Truth be told, I've not played a lot of games this year thus far.
Well, not a lot of new games. I've been in a bit of a retro gaming phase of late, primarily to strap myself into the right mindset for Digitiser The Show, but also because most big releases are so darned intimidating.
They loom above me, formidable and imposing. I mean, much as I'd like to say I've climbed the biggest mountain in the world... I can't be arsed to spend months training, and sacrifice my free time. And for what? To say I've done it? What then? All that slog... and what do I have to show for it?
I'll tell you what: a frostbitten "nipsy".
Retro gaming offers short, sharp, blasts of gaming. To extend the analogy, they're more like visiting a climbing centre, or going up some stairs, than scaling Mount AAAverest. Also, I don't need to have to dig a hole in the snow to do my mucky business.
Oddly, the idea of playing new games has proven more appealing than the reality. I haven't stopped buying them... I just haven't gotten around to playing any. My copy of Monster Hunter World languishes in its shrink-wrap, and I can't see myself unboxing it anytime soon.
Partly, it's also down to the hardware the games come on. I've had my Xbox One and PS4 unplugged for a while, and the wires have become knotted into a mass of black spaghetti, and I need to charge the joypads, but my PS4 joypad has a wobbly connector, and... well... they've been off long enough that I'll have to download massive system updates, and... yes, these are small things, easy to overcome, probably, with a bit of patience, but they just add up a level of faff that stops me from bothering.
Which is why, when I finally broke my drought at the weekend, it was the Switch that I turned to. Yeah, that's right, it's going to be one of those articles. You know: one of the ones where I go on about how great the Switch is.
Well, not a lot of new games. I've been in a bit of a retro gaming phase of late, primarily to strap myself into the right mindset for Digitiser The Show, but also because most big releases are so darned intimidating.
They loom above me, formidable and imposing. I mean, much as I'd like to say I've climbed the biggest mountain in the world... I can't be arsed to spend months training, and sacrifice my free time. And for what? To say I've done it? What then? All that slog... and what do I have to show for it?
I'll tell you what: a frostbitten "nipsy".
Retro gaming offers short, sharp, blasts of gaming. To extend the analogy, they're more like visiting a climbing centre, or going up some stairs, than scaling Mount AAAverest. Also, I don't need to have to dig a hole in the snow to do my mucky business.
Oddly, the idea of playing new games has proven more appealing than the reality. I haven't stopped buying them... I just haven't gotten around to playing any. My copy of Monster Hunter World languishes in its shrink-wrap, and I can't see myself unboxing it anytime soon.
Partly, it's also down to the hardware the games come on. I've had my Xbox One and PS4 unplugged for a while, and the wires have become knotted into a mass of black spaghetti, and I need to charge the joypads, but my PS4 joypad has a wobbly connector, and... well... they've been off long enough that I'll have to download massive system updates, and... yes, these are small things, easy to overcome, probably, with a bit of patience, but they just add up a level of faff that stops me from bothering.
Which is why, when I finally broke my drought at the weekend, it was the Switch that I turned to. Yeah, that's right, it's going to be one of those articles. You know: one of the ones where I go on about how great the Switch is.
IN THE MOOD FOR DOOM
So, yeah... I've finally gotten around to playing Doom and Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle on the Switch, and - as if I didn't already think it - they've cemented my belief that the Switch is the most appealing console of the current generation.
Doom is a proper revelation. For a start, it silences anybody who thought the Switch didn't have the power to handle a modern first-person shooter. It looks stunning. Yes, there are a few mostly irrelevant graphical concessions here and there, and the on-screen text is irritatingly small, but overall this is the same game. Except: it's now on a handheld, because - lest we forget - the USP of the Switch, and Doom proves it once and for all, is that it's the most powerful handheld console ever.
We've already got Wolfenstein II on the way, but you can bet that publishers are now scrambling to port other triple-A franchises to the Switch.
Plus, don't forget that we're still in the first generation of Switch games. Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey are two of the greatest games ever made, and Doom is one of the best-looking... we can only imagine where the Switch goes from here.
Most importantly, I prefer this version of Doom to the one I played on the PS4 purely because it's portable. You can stick your 4k and HDR. This looks way more than good enough, and I can just pick it up and play it, or take it around with me. It's what I always wanted; a portable, next-gen, FPS.
At the other end of the genre spectrum we get Mario + Rabbids - a game combining two unlikely franchises in a turn-based battle game, which turns out to be unexpectedly deep and involving. And, because it's a Mario game, it's a Switch exclusive. It is brilliant, gorgeous and full of character, and perfectly suited to handheld gaming. It's another damn good argument for owning a Switch if you don't already do.
And - hey - we've not even mentioned the extremely healthy range of excellent indie titles on the Switch eStore, and the imminent arrival of Nintendo's Labo - a range of build-your-own cardboard Switch accessories which feels very well timed.
So, yeah... I've finally gotten around to playing Doom and Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle on the Switch, and - as if I didn't already think it - they've cemented my belief that the Switch is the most appealing console of the current generation.
Doom is a proper revelation. For a start, it silences anybody who thought the Switch didn't have the power to handle a modern first-person shooter. It looks stunning. Yes, there are a few mostly irrelevant graphical concessions here and there, and the on-screen text is irritatingly small, but overall this is the same game. Except: it's now on a handheld, because - lest we forget - the USP of the Switch, and Doom proves it once and for all, is that it's the most powerful handheld console ever.
We've already got Wolfenstein II on the way, but you can bet that publishers are now scrambling to port other triple-A franchises to the Switch.
Plus, don't forget that we're still in the first generation of Switch games. Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey are two of the greatest games ever made, and Doom is one of the best-looking... we can only imagine where the Switch goes from here.
Most importantly, I prefer this version of Doom to the one I played on the PS4 purely because it's portable. You can stick your 4k and HDR. This looks way more than good enough, and I can just pick it up and play it, or take it around with me. It's what I always wanted; a portable, next-gen, FPS.
At the other end of the genre spectrum we get Mario + Rabbids - a game combining two unlikely franchises in a turn-based battle game, which turns out to be unexpectedly deep and involving. And, because it's a Mario game, it's a Switch exclusive. It is brilliant, gorgeous and full of character, and perfectly suited to handheld gaming. It's another damn good argument for owning a Switch if you don't already do.
And - hey - we've not even mentioned the extremely healthy range of excellent indie titles on the Switch eStore, and the imminent arrival of Nintendo's Labo - a range of build-your-own cardboard Switch accessories which feels very well timed.
SWITCHFINDER GENERAL
The Switch has, at this stage in its life, sold over 14 million consoles in less than a year. That's more than any other games machine ever has ever achieved in the same amount of time.
It has done better than anybody ever expected it to do. More pertinently, it has done it while not being just more of the same, by embracing convenience, and putting accessibility and fun at the forefront.
Right now, the PlayStation and Xbox families are pretty much interchangeable. The only thing that really marks them out from one another is a handful of exclusives on each, and the fact that one has sold way more than the other. Oh, and yeah... PlayStation VR, which is decent enough, but a) Comes with all the issues that get in the way of the mass market embracing virtual reality, and b) Hasn't really offered a killer app to help it be more than just a novelty.
Oh, and c) Resident Evil VII made me feel so nauseous that I've not picked up the headset since.
The Switch is the least powerful console of the current generation. It also appears to be the only one which people seem to love in the way that all the greatest games machines have inspired passion from a hardcore of players.
The PS4 and Xbox One - and their recently "plussed" versions - are nothing more than a means to an end, dull black boxes stuffed with power which facilitate the games in a never-ending, zero sum, graphical arms race.
Somehow, by being so tactile, by offering exclusives which don't just follow the pack, by now showing that it can, when it wants, compete with the raw power offered by Sony and Microsoft, the Switch is building a connection with its players which goes deeper than just being a games machine.
The ZX Spectrum, the Super NES, the Amiga, the PS1 - these are the stand-out machines of their generations, ones that their owners truly loved, rather than just owned.
It's fast becoming apparent the the Switch will be joining them.
The Switch has, at this stage in its life, sold over 14 million consoles in less than a year. That's more than any other games machine ever has ever achieved in the same amount of time.
It has done better than anybody ever expected it to do. More pertinently, it has done it while not being just more of the same, by embracing convenience, and putting accessibility and fun at the forefront.
Right now, the PlayStation and Xbox families are pretty much interchangeable. The only thing that really marks them out from one another is a handful of exclusives on each, and the fact that one has sold way more than the other. Oh, and yeah... PlayStation VR, which is decent enough, but a) Comes with all the issues that get in the way of the mass market embracing virtual reality, and b) Hasn't really offered a killer app to help it be more than just a novelty.
Oh, and c) Resident Evil VII made me feel so nauseous that I've not picked up the headset since.
The Switch is the least powerful console of the current generation. It also appears to be the only one which people seem to love in the way that all the greatest games machines have inspired passion from a hardcore of players.
The PS4 and Xbox One - and their recently "plussed" versions - are nothing more than a means to an end, dull black boxes stuffed with power which facilitate the games in a never-ending, zero sum, graphical arms race.
Somehow, by being so tactile, by offering exclusives which don't just follow the pack, by now showing that it can, when it wants, compete with the raw power offered by Sony and Microsoft, the Switch is building a connection with its players which goes deeper than just being a games machine.
The ZX Spectrum, the Super NES, the Amiga, the PS1 - these are the stand-out machines of their generations, ones that their owners truly loved, rather than just owned.
It's fast becoming apparent the the Switch will be joining them.
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