By: RJ (@rga_02)

My cousin was dropping me off at the airport and I asked if we could swing by any store. I didn’t know what I wanted but I’d figured I would find something to get for the four-hour flight back home. 

I ended up getting a Switch. Six months later, was it a wise purchase?

I love my handhelds. My Vita is always with me and prior to that, it was my PSP, and before that, it was my GBA. With Sony abandoning the handheld space I needed something for the future. Of course, I could just gravitate towards an iPad, but that would be lame. So the Switch was really my only option.

The first game I got for the Switch was Puyo Puyo Tetris, and it is by far my most favorite. Puyo Puyo Tetris is addicting. Enough that this was my only Switch game for a while and I was perfectly content with it. Get two more joycons and you can have a Tetris party. My friends and I would spend hours playing Tetris and Puyo Puyo against each other. 

But I couldn’t just live off just one game regardless of how fun it is. The next game I ended up picking was Voez. I did a short review of it so I won’t go into details.

For about three months, those two were the only games I had. Despite the robust 1st party line up from Nintendo, I’m not a fan of a majority of their IPs. And the other 3rd party games that were available I’ve already played. The Switch slowly started becoming a fancy paperweight on the corner of my desk. Then Bomberman came along.

To this day, I haven’t touched the single-player portion, but the multi-player option gets so much use. Like Puyo beforehand, it makes a great party game. It’s silly, frustrating, but it is just way too fun. 

Later I ended up getting Namco Museum. It’s alright, nothing that I haven’t played before a million times. 

At this point, the Switch still seems to be an afterthought for me. It still hasn’t captured me like other people. Sure games such as The Legend of Zelda looks great, but to be honest, I wasn’t up for another open-world game. 

Then came Joysound.  I was waiting for this to be released. After all, my Switch is now only being used when there are other people to play with so karaoke on the Switch should sound really fun. Then I remembered it was subscription based. My friend and I (attempted) to sing some iDOLM@STER and 50 Cent songs.  It was an alright experience.

I started to view this console as a regretful purchase. Maybe I wasn’t the target audience for this console, but there is one thing that this device can do that other haven’t done for a long time. It’s that it brings people together. 

Those silly commercials that Nintendo made prior to the Switch launch can happen to extent. I’ve played together with friends from places such my living room to Millennium Park. Later down the line, I plan on getting Mario Kart because I’ve been enjoying the arcade version of that with others lately and I want to bring that experience to a more home setting. 

So is this Switch a regretful purchase for me? Yes and no.

It’s regretful because using the device as a single player device is boring.  But when you bring in some friends to the mix, the Switch is in the center stage. It brings some good local co-op gaming I haven’t felt in a while.

And at the end of the day, that’s all that matters with videogames. Having fun with others, and I think the Switch has served it well.