Happy 2nd Birthday, Switch!
The Nintendo Switch‘s 2nd Birthday arrived on March 3rd, 2019. It was a day of celebration, eShop deals, gameplay, and reflection, for those of us lucky enough to share our lives with the beautiful console hybrid. Nintendo itself has always been a part of me ever since I was gifted the NES on my fifth birthday, and the Switch adds so much to that legacy.
Since the NES, many consoles and handhelds have come and gone, succeeded and unceremoniously croaked, and Nintendo has gripped the nostalgia business hard. The Switch, with its innovative achievements in console tech, has quickly made an impact towards gaining both a casual and hardcore following, and I could not be happier for the #NintendoResurgence (I’ve had the system since 10/13/17)!
I have a lot of words for every game I’ve played on the system…but I’ll spare you the reviews. I went through a good deal of data in my personal Switch history in order to define an overall VALUE for the console. I also found that this review method may come in handy in the future, so if you like it, please COMMENT to let me know! Before we get to the data, take a glance at my shots of the much-hyped Daemon X Machina demo (it’s pretty and entertaining).
Daemon x machina demo screenshots
The Data
- Length of Ownership: 1 year, 5 months
- # of games played: 31
- # of games played more than 1 hour: 24
- # of games played at least 20 hours: 9
- Most played title: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (175 hrs)
- Least played title: Into the Breach (little)
- Average hours per game (at least 1 hour): 19 hours
- Total play time: 459 hours (19 days or 27,540 minutes)
- Total game cost: $802.50
- Average cost per game: $25.89
- # of games under $20: 16
- # of games under $10: 6
- Most expensive game: Starlink ($75, bought on launch)
- Least expensive game: Tetris 99 (free)
- Total game+console cost: $1,122.50
Let’s break this bit down. Besides the games, I do have the Hulu and YouTube apps with a lot of hours that I did not count in the overall total. Out of the 31 games, seven of those list their play time as “little”, which could be anything under the one hour mark. Into the Breach is my least played, but full disclosure, I purchased it for its sale price and simply haven’t played it at all (though I fully intend to and know I will love it).
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a whopping 38% of my play time. It is now one of my favorite games of all time, so that’s to be expected. Also, to make matters worse (or at least excessive), I’ve added 10 hours to that total with the prequel, Torna ~ the Golden Country.
That 459 hour total play time is paramount to giving the value to the console. Value in most regards is translatable to time and money, so I started there. I made a list of all the games I have owned/played, as well as the prices I paid for them (I sure as hell did not pay MSRP for each, and often traded in or even used gift cards to lessen digital purchases).
*This DOES include the price for a year of Nintendo Switch Online, but DOES NOT include any accessory purchases, as all the accessories I have bought are not necessary to play the games involved.*
If I break down that total play time into eight hour shifts to match my work schedule, instead of the typical 24 hour division, the hours equate to 57 eight-hour shifts. Using my hourly pay over the course of my Switch ownership, these shifts would equate to $5,928 and would take a little over 11 weeks to complete, according to the normal five day work week. I have paid 19% of what I would’ve made in my time spent playing. I’ve certainly worked far more than the time I spent with my Switch, but it’s an interesting bit of information knowing that for 459 of the hours I have worked, $2.45 each hour went to paying for the console and games, and theoretically all that cost could’ve been taken care of within the first three months of having the console.
Value Review criteria
- Overall Cost 20/20
- Console is 3rd to PS4 Pro/XBX, but avg. game costs less than half MSRP $60
- Time Spent Playing 16/20
- Can break down to 0.9 hours per day during 17 month span
- Cost to Time Value 18/20
- Combination of #1 and #2-Avg. buyer of Switch worldwide has estimated four games (I have played/owned nearly eight times that)
- Exclusive Percentage 20/20
- 13 of 31 games are exclusive; 75% of hours played
- Future Release Schedule 19/20
- With titles like Astral Chain, Yoshi’s Crafted World, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Pokemon Sword/Shield, Animal Crossing, Luigi’s Mansion 3, all expected this year, with a possibility of Bayonetta 3, no other system has this large, diverse, exclusive lineup–the only damper here is that all these games will likely be full MSRP $60 for the foreseeable future.
Nintendo switch value review 93/100
That, in most schools would be an A-, so welcome to the Honor Roll, Nintendo Switch. The Switch has proven to me to be more than worth its value for its game library, overall cost to time spent, and has a bright future ahead of it. A strong start to “Year 3” may even lead to Switch sales surpassing the Xbox One’s first five years of life. In any case, if you found this post to be interesting, please follow for more, or check out our Facebook or Instagram pages! More Switch content will most definitely be on the way.
Bonus content
Meet Caesar, Mercia, and Emeric 
BATTLEPUPS
If you have a Switch and are not playing Wargroove, you are missing out. The game is $20 on the eShop (digital only) and is a modern take on turn-based strategy a la Advance Wars. Its campaign will easily take 20+ hours to complete and the developers added online play, an arcade mode, local multiplayer and co-op, and the ultimate cherry on top, custom mode. In custom mode, you can create your own maps, scenarios, and EVEN CUTSCENES. Please check it out and let me know what you think!
EarthSlice Creative 
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