Control Issues: A Blessing in Disguise

 

Image: Reggie White Jr.

My past five years with first party gaming controls have been, how shall we say, enlightening. Usually, whenever I purchase a new game console, I stick with the first party controller. The concept of having multiple third party controllers never really occurred to me. And then I bought a PS4 and Nintendo Switch.

Drifting. A term associated with racing games to get around turns without sacrificing speed. I love drifting. It feels so good to do in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and it makes me realize how much I miss the Ridge Racer series. These days drifting is more commonly used to refer to the analog stick imputing movement on its own without any movement from the player. This results in unwanted movement and can really mess with your game. Drift is such a widespread issue on the Switch that Nintendo was hit with a lawsuit. If the Joy-Cons are used enough, drift is inevitable. I've had it happen on my first Switch. My nephew is on his second pair of Joy-Cons. My sister, who mostly plays Animal Crossing: New Horizons on her Switch, is drifting. The Joy-Cons that came with my OLED Switch are fine so far. I don't use them unless a game demands it like Nintendo Switch Sports. But, it is probably only a matter of time before my OLED model Joy-Cons start drifting. Can we go back to the time when drifting was strictly a racing term?

The Switch is a phenomenal system. It is under powered but it has a huge supply of games, which has made it the go to system for a lot of gamers. The fact that it can be played at home and on the go is also a very big deal. But the drift with the Joy-Cons cannot be overlooked and unfortunately, the problems do not end there. If I'm being perfectly honest, the Joy-Cons aren't enjoyable to use. Buttons are prone to sticking and analog movement feels stiff. Prolonged periods of play with the Joy-Cons is just not comfortable. This is the default controller that comes with the Switch it comes with so much baggage. 

As bad as drift is with the Joy-Cons and the stiff feel of the buttons, Nintendo isn't the only one at fault their system with a controller with a number of issues.

When I purchased my PS4, I bought Yakuza 0 and The King of Fighters XIV for it. Yakuza 0 felt perfectly fine to play on Sony's DualShock 4. KOFXIV was a different story. Movement and button inputs did not feel right. A few years later I would buy Tekken 7 and even with that game, I got the feeling that the DualShock 4 was not a controller I could play fighting games on and have it feel comfortable. Sony must have went cheap on the rubber because my analog sticks were showing serious peel wear. It is not good to have your thumb slipping off the sticks when you're playing the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and a boulder or angry polar bear are gunning for you. One of my DualShock 4 controllers, for unknown reasons got bricked. The only inputs it would take were left and down on the D-pad, leaving me with only one first party controller, lest I shell out a AAA game money for a new one. Nah, I'm good. 

The problems I've encountered with the Joy-Cons and DualShock 4 forced me to look into third party controllers. As much grief as the aforementioned controllers gave me, going third party for controllers has benefited me a lot in the long run.

HORI's Split Pad Pro is a must have for anyone who plays the Switch in handheld mode. It lacks rumble but the buttons feel amazing, the analog sticks aren't stiff and the D-pad is insanely precise, something you very much need when playing Tetris 99 or Tetris Effect: Connected. Unless you absolutely need rumble in handheld mode, the Split Pad Pro is a great alternative to Joy-Cons. Sadly, these things don't work with all games. I was bummed when I couldn't use them for Sonic Frontiers. 

8BitDo makes some excellent controllers, for the most part. I love the responsiveness I get from the D-pad and the analog sticks are some of my favorites from any controller, regardless of the type they've made. Issues I've had with their controllers. A few years back, I was using the SN30 Pro USB Wired controller. For a while, the thing worked great until it didn't work at all. I would plug it into my Switch and would get nada. To this day, I have no idea what caused that malfunction. There's also some noticeable lag in certain games. Mega Man Legacy Collection has it bad with my 8BitDo Pro 2 and so does Splatoon 3. Thankfully, the HORI Split Pad Pro eliminates the lag for Legacy Collection and Binbok's Wireless Switch Pro Controller (with Crack) is an all around great controller not just for Splatoon 3, but a lot of Switch games.

By owning various controllers, I've arrived at this conclusion: controllers are something you can never have too many of. Having an extra in case one goes awry is always nice. That and depending on the game you're playing, you might want a controller that is more suitable. When I'm playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, I use one of my three GameCube controllers. The thing was just built so dang durable and I worry far less about mashing on it and doing crazy analog moves than I would other controllers.

I was never an arcade kid, having gone to them very little growing up but the appeal of an arcade stick is still very much there for me. I have the HORI Fighting Stick Mini for my Switch. I have a ton of arcade titles and I wan

Even as I was writing this, I was digital window shopping for potential new controllers to add to my small but growing collection. I would like to have another arcade fighters and old school SHMUPs, maybe something bigger than the HORI Fighting Stick Mini. Being raised on pads, I'm not good at movements in SHMUPs when it comes to arcade sticks, but I'm willing to learn. I could use a Genesis controller for all those Genesis games on Nintendo Switch Online and the SEGA Genesis Classics collection.

I'm not saying a plan on owning a smorgasbord of controllers, but having more than a few of them around certainly doesn't hurt.

Nintendo Switch Online EXPENSIVE Pack

Image from Nintendo

After that wonderful Animal Crossing: New Horizons Direct, which showed off a plethora of new content coming to the game in November, Nintendo dished out the details about Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack, which includes N64 and SEGA Genesis games. I guess Nintendo didn't like leaving their fans feeling all happy and giddy with that New Horizon free update because they wasted no time getting us fuming by letting it be known to all that the price of Nintendo Switch Online along with the Expansion Pack would run solo payers $49.99 a year, a thirty dollar price increase. Doing the family plan? That'll be $79.99. This has lead some to calling it the Expensive Pack, a name I find quite fitting.

Given that Nintedno did not divulge the details on the NSO Expansion Pack during September's Direct, we were left to speculate on the price. I thought it might be $10 added to the $20 solo year plan. Maybe $40, which I would find more acceptable. But fifty freaking dollars?! For real?! You need only look at that massive dislike ratio on Nintendo's price announcement video of NSO Expansion Pack to see that the bulk of Switch owners are not cool with this. 

I can already hear the most die hard loyal Nintendo fans saying "But you're getting more games!" You know, you can be a mega fan of a company and still criticize them when they do something stupid and this is definitely one of those times.

Yes, we are getting more games with the Expansion Pack. But three years into NSO and the NES and SNES have come out at a snail's pace. Nintendo has been addicted to the drip feed style of game releases since the freaking Wii era. Nintendo has one of the richest libraries of retro games and not only do they move slow as molasses when it comes to releasing them, they don't even give you all of them. There is no reason we should not have access to every single one of Nintendo's NES and SNES games even the more obscure, Japan only titles such as Devil World and Joy Mecha fight and we should not have to create Japanese accounts to get them.

The other issue with NSO is that the online experience is TRASH. GARBO. DOO DOO! I'm not even talking lack of voice chat, though that is a problem, but the online play experience is a nightmare. How many lag filled matches of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate have you played? Or the atrocious slowdown that can take up Super Mario Maker 2 in co-op or versus matches? Yeah, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe runs great but it is the only exception to the rule. 

No longer can we say "At least NSO is cheap" because that argument was tossed out a ten story building and by Nintendo themselves. We're now paying $50 or more for an online experience with their games that isn't even decent. When everyone has good connection, games run great. But all it takes is that one player lagging to screw everything up.

The Genesis games, with the exception of some such as MUSHA and Strider are readily available via the SEGA Genesis Collection, with a ton of other games that you won't have to wait for to be squeezed out like the last bit of tooth paste from a tube that should have been chucked a long time ago. Contra Hard Corps and Castlevania Bloodlines can be played on the very excellent Contra Anniversay Collection and Castlevania Anniversary Collection. If you desire to play any of the aforemetnioned games, it will cost you less than what Nintendo is asking.

I will give Nintendo some credit. Two of the best battle royal experiences can only be played on the Switch with Tetris 99 and Pac-Man 99. It helps that these games also run very smoothly I only wish Nintendo would give us more games like these more often. Super Mario Bros. 35 was fantastic while it lasted. Also props to Nintendo for finally let us English speaking gamers play Panel de Pon and Mario's Super Picross, two Super Famicom games that were released on the SNES NSO app in the west for the first time ever. This marked the first time Panel de Pon was released in America under it's original name and not Tetris Attack.

Even if licensing costs for third party publishers is an issue, Nintendo is still charging way too much for a sub par online experience and games that crawl out to on their chin. I'm a huge Animal Crossing fan and I have a lot of love for N64 and Genesis titles, but this is just wrong. Nintendo deserves every bit of negative press and criticism they get for this one. 

Nintendo Switch LOLED (OLED)

Image from Nintendo

"Nintendo Switch Pro! 4K, baby!" If you're one of the many Switch owners, no doubt you've heard the rumors that have been spreading like wild fires about a new Switch model. This isn't the first time rumors like this one has made the rounds. Given Nintendo's history of updating their handhelds, thinking that a "superior" version of the Switch could be in the works isn't completely out of the question. And while Nintendo did put such rumors of a Switch Pro to rest, this didn't stop people's imaginations from running wild. Until Nintendo released this little video.

Meet the newest member of the Nintendo Switch family, the OLED model. Among the new features, it has better speakers, a wider screen and the ability to crush the hopes and dreams of leakers, rumor spreaders and those that believe them. 

Understandably, there was some, ahem, disappointment.

See kids, this is why I place zero stock in rumors. I don't even follow the dang things, but this Switch Pro business has been so persistent that it keeping myself unaware of the existence of such a rumor was impossible. I don't give a rat's buttocks how credible the source is when it comes to rumors. Unless the company in charge comes out, lays down some confirmation, a rumor is just a rumor, not true. So when the OLED was revealed, I couldn't help but find the news very amusing.

Yes, rumor spreaders, leakers and those that believed in the Switch Pro rumors, I am very much delighting in your misery. You have no one to blame but yourselves for getting hyped up for something that you didn't even have confirmation that existed. The salt you guys are generating is almost as good as Smash fan salt.

I do like the look of the initial OLED model. Like the Switch Lite, it may get more colors, but this one is looking super sleek. 

But do I personally have a reason to upgrade to this version of the Switch? Nah. I don't even use my Switch's kickstand because it just sucks. I bought a very nice Hori stand a few years ago and it still works just as well as the day I unboxed it. I'm also not hurting for storage at the moment as I've still got space left on my 256 GB SD card. Yeah, the bigger screen is nice and the built in Ethernet port is sure to make online players happy. However, right now, there isn't much reason for me to buy an OLED.

Those of you that don't own a Switch and have been considering buying one, if you can get an OLED when October rolls around, I say go for it. I can see Switch owners that have multiple Switch coping this thing. If I ever do buy another Switch, I'll probably get the OLED. 

For better and for worse Nintendo operates on a level that pretty much no on else in the video game industry does. "Lateral thinking with withered technology," was the design philosophy that the late and great Gunpei Yokoi lived by. Make great games with technology that has been around for some time. It was the driving force behind both the Game & Watch line of handhelds and the Game Boy, the later, of which went on to dominate every single piece of vastly superior hardware that tried to compete against it. Yokoi's line of thinking still resides within Nintendo to this very day. The Switch is not as powerful as the PS4, whatever the new Xbox is and yet it has gone on to break records. This method of designing gaming systems also keeps the cost of hardware down. People that want a 4K Switch probably haven't stopped to consider what the asking price on such a Switch would be. For what the current models of the Switch families can do, they are really affordable. 

Here's a little something for you rumor spreaders and those of you that bought into those rumors.

Pacher Fails to Understand The Concept of the Switch

Several weeks ago, the net was all abuzz over the latest word blunders of industry analyst Michael Pachter. You may have heard of him. If you forgot all about him, I don't blame you. He wasn't taking up space in my brain until he divulged how much of an imbecile he could be showing that clearly, he does not understand the hybrid design of the Switch.

During an interview with GamingBolt, Pachter, in his *ahem* infinite wisdom said "I don't understand the whole hybrid concept... I don't think most people play in both modes, I would say that maybe 20% of Switch owners play both modes; and I think most Switch owners play it handheld only. So I honestly don't understand the whole point of the hybrid. Who Cares? Play it as a handheld."

Oh, but it gets better.

"And Nintendo isn't that smart," he went on, "so you never know what they will do next, but I think the smart thing would be to get rid of the Switch console and only have the Switch Lite, get rid of the docking station, get rid of playing on the TV; maybe offer a Fire Stick style dongle for those who do want to play it on the TV. But I just think that a portable-only Switch makes the most sense, it's the cheapest to make, and they could make the screen nicer and build quality better."

We've all heard someone say something really stupid. But man, that. THAT is some unprecedented levels of stupidity. 

Pachter doesn't get the hybrid concept of the Switch? How can he or anyone not "get" it? What the Switch does is in the name. When the system was revealed to the world in late 2016, Nintendo clearly communicated what the Switch was: a machine that you can switch from a console to a handheld effortlessly. That separates it from anything else currently available and continues to be a major appeal of the system. The Switch has been making money hand over first since day one. In the three plus years it has been on the market, the Switch has enjoyed record breaking sales with over 60 million units sold. 

I cannot chalk up Pachter's ridiculous thoughts on the Switch to the garbage year that 2020 has been. The year could have been the best ever and I could still see him saying something just as, if not more so moronic because he has a tendency to do that. 

Why would Nintendo gut one of the best features about the Switch? The fact that I can use it as a console and a handheld is a huge deal to me. I cannot speak for everyone but most of the time, I play my Switch docked but handheld mode does get some use from time to time. Making the Switch only a handheld just because Pachter has some dumb ideas is just that, dumb. For people that are always on the go, the Switch Lite probably seems like the better option. But for those of us that love the hybrid nature of the Switch, we have the model that let's us play on our TVs and play in handheld mode. Everyone wins. Well, except Pacther but who cares?

Oh and for all Nintendo's faults, they are a smart company. How do I figure? Well they aren't listening to Pachter so that tells you all you need to know.

Nintendo Switch Lite image from Wired

"Switch Version When?"

Not long ago, the Switch surpassed the SNES's lifetime sales. We are coming up to the third year anniversary of this fast selling system and I have no reason to believe the Switch won't top the NES sales and keep going after that.

The Switch is everywhere. Not everywhere like everyone having a phone, but a lot of people own a Switch. Kids own a Switch, adults own a Switch and the reason for the dang thing being such a huge hit is for two reasons. 1.) In addition to being a home console, the Switch is also a handheld and the handheld market is something Nintendo has dominated with since the days of the Game & Watch. Phones, tablets, iPads; portable devices are a part of our every day lives and Switch just feeds into that. 2.) The Switch has games. Lots and lots and lots of games.

First party support for the Switch is strong as is always the case with a Nintendo system but the support from third parties is overwhelming. I don't think Nintendo has enjoyed this kind of third party support with a console since the SNES days. Developers that wouldn't come anywhere near Nintendo have been banging on their door to make games for the Switch. Indie support is also insanely high with numerous titles that hit PC and later the PS4 now come to the Switch first with a PS4 release following months after and sometimes even later. The fact that the Switch has gotten games like Doom 2016 and The Witcher 3, games that never would have come to the Wii U have made this question a frequently asked one: Switch version when?

When I first bought my PS4 in 2017, one of the first games I bought with it was the Witcher 3. I never did get around to playing it due to Yakuza 0 and the wealth of Arcade Archives titles that were on the PSN store. So when I heard that The Witcher 3 was coming to the Switch with all of the DLC, I figured, why even bother with the vanilla PS4 version? I hear some of you saying better performance but I will gladly put up with a 30 FPS game if it means I can play it whenever, wherever. Some titles I've bought on the PS4 I've bought again on the Switch just so I can play them on the go such as Jamestown+. Shoot 'em ups and the Switch go together like peanut butter and jelly so the system has become my platform of choice for the genre.

I was close to buying A Hat in Time for my PS4 when it arrived on that console but held off when I found out it was coming to the Switch, and a physical version to boot! Hotline Miami and it's sequel intrigued me and I had considered getting them on the PS4 but then the Hotline Miami Collection was announced for the Switch, sooooo, yeah, bought.

The Switch has become my primary system for gaming and I've found myself holding off on buying certain games on the PS4 because the possibility that the games could arrive on the Switch. In a lot of cases, this has happened. Under powered as the Switch is, the portability helps the thing sell, which has made the thing too big for anyone in the business of making, selling or buying games to ignore.

I realize that there are going to be some games the Switch won't get. Just as there are some games that will never be on a Microsoft or Sony console or even PC, the Switch won't have everything. However, what it does have is a ton of games, awesome games and I don't see the flow letting up anytime soon. As long as there is money to be made, you best believe developers are gonna keep supporting it.

Nintendo's Control Problems

Drifting. In the medium that is video games, it is such a cool term. Two of my favorite racing series, Mario Kart and Ridge Racer thrive on the mechanic that is drifting to aid you in taking sharp turns and getting micro speed boosts. Lately, however, the term drifting carries some pretty negative connotations, especially when it comes to the Switch.

After the failure that was the Wii U, I think anything that was even marginally better would have been seen as a win. The Switch isn't just better than the Wii U. It is a very hot seller that has not only restored consumer faith in Nintendo but third party publishers as well. Indies are also loving the Switch as Nintendo has done regular Nindies Directs and indy games get more time in the spotlight on the system since there is better quality control on it as opposed to Steam.

While Nintendo may be killing it with the Switch, everything is not sunny in paradise. The Joy-Cons, controllers that come with every Switch unit sold, have a very nasty design flaw that can cause the analog sticks to drift, that is to read movement even when you did no type of input. When I first heard of this, I'd thought that it was an isolated occurrence like the bent and or scratched screen issues that popped up shortly after the launch of the Switch over two years ago. Turns out Joy-Con drift is, much like the Xbox 360 red ring of death, a pretty wide spread problem.

I got my nieces and nephew a Switch for Christmas 2017. My nephew told me that his Joy-Cons were't working properly. When I took a look at his Switch to examine the problem, it looked an awful lot like the dreaded drift issues I'd heard about. At first I thought he was just being a bit rough with the Joy-Cons. You know how kids can be. Dropping electronic devices, tripping over things. Heck, even adults are prone to the two aforementioned. Stuff happens. But I had never seen such anything like this. I constantly had to readjust the left Joy-Con analog stick because it just wouldn't stay in any desired location unless I'd held it there. I don't know how bad the drift is from person to person but my nephew's Joy-Con's are so bad that he just uses mine whenever he comes over and brings his Switch. Sadly, my Joy-Cons have also hopped aboard the drift train. It isn't as bad as my nephew's Joy-Cons but it happens often enough to be more than a mild annoyance.

I have been gaming on Nintendo systems ever since I was a kid. From the NES to the Wii U. I have never had a problem with my controllers on any of their systems. Even when I rotated that N64 analog stick for numerous mini games on the first Mario Party, those suckers still worked. So why is it that with the Switch, a system doing so tremendously well, that quality control on the controller front is a major issue? There was talk shortly after the Switch launch that Nintendo rushed the system to the market. From the hasty termination of Miiverse to other actions, one gets the strong feeling that Nintendo wants us to forget about the flop that was the Wii U. Was Nintendo in such a rush to get the Switch out and make up for their failure that they created another one with the Joy-Con's faulty manufacturing?

Worse still is the fact that Nintendo has not come out and publicly addressed the drift issue. So people have either had to pay to have their Joy-Cons repaired or buy new ones because the warranty expired. And Joy-Cons are not cheap. A set of new Joy-Cons will wet you back $70. With that money you could buy Astral Chain or some other new upcoming Switch title. It wasn't until the word "lawsuit" came up that a leaked memo came out stating that Nintendo would fix Joy-Con drift free of charge. Those of us that frequent gaming news are aware of this but little Tommy's parents are probably out at Walmart shopping for a new pair of Joy-Cons that retain that pesky design flaw.

It isn't just the Joy-Cons that have problems. The Pro Controller, one of the best controllers I've ever gamed on, has a very finicky directional pad. You can press left or right on the pad but because it doesn't want to read inputs correctly, well, let's just say, I've had tetriminos dropped where I didn't want them dropped in Tetris 99 and I ground pounded when I had no intention of doing so in Super Mario Maker 2.

These control issues are very unlike Nintendo. Nintendo is a company renowned for their high quality products. The Big N may be making plenty of smart moves with the Switch but that doesn't excuse them for how poorly they've handled the Joy-Con drift and Pro Controller's directional pad.

Nintendo Switch Online Needs MAJOR Improvements

*Sigh* Nintendo, Nintendo, Nintendo. Why do you have to be so prehistoric? Outdated? Out of touch? There are million words I could use to describe how Nintendo can be.  The company makes many an outstanding game, but when it comes to the issue of online gaming, they are one seriously odd duck.

In this case, I am of course, talking about Nintendo Switch Online. It is in two words (shocker), not great. In a few more words, one wouldn't even consider it good. Hoo boy, everyone under the sun has had something to say about Nintendo Switch Online. Negative Nancy's are out in full force, but their negativity here is completely justified. I was raring to go to talk about this but as last week went on, I saw so many recommended videos pop up on Nintendo Switch Online on YouTube, that my enthusiasm to discuss the matter was sucked right out of me. Watching only a few of them had given me more than my fill. That isn't to say I think gamers expressing their frustration over Nintendo Switch Online is wrong, but the amount of videos that more or less said the exact same thing did inspire me to come at it from a different angle. Make no mistake, I agree with everyone else out there that Nintendo Switch Online is a joke but rather than just go on and on about why it sucks, I think it would be better to talk about what Nintendo could to improve it as well as the very few positives.

The one good thing Nintendo has over it's competitors is the price. No matter how you slice it, you pay less for Nintendo's online service. $20 for a year's subscription versus the $60 Sony and Microsoft are asking. Even the 3 month plan is cheaper than the other guys at $8 compared to the $25 you'd pay for to game online with the PS4 and XBO. If the posts in Splatoon 2 are any indication, more people are annoyed by the fact that they have to pay to play Switch games with online features online than they are the shoddy service itself. Microsoft was the first to offer a paid online subscription service and Sony followed suit with the PS4. It was only a matter of time until Nintendo jumped on the pay to play online console games online bandwagon. There's plenty to gripe about when it comes to Nintendo Switch Online. The all around cheap price, however, isn't something I feel warrants griping about.

NES games. We've seen these time and again, but it is a nice bonus for signing up for Nintendo's Online service. More are to be added in the future so I hope we get some of those games that Nintendo has seldom given any time in the spot light. For the 60 plus games that were released on the Wii's Virtual Console, there were a plethora of games that didn't make it. The NES version of Contra being omitted from all forms of the Virtual Console service made absolutely no sense. I expect the Castlevania trilogy to show up at some point as well as Super C so it would be cool if Konami could get their crap together and give us the NES version of Contra.

There are currently 20 NES games on the Nintendo Switch Online
with more on the way.

Do I think the NES games on this online service makes up for killing off the Virtual Console on the Switch? No way. And while everyone is jumping the gun over the latest data findings, getting their hopes up that a Virtual Console service is coming to the Switch, a lot of these eager people are quick to forget that Nintendo themselves said that there will be no Virtual Console on the Switch. As much as we want it, Nintendo has stated that it is a no go. If Nintendo is planning to bring their classic games to the Switch through Nintendo Switch Online, they better keep those games rolling out at a steady pace. The drip feed release for Virtual Console games on the Wii as well as the Wii U was unbearable to anyone that was there at the beginning so I find it amazing that we got 20 NES games right off the bat, even though some of them (Baseball, Soccer, Tennis) are just plain bad. I think some are still waiting for Nintendo to roll out the SNES games on this thing as well as N64 titles and if Nintendo wants to really make it worth our while, more than the usual suspects need to show up. Both the NES and SNES libraries are far too deep to stick to everything we've seen before. On the Nintendo front, they could bring us games that were never released outside of Japan such as Joy Mecha Fight and Marvelous: Another Treasure Island or the unreleased 8 and 16-bit Fire Emblem games. In recent years we've had games that were Japan only make it outside of the Land of the Rising Sun with English translations (Monster World IV) so Nintendo really has no excuse. If Nintendo is set on keeping the Virtual Console dead on the Switch then they had better bring us games from their old catalog by the truckloads. 

It still rubs me the wrong way that cloud saves are not supported by all games, especially a title like Splatoon 2, a game that is a pretty huge deal. You've got people that have invested hundreds, if not, thousands of hours into that game and Nintendo doesn't want Splatoon 2 to have cloud save support because of cheaters? Hey, Nintendo, cheaters are still going to be doing their business with games that support cloud save. To punish an entire player base over the wrongful actions of a few is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen and I've seen Nintendo do a lot of dumb things. Nintendo, you gotta find a better solution to dealing with cheaters because this one freaking sucks.

On the plus side of the cloud save issue, Nintendo is going to let us recover our saved data if our subscription expires. The Big N is going to give us up to six months to resubscribe to their service to get cloud saves back. Why on Earth this information didn't reach us on day one is puzzling. This would have helped diminish some of the backlash over Nintendo Switch Online. I have no idea what sort of miscommunication at Nintendo caused this, but that was a fairly big blunder on their part.

Perhaps more than anything, Nintendo Switch Online needs dedicated servers. Right now, we use peer to peer online play and nothing is worse than running into a laggy player. During the Retro vs Modern Splatoon 2 Splatfest, I splatted a roller and after he was taken out, his roller was still going and I was splatted! Nintendo is having us pay to play their games online now so we should have dedicated servers for more optimal online playing experiences.

If you want a recommendation from me as if you should or shouldn't get Nintendo Switch Online, I honestly don't have an answer for you. In the end, you are the only one who can decide if you feel you should pull the trigger on this or not. As for myself, I love playing Splatoon 2 online and I had a blast playing Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U and I want to do it again on the Switch with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, so I already dropped my twenty bones last week. I do like the NES games but I still feel the overall service is shoddy at best and Nintendo really needs to work at making it better. When, if they do, maybe so many gamers will stop looking at the company with their arms folded in annoyance and anger.

Nintendo Switch, AKA Port City

You know, I was thinking of making a list of games I'd like to see ported to the Switch from the Wii U and other game systems. Yes, I'm aware that I did say that begging for Switch ports is pretty dang dumb, but wanting and actually begging (the later of which a company that screwed over Wii U owners was actively encouraging) are two different things. The recent Nintendo Direct Mini revealed the Switch has plenty of ports coming its way and that is by no means a bad thing.

The Switch has been on a roll since launch, with over 10 million units sold and it doesn't appear to be slowing down anytime soon. The amount of ports the Switch has and will be getting has been cited as a complaint for some. I'd like to counter that argument by stating that both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 were home to a plethora of ports, remasters and definitive editions earlier on in their life spans. Yes, the Switch is getting a lot of port love, but it has a major advantage that the XBO, PS4 and even the PC does not have: not only is it a home console, it is a portable one. Yeah, yeah, a laptop is also portable but it is nowhere near as convenient as the Switch is. That portability factor is what makes the gaming on the Switch and the ports all the more enticing. 

I have been wanting to get into the Dark Souls series for a some time now. My plan was to start with the first one via the PS3, but upon hearing the announcement of Dark Souls Remastered, well, I'll gladly fork over extra cash for the ability to not only get bodied at home but also while I'm up at laundromat across from my apartment. 

Hyrule Warriors was my first venture into the Dynasty Warriors style of games and I got a big kick out of it, repetitive as it was. Slaying wave after wave of foes as Impa, Midna and host of other Zelda characters that you normally don't get to play as really made that game for me. There was also a ton of content from the get go, which gave you a lot to do. I didn't stop playing Hyrule Warriors because I got bored of it. No, as usual, other games came along and I never got around to picking it back up. I didn't even purchase all of the DLC or Hyrule Warriors: Legends on the 3DS. Now that Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition is Switch bound and will include all of the content from the Wii U and 3DS versions including DLC, I'll just cop that version and call it a night. I'm itching to go out into the field using Toon Link (the GOAT Link) and Marin to to show fools what's up.

With Dark Souls Remastered heading for the
Switch, you can now die on the toilet. If you're
into that sort of thing.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze was a fine, fine 2D platformer and in many ways, it one-up Donkey Kong Country Returns. It was one of the games I was wanting to see come to the Switch and lo and behold, my dream has been made reality. I got all the way up to the final boss, Lord Fredrick but died on him so many times that I stopped playing, never resuming. Yes, I'm aware that I'm a wimp and need to get gud and all that. Whatever. I would have bought a Switch port even if nothing else was added but they are giving us another Kong to play as in the form of Funky Kong, so there's that. More than that, Tropical Freeze is a wonderful game that deserved to sell much more than it did on the Wii U.

I as well as many others have said it so many times that we're beating a dead horse, but the Wii U was a flop. At over 13 million in lifetime sales, not a lot of people bought the system, meaning a wealth of people have did not play the games it had. Yet in spite of the Wii U failing, the system had some outstanding games and with some of them making the jump to the Switch, this will give them a new lease on life. The Switch is a huge success so it only makes sense to get those Wii U greats to those that didn't play them in the first place. The Switch is a such a mega hit that third parties are practically breaking down Nintendo's doors to able to make games for the thing or port games over to it. With the system being a home console as well as a portable, I fail to see how that is a bad thing. 

Nintendo: Killing it with the Switch

"Nintendo is quickly becoming irrelevant."
"The Switch will flop."
"The Switch will end up like the Wii U."
"Nintendo should just go third party."

Words spoken by detractors, skeptics and haters.

Right behind the Virtual Boy, the Wii U is Nintendo's second biggest flop and I say that as someone that really loved the system. After the runaway success that was the Wii, Nintendo was hoping for a repeat performance with the Wii U but awful marketing and name confusion ensured that the system only sold over 13.56 million units during it's entire life span. Faith that Nintendo could produce a console that could perform well as well as overall moral with the company for a lot of people, was at an all time low.

In a brilliant stroke of advertising, Nintendo pumped out an ad for this year's Super Bowl, as always an event viewed by millions. Gamers at large were already aware that the Switch was coming thanks to the console's reveal months before the Super Bowl, but there still plenty of people who were unaware of the console's coming. That ad ensured that everyone on the planet knew about the Switch and unlike the Wii U, the message of what the console was was as clear as crystal. Fittingly, Nintendo used Imagine Dragon's Believer as background music for the ad.

We haven't even gone into the holiday season and the Switch has already sold 4.7 million units worldwide as of June. That is nothing short of mind blowing. Consider that the Switch hasn't even been on the market for six months and it is selling at an extremely rapid pace. The Switch also had (and continues to have) supply issues and it still manage to bring in some very impressive numbers so early in the console's life. Yet, some can't fathom that a Nintendo console could be so successful so fast. Because haters gonna hate, they downplay the Switch.

Anyone that owns a Switch more than likely picked
up Breath of the Wild.

One key factor to the Switch being a runaway hit is that it is home console as well as a portable. How many times have you wanted to play a home console game but you couldn't because the home console experience couldn't be taken with you? The Switch remedies this by being a console/handheld hybrid. Sure, the screen isn't a big as your HD or 4K TV but the screen resolution is still super clean and games run very smooth when the Switch is in handheld mode. Its almost scary that a behemoth of a game like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild can be played anywhere. That's the beauty of the Switch: any game you get for the system can be played wherever you are, yes, including the can if you're into gaming there. The Switch is console gaming that can be taken with you.

ARMS, a new IP that released on June 16th, has
already sold 1.18 million worldwide.

The Switch isn't as powerful as other consoles, a fact people love to bring up when throwing shade at it. True, the Switch isn't the most powerful system, but for working as a console and a portable, I wouldn't call it weak. The thing can run the Unreal and Unity engines for crying out loud. If power were everything, the Xbox and GCN would have slaughtered the PS2 but Sony cleaned house during that console generation. The Switch is also easy to develop for, much easier than the Wii U was and dev kits are cheaper as well. Some still think $300 is too high for the Switch but if the system were more powerful, you can bet it would cost even more. We'd never hear the end of griping about the price tag then.

Another reason for the Switch's runaway success is the advertising. Most ads for the Wii U were cringe worthy. Switch ads? Not only are they vastly superior but they are being aired consistently. Whether I'm watching TV or videos on YouTube, escaping a Switch ad is near impossible, which isn't a bad thing. The ads are short, to the point while driving home what the Switch is about. Stay aggressive with those ads, Nintendo.

Mighty Gunvolt Burst, a Mega Man-style game exclusive
to the Switch and 3DS.

"The Switch has no games." This is an argument that surfaces with every single console within the first several months and it really makes me face palm. Tons upon tons of games do not just fall from the sky within the first 4-6 months of a console's life. Expecting a console has to have stacks of games right off the bat is highly unrealistic. Anyone that thinks the Switch has no games is doing some Monkey D. Luffy levels of reaching. There's FAST RMX, Blaster Master Zero, Mighty Gunvolt Burst, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, ARMS, Splatoon 2. Yes, a few of those are ports but Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has a vastly improved battle mode over the Wii U version. On the Switch, one of the best Zelda games and one of the best entries in the Mario Kart series can be played on the go. The number of ports on the Switch thus far is a drop in the bucket compared to the amount that are on the PS4 and XBO. The Switch will be getting even more heavy hitters later this year with Fire Emblem Warriors, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Super Mario Odyssey with more to look forward to the following year. And yet, there will still be gamers that say the Switch has no games because Nintendo isn't allowed to do well for some reason.

No matter how much haters want to dismiss the Switch's performance, it won't change the fact that it is selling like crazy. Nintendo took a hard fall with the Wii U but even when so many were saying that the company was done, they proved just how wrong the naysayers were. Nintendo knew what they were doing when they used the song Believer in that Super Bowl ad.

Understanding the Nintendo Switch's Fast Success

The Nintendo Switch had a worldwide release date of March 3, 2017. In just a little over a month, Nintendo's console/handheld hybrid has already sold more than 2 million units world wide. Needless to say, that is no small feat.

The Switch making such big sales numbers in a very short amount of time is impressive for a number of reasons. Nintendo released the console during a time when it wasn't the holiday season, you know, the time that a lot of consoles launch. The GCN, the Wii, the Wii U, Nintendo's past previous three home consoles all released during the holiday season. I've seen numerous people say that the Switch launch was rushed and there is evidence to support this with some of the consoles features not up and running on day one, but rushed launch or not, the Switch is selling like hot cakes and has become Nintendo's fastest selling home console.

One of the main reasons I think the Switch has done so well right out of the gate is because it is different from what Sony and Microsoft are offering. The Switch doubles as a home console and portable game device. Any game you get on the Switch can be played anywhere. You can sit on the beach and play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Oh, sure you can take your laptop with you and play games on that, but let's be real here: a laptop, no matter how compact it is nowhere near as practical. The Switch was built as a game device thus it is far more suited for gaming on the go. With our Andoids, iPhones, Tablets and iPads, we've fully embraced the convenience of portable technology. Now there is a console that delivers a home gaming experience that we can take wherever we go. You'd better believe the appeal of that is freaking huge.

The other reason the Switch has sold so fast? The almighty power of advertising. It has been said time and time again but Nintendo did an absolutely poor job of advertising the Wii U. I originally thought the Wii U would be a resounding success because it had the Wii name in it, but because Nintendo's ads for it were so abysmal, the majority populace had no idea what the Wii U was, often mistaking it for some kind of Wii add on. However, with the Switch? Everyone on the planet knows what that thing is. Maybe Nintendo had to take that hard L with Wii U to learn, but it is so nice to see so many ads for the Switch. The extended Super Bowl 51 ad is one of my favorite ads from the Big N.

While the Switch may not be as powerful as the PS4 or the XBO, it seems plenty of gamers, be they casual or hardcore, aren't really all that concerned that it doesn't pack the specs under the screen that the aforementioned consoles do. Access to home console gaming at any time is just too good to pass up and I think most are willing to deal with a system that isn't quite as powerful if it can deliver that, which is exactly what the Switch does.

Lots of Games at Launch isn't Super Important

Well, we're here. At long last, the wait for the Big  N's next highly anticipated system, the Nintendo Switch, is very nearly over. It won't be long before we're nuking each other to the moon in Super Bomberman R, exploring the larger than life hand of Hyrule in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and solving clever puzzles in Snipperclips. I'm not even buying a Switch on launch day and I'm still excited, largely because the Switch has the potential to enjoy the same success that the Wii did. The Switch is known far and wide by both casual and hardcore gamers and third parties seem very eager to make games for the system. And yet, the detractors are still trying their darndest to muddy the water.

One of the most common criticisms leveled at the Switch is that it has "No games!" Well either that or its "No games at launch!" I'll get to the launch line up in a minute. First, I'd like to tackle the aforementioned "The Switch has no games" argument that is rapidly running out of legs to stand on.

Did these people miss the indie game bombshell Nintendo dropped a few days ago? Some of those same games will be hitting the Switch before they land anywhere else and some are exclusive to the Switch. I've seen comments from some people that brush these indie titles off as unimportant because they use retro art styles or aren't super big budget, triple A titles. One comment even stated that it was "Sad" how Nintendo was reaching out to indies to get so much support from them on the Switch since indie games are made cheaper. As long as the games are good, I couldn't care less if the budget to make them is smaller than big budget developers. And the fact that Nintendo is so willing to work with indie developers with the Switch is a huge step up from the Wii U. Steam has benefited greatly from all the indie titles as well as Sony and Microsoft. The indie scene, despite not having pockets as deep as the triple A boys, is a thing and when you've got a line of them kicking down your front door to make games for you, that is a very big deal. Saying that the Switch has no games when a good chunk of those titles happen to be indie games is just willful ignorance.

The Switch launch line up only consists of a handful of games. That is actually a fair point, but it does make me roll my eyes when the same can be said for so many other system launches. Remember the SNES? Of course you do. The SNES is widely viewed by critics and fans as one of, if not the greatest video game console of all time and a golden age for Nintendo. SNES owners enjoyed rich first and third party support and in the end the console ultimately beat the Genesis, winning the 16-bit console generation. But the SNES launch lineup? I think a lot of people's CSMD (chronic selective memory disorder) is acting up because in terms of the number of games, it was abysmal. The SNES launched with only three titles, Super Mario World, F-ZERO and Pilotwings. But those three titles were pretty freaking good. F-ZERO wowed players with its dazzling speed and Mode-7 effects and Pilotwings was a great, very challenging flight sim that showed the visual and scaling prowess of the SNES and Super Mario World was the successor to Super Mario Bros. 3 and to this day, Super Mario World is universally seen as one of the greatest video games of all-time. Very few games released today can hold a candle to Mario's first 16-bit adventure.

So what does the Switch have? A handful of launch titles but one of those games is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, a game that many critics are singing the praises of. It also has Super Bomberman R, Bomberman's return to console gaming after having been MIA for seven years with eight player online and local multiplayer support. Snipperclips looks like some of the most fun local co-op you can have in a puzzle game. Not every launch title shows off the power of the Switch, but you could do a lot worse than what the Switch has on day one.

Conversely, the Wii U had a ton of games at launch and yet the system still had shade thrown at it from console war zealots and Nintendo haters. And in the end, that wealth of Wii U launch titles didn't really do the system much good. The Wii U was poorly advertised, Nintendo did not play nice with third parties and many people didn't even know the system was in fact a new, different system from the Wii. The Wii U, a system that had a ton of games at launch was a retail bomb, taking years to hit over 13 million units.

People love to look at the number of Switch launch titles and complain, rather than the quality of the games. Well, if the number of games at launch is more important then let's discuss the sub-par system launches of old. The N64 had two launch titles, Pilotwings 64 and Super Mario 64. The 3DS was nothing to write home about with it's diminutive launch lineup but went on to be a handheld juggernaut after a price drop and a more noteworthy games started rolling in the very same year it was released. The PS4 and XBO launches were pretty meh as well and for a good while, had more remasters of games from the previous console generation, some of those titles weren't even more than two years old. Despite all those remasters, Sony was still able to move over 6 million PS4 units in a very short amount of time. So, its cool when the PS4 gets games that other systems already had but it isn't cool if the Switch gets games that other systems already got? I'm really confused on just when the double standard is OK here.

If the number of launch titles is what makes a stupendous console launch, then we haven't had a truly good console launch in a very long time. "Not enough launch titles" may as well be the tag line of every single console that launches because if we're gonna throw that around with one launch, we should just do it with all of them. At the very least, it'll will make gamers a bit less hypocritical.

As Nintendo Switch Hype Builds, So Does Nintendo Switch Hate

We are less than two weeks away from March 3rd, the launch of the Nintendo Switch. I won't be picking up the console at launch because I couldn't pre-order it in time, but I'm just as excited for the system as anyone else. In fact, I've grown more hopeful for the Switch as more news has come out. But as we get closer to the Switch launch, Nintendo haters and console ware fanboys are coming out in full force 

It is no secret that the Switch is not as powerful as the Xbox One or the PlayStation 4. This is something haters are quick to throw in the face of anyone looking forward to getting a Switch. And yeah, said haters are correct. While the Switch is an HD console, the PS4 and XBO outclass it in the specs department. And yet, both the XBO and PS4 are outclassed by a little system called a PC. Even a low end PC will take both of those systems to school. The most powerful system for gaming is a device that pretty much everyone already owns. I wouldn't mind the Switch being more powerful but $300 for an HD console that can be played at home and on the go, I don't mind the compromises. Between the PS2, the GameCube and the first Xbox, the PS2 was the weakest of the bunch but it still outsold the competition because of the games, not because of tech specs.

The Switch comes with an initial 32 GB of hard drive space and I originally thought that was a diminutive amount of storage space. The Wii U also had the same storage space to start and unless you were buying all of your games digitally, it was a decent amount of space for storage. I still haven't exhausted all of the Wii U's 32 GBs. 500 GB seems like a huge amount of space for storage on the PS4 but the games have to be installed and some of those games take up a huge amount of space. Mind you, this is the case for both physical and digital PS4 games. Stories about PS4 owners having to uninstall games just to make space on the PS4 hard drive are all too common. The PS4 Pro is an attractive buy for the 1 TB of space alone for those that don't already own a PS4. If you feel you'll burn through 32 GB of space pretty quickly, SD cards made for the Switch are available to remedy the problem. Like the Wii U, Switch games will run off the game card, which will help save space.

Apparently, the Switch isn't a true portable because you can't fit it in your pocket. Huh. I was not aware that a portable system wasn't truly portable unless you could carry it around in your pants. You know what also didn't fit into most people's jeans? The original Game Boy. Not that that little hiccup prevented gamers from playing hours of Tetris or the first and second generation of Pokemon games. Heck, the Game Boy was inferior, hardware wise to the Game Gear and Lynx, both portables that boasted color and superior visuals but the Game Boy trumped both of those portables with a healthy 10 hour battery life and a much better library of games. Long before the Game Boy's Pocket and Color models were released in 1996 and 1998 respectively, the Game Boy was printing money for Nintendo despite being a brick. Hm, I guess the iPad isn't a true portable either because I can't fit it in my back pocket. And yet, people are always using them at home, on buses, trains, airplanes, etc. Last I checked, not being pocket sized has hardly been detrimental to a portable system's longevity. Did we suddenly start living in a world where book bags don't exist?

I very much doubt the Switch not being pocket
sized will be much of a problem. At all.

And the Switch costs too much! And if you want an extra Joy-Con that's an additional $70! The Switch doesn't come with a pack-in game so I'm already looking to spend over $400 on launch day! Oh noes! Sigh. The PS4 launched at $400 with no game included. An additional Dual Shock 4 did and still does cost $60. The 360 launched at $500 with no pack-in game and another controller was not cheap. So it's perfectly fine to fork over more than $450 at launch on other systems but suddenly it because far too costly when you might spend that much on a Nintendo system on launch day? I won't argue that the Joy-Cons are inexpensive but with the purchase of a Switch, you're getting two controllers right out of the box with much better battery life than what Sony and Microsoft are offering. Yes, the Joy-Cons are $10 more than a Dual Shock 4 but $60 is still pretty freaking pricey. Controllers for in general are expensive, not just the Joy-Cons.

The launch line up sucks! OK, so Splatoon 2 and Super Mario Odyssey aren't launch titles. Sure, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is at launch, but it is also hitting the Wii U on the same day. Was the PS4 and XBO launches really any better? Heck, even the 3DS launch, a system that is killing it, wasn't very hot. If we've learned anything from console launches it is that even a sub-par launch does not doom a system. And if you can't get excited for Super Bomberman R, you should probably see a doctor.

Gamers, both hardcore and casual alike are talking about the Switch. I think it's great that there is a great deal of excitement surrounding Nintendo's new machine. The Switch is easy to develop for and Nintendo make it easily accessible for third party developers, which is probably the reason we're seeing so many line up to make games for the thing. Do I still have concerns? Of course. That one "free" digital game a month deal sucks and I'm hoping online play is smooth and that third parties don't jump ship, but right now is a time to get hype. 

Nintendo's Switch Super Bowl Ad is on Point

There are a number of reasons the Wii U flopped so hard but one of the biggest was a server lack of advertisement. Outside of the hardcore gamers, very few people even knew what the Wii U was, often mistaking it for some kind of add on for the original Wii. With the Nintendo Switch, it is a completely different story.

From the design of the system to the name, Nintendo has made it clear that the Switch is a completely new console so even the casual gamer won't mistake it for something it isn't. So Nintendo gets some points for eliminating name confusion but they get major props for their first Switch ad.

Now that right there is a good freaking ad. It shows what the Switch is about while showing off some games for the system with Imagine Dragon's Believer playing as background music. It is a great ad on it's own, but Nintendo plans to run that sucker during the Super Bowl. 

I'm not a football fan but even a football challenged poser like me knows how popular the Super Bowl is. Every year, millions of people tune in to see the biggest football game of the year so it was a brilliant move of Nintendo to had an ad play during the Super Bowl, letting millions of people know that they've got a new console coming and you can play it anywhere. Anyone that may not know about the Switch is going to be informed very soon. 

Again, this first Switch ad is really, really good and Nintendo gets bonus points for running it during the Super Bowl. Its a sign of stronger advertising from Nintendo, which will help them a lot during the Switch's lifespan. The Super Bowl ad will be the first time a lot of people even catch wind that the Switch is a thing and with an ad this good, Nintendo is going to get a lot of people looking in their direction. 

Top 5 Most Wanted Nintendo Switch Games

Despite the concerns I have have for the Nintendo Switch, I am very much excited for the system. I want Nintendo's new system to be a success, enjoyed by a much broader audience than what the Wii U had. Now anyone that knows about video games knows that it is the games that make the system.

05. Fire Emblem Warriors

Hyrule Warriors allowed players to battle it out Dynasty Warriors style as their favorite Zelda characters. Fire Emblem Warriors is set to give players similar treatment. With such a rich and diverse cast of Fire Emblem stars, giving Nintendo's strategy game the Dynasty Warriors treatment seems quite natural. There's even a 3DS version in the works for those that want to slash armies up on the go! I cannot wait to fight for my friends with sick Fire Emblem rock tunes.

04. ARMS

Hey, look! A new IP from Nintendo! They never put those out. All sarcasm aside, ARMS intrigues me with its cartoonish character designs and Stretch Armstrong-like boxing. the 411 on ARMS is completely known, but what the reveal trailer along with what was shown was enough to whet my appetite for more. I know what some of you are thinking. "Great, another waggle fest Nintendo title." While you can use the Joy-Cons to throw and control your punches, ARMS does support standard controls for those that don't like to fling their arms (pun not intended) about.

03. Super Bomberman R

In the words of Mad Stan, "Blow it up! Blow it all up!" When Konami basically gave console gaming a giant middle finger to go frolic in mobile and pachinko slot land, the last thing we expected from them was a Bomberman game and on a console, no less. What's more, Konami got members from Hudson that worked on previous Bomberman titles to bring us Super Bomberman R, the first Bomberman game in seven years. After getting way too dark and edgy for his own good in Bomberman: Act Zero, Bomberman has returned to being cute as a button and most importantly, making stuff blow up. The single player mode can be enjoyed with a friend, but the real reason anyone is going to be grabbing Super Bomberman R is for one reason: multiplayer. Up to eight players can nuke each other to kingdom come either locally or online. If you think Splatoon and Mario Kart brings the salt, you haven't seen anything yet. Just try not to accidentally kill yourself with your own bombs. It happens more often than people would like to admit.

02. Splatoon 2

The original Splatoon is one of my favorite games of the eighth generation of consoles and one that I still play frequently. There is also the matter of it earning Nintendo a sizable chunk of change, becoming the company's most popular new IP since Wii Sports. Not too surprising to find that Nintendo has been hard at work on a sequel. Splatoon 2 will boast new maps, new hairstyles, and new weapons, some with new techniques and maneuvers to help you evade campers or get the jump on your enemies. Of course older maps from the original Splatoon will return along with all the old weapons. The core gameplay of covering turf remains as does swimming and hiding in your own ink. It doesn't get a lot of mention, but the first Splatoon also did have a pretty fun solo player campaign to go through when you weren't inking it out in four on four online matches so I'm hoping Nintendo improves upon that in Splatoon 2 as they work on making multiplayer even better.

01. Super Mario Odyssey 

When Mario popped out of that sewer and starting running around totally-not-New-York-City, my jaw hit the floor. Never before had we seen Mario in such a setting, but he romped through it as if it were the Mushroom Kingdom, leaping off buildings, bouncing from taxis and just having a grand old time. Mario also ran through forests, deserts and some vegetable like world where he could lift turnips, something we haven't seen him do since Super Mario Bros. 2. All the while Mario looked darn good doing it. I mean, Mario's hair and overalls have never looked this good! Say what you want about the Switch being under powered compared to the PS4 and XBO, but Nintendo knows how to make their games look freaking great regardless of the tech under the hood. Mario's hate seems to be a sentient being and he can even toss it at enemies and use it as an extra platform to jump from. And is Bowser finally going to claim Peach for his own? The worlds look possitively massive and super fun to explore, making Super Mario Odyssey my number one most anticipated Nintendo Switch title.

Concerns for the Nintendo Switch

As much as I love the Wii U, I cannot deny the fact that the system was a huge bomb, barely selling over 13 million units in the span of four years. Nintendo had probably hoped to recapture the success that it had with the Wii, but the company's poor marketing left many confused as to what the console was, often mistaking it for an add on for the Wii, when in reality, the Wii U was a new system entirely. While I am excited about the Nintendo Switch, there are a number of things that have caused me to a bit cautious about the upcoming system.

It sucks that Nintendo has adopted the pay to play online deal, but it isn't really surprising. However, it is downright insulting that Nintendo is going to "give" those that pay to play online a free virtual console game every month for one month. And once the month is over, they are going to take the game away. Yeah, Nintendo's version of giving you a free game for paying to play online is essentially letting you borrow a digital game. You don't even get to keep the sucker. At least Sony throws some free games your way on PlayStation Plus. Granted, they may not be the greatest, but hey, at least the games are free. Not even the most die hard Nintendo fan can defend such an appalling method of giving Switch online subscribers "free" games. With Nintendo's massive catalog of retro games they could really upstage Sony with by giving out actual free games, but no, like so many other things, Nintendo had to go and screw that up.

Now that we actually have to pay to play online, Nintendo's servers better have some pretty darn awesome connections. I played some Super Smash Bros. for Wii U online a week ago and my experience was a lag filled mess. My Splatoon matches last week were also bogged down by lag. Nothing like knowing you were out of range of a Inkzooka blast or a Kraken only to get splatted because the dang game is chugging along. I'll take lag free matches in Splatoon 2, thank you very much.

Don't sweat it if you can't get a Switch to play Breath of the Wild.
It will also be available on the Wii U.

Getting your hands on a Switch is already an uphill battle. 2 million pre-orders are already sold out and this is after Nintendo said they would have enough supply to meet demand. We've got another NES Classic Edition on our hands and I can already see scalpers scooping up the Switch and selling it for far more money than the original asking price. If you think $300 is a lot of money to drop on a Switch wait until you see those greedy scalper prices. I'm actually amazed Nintendo managed to sell over 200,000 NES Classic Editions, since finding one of the blasted things is freaking impossible. That would mean, Nintendo had to actually produce 200,000 units. And yet Nintendo can fill 2 million Switch pre-orders but cannot get an ample supply of NES Classic Edition consoles in stores? Huh. I have to admit that it is impressive that Switch pre-orders are sold out, which shows there are plenty of people out there that want the system, but Nintendo has done a terrible job with NES Classic Edition restocks so I have little reason to believe they'll keep the Switch in steady supply. After the Wii launched in 2006, consumers had a difficult time getting their hands on one. Demand for the system was high, but if we've learned anything from initial amiibo waves and the NES Classic Edition its that Nintendo is not above trickling out a small amount of product to increase demand.

I suppose I could also mention the Switch launch line up. 1,2 Switch has novelty that could get old really fast and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is also releasing on the Wii U on the same day as the Switch. Obviously Breath of the Wild will run better on the Switch but paying $300 to play a smoother running game is a bit too rich for my blood. Super Bomberman R looks and sounds like it will be really good and the Switch will be the only place to blow up friends and strangers in Bomberman's comeback game. While the Switch launch isn't spectacular by any means, it is in no way shape or form, a system killer. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and didn't have launches worth writing home about either.

We've seen the list of third party support for the Switch but how much do you wanna bet that EA will give the system two or three games and then bail as they did on the Wii U? We're seeing a beevy of ports that were already successful in past console generations as well. But again, in the Switch's defense, PS4 and XBO is high res port city of previous gen games.

I love the games Nintendo makes and I'll be getting a Switch eventually so I can play the games for it. But I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge mistakes that could potentially hurt the system. Nintendo is often they're own worst enemy, stabbing themselves and then twisting the knife.

Thoughts on the Nintendo Switch 2017 Presentation

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, the Nintendo Switch Presentation has finally come and gone. Questions were answered, more questions were raised and thankfully, some of those pesky rumors have been shattered.

The launch date was announced early during the presentation. We all know the console would launch in March when Nintendo dropped the reveal trailer back in October, but they never gave us an exact date. That release date is now March 3, which isn't far off at all. I was thinking perhaps later in the month, but Nintendo wants us to get our hands on that thing sooner rather than later it seems.

What everyone and their mother wanted to know was the price of the Switch. Some were placing their bets at $250 but Nintendo revealed it to be $300. I can already see some gamers crying foul at the price of the system because "It's under powered." I love how they say this based off rumors when specs haven't even been divulged yet. I was hoping Nintendo would give us some specs during the presentation, but I guess they didn't want to bother with that during the event. The system is powerful enough to run the Unreal 4 engine on it and a certain highly anticipated game that will launch on March 3rd looks drop dead gorgeous. So even if it isn't as powerful as the PS4 or XBO, it looks to be packing some pretty impressive hardware under that sleek-looking hood.

1 2 Switch looks to be what Wii Sports and Nintendo Land was for the Wii and Wii U respective. That is to say, 1 2 Switch is a game that demonstrates the abilities of the Joy-Con controller. It is interesting to see a video game that is played by not even looking at the screen but I can easily see the hardcore crowd dismissing this game and labeling it as casual trash. Admittedly, it didn't really wow me during the presentation and I'm not too keen on checking it out but I'll probably give it a look although, I'd much rather have another entry in the Wii Sports series.

Arms. Hey, look at that, it is another one of those new Nintendo IPs that the company never gives us! I really like the character design and concept of this game and can't wait for more info to drop on it. The idea of using your actual arms to control the speed of your punches in game is intriguing  and will no doubt make for some sick mix ups.

Who isn't hyped for Splatoon 2? Not only am I happy to see new hairstyles for both Inklings but we're getting new stages, new weapons, new specials and new moves! That roll looks sick but I can see it being punished. Still, it is nice to have some evasive move that isn't whipping out your special or super jumping away.

I'd be a horrible, horrible human being if I didn't talk about The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I don't think there was a single jaw that was not dropped. I mean, holy crap, that trailer was freaking awesome! The word epic is thrown around so much these days, but it definitely qualifies for this game. And it is a launch game? People were already hyped about the Switch before but Breath of the Wild being a launch title just kicked it in to overdrive. That right there, just made the Switch a day one purchase for a lot of gamers.

Mario games have always been fun but Super Mario Odyssey looks really fun. Like, Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario 3D World fun. I never thought I'd see Mario running and jumping around what looked like New York city. And he looked really good doing it, too! HD Mario games look better and better. And it is an open world Super Mario title, the first in the series.

Third party support seems to be very strong for the Switch and I want it to stay that way. One of Nintendo's biggest problems since the N64 days has been third party support on their home consoles. Sure. they've had it before but not like what we're seeing with the Switch. Nintendo has always had strong first party offerings and I'd love to see them have the kinda first party support they did back on the SNES and for the first time in a long time, it is looking that way. March is gonna be one lively month for gamers.