I am trying to choose between buying a Nintendo Switch or a Nintendo DS.
This may not be the perfect community to ask - but I can't think of any better place.
The reason for my question: I don't want to own obsolete hardware in 10 years. Lately most games seem to depend on a "phone home" feature, which is not really an issue for my pc because it is always connected, but a console is something I want to play always and everywhere.
I already did some searching and found that games can be played offline fine (most of them, some exceptions are there like Multiplayer and Mortal Kombat), but:
- There is something like the paid Nintendo Online Account. I am not planning on having a paid account. How much of the system depends on the account?
- Can I have progression in a game (let's say: one of the Zelda franchise) and will my Wife and Kids all have their own progression, without having to pay for X accounts?
- People who own a Switch, let's take this to extremes, do you feel like in 20 years from now you can still do the same things on your hardware as you can do now? (No multiplayer is fine)
Also, feel free to rant about "paying is not owning", the state of the gaming industry is horrible.
edit: Thank you all for the comments! I don't post a lot, so it was kinda overwhelming :)
For clarity:
- I meant I want to "buy for life" (not really "life", but, if the hardware survives you can play on pre-internet consoles forever - you can even buy more games if you can find them)
- I want to buy a physical copy of the games, not download them
I've decided to go with the Nintendo DS for now (I have a DSi - this week I bought a couple of games, 2nd hand). Reasons:
- I already had it
- Joycons on switch. Multiple people mentioned having problems with them. I don't count on being able to buy them new in 10 years, meaning they will have to last.
Again: thank you all for the useful input!
Assuming it is kept in working order, you'd be able to do everything you can do with it now, with the assumption the online services stay up. If they go down, you would lose your non-physical games and the ability to play online.
Your progression and everything is saved on the unit itself, and the hardware used likely will last for a long, long time if kept properly.
Almost nothing other than games you've bought on the store and online functionality in games is tied to your Switch account. And in 20 years time, who knows if that service will still be online.
The hardware (joy-cons) breaks itself in months.
Ok yeah. You got me there. The joysticks absolutely suck. The console will probably still work, but your left and right sticks are gonna be forever moving in opposite directions
Gulikit makes solid hall effect sensor analogue stick replacements for joycons. Had mine for months with no issues and, if it's to be believed, should last for the long term.