Is it worth the Switch?

It has been a while since the Nintendo Switch was released globally except India That is not new though Nintendo has not officially released a console here in decades Lets focus on the challenge at hand should you buy a Nintendo Switch the answer is a firm depends However dont fret we can help you make your decision with our pros and cons listProsPortable The Switch is the ultimate portable console it has a big screen with comfortable controls and many good games The battery life is approximately six hours but the fun twist is that you can attach the whole console to a dock that connects to your TVAmazing games Switch has a small but robust roster of games with some good titles and many unique features The most sought after games are Mario Maker 2 Mario Kart 8 Pokemon Lets Go Breath of the Wild and Super Smash Bros Ultimate And there are more comingBuilt for multiplayer There has never been a console so versatile that you can play the game both on your living room TV and on the go The entire console is built for a multiplayer experience it lets you physically disconnect the controller from the screen to make two controllers Letting players get their gaming fix anywherePrices have stabilised Since its launch the prices for the Switch have stabilised to an average of R6000 difference from its US counterpart This is an affordable margingiven the console has to be imported it currently costs R26KConsNot the best graphics As a handheld console the switch power capabilities are limited and the sacrifice is the gaming graphics While the games are quite enjoyable on the handheld screen bigger screens with massive resolutions tend to not look as good as a PS4 or XboxJoycon drift The detachable Joycon controllers go through a lot of abuse some people have found out they are not very durable Joycon Drift refers to the controller stick being stuck to a corner of the gamepad making it hard to move the characters on screen Nintendo is yet to offer a solution to this problemGames are expensive The games for the Switch are very expensive even when compared to game prices on the PS4 or the Xbox One The costs can quickly stack up because of the intriguing library of multiplayer and single player experiencesNo warranty in India None of the pieces available in India come with any sort of warrantymdashif you get a dud piece you are stuck with it There are nonofficial channels to repair the console but they are mostly expensive at this timePro amp ConNintendo Switch Lite Nintendo recently announced a new variant of the Switch called Switch Lite It lacks a lot of the features but is priced at 199 While the price in India initially will be very high you can expect this to stabilise to R20k range This is great for people who find the pricing of the Switch too high but the console loses a lot of its characteristics that make it such a killer It doesnt have key sensors and motion controls which is sad In essence the console is more like a Sony PSPPSVita than a Switch In addition no warranty on this one eitherConclusion DependsIf you are a fan of Nintendo the Switch is a nobrainer However Nintendo just announced that the Switch will be updated in August to have more battery life of around nine hours as opposed to the 67 hours it has right now There are also rumours of a Switch Pro which will have an updated CPU along with other minor upgrades For a casual gamer the Switch maybe tempting with its easygoing titles and focus on multiplayer gaming But the expensive games are an avoidable cost If you love Nintendo videogames the time to invest in a Switch is around September However if you are interested in the console try looking at the secondhand market for packages that include games or skip it all together and maybe pick up a PS4 insteadmdashthey have a lot of good discounted gamesCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates