I love my Nintendo Switch very much. It’s a launch model that I’ve had since the year it came out, and it’s had its fair share of problems as time has gone by. However, it’s served me well, so it hurts to shit on it. Sadly, I’m now going to do just that, but hopefully in the nicest way possible.
When the Nintendo Switch launched in 2017, it was a sight to behold. It wasn’t even that long ago! Stuck on a bus that smells like a Hungry Jacks fart? Now you have a handheld console to escape into! Need something to play on the TV at your home, where it also smells like a Hungry Jacks fart? That’s weird, but yes, the Switch can help you too! The WiiU that came before it essentially felt a precursor for what Nintendo had in mind for the Switch, and the latter really set a precedent for what was to come when it came to handheld gaming in the new age of technology.
Unfortunately, the new age of technology was not only what made the Nintendo Switch so exciting as a product, but is also what has made it lag behind where we are now.
Gaming technology has absolutely soared since 2017. AAA (and even some indie) games being made nowadays are big and chunky, and a good amount of them need a hefty piece of tech to make them run well. As a Switch owner, I’ve seen more and more games come out over time that have played well when the Nintendo Switch is docked and absolutely abysmally when in handheld mode. When one of your console’s main pulls is that it can be taken around town and played wherever, adequate performance in both modes is essential.
After seeing the most recent articles coming out about the performance of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet on the Switch’s handheld mode (and that’s not just the launch model, but the OLED as well), it’s hard to not wonder where Nintendo are going to go from here. If games made exclusively for a console are struggling to run on them, it seems like it’s a no-brainer to release a console that, I dunno, can run them?
Outside of Nintendo exclusives, it’s also gotten to a point where if a multi-platform game does get a Switch release, it either gets delayed so developers can absolutely make sure that it runs on Switch in a way that won’t make them look bad, or it releases and reviews say the same thing every time: Great game, terrible performance.
With products like the Steam Deck boasting the same handheld capabilities of the Nintendo Switch with the added bonus of being able to run games that look and feel good, it’s high time that the Switch gets a hardware update that isn’t just a bigger screen. For me right now, it’s just a nifty piece of tech that can play games that could run just as well on my high school MacBook Air.
Switch owners, how do you feel about it? Do you think it’s getting to the point where a Switch Pro is necessary? Give us your thoughts in the comments.
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