I was an early adopter of the Nintendo Switch, getting it a couple of months after launch instead of on release day due to shortages and Game's failure to fulfill my pre-order but I've only ever played it at home portably. I just haven't felt the need to plug it into the telly as I've enjoyed getting current gen. experiences whilst laying down on my sofa, legs in the air and head on a cushion... It's one of the many small joys in my life. Having lived in east London, only a complete muppet would take it out to play it on the go... You're kinda looking to get mugged if you walk around with that kinda kit!
However, a few weeks ago, whilst I was travelling to Bahrain and Dubai on holiday I took my Switch with me as I knew I'd have downtime to play and relax, away from the laptop, work and other distractions. Whilst spending the week with my family, I enjoyed the quality time we had making sandcastles, sand angels and other sand themed entertainment but whilst they were napping during the middle of the day, I had grand adventures on my miniature Switch screen; fighting dragons, learning Dragon-born words and helping people by completing fetch quests in the complex land of Skyrim.
The beautiful little machine is the perfect system to enjoy Skyrim as in the heat of the Bahraini and Dubai sun, it displayed the world in all its scaled down glory. Over that week I saw things many non-gamers couldn't imagine;
Whiterun on fire from a dreadful dragon,
I watched colleges being attacked by hellish hordes in the moonlight.
All these moments will be lost to time, like bitrot on degradable saving machanisms…
I've said it before but video games have the potential to test the limits of the imagination and induce a sense of wonder and awe that is often lacking in real life. The older you get, the more you realise how horrible and cruel the real world can actually be. Over the past few years it has often felt like we are in the darkest timeliness with some truly horrendous things occurring all around us. We are constantly barraged with horrific imagery, news headlines and 'hot takes' on some dreadful world events so for me and many others, video games are an escape from the real world; refuge from the general crap storm happening all around us... at least for a little while.
Over Christmas I was in Devon enjoying the winter break with my family and the in-laws and thanks to the Switch and Sayonara Wild Heart, it was an even more wonderful occasion. Here’s to many more gaming hours!
LINK- Nintendo: My One Constant in My Gaming Life
LINK- Video Gaming in Saudi Arabia
LINK- An English Geek in Saudi Arabia
LINK: Japan: My Journey to the East