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Buy Nintendo Switch now or wait for new release?
I'm in no rush to buy but I am considering getting a Switch. From my brief bit of duckduckgo-ing, it appears that a new Switch is on the horizon, either a newer version (Switch 2) or a mini-Switch and the current release may drop in price.
Any thoughts? What would you do at this point? Most of the shops around here that sell them are out of stock anyway so unless I was to buy online, it's not necessarily an option.
Thanks all!
Update: I bought a Switch. With Mario Kart and Zelda. It's brilliant!
Well here's news on the Lite model, OP.
Amazingly good timing for the question!
Not for me. I'm going to go for the full thing. Thanks for the heads up though!
Well, I’ll be…
I really enjoy the Switch’s ability to change from handheld to docked, and I’d awfully miss full motion controls (e.g. to play ARMS, and to some degree Fast RMX and Mario Kart and HD rumble, but I can see how some would like that.
The Switch Lite doesn't eliminate motion controls entirely (it still has the gyro).
I noticed it makes it a lot more manageable (and actually kinda nice), if you hold the joycon horizontally and facing forward when triggering the gyro puzzles. As for the bow and arrow, the same goes for stretching out the arm.
Nintendo mentions on their comparison page that you can still use joy-cons, so you can still get the full experience with every game. It implies that you can even play games that do not support handheld mode this way.
Sure, you can connect joycons to it, but do you really want to play it that way, when you can't connect it to the TV and it even has no kick-stand?
Sure it's not ideal. You can't even charge the joy-cons without bringing along another accessories, and (IIRC) joy-cons have very short battery life. But that doesn't mean that everything is going to be bad. You don't need to have a huge tv in order to enjoy most games. The only thing to worry about is accidentally punching the switch.
No, I see the point. And a ⅓ cheaper kit for all those who play it only hand-held is a great thing. Especially with a proper d-pad!
It’s just not for me, that’s all. I guess I’m the ideal original Switch target group in that regard :D
You’re right, and that’s a good to hear. I amended my comment to what I’d miss.
I bought my Switch yesterday. Decided now was as good a time as any to buy. It is fantastic, ticks all the boxes for the kind of gaming I'm interested in. I can't imagine not being able to easily use it as a docked console that I can easily plug into my TV. I think that is where the majority of my gaming will be done, at home on an evening. Need to get some game recommendations now! I've got Mario Kart and Zelda.
AFAIK, there is no confirmation about a new revision of the Switch. The closest to that that could be interpreted that way (or also very much not) is that when asked about these rumours in an interview one of the Nintendo heads said that they are always working on new hardware. Which is very much to be expected and normal.
In any case, it is not likely the new revision would be a lot more powerful, as newer games for the system would still need to run fine on the original. The more reasonable speculations are about a better screen or just a tiny bit more powerful board, or perhaps 5G connectivity. I don’t expect anything drastic.
It would not surprise me if they actually incorporate bluetooth for headsets too as that's a major pain point for online communications right now.
All that would entail is a software update.
The current generation of joycons has a hardware flaw that will causes all analog sticks to eventually drift. Someone disassembled and documented the issue here.
If you live in the European Union then you should be able to get them repaired for free if this happens within 2 years of purchase as it's a design flaw but if you live in America then it's something to consider after Nintendo of America's limited 1 year warranty.
Well, it seems a new revision of the Switch is in the making, according to The Verge and based on FCC filing, it would have:
I am waiting for the new release. At one point I thought I was waiting for the pokemon title -- but now I think I'm just waiting for a price drop, which is good enough for me. Patient gaming is very rewarding!
I may just try and hang on. The danger is when I've had a few beers, mates are talking about the Switch and the credit card is close to hand...
From what I understand, there's two new Switches on the horizon. A "lite" Switch for more casual, less graphically intensive games, and a more heavy duty version with a bigger cpu (possibly more memory but I'm not sure).
My girlfriend got a Switch a while back and I like it.
I love my Switch but it has a couple of glaring flaws:
I think these are all first-gen issues, likely to get fixed in a future version. You decide what you want to do; personally, I'd wait a few months.
Unless you're using old cheap SD cards, they should be about as fast as running games off a retail cartridge, and only barely slower than internal storage.
Micro SD cards are also cheap. I recently bought a 256GB card for $40.
I don't really see how adding a micro SD card to your switch is impractical or slow.
Headset is purely a software issue. If you homebrew Linux, you can use Bluetooth headphones. In fact, that use to be the only way to get audio, since they didn't figure out how to output to speakers for a while.
The switch does have Bluetooth hardware, that's how the controllers are connected.
The adapters convert 9 mm jack to Bluetooth back to 9mm jack. So naturally it'll work on anything with a jack for input. But the Switch natively has a Bluetooth chip.