To switch or not to switch
Published 7:00 am Saturday, March 18, 2017
I can recall when Nintendo systems started hitting the shelves in the mid 80s. Every time we would take a trip to Walmart, my brother and I would race to the electronics department to try to get a couple of minutes of playtime on the Nintendo on display.
It was a brilliant marketing scheme. Set up a system in the store to allow children to play a video game system for free while their parents shopped.
These marketing geniuses knew it would eventually lead to pleads by the unsated children for their parents to put one under the Christmas tree.
From that point on Nintendo products were the gaming console just about every household had, or would have eventually, connected to the living room television. It eventually happened in our household as well.
That trend has continued for Nintendo over many console generations. There’s no doubt the company makes iconic systems and games.
I still buy Nintendo products. The problem is that over the past few generations they didn’t get much playtime.
Instead the Playstations and Xboxes stole what precious little of my free time remained as adulthood became more important than beating the next level in the latest title.
Meanwhile the Gamecube, Wii and WiiU all sat in the corner, collecting dust and slightly increasing my electricity bill.
This month Nintendo released another $300 dust collector, the Switch. It has some interesting features.
Not only can the user play in their living room, but a small screen detaches from the dock, becoming a mobile gaming system. As hard as I resist the urge to do so, I know yet another of Nintendo’s consoles will make its way into the collection.
If you are considering one of these systems, my advice is to wait it out like I plan to.
By the holiday season Nintendo will have solved a number of issues with the device, and there may even be some bundles on offer that will make the investment worthwhile.