Nintendo Switch

As an 18 year old male who has loved Nintendo for well over a decade now, the Nintendo Switch is something of a coming-of-age event for me as a gamer. This is the first console I've bought with my own money that isn't second hand and it's the first console I've ever pre-ordered/got on Day One. Furthermore, the Nintendo Switch has come at an important time in my life: My A-Levels are looming on the horizon and I will soon be pushed into the adult world, so I'm counting on the Switch to bring a good amount of entertainment and stress relief into my soon-to-be busy life. That said, I think I can assert that the Switch is the perfect console for a student like me.While not sporting power on par with its competitors in the XBOX ONE and PlayStation 4 (even less so with their mid-generation upgraded models), the Switch is must-have gaming device for students who often find themselves on the move. The three modes of the Switch allow it to be played in any civilian environment from the standard TV living room setup to the bus journey to campus, thanks to its modular design and included Joy-Con grip, Nintendo Switch Dock and kickstand, allowing for the screen to be propped up on a flat surface to mimic the experience of playing with a TV set.Furthermore, the fact that the Switch comes with two controllers from the get-go is a massive boon. Being known for their great multiplayer titles such as Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros., it was a very smart move on Nintendo's part to ensure that setting up a game for multiplayer is quick and easy to do, only requiring the user to reorder their controllers from the home-menu with an easy to access button.Finally, there is the UI and feel of the Switch. Sleek and matte, the Switch is so modern in appearance and in the hands that one could be forgiven for not realising this is a Nintendo console. It's extremely light and a fair bit smaller than I initially expected, so it can easily be slipped into a bag without any hassle. The UI itself is equally streamlined and sophisticated. While lacking in certain functionality, such as pairing for bluetooth headsets, everything is very fast and easy to access, so there's none of the awkwardness of the Wii U's settings menu, which required use of the controversial gamepad.That said, I can see why some people may not be head over heels for the Switch. Thanks to their size, lack of a proper D-Pad and short travel distance on the control sticks, mileage may vary in terms of the comfort of the Joy-Con, though the average pair of hands should have absolutely nothing to worry about, even with the Joy-Con Grip, the design of which is not nearly as uncomfortable as it may look. Additionally, there is the charge time. 2.5 hours to 6.5 hours is good at best and serviceable at worst. While the charge should be fine for a car journey, I must stress that a power bank is a worthwhile investment for those who see themselves using the Switch's handheld mode for longer periods of time. The last worry I have is power. Although the Switch can put out pretty HD visuals which look great on its 6.2" 720p multi-touch LCD screen, I fear that the console may get the short end of the stick with multi-platform releases with issues such as poor framerate which would come from a lack of proper optimisation, something that has already been proven with its port of Dragon Quest Heroes I+II. That said, this is dependent upon on the developers to giving ports due attention, and not something to detract from the console's own merits.To sum up, I'm very happy with my purchase and I have no problem recommending the Switch as a console to anyone. In fact, several class mates have expressed a desire to get their own at a later date, both due to the concept of the console itself and popular mainstream titles that are confirmed to be coming, such as FIFA and Skyrim. While the Switch has its drawbacks, so does every other console, and I think the Switch offers much more good than bad.

This a brilliant console, I am a hard core gamer, PS4 and PC mainly but this is probably one of if not my favourite console of all time and i will tell you why.DOCKED MODE: The Switch embodies the spirit and style of the N64 and the gamecube in how it feels, the colour scheme and it's general style but at it's heart it feels like a proper gaming console, I will get to how it performs as a handheld but lets focus on how it performs as a living room console for now. I will start with graphics, wow I did not expect these level of graphics from such compact hardware, I don't know how they did it but play Zelda breath of the wild on a 1080p 42" TV and it's gorgeous not to mention the world is so alive, the shadows are smooth and the motion is smooth too, the grass reacts to wind, fire, your motion, you can cut it, I guess what I'm saying is that apart from the graphics looking smooth and beautiful the movement, the animations and physics this console can produce is exceptional, you can't really grasp it without trying it for your self. On a side note the pro controller is a serious gamers must have, not because the joy con grip is bad in any way but because the pro controller is the best controller I've ever used. Talking of the joy con grip, as a home console the grip gets you by just fine and looks fine, feels really comfortable however the right thumb stick does feel a bit too low down, you have to reach a bit sometimes. The user interface is simple looking enough but it's actually really quick and easy to use which I find better than the xbox or playstation UI, loading times are quick and there are a lot of options. One major plus is that you can have a Japanese account and download games and demos only for japan which also means you can buy games from japan as it's not region locked.HAND HELD:What can I say, taking it out of the dock and putting it back is as seamless as it looks in the commercials, as a handheld it is much bigger than you expect and with the joy con on the sides it looks like a skateboard with a screen, it's really quite thin, thinner than it looks and it is quiet and don't get very hot unless you have been playing it in the dock for hours and take it out to play hand held. The quality is brilliant, it feels like an iPad level product and the joy-con detaching and attaching work brilliantly, the battery on the joy-con and the console lasts for ages, I've never ran out when playing hand held. The speakers are really loud compared to a vita or 3DS which is great for tabletop mode, playing in table top mode is so much better than I thought, I never expected i would play table top mode but I bought snipperclips (Amazing gamely the way) and played it a bunch on table top mode with friends using the individual joy-cons with the joy con straps (rails) and as little nugget controllers that they are they actually work but definitely use the straps to add that extra beaf to them, if you use the traps they just feel like small rounded nes controllers and they work really well, you forget you're using a small controller like that especially with snipperclips. As a handheld that you can play in bed or on the couch it's superb, I can't think of any complaints, the screen is bright and colourful and you can see it from really obscure angles and as my friend said in shock when she saw it in handheld mode, the graphics are amazing! a million times more impressive than my Vita.GREY OR NEON?I originally ordered the Neon but canceled to get a grey version and I am glad I did, my reasons were that the Neon is distracting to your eye when in handheld mode on either side of the screen seeing something so bright just takes you out of your immersion, in docked mode I don't want something to bright and garish in my living room sat next to or under my tv while I watch it or play a game. If you're worried about it being stolen if you're out and about, having a Neon version just screams I have a nintendo switch come steal it, and finally the grey just really emphasises this isn't a kids toy it's a luxury item like an iPad that has an air of quality and expense about it, the neon version just devalues it in my opinion.