Switch Launch - What's Your Plans?

I remember doing threads like this for the 3DS and Wii U back on NGamer. Seeing as we're twelve days off of the Switch coming out, I thought I'd revive an old topic.

So, aye, what are you doing for the Switch's launch? Are you off to a midnight opening? Maybe you're planning on taking the day off of work or uni? Where are you getting your Switch from? And what are you planning on getting alongside it? What are you going to start playing first? Etc etc.

~

I'll be getting mine from GAME, using in-store credit that I've been accumulating since the summer. I estimate that I've got around £500 in credit, hopefully, so that'll cover everything I'm after not just on the day, but right up until Splatoon 2 comes out.

I'll just be having a normal working day and I'll pick my pre-order up before the shop closes. Nothing massively exciting here. I'm getting Zelda off of Amazon for £36ish, and I'll see if GAME offer a deal which takes the price of 1-2-Switch or Super Bomberman R down. I'm half-expecting just to be getting Breath of the Wild though.

Good thread. We need one of these.


I've probably got one of the more elaborate launch-day plans. I'm taking a week and a day off, starting on the 3rd. Other things have slowly started to get in the way of ten solid days of Switchdom, but I'll still be packing a good bit of gaming into that period. (Not to mention the opportunity to play it on the go!)

The machine and the retail launch games I'll be picking up from GAME, not because I'm happy to take the premium, but because I want the excitement of going to pick them up myself. Plus, hopefully they'll be more reliable than the deliverer of NSMBU, who left me with naff-all to play in single-player (that I wanted to play, ZombiU fans) at the Wii U launch.

Those games are 12S and BotW, and I'm also planning to download Snipperclips (if out at launch). Maybe Setsuna a bit later, when I finish Zelda far too soon. Also pre-ordered a carry case, as recommended by Scullion, from Amazon; and a spare pair of Joy-Cons from ShopTo. I care less about those arriving at launch. The Joy-Cons in particular won't come into their own until MK8D comes out, or until I decide to pick up ARMS, whichever's sooner.

As for what I'm going to start playing first: the same thing as most of the rest of you. Hours and hours of BotW. I expect that the first ten or so will do precisely naff-all to progress the plot. It all feels very Wii-launch-esque, except TP arrived late for me so I was stuck with Wii Sports (not great for single-player) and the sub-par Monkey Ball offering.

...I've not had a lot of luck with console launches, looking back.

I'm in a weird place: I am very excited about the Switch, but it just doesn't feel real yet. 3rd March? That's ages away!

Then I think about something like planning what days I'm going to go for a jog around my shifts, and suddenly I get to Switch week and realise it really isn't that long at all.

My Switch pre-order is at Game in Cheltenham, because my parents ordered it partially as a Christmas present. I've booked the week off, apart from the Monday, so I'll be catching the train up on Thursday morning and staying until Sunday (or as early as I can get away with leaving without looking ungrateful). I've ordered The Legend of Zelda to arrive at theirs - the stupid Nintendo store one with the t-shirt, CD and sword - and on the day I'll pick up 1, 2 Switch.

I've got my eye on other bits and bobs: maybe a carry case and a pro controller, probably Bomberman or Fast Racing or whatever multiplayer we end up all playing, maybe a download title like I Am Setsuna. All of that will be the following Friday though, the 10th, when I get paid again.

Beyond that, my plans depend on everyone else. If my family can be talked into a midnight opening (unlikely) or one of my parents is free in the day Friday, I'll be setting it all up then having a nice sit down and a play on Zelda while I'm left to my own devices. If my brother and sister are there when I open it, it'll be a session on 1, 2 Switch with the whole family.

What I'm really looking forward to is:

• The evening of Sunday 5th, when I'll be home in my own flat, lights off, nobody else there and I can just sit down and play Breath of the Wild for, as my man Guy Ritchie would say, all night long.
  
• The following weekend, when I can bust the multiplayer out with the lads on Friday night, then have a solid session on the Saturday with my friends Katie, Jake and Amelia who are all also buying Switches.

I'm glad for this thread. Little things like this, and that fella who's queuing, are helping make it all more real.

Balladeer wrote:

I've probably got one of the more elaborate launch-day plans.

Ha, nope!

Toss a copy of Breath of the Wild in to the good ol' reliable Wii u and see if Nintendo finally managed to top Wind Waker.


*Plan subject to having actual money for the game on launch

Nothing elaborate just wait in all day for my Amazon delivery to arrive & then get stuck right into BotW (which I've ordered from ShopTo) for the rest of that day. This is the first time I've not picked up a Nintendo system from an actual shop so I'm hoping it all goes well.

Much like Cappa, I've got or will have when Horizon Zero Dawn turns up and I get it's reward points that will give me £500 in credit in GAME. I've ordered mine in GAME back when the 3 Minute trailer was shown as they were the only ones taking orders at the time and something like hardware on day one is the same price almost everywhere and I want to make sure I get one.

I'm getting the console but still not sure if I will go for Grey or Neon, I think more likely Grey as I don't see me playing Multiplayer with Two Joy-Cons often and its Nintendo they're bound to release Special Edition Joy-Cons and I'll end up getting them.

Zelda: BotW, I am also getting the £90 version with the plastic sword and soundtrack but was tempted to import from USA as their version is better but won't be here at launch.

Also got a Pro-Controller as I see myself using the Switch as Home Console 90% of the time and the Joy-Cons will be docked that I want a proper controller even if it is £65 but I get why it is with all the technology behind it.

If you been keeping up that leaves me with £65 in credit in GAME. I am still buying Breath of the Wild on Wii U as well, mainly for the collection and it inevitably doing a Twilight Princess on Cube that I'm getting it right away. Now I'm not sure how much it will be as GAME and Nintendo online have it listed for £59.99 which to me seems a silly amount, the chaps in the store where I'm getting my Switch reckon it will actually be £49.99 but I reckon I could be left with £5 in GAME.

With whatever is left, I will likely put in towards a eShop voucher so I can get I Am Setsuna and again like Cappa also because its payday, I'm going to see if their is any deals which they normally do have with systems launches get this game for X amount when bought with the console but for past system it has been mainly ports which makes me think it might be Just Dance and Skylanders which are cheaper with the Switch and if Skylanders is cheap enough then I will maybe get it.

Hope to get a case as well on the day for that 10% that the Switch is a portable system but cash wise hoping to spend not a lot and it is still 11 days away meaning that £500 credit may go up with any games I finish between now and then.

That's just from GAME, I do have all the new Zelda amiibo on order from Nintendo and the Deluxe Guide from Amazon USA which isn't out till the 31st (who's idea was that).

I originally had 3 days off as it was my weekend off and I booked Friday the 3rd off but now I finish Thursday afternoon on the 2nd (I will be playing Horizon Zero Dawn as much possible on Wednesday & Thursday before the Switch comes) and back in on the Sunday the 4th and then off Monday the 5th that the Sunday is a bit of a pain but I can come home and not worry about getting up Monday morning which is at least something.

Drunkalilly wrote:

I'm glad for this thread. Little things like this, and that fella who's queuing, are helping make it all more real.

And hence I shall be enjoying this launch period vicariously through you guys whilst playing older Nintendo games to make myself feel less guilty.

Snap! Cappa's launch plans sound identical to the ones I carried out at the Wii U launch: work, then a leisurely stroll to the shop to pick up a pre-order.

I wish I had the holiday spare to take off a whole week

I've got the Friday afternoon booked off, so at lunch time I'm heading off into town to GAME to pick up my preorder grey switch (neon was sold out) and (expensive over-the-odds, but hey I get a keyring and poster!) Zelda. Then back home to play B)

Unfortunately I am busy on the Saturday and Sunday and then have one week of work before going on holiday, so I might not be sleeping much to squeeze Zelda in!

To be fair, I went to my manager to see if I could get Friday and Saturday off and it turned out I already had the week booked off. I had weeks I hadn't used when I booked my holiday last year, so I just spread them here and there through the year.

The implication there is that you kind of predicted when the Switch was going to come out.

...

What are this Saturday's Lottery numbers?

I'm in night shift on launch day so once midnight comes about I'll be wandering about work staring st the clock waiting for 9am to come around.

Once I have it basically get supplies for the day get home set up and start Zelda until I fall asleep, sleep for a bit then go back to Zelda.

Though annoyingly enough I've got to help at a convention sat and sun so won't have much play time there

ZeroJones wrote:

What are this Saturday's Lottery numbers?

4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42

Portable mode guys, get more Zelda in.

Ohh my credit is now £525 meaning I'll be left with £30 not a fiver, that should pay for a eShop voucher to cover I Am Setsuna.

I'm not getting it on launch because it's a lot of money for little old me to fork out, so I shall be waiting for a birthday themed cash injection and buy it then. However, my Game Art friends (one of whom recently became my boyfriend) are getting switches so they'll have about 4 of them at their house on launch day along with bomberman, zelda and 1-2 switch. It actually might be the most fun console launch I'll experience because I'll because I'll be with so many other gaming- but especially Nintendo- fans.

There's a lot of nice stories here already! (I'm becoming sentimental in my old age)
I have got Friday booked off, so, probably like the WiiU, I'll get ready for Switch Day, only for it to arrive at 6PM, plus half an hour setting up ("the cables have to be TIDY!") and an hour downloading system updates. Then probably Zelda!
Then Saturday morning / or afternoon / or whenever I am conscious again, I'll hunt around whatever constitutes Friends Lists, and find my sister, my best bud, and hopefully you guys
And maybe then Bomberman?!
Then suffer amazing guilt when I realise Secret of Mana and Chrono Trigger are on hold for another 5 years.

Jimbob wrote:

my best bud, and hopefully you guys

I'm not your best bud?

I've managed to get a fair whack of time off work - about a week or so - so my Friday will involve me taking a walk into town in the morning to my local GAME, and then catching a bus back so I can set the Switch up and tuck into Zelda as soon as possible. I've got the console, Breath of the Wild and a Pro Controller pre-ordered from GAME. I might pick up Bomberman if I get carried away with the hype of launch day.

I think I'll download The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ - seems like the perfect handheld game at launch for the Switch for me, I reckon.

I have BOI on Vita and can confirm it works perfectly as a portable game

JayMoyles wrote:

I think I'll download The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ - seems like the perfect handheld game at launch for the Switch for me, I reckon.

Not now seeing its been delayed to just sometime in March.

CATASTROPHE.

I'm working out of town next Friday, and by the time I'm back GAME'll be shut. I know that I can just go down the next morning, but CATASTROPHE.

That is bullshit. Write a letter to Nintendo with your left hand so they think you're a kid, say you've got to go to a funeral on Friday, and get them to give you one a day early.

Balls. Sad to hear that, mate.

Utterly terrible. Seriously, that's worse than the recent terrorist attacks in Sweden.