh Apple I
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guess in conclusion the switch is a very
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interesting idea like the NVIDIA Shield tablet but with the expectation that
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I'll get a killer game library with it this is a potentially great direction
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for Nintendo to go in but I feel like some decisions along the way with the
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joycon controllers and the dock should have been switched up a little I feel
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like they couldn't decide if they wanted to replace the 3DS or not and
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consequently ended up uncomfortably somewhere in between then on the subject
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of the game Library there's the issue of onew switch it's like Wii Sports in the
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sense that it's good wholesome family fun with mini games that gets everyone
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into the swing of using the new controller style except unlike wi Sports
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it doesn't come with the console it's a
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full-priced half-ass game you'll have
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fun with some of the games like sword fight quick draw samurai training and
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milk but many of its games feel like near clones of each other and I believe
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the right move was to put it in the box with the console breath of the Wild on
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the other hand if you have a Wii U and you don't plan on getting a switch buy
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it if you're getting a switch buy it if you have neither of those options find a
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friend that has one of those options options and go to their house a lot it
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will be worth it but back on topic is the switch worth it I'm not really
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comfortable giving an unconditional recommendation giving the current state
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of its games library but man it's a
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really Unique Piece of Hardware that's what Nintendo does best and as a dieh
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hard Nintendo Fanboy I'm going to go for it and I'm really excited thanks for
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watching guys if this video sucked you know what to do if it was awesome get
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subscribed hit the like button check out the links down below where you can see
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where to buy some of the stuff including the pretty much required Pro Controller
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and breath of the wild because if you're buying a switch you should probably get
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both of those also you can see where to buy a shirt which is hopefully being
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like video edited on top of the shirt that I'm currently wearing I
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accidentally took my work shirt home and this was like a Nintendo inspired shirt
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so I thought it was fine but it's not fine for this part of the video I'm
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rambling for way too long