Feature: 6 Months with the Nintendo Switch

A few days ago, the Nintendo Switch celebrated its 6 month anniversary. That’s right, 6 months, or half a year, 26 and a bit weeks, almost 4500 hours, 26,000 minutes or almost 16 million seconds. When it comes to video game consoles, 6 months is a long time, and the first 6 months is the most important for any console. As writers for a Nintendo-focused news and reviews website, we’ve spent more time with the console between us than most, and we’ve gotten to know it pretty damn well. So, in celebration of our 6 months with the Switch, we decided we’d talk about our experiences in this half-year of the most ambitious console Nintendo’s released to date. So, here we go — here’s the Vooks Team’s first 6 months with the Nintendo Switch:

The first six months of the Nintendo Switch have been a complete ride. It really started in January with the Switch event and presentation but then from launch day onwards it just hasn’t stopped. Usually after a console comes out things die down, the launch games finish off and we await the ‘next thing’ from a system. Not with the Switch.

From day one Breath of the Wild has captivated the entire internet, just weeks of nothing but Zelda on Twitter and Facebook as the world collectivity explored the game. We then got Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, then the hype for ARMS started, then we hit E3 and learned that even more games were coming, Splatoon 2 has come and then just in the past week Rabbids sealed off the first six months. It wasn’t just the software, however, the Switch itself has brought out the imagination of many with novel ways to play, unique mods and the realisation that you can actually take your console quality games wherever you want.

While there have been huge retail tentpole releases, there hasn’t been a flood of them (yet). Some people came to me and said ‘oh what can I play on the Switch there’s nothing in the stores’. To be fair if you do go look in a store the Switch range can look a little sparse, but if you include the 100 or more games on the eShop – there’s gotta be something for you.

The Switch in six months has completely broken gaming for me. I don’t play many games over the course of the year, I pick up things to review sure, I buy a bunch on the eShop and play games on other systems just like any well-rounded gamer. But this year I haven’t felt compelled to go back to the ‘old’ way of playing games. Sitting down with a loud, noisy console, waiting for gigs of firmware updates and game updates, being tethered to the couch – it just doesn’t appeal to me and it never really has. The only caveat previously was that handheld gaming was never on the level of console gaming. Not to sell years of Nintendo handheld games short but I’ve always wanted to play the same games at home or wherever else I am. Animal Crossing on a console for example never made sense to me. Now I can take it with me and it’s great.

The Switch hasn’t been perfect let’s not kid ourselves. Between the still barebones OS and eShop, no word on apps, nothing on Virtual Console and the abomination of the Switch online app, things outside of playing games with the Switch have been average, but Nintendo told us they would be. I still expected more than nothing.

There’s one point I want to add one about playing everything on Switch and that’s third parties. We’ve seen FIFA return, we’ve got WWE back, Skyrim, Rocket League is coming and there’s much more in the pipe. People clamour about these games being old or ports, but I don’t think matters. Because playing games on the Switch is new way to play them, and that’s awesome.

Just hurry up with putting your old catalogue on the Switch Nintendo, because jeez – I’ll need a change of pants when you do.

Six months is a long time. A heap of things can get done in six months unless of course, you’re talking about Centrelink. Nintendo isn’t as bad as this government department, but I feel like more could have come from the Switch in this amount of time.

Don’t get me wrong, I really like my Switch and I use it more than any other game console. There are some great games, which we are getting on a regular basis, yet I want more. I want the extra stuff.

Miiverse didn’t make the jump to the new generation (and is dying out completely) but I would love it if Nintendo had a fully integrated social aspect built into the Switch. Like many people, I also want to see the return of the Virtual Console. I didn’t really utilise it much on the Wii U, but lately, I’ve felt the urge for some classic gaming, and the Switch feels like the best fit for this. It feels like the best fit for most things, being a home and portable console.

As for what we already have, and what Nintendo has built as a foundation for the Switch in the past half a year, its greatest part is the excitement for what the next six months will bring. More than the portability factor, detachable controllers and on the go multiplayer, it really is the games which have been the best part of its life so far and its life ahead.

Not just playing the games either. I love hearing people talk about them and their experiences, sometimes from unexpected places. For instance, listening to a comedy podcast and all of a sudden Puff the Magic Dragon starts talking about Breath of the Wild. It gets me excited to come home and get back into the game myself. As always, it’s the games that make the console and Switch has had a great start with some amazing games. If this can continue, and if Nintendo can get the extra features on to the console, I’d be very happy.

100 hours in Zelda, 160 hours in Splatoon, 15 hours in ARMS (legs, joke, etc) – it’s safe to say I’ve played my Switch more in 6 months than I have my PS4 in 3 years. I rarely played the Wii U because the gamepad was so cumbersome and a lot of games required use of it; Joycons are so much easier to sit back in my chair and have all the control I need. I figured I would mostly play handheld, but in reality, the Switch hasn’t left my dock in months.

A few weeks back, Oceanink Offensive held a Splatoon 2 LAN along with Super Smash Brothers. 3 quarters of the room was filled with CRTs and Monitors along with various consoles playing Melee, Smash 4 and even 64. Seemingly just shoved in the corner of the room was the Splatoon area, and yet it had twice as many people happily collecting golden eggs or laying down turf.

It wasn’t without its issues, Pro Controllers in high clustered areas (about 20+ Switch consoles) seemed to have delay or connectivity issues. Joycons held up fine, for the most part, especially handheld as it does not use the Bluetooth to have any interference. This was largely not an issue and could easily be solved when a little more spread out. It’s easy to make fun of Nintendo’s commercials, but I don’t think it really hit me that yes, you can have 40 players playing in just a few tables. Sadly we couldn’t find a rooftop or anyone named Karen interested in Mario Kart.

Lately I’ve been playing Mario+Rabbids in handheld mode and I thought to myself “This wouldn’t really be the same on 3DS. Or Wii U.” There’s something incredibly special about the Switch, and I’m sure as time goes on and more games come out we will all have our “OH!” moments. With a killer lineup, massive indie support, and not even half a year in yet, I can’t wait to see what Nintendo has coming up next year and beyond.

When I first got my Switch, I played it almost exclusively in docked mode. It wasn’t for any particular reason, I just treated it like any other console on my desk. It wasn’t until a few months ago when the true brilliance of the Switch really hit me. I was in the middle of exploring the Lost Woods in Breath of the Wild, when suddenly, there was a total blackout. “Oh no, I haven’t saved in hours!!” I thought to myself. I reached over to grab my Switch out of the dock, and there I was, still exploring, no progress loss. I was playing the biggest Zelda game ever, on a console I was holding in my hands. I can’t recall what was going through my head at the time, but I know I very audibly said “holy crap” without even realising. For me, Nintendo had done the impossible.

Since then, my Switch has gone everywhere with me. It’s a very rare occasion when my Switch is out of arm’s reach. I’ve played all sorts of games on it, because the range of games available on a console only 6 months old is absolutely incredible. From the tablet-only hectic rhythm game Voez to the charming party game Use Your Words and everything in between. My most played games are Shephy and Minecraft; the former because it’s a quick and easy game to play on lunch breaks and short trips on the bus, and the latter because there’s nothing quite as relaxing as spending a few hours watching Netflix on the couch while clearing land for some new farmland.

That said, the Switch is not without its disappointments. It’s 6 months later and we still don’t really know what (if anything) is happening with Virtual Console. Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely happy with its current library, but the Switch is just such a perfect console for a tonne of Virtual Console games, and it seems like a missed opportunity to omit that so far. I’m sure Nintendo has something up its sleeve, but it’s a little frustrating to hear nothing in the meantime. The console’s online service leaves something to be desired too. I like the Splatoon 2 portions of the app, but I’ve never found a reason to use it for anything else when other, more established solutions exist already. I’d love to see some expansion on the service when it launches early next year, and I’ve no doubt that Nintendo will deliver.

Looking forward, I can only hope that Nintendo keeps the strong software support going. There’s a lot to look forward to in 2018, including new Kirby and Yoshi games, and, if I’m being optimistic, maybe even Pokémon. But as the Switch moves forward into the latter half of its first year, I can’t help but wonder, “What’s next?” It’s a question that only Nintendo and third party developers can answer, but with all the Switch has to offer, I’m not in any rush to find out.

Oh boy, where do I even start when it comes to the past 6 months with the Switch? I guess in short, it’s been wonderful. This little system has surprised me left and right, in ways I couldn’t possibly have imagined. This was my first time getting a system on day one, and to say I was nervous about making that decision is absolutely wrong. I had a lot of hope and faith that the Switch would be awesome, and you know what? It’s awesome.

I think back to when I first got my Wii U. It was roughly about a year after it had already come out. I was really excited back then as well. It came with Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, which I honestly didn’t care too much about, but there’s something about that new system high that just gets you excited for just about anything. So, I was more than ready to get into what I thought at the time was this weird little Capcom game that I thought nobody else cared about (‘thought’ being the key word. I had no idea how dedicated a following the series really had). I played it for an hour and realised that I needed friends to actually have fun with it, and never touched it ever since.

Six months after my time with Wii U, the only other game I got was Just Dance 2013. That’s it! Skipping forward to the 3rd of September in the year 2017, six months after I purchased my Switch, and the number of games I own isn’t remotely comparable. For the record,  it’s 7 games, with dozens of various eShop titles. It’s honestly pretty mindblowing! I’ve been buying at least one major release a month, and to be honest, it’s even a little bit overwhelming! However, as overwhelming as it might be, it has been one heck of a trip. It’s the only gaming platform I want to use forever. Whenever I hear about a game coming to PC or PS4 that I’m remotely interested in, if that game has even the most minuscule chance of making its way to the Switch, I will hold out. It sounds like I’m just advertising the thing, but I’m honestly, truly, that in love with it.

Another crazy thing to me is just how many other people own the system. When Splatoon released in 2015, I spent the majority of my time playing alone. I mean, I didn’t mind! I’m pretty introverted, so not needing to talk to anybody was fine with me. But now, just look at Splatoon 2! When Splatoon 2 launched, over 10 people on my friends list were actively playing that game! It was such a surreal experience to just be minding my own business in Turf War, and then within the span of a few minutes, every single person I would be playing with were people who saw me online and decided to join in! Insane!

So much has happened with the Nintendo Switch so far, and what I find so fascinating, is that it feels like it’s just getting started. This little weird console/handheld hybrid has so much potential and if the past six months is anything to go by, I honestly think it could potentially be the greatest Nintendo system ever released. I genuinely mean that. Here’s to another six months!

It’s been a long, exciting 6 months, both for Nintendo and for us at Vooks. We’ve all enjoyed our time with the Switch immensely, and we look forward to seeing what Nintendo has in store for us in the next 6 months — and beyond. Most importantly, we look forward to bringing you news, reviews, and everything under the sun when it comes to Nintendo and the Switch. What about you? How’s your first 6 months with the Switch been? Let us know in the comments below.