2968

Yeah to echo @ArmandoPenblade , the most likely best case is you find a bundle with a game (probably Mario Kart). Otherwise discounts are unlikely.

2969

If you do choose to but one now, I would recommend not buying the light version. My 8 year old ended up on youtube and comparison videosā€¦and I have regretted buying the switch light ever since. I do recommend the annual $20 subscription tho, hes gotten a lot if milieage out of the included old school nes games, and the rewind feature. Back in my day we started over when we died.

2970

Can I ask why you regret your decision? Is it because it canā€™t play on a TV? I donā€™t think thatā€™s a big deal to my son, since his primary gaming platform at the moment is an iPad. He would value mobility more than a big screen, I believe.

As far as bundles go, I like the idea. My best option would probably be a Switch Lite with Pokemon Sword or Shield, since thatā€™s mainly what he wants to play. I see a regular Switch bundle with this game on Amazon but itā€™s $450 which, ouch. I see a yellow Switch Lite with Pokemon Snap bundled, but I have no idea what Pokemon Snap is. So yeah, Iā€™ll take my time with this and see if I can find something that would line up with what heā€™s looking for.

2971

Well to be clear those are probably not Nintendo bundles.

For example this is what I got, and it cost $300

I got this at Christmas.

As far as I am aware, this is the only software bundle they officially made for the US market. There may have been a Mario Party or Odyssey pack, but I donā€™t know that for sure.

The PokƩmon bundle you see is probably just a third party reseller doing so to maximize their value by packing in extra cost with the guaranteed seller device.

2972

The Lite has a lot of downsides. Itā€™s not all that much smaller/more portable (if the kid can carry around an iPad, a Switch Chonk is gonna be fine), so its main upside is cost. However, yes, you do lose the ability to ever play it on a larger screen. Not just losing ā€œgee whizā€ factor, but multiplayer on the Lite is gonna be a lot worse than breaking out some controllers and Mario Partying it up with buddies in the living room. Using an external controller with the Lite in general is just a bit awkward; itā€™s small enough that you really want it up in your face, but the built-in, non-detatchable JoyCons arenā€™t perfect for every job.

Speaking of which, yeah, the controllers are fused to the body of the Lite. While all modern consolesā€™ primary controllers will probably suffer from stick drift to some extent after heavy use, the especially small size of the JoyCons makes their internals consequently tinier and more vulnerable to the smallest of damaging events, so JoyCon drift is a real issue that many, if not most, Switch users are gonna have to deal with sooner or later. Having to mail off your entire console to Nintendo for a month for their (mercifully free) repair service sucks. Just having to mail off a set of controllers for a regular Switch is way less of a hassle.

Yeah, thatā€™ll be the ā€œthis console is still in heavy demandā€ issue, unfortunately. Lots of price scalpers on the internet taking advantage of shortages and stuff. A Switch should cost $300, and you should generally be able to buy the Mario Kart bundle Craig mentioned for that price, if things are, you know, in stock. Which they often arenā€™t.

Pokemon Snap is a reboot of an old N64 title about taking cool pictures of Pokemon. The new one is basically the same thing, albeit with cooler graphics and somewhat more gameplay features. But at the end of the day, you get in a little on-rails submarine/cart and tool around a tropical island tempting rare Pokemons out of the bushes with fruit and toys so theyā€™ll strike a pose for you to get maximum points with your camera shots of them. Itā€™s cute and fun for fans of the series, but itā€™s very different from the mainline titles like Sword & Shield, which are full-fledged monster-capturin RPGs with open worlds and crafting and raids and all sorts of stuff.

Far be it from me to tell the kid what he likes, mind. If heā€™s set on a Lite, go nuts. I just think itā€™s worth being cognizant of the limitations, cuz once youā€™re locked in, youā€™re locked in, whereas you can always just, like, not put your regular Switch on the dock if you wanna be mobile, but at least the extra options remain available if preferences ever change.

2973

Yeah. Single joycons arenā€™t exactly great experiences for control, but they are functional for most games. Which is one big advantage of the non lite Switch. You get 2 controllers in the box.

Plus the dock for the Switch has the capacity to accept other controllers, I have a GameCube controller adapter for my 4 GameCube controllers. Combined with the two joycons which can be put in a dockable controller form, and two cordless controllers I picked up for $13 each on Amazon, hey I have a 2 and 4 year old who like to play and at $13 if they break they break, and I have a lot of options for playing.

I would not have nearly the flexibility on the Lite. For me an additional outlay of ~$40 got me the ability to play up to 8 people. Iā€™d have completely collapsed the price difference between the regular and lite to get the same level of flexibility in controllers.

Granted this is largely due to me already having 4 controllers for the GC, but it is worth flagging that.

2974

This sounds much more complicated than I was counting on. Guess I need to do some more homework.

2975

It doesnā€™t have to be. Just buy a standard Switch. :P

2976

Ditto. Get the regular Switch.

2977

Another vote for the regular Switch. Most stuff has been mentioned but with the regular you can also get better joy one with grips that for a hand much better than the Nintendo ones. So even if itā€™s going to be used primarily as a handheld the normal version can be much more comfortable with the better grips.

2978

This is the biggest reason for me (that and being purely portable means thereā€™s no real ā€˜switchā€™ā€“itā€™s great being able to dock it and play on a bigger screen, for solo, multiplayer or sharing an experience). I canā€™t imagine how much of a pain it would be to send the whole unit back for stick drift though. Iā€™ve already sent one Joy-Con off and it started drifting again before using some rubbing alcohol on it.

2979

Donā€™t buy a Lite. I got my 20 year old son one for Christmas because he thought that was what he wanted and he already replaced it with a new full size Switch and I bought the Lite back from him and I turned it on once.

Itā€™s really for a specific use case, people who only play portableā€¦ ever. If you grew up on Game Boy or more recently a Nintendo DS or 3DS, and never dabble in console games ever then itā€™s viable. The extra $100 for the function the machine is actually named for is worth every single penny.

The only thing you should probably do is wait to see if there actually will be a new model, but I think they would have announced it by now.

2980

Yeah it really isnā€™t.

Reasons to get Lite:
Itā€™s $100 cheaper

Reasons to get full Switch:
Literally everything else

I have also only ever played handheld mode personally, my kids occasionally on the TV. The whole point of my controller post was simply to highlight how the regular Switch has a lot more flexibility and options for controllers, and is a vastly superior machine for multiplayer.

It also comes with a dock, which even if you only use it for charging is great.

So as others said, just get the full Switch. It is objectively the correct call in 99% of cases.

The 1% mostly being your house already has a full switch and the Lite would be a second switch for doing stuff

2981

Well I canā€™t say there isnā€™t a clear consensus at least. OK, I guess Iā€™ll just eat the hundred bucks and get a plain old Switch.

2982

Since the latest rumor is that the rumored Switch Pro will cost $400, if thatā€™s the case, Iā€™ll probably end up getting the regular Switch as well. Iā€™ve basically just been waiting on Switch Pro news at this point. I really want to get my hands on a Switch finally so that I can actually play the Mario games that Iā€™ve bought over the last few months. (3D All Stars and Odyssey). I guess if the Switch Pro ends up being $350 or something, then I wonā€™t know what to do.

2983

LOL, I have finally made it to the 1%!

(PS, the first/primary purchase should be a Switch and the Switch Lite as an additional system for a younger child)

2984

Another reason to skip the Lite (at least for a first system): Ring Fit Adventure. I canā€™t imagine how youā€™d play it in handheld mode (if thatā€™s even supported) and you need to detach joycons and wear one on your thigh and put one in the RingCon. Donā€™t think that works with a Lite!

Seeing as 99% of my Switch time these days is getting my exercise in with Ring Fitā€¦

2985

My son watched reviews comparing the two. So youtube has told him that the switch is better then the light. Then he had gotten games like cuphead and mugman where he wants to play with this sister. You cant do that with a single switch light. Although, you can purchase wireless joycons, and purchase a charging dock for them and connect them wirelessly. Which I believe would allow a second player, but have not tested or confirmed that is true. We did get a wireless pro controller, that connects fine, but does not allow a second player. But, for the price, of a pair of joy cons, and a charger for them you may as well of bought a regular switch. And if they kids really managed to get that to work on that tiny screenā€¦maby it would be ok in some situations, but mostly would suck.

Also non of the wired accessory s are compatable with the light. I found myself telling my sons ā€˜no that wont workā€™ a lot. I think an older child that decides on a lite to get a couple extra games, fully understanding the limitations of the lite, might be better. But even then they are going to be looking at that big screen in the living room, wondering how great that game would look on the big screen.

For an extra $100 all of that goes away.

2986

That was sort of my approach - I got the Switch Lite as a follow-up to the 3DS. The Gamecube was the last Nintendo home console I got, after that I was more a fan of their hand held systems. I usually stick to one console per generation and itā€™s been the 360 to Xbox One to Xbox One X and eventually I will get the current Xbox.

I will add that I have been considering getting a regular Switch now, but probably only just to play a few multi-player games with my daughter. Sheā€™s not a big gamer, but I can occasionally get her to play a few co-op games with me on the Xbox One, and the Nintendo multi-player games look like a blast.

That aside, I love the Switch Lite. Itā€™s a great portable and Iā€™m glad itā€™s getting a lot of JRPGs which was mostly all I used the 3DS for in addition to the occasional Zelda), though being able to play Diablo 3, Skyrim, Torchlight 2, and Dragonā€™s Dogma portably has been a ton of fun.

2987

I finally had my left joy-con start drifting after over 4 years a few weeks ago. I was really impressed with Nintendoā€™s joy-con support. I entered my serial number on their site, printed a UPS label, and they had it back to me at no charge within a week of dropping it off at the nearest UPS store.