REVIEW: Nintendo's new game console is a fast, competent piece of hardware without enough software

It's a big moment for Nintendo.

This Friday, the Japanese video game giant is launching its latest console, the Nintendo Switch. It's the company's first new console since 2012's Wii U — a console best known for being Nintendo's worst-selling of all time.

It's not quite a make-or-break moment for Nintendo, but it's not far off. The company could sure use a hit.

With the Switch, Nintendo has the foundations of a great game console.

I've spent dozens of hours with the console during the past week, both at home on my TV and out in the world as a portable system. I can happily report that, in my experience, it's a speedy, modern piece of hardware that is well worth its $300 price tag. In the same breath, a warning: The Nintendo Switch is woefully underserved by software.

This is the duality of the Switch in March 2017, at launch. It's a console worth owning, but you should probably wait a few months to buy one.

A quick overview: The Nintendo Switch is a $300 video game console set to launch on Friday, March 3.

Nintendo

The console is a hybrid home console and portable console. The games you play at home are the same when you take them on the go — that's the whole sell point of the console: "Play games everywhere."

In this sense, the "console" is just a tablet that can be docked or taken on the go.

This is the Nintendo Switch, the 6.2-inch tablet in the middle. The controllers on either side are modular; they can be slid onto the tablet, thus turning it into a handheld game system.

Nintendo

The Switch seamlessly moves between home console and portable console. You simply slide the tablet into the dock, and it's on your TV.

Nintendo

Switching between TV mode and handheld mode works exactly as advertised — it's simple, intuitive, and brilliant. Being able to pause a game on my TV, snag the Switch out of the Dock, and keep playing is a convenience I didn't think I needed. Turns out it's a tremendously nice bonus. I've been playing "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" on my morning commute, picking up where I left off on my TV the night before, and it's a real delight.

Also, if we're being honest, being able to bring the Switch to the bathroom is something that millions of people are going to embrace. Kinda gross? Maybe. Logical? Certainly.

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