Is the Nintendo Switch Lite too Light?
The long rumored second iteration of the hugely successful Nintendo Switch was finally announced last week. Set for a worldwide release on September 20, 2019, the Switch Lite will launch as a largely slimmed down version of the hit Nintendo console. This completely handheld console will ship in three strikingly attractive new colors but without the ability to connect directly to your home television among other discarded features. While it’s difficult to scoff at the one hundred dollars that has been knocked off the price tag from the flagship model, I can’t help but wonder if too much of the distinguishing features of the console have also been stripped away.
There is no doubt that the Nintendo Switch has been a massive success since its launch in March of 2017. In just over two years since the follow up console to the much maligned Wii U was released, Nintendo has shipped over 34 million units world wide. Moving at a clip of 1.3 million units per month since hitting store shelves, the Switch has become a unbridled success this console generation despite being several years late to the party. We know that Nintendo generally moves to the beat of their own drum by not directly following Sony and Microsoft with the release of Playstation 4 and Xbox One respectively. But Nintendo has clearly followed suit with the other two big hardware manufacturers in this instance – both Sony and Microsoft have also launch trimmed down and cheaper versions of their flagships with the Playstation 4 Slim and Xbox One S. But, in my mind, there is a stark difference between those versions of the consoles and the Switch Lite.
With the PS4 Slim and Xbox One S, the core identity of the home gaming devices remained completely intact. Concessions were made to make the price a bit more friendly. These were just the “nice to have” things such as storage capacity, fewer USB ports or HDR support. In the case of the PS4 Slim, it replaced the vanilla launch PS4 all-together and only became inferior to the PS4 Pro – a device mostly useful to those with a 4K television. But the fundamental experience was left predominately unchanged.
Full disclosure – I do not own a Nintendo Switch and this is why I am having such a hard time with this. I have been clamoring for an excuse to shell out the money to finally play things that I’ve missed out on to this point – games like Breath of the Wild, Octopath Traveller, or the upcoming indie title Star Renegades. I am yearning for the day when my fellow Handsome Phantom editors can no longer look down on me as someone who can’t enjoy all things Nintendo (I’ve technically been fired multiple times for not having a Switch). When rumors first hit late last year about Nintendo’s plan to launch a cheaper version, I was positive I’d be first in line for a preorder. However as a result of so many of the defining features of the Switch being stripped away, I’m afraid I just can’t do it.
Console defining multiplayer games such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe or Super Smash Bros. Ultimate cannot be enjoyed on the couch with friends and family the way they were intended to be played. I couldn’t bring myself to finally arrive home one day with a shiny new Nintendo Switch Lite only to tell my fiancée, “Sorry, we can’t play Mario Kart together, but we can take turns!” That completely defeats the purpose of owning a Switch.
The use of the term “Switch” even seems dirty in this case. The party piece of this revolutionary new console was to be able to seamlessly transition between a handheld device and home console with an effortless slide in or out of a dock. Without that, this is just a Gameboy? In an interview with Ars Technica about a year ago, Doug Bowser revealed some interesting usage information about the Switch. It seems a little more than a year following its launch, gamers were spending an almost dead even amount of time playing the Switch docked and undocked. This was somewhat surprising given that the initial reception to the unveiling of the console was that most would just play this as a docked home console. Considering that this was a console billed as being the “best of both worlds,” it’s a little baffling that the solution to the relatively affordable price tag was eliminating half of that functionality.
We also can’t forget that the Switch Lite will not allow for removal of the controllers. This all but eliminates any motion control usage meaning much of the console’s library cannot be played without additional controllers. Further to this point, the Switch Lite won’t offer support for Amiibo – yet another feature that sets the Switch apart from Sony and Microsoft. When you bring this all together you are left with a handheld console that completely loses what made the Nintendo Switch so special and, arguably, so successful.
I have absolutely no doubt that the Nintendo Switch Lite will perform just fine from a sales perspective. With everything that has just been pointed out, it can’t be forgotten that what makes the experience genuinely Nintendo is exclusive software featuring the likes of Mario, Zelda, Splatoon’s Squid Sisters and more. Those experiences remain completely intact. Considering this is likely aimed at a younger audience, late adopters who don’t mind the massive omissions, those who have dearly hung onto their now dead 3DSs, or people who just want another Switch gamepad at home, there are people out there who could use a Nintendo Switch Lite. But as a gamer who was desperately anticipating this to be the final push to finally dive into the Switch game space, I am sincerely disappointed that the Nintendo Switch Lite has none of the original Switch’s true identity.
