Got a Nintendo Switch

Okay, Nintendo, you won. I gave up. After patiently waiting over three years for a shiny Zelda Special Edition, I finally had to give in and got one of these things:

An ordinary Nintendo Switch. Nothing golden, just grey. No Triforce emblems. Just a plain Switch.... It's not what I wanted, but it'll have to do for now.

I hope you're happy, Nintendo, because I'm not really. In fact I've never been so reluctant with buying a video game system ever in my life. And I've never waited as long with getting any Nintendo system, unless you count the original GameBoy, but that wasn't really up to me. Even the Nintendo GameCube, which I initially didn't want to have at all, had the honor of entering my home in late August 2005, which was one year before release of the Nintendo Wii. And that one I got in Spring 2008, a couple weeks before I've started this blog.

I got both the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U in their first year, where it turned out that buying a normal Nintendo 3DS so early was a mistake, because they've announced a Zelda Special Edition shortly after I had gotten the thing. And this had created a regret, where I swore not to repeat the same mistake again – a vow that I now had to break, because Nintendo kept making games for Zelda fans, but no system.

In contrast, Nintendo kept making Zelda Editions for the Nintendo 3DS on every turn to a point where it became a normality. Even though I'm a collector when it comes to Zelda, I didn't even get all of them, just the ones that were an upgrade. They completely overdid it there... With the Nintendo Switch, however, they are walking on the other extreme. There were Special Editions for all sorts of games, including Fortnite, but nothing for Zelda.

Only the Wii U got it right, where they've made a Zelda Edition right for the launch of the first Zelda title, The Wind Waker HD, and then they were done. It was perfect and owning a Wii U made waiting for that Zelda Switch quite easy at first, since half of Nintendo's Switch titles were just Wii U ports.

But the years have passed and if I didn't have access to someone else's Nintendo Switch, I probably would have gotten one for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate or Link's Awakening. And I certainly would have gotten the Special Edition for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, if that didn't look totally cheap...

Now, buying a Nintendo Switch for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, after waiting all this time, just didn't feel right. It creates the regrets of "all the waiting was for nothing" and "I could have gotten this years ago", where this is really my loss. But it's also Nintendo's loss, because this is quite some time and money that I didn't spend on Nintendo games. I do already have quite the sizable collection, though:

That's eleven games, where Age of Calamity will be the twelfth. I got most of these for their Limited Edition releases, while some others were freebies, where I've won Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in a raffle and I took one of these "buy 3, pay 2" deals. So, that's why I already have so many Nintendo Switch games.

But I will be very busy going through this backlog in the future, where after Age of Calamity I want to play Breath of the Wild again and also Hyrule Warriors in its Definitive Edition. I also want to play Link's Awakening again and at some point I want to finally play Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

Plus, I'll have to unlock everything in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Mario Kart 8 again (ugh), as well as grind for the Arms in Arms. I will be doing things on my Nintendo Switch that I should have done over the course of the last three years and it's kind of overwhelming to catch up with all of this. Meanwhile, there are games that I probably will never be playing, like Super Mario Odyssey.

So, getting a Switch was long overdue, but at the same time I will certainly regret this purchase for the feared reasons, because there will be a Zelda Special Edition coming eventually, probably sooner than later with the 35th Anniversary being a thing next year. Maybe even in the form of one of these rumored 4K upgrade models...

The reason why this hasn't happened yet lies seemingly in the Zelda titles. They could have done a "Sheikah Slate Edition" Nintendo Switch for Breath of the Wild, but this game was a launch title and they probably weren't able to provide a Special Edition right away. And if they had done this any later, like for Christmas 2017, it would have screwed the early adopters (again).

It doesn't seem like Nintendo wants to do such Special Editions for the Zelda spin-offs, like Age of Calamity right now. Maybe such games are not worthy enough, who knows? And Link's Awakening came out the same day as the Nintendo Switch Lite, where a Special Edition of that thing would have been a collectible at best, since I'm primarily playing on the TV.

So, I've kept saying we will be getting that "golden Switch" with Skyward Sword HD and this will probably turn out right, maybe even as early as next March. Still, I couldn't possibly wait any longer, because with such an extensive game like Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, I simply need my own Nintendo Switch.

This will inevitably lead me to a double-dip, where I will sell the grey Switch or give it to someone in my family or so. Thankfully, the Nintendo Switch in the least has a System Transfer, so I can move all my progress over to a Zelda themed Switch later...

And all of this wouldn't be so bad, if this weren't yet another Nintendo system with a screen. I hate installing screen protectors, but it's necessary to avoid scratches. Curiously, the official ones from Nintendo are only sold in combination with a Nintendo Switch carrying case. It's this one:

What were they thinking? Attaching a screen protector can be easily messed up. In fact I messed up myself, because I got two pieces of dust under it. Trying to remove the dust from under the screen will create an even bigger mess, so the only way to fix it would be buying a new screen protector, but in this case I would also need to buy another carrying case... Come on, Nintendo!

And yes, there are 3rd party screen protectors sold on their own everywhere, but they usually have problems of their own. I prefer the official Nintendo screen protectors, because you can effortlessly install them without any air bubbles. It just works magically. But even the best magic can't protect you from some sneaky dust, unless you're doing things in a hermetically sealed room, which sadly I don't have at my home.

This is something I really dread when buying a new Nintendo system right now, because it turns what is supposed to be a fun "plug and play" experience into a preparation nightmare. That the Nintendo Switch dock might also scratch your system doesn't really help either...

Again, the Wii U did things right, where the official screen protectors were sold on their own. And I was happy to buy more than one there. I was happy, Nintendo... So, why are you making things so hard for me now?

Yes, yes... I'm aware that this is a lot of whining and first world problems for something that's supposed to be fun, but I've rarely ever felt so unhappy about a hardware purchase and I needed to express my thoughts about this. I'm sure I'll feel better in a week, when I'm having a blast with Age of Calamity. Because that's what this Nintendo Switch is for.