A little over a week ago, I purchased a Nintendo Switch. We can perhaps call this impulse closure, but not an impulse buy.

I can’t count how many times I walked by the device at stores, seriously contemplated it, and walked on, having walked totally through a logic tree that had it sitting on my shelf, unplayed after some initial joy. Perhaps we’ll get to that point, and perhaps it will arrive sooner than I’d like. But for now, I’m still very happy with the purchase of the device (gray controllers) as well as two games (Mario Odyssey, and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker).

I’m not going to write an in-depth review, except to say that I’m not using the device as I expected I would. I thought I’d use it as a console hooked to the TV, not so much as a handheld. But honestly, it’s so good as a hand-held, that’s what I’ve been predominantly doing. The switch-ness of the device is novel, and in particular, I think Nintendo did a really admirable job of splitting the difference in the docked and undocked modes. In particular, the removable controllers feel good in the hand, the device quality is really amazing given the  price. Mind you, you won’t confuse it with an Xbox or PlayStation when docked – it’s a good, but logically compromised device. But I think it hits the target market perfectly for where we are today.

I’ve never been a huge gamer. I’ve bought three new consoles in my life – the original Xbox, and the Dreamcast (it seemed like a good idea at the time), and the original Wii. The first two became shelfware quickly, their gameplay never quite clicking with my fidgety brain. I used the Wii for a while, while my youngest daughter used it quite a bit. I was on a Super Mario Galaxy run for a while, but got frustrated in time, and I haven’t played it in years. 

I’ve explained to colleagues that I love “three gems and a star” games – platformers or the like that let you build skills bit by bit in each level, and each level builds towards a crescendo. This is probably why almost all my gaming time so far has been in Captain Toad. While not a totally new game, it was gussied up for the Switch, and plays quite well docked or handheld. For what it’s worth, my favorite iOS games are Cut the Rope (before it added in-app purchases and went all nutty), Contre Jour, and both Monument Valley games, so outside of the last, you can see that same three gems and a star model.

So far, I’m really enjoying the Switch. I’m not sure I’ll find a long run of games that really bring me joy, but so far, it’s been worth it. I’ve had a lot of fun, and just plain chilled out – something I have a tendency to resist doing, instead pushing myself to “do something ‘constructive'”.

Oddly, it seems to also have affected me in ways I wouldn’t have expected. I’m a pretty vibrant dreamer, and since I acquired the Switch and played Captain Toad, my dreams have gotten a little… vivid and complex. Not bad, just an interesting shift. It also feels like it’s affected my creativity a bit, and (believe it or not), given me some ideas about how I could make our licensing boot camp more approachable for new attendees in particular.

If there are three things I would change about the Switch, it would be the following:

• Add Bluetooth headphone support. I get why this didn’t happen, but it feels kind of ridiculous to not have it in-box, or at least to have a designed $25-35 Bluetooth dongle that could snap in to the headphone jack and “just work”.
• The back kickstand is cheap, and barely works (it’s very tippy). In a redesigned Switch, it should have a kickstand that – like a Microsoft Surface device – runs the width of the device, or perhaps a lighter u-shaped aluminum or magnesium “U” that runs across the device. A tiny detail that would make a big difference.
• A tiny thing, but it’s weird that the device can take screencaps, but only splash them to Facebook or Twitter. Nothing else. Idea: there should be a way to easily share screenshots to your own Google Drive or iCloud drive. (Or OneDrive, but I don’t see that happening given the competition. Maybe I’m wrong.)
• I don’t use the tabletop mode much. But the position of the USB-C connector on the bottom – just like an Apple mouse – means you can’t use it when it’s charged. I’ve got a few ideas for how this could be done better.

Other than those, my only other thought is that while the device price is rather reasonable, accessories add up quickly, and the typical price for games (quite a few of which are ports, not exclusives) is $59. That’s kind of steep. It’s also unfortunate that Netflix isn’t in the shop,  (Hulu is). Tiny thing, but it would be nice to have while traveling.

So I’m happy so far, but we’re just a little ways along. We’ll see what happens over the next several months.

As always, if you have feedback on this or any post of mine, you can find me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/getwired.