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!
That is an odd take, I mean, if there are still new games release on Switch in 20 years, then sure? Switch definitely has better chance on having newer games than DS in those time frame.
In that case, why not wait for the next gen? I have my Switch since 2018, I think, it's still the first gen one, that can be modded without hardware. I'll continue play it as long as there's a game for it. The only way to have the most time of a hardware is to get it when it's new, right?
I think by obsolete they mean virtually useless. Think of the Ouya not something like the Nintendo Wii. I don't think anyone really expects the Switch to keep going for 20 years. Maybe it will get the odd homebrew but they are wondering about if they are going to be able to keep their existing library or if things like DRM are going to get in the way and artificially reduce the consoles lifespan.