6 mo. ago • 100%

Maybe hot take: as a handheld, the regular switch is an awful handheld

Have you ever held a switch? Its long, flat and the controllers suck. Awful dpad and bad sticks.

Its almost comical, for a small stick the 3ds stick is better than any joycon stick.

And also, internal storage being only 32 GB, and cart games being downloaded in full to the system.

The switch is a mess. At least the games emulate well.

That's not even going into the online ransom shit.

And the dock sucks too. Would it have killed Nintendo to add like 2 more USB ports and an Ethernet port.

And not related but powera can eat shit

60 comments

To be fair when it came out seven years ago it really shook up the portable gaming scene. Every portable console coming out since is an iteration on that design. The joycons can go to hell though. And those weird ass online plans.

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- Isn't the switch itself just an iteration on the GameGear, or close to 'home', the GBA?
  
  It's not the first chunky, horizontal handheld. The only thing that was new about it was the joycons, and they ditched those immediately for the Lite.
  
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  The Switch design is an evolution of the Wii U controller, which itself was evolved from the the lower screen design of the DS, which itself was modelled on the old Vertical Multi Screen Game and Watches from the 1980s.
  
  Have a look through all of Nintendo’s consoles and you’ll see the lines of inspiration drawn from generation to generation.
  
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  The Game gear and GBA played games that were nothing like the home console games of their time.
  
  This is what the Switch brought to the table. Breadth of the Wild was a great home console title, and you could play it handheld on the go.
  
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- Yea, you have a point. But in terms of feel, my n3dsxl is a lot comfier
  
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  I really liked the original 2DS personally. The announcement left everyone incredulous as the device sounded and looked like a dumb downgrade. I mean, it was hard to tell if it was joke or not. In the end though it’s light, cheap, tough and surprisingly comfortable.
  
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- When it came out it was just slightly better than a phone
  
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  But without an app store full of shit that games the recommendation system.
  
  Nintendo handhelds would have died a long time ago if smartphone vendors could have avoided that problem.
  
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Yes, I didn't and still don't understand why they didn't make the joycon buttons and "d-pad" more comfortable. It's Nintendo's least comfortable controller and it's the biggest reason I hate using the Switch portable mode.

Everyone's saying it's old here - the Game Boy was more comfortable to hold and had better buttons. It's not about age.

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- The 3ds has a good dpad too. Has Nintendo forgotten how dpads work
  
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Well it's the only handheld that hasn't given me cramp after 20 minutes, so at least there's that. DS and 3DS were limited to stylus games for me.

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I completely agree that the switch is genuinely painful to hold on handheld mode for more than ten minutes. The controllers and buttons are too small, it's flat, and generally not ergonomic. It's definitely designed for child sized hands in mind and not adults. I do my best to avoid using it in handheld mode.

Meanwhile, my steam deck is a much superior design. The ergonomics are excellent, it fits my hands, the buttons are spaced apart well, and are adequately sized, and I can play for hours with no hand cramps.

However....

The switch absolutely trounces the deck on portability. The fact that it's flat and small means that, even while in a case, it's extremely easy to slip into a backpack and take on the go. The deck while in a case, however, is bulky and doesn't fit in a backpack if I want to put anything else in there (like a book and my laptop).

They were each designed with different goals in mind. I hate the ergonomics of the switch, but really do appreciate how easy it is to take on the go. I love the ergonomics of the deck, but hate how cumbersome it is to take anywhere. Nintendo made the choice to sacrifice ergonomics, and valve made the choice to sacrifice portability. Unfortunately, no solution will be perfect, and I accept that.

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- Good point, tho my switch only left my house like once for a smash tourney
  
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I find I very rarely use it as a handheld. I find it kind of heavy and awkward to hold after longer periods of time. I kinda wish Nintendo made another 3ds, lol. I'm extremely curious about what they're going to do for the switch successor

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- I'd go even farther back - make another GBA
  
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  I want both a new GBA and a new 3ds.
  
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  That would be really interesting. Heck I would even just take people making more games with the gba's restrictions. I've always thought it's super interesting. As developers get used to working with a console or system, we end up rolling into the next generation. So they don't really get to flex their skill as much as I think they probably could.
  
  I sometimes wonder what we would see if older consoles had another 7 years of life added to them. I try not to think about it too hard or I get kinda sad about the games we'll never see lol
  
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Handheld mode is really not great for extended periods.

I got it for (business) trips, so I appreciate that I can easily connect it to a hotel room TV, or put it upright on a train or plane table.

One disconnected joycon in each hand IS pretty comfortable, since I can avoid the static "controller in front of you" arm pose.

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Wow many people seem to own both a switch and a steamdeck. Do y'all just buy everything?

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- The crazy one is when you see someone who owns both a PlayStation and an Xbox!
  
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  Lmao
  
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One small thing but I'm surprised nobody points it out - the charging port location. I like using my switch/steam deck in bed or otherwise laying down, and the fact that the charging lead is at the bottom of the console rather than the top sucks. It just gets in the way and stops you resting the console on you. Whereas the Steam Deck just has it on top where you can just plug it in while playing.

I know the technical reasons behind it because of the dock and all that, but it's annoying.

In general, I think the steam deck is better than the switch in almost every way - The switch is just an expensive ticket for the right to play Nintendo games nowadays.

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It would have killed nintendo to add an ethernet port. As someone who bought the dongle, having a wired connection will NOT save you from nintendo online being the worst gaming networking service ever devised. No game benefits from it, least of all actual nintendo titles like splatoon or smash. It's not even a problem of speed, it's wholesale reliability issues, constant loss of connection errors. If an ethernet port was available included rather than needing to be a seperate purchase, more people would realize sooner just how truly awful the paid nintendo online service is.

I'm just still mad that I could play phantasy star online for ten hours uninterrupted on my gamecube, but now there's not a single nintendo title that has stable online. Pokémon might let you get a raid or two before needing to reconnect. Splatoon might get a match or three before needing to reconnect completely. Smash won't stay stable for even one full match. It's a complete tragedy.

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- Online sucks, its all p2p with network speed of my ancient laptop
  
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Yup. I got a grip accessory for mine to mitigate it.

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I think the switch did pretty well actually and I get why they made the decisions they made. As much as I love my steam deck, the thing takes up like twice as much space as my switch, for example. There is definitely room for improvement though.

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Wait, the games in the cartridge need to be installed in the main memory as well? Effectively just a drm gimmick?

They can't read the resources they need from the cart like in the past?

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- I don't think that's the case at all. They run from the carts just fine.
  
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- From the tests I have done, the cart is a DRM gimmick
  
  We need big carts with enhancement chips to return, digital only and DRM can get fucked
  
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Well you have to consider it's 7 years old. It was incredible in 2016.

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Interesting, I adore my switch. I love my deck for its capabilities (e.g., modding) but I’ll usually buy a game on the switch if I have the option. For me, it’s much more comfortable to use for extended time whereas the deck is heavy enough that it’ll give me wrist pain for long sessions. The battery difference is underrated here too. It’s nice traveling or hell even on the couch to not have to worry much about battery on the switch.

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Not a hot take at all. It was revolutionary for the first year it was released and then was quickly surpassed on every front by any company that put slightly more effort (and more cost) into any part of the switch: graphics, sensors, controllers, expandability, etc. Pretty stock for any Nintendo product, because they only focus on hardware that be produced mass-market and get good profit margins on. Which means it's often made with current-to-dated components that can get overlooked because it's the only platform you can play Nintendo games on. Also, not sure why they are so allergic to ergonomics, all the way back to the NES controller, the least comfortable controller of its peers

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The Joy Cons are the worst controllers Nintendo has ever made. If Switch 2 is anything even remotely similar, it's seeing zero use as a handheld from me (if I even buy one).

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It’s definitely not as comfortable as something like the Steam Deck, but I played so much Switch while commuting on the train since it came out. It’s been a real joy to have. It’s also WAY smaller than any of the current-gen handhelds.

What do you mean by “cart games being downloaded in full to the system?”

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- I never owned a Switch, but I would say it was instrumental in the Deck's conception. If the popularity of the Switch had never happened, I wonder if Gabe would have taken the chance.
  
  Nintendo cuts all kinds of corners and usually doesn't bother competing as a "performance" console, but people generally loved that thing when it first came out. I'm sure people will have gripes about Steam Deck v1 when v2+ comes out, too.
  
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- So, let's take botw, about 10 GB.
  
  If you put the cart in, it downloads, you get hose 10 GB on the system. And you'll also need the CSRT for DRM reasons or shit
  
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  It doesn’t download the game if you have a physical copy. I just checked my switch and my physical copy of botw is using 0 mb of storage.
  
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This is something I think a lot, how portable gaming kind died. I don't mean the devices itself, yes the switch and the deck are amazing devices, but I miss games designed and meant to be playable on small devices, like the games we got until the 3DS, games that fit the portable device if that makes sense.

It's amazing but I simply can't play a game like Elden Ring on a portable device the same way I used to play my DS.

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- Portable gaming died because of smartphone gaming, unfortunately
  
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- This is part of what I love about the Playdate.
  
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The Joycons were an absolute disaster and ruined the portable experience. I got 4 of them repaired. When they inevitably broke again, I gave up and bought a pro controller. Precariously balancing the Switch on your lap or setting it on furniture so you can use a pro controller is not a handheld. Still had lots of fun with the games on it, but the experience should have been better. Nintendo has building controllers for decades, you would think they could at least begin to approach competency.

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It's no Gameboy, that's for sure. I use it resting on a pillow on my lap, so I don't actually have to hold it up. Works very well that way actually

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Yeah, it is basically impossible for me to use the stock switch for anything more than an hour handheld with my hands cramping up. I ended up having to get some rubber grips with a palm bumpout in order for it to be remotely comfortable.

The steam deck is a huge upgrade in that regard. Significantly more comfortable to hold. Plus, the steam deck is capable of emulating pretty much anything on the switch full speed :). On top of all of that is barely even costs more lol.

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It's an amazing console, but the shortcomings you've mentioned are legit. When I got my Switch, I immediately ordered the Hori Split Pad. Then I threw the Joycons in a drawer and never looked at them again. A large capacity SD card is mandatory and is so cheap, I don't consider that a big deal.

Online subscription shit is just console bullshit that I won't pay on principle.

All the reasons you've mentioned have been sorted with a Steam Deck, and I haven't ever picked up my Switch from the day my Deck arrived.

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- Here a microsd is pretty expensive, I have a 128.
  
  Cheap pro style controllers are a good addon
  
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