Is It Worth Buying a Nintendo Switch in 2024?

It’s the end of the year. People are starting to think about Christmas gifts. And high on the list of many a family will be a Nintendo Switch. But is it actually worth it?

This time last year I wrote an article answering this question, and that answer was ‘probably not’. Why? Because Nintendo’s current console is long in the tooth, graphically poor and their next console could be announced at any time. The Switch just doesn’t cut it as a modern piece of tech. Wait for the sequel.

Well, Nintendo showed me. They doggedly hung onto the little handheld that could, and even released a great set of software for it too. I stand by my point last year – wait until the Switch 2. But those who bought in probably weren’t disappointed.

And therein is the issue here. My advice this year is to again wait for the Switch 2. In fact, it’s more pressing now because SURELY that announcement is coming any day now…

And while I don’t think Nintendo will pop up at Thursday’s Game Awards and say “by the way, there’s a new console on the way”, everybody knows there’s a new console on the way. Any game that plays well on the Switch is going to run better on the Switch 2, so long as Nintendo updates things (and there’s some incentive with games like Tears of the Kingdom).

Put it like this. It is increasingly unlikely that I’ll be writing this same article again for 2025. It feels suicidal on Nintendo’s part.

Nintendo Switch Games

In many ways, 2023 was Nintendo’s last hurrah with the Switch. It had a rich and varied selection of quality content and at regular intervals. That’s more than can be said for any other console. And usually you can’t even say it for the Switch.

But even if you presume the new console is a way out, you still have games to look forward to in the next year. It’s just you might have already played them before.

Mario Vs Donkey Kong, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, Another Code: Recollection and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door will all be out in the next 12 months. Princess Peach: Showdown, a new game starring the now not-so-damsel-in-distress is out in March. If you’ve never played any of these games, or if you have an understandable backlog left over from this year, your not going to struggle for software in 2024.

But if you’ve played all of the above, and if you’ve somehow finished everything from 2023, things are looking a little bit bleaker. Until, of course, we find out what’s launching with the Switch 2. That could very much change things, especially if some of it is cross-generational.

Should I Buy?

My advice this year is going to be same as the last: if you can hold off, hold off. The Switch 2 is hopefully going to be the better device, and will hopefully have backwards compatibility and enhancements. And, more than anything, it means you’re not playing on a console that feels ten years out of date.

But if you don’t care about graphics and smooth gameplay, and if you haven’t got into that incredible catalogue yet, you’re not going to be disappointed by the Switch. It’s very much about your use case. This is a situation where even the impatient have little to lose.