My Time With the Nintendo Switch Lite

Published on Oct 23, 2023

At the beginning of October, I finally pulled the trigger on something I've want to do for myself for a while, and bought a Switch Lite. We're reportedly nearing the end of the Switch's life, I know. This was not a practical or pragmatic choice, I just wanted the thing.

I wanted to buy myself a little treat for working so hard the past few months (I have been SWAMPED with freelance work), and I've been dreaming of playing my Switch games on this cute little blue guy with a real d-pad.

In terms of that dream, it's everything I hoped it would be. The moment I first picked it up, I was amazed at just how, well, light it was. Feels like I'm holding nothin' at all. The size is great, too. It's so much more comfortable to hold the Lite than it is a full-size Switch, even for shorter periods of time.

And I love the color. They really had my number when they added this shade of blue to the lineup.

What has been the biggest letdown, though, has been my discovery of the way Nintendo handles having two Switches on the same Nintendo account. Nintendo will allow you to use two Switches on your account, and even download and play all of the games you've bought from the eShop without a problem. You can't play games on your profile on both Switches at once, which, sure, but if you're just looking to use one Switch in one use case, and another Switch in another, this will work just fine.

The problem comes in when you try to play those games on your second Switch without an internet connection. As I found out, when registering a second Switch to your Nintendo account, you are required to designate one Switch as "primary," and any others as "secondary." The main difference being that a primary Switch can play downloaded games offline, and a secondary Switch needs to be online at all times to check if a given game is "available" to play (i.e. not being played on the primary). A secondary Switch can, of course, play any physical game cards you slot in regardless of internet connection, but you won't have access to any DLC you've purchased while offline.

This has created an interesting dilemma for me, as I bought my Switch lite thinking it would serve as the portable Switch that I would take with me to places without an internet connection, and my old Switch would become the stay-at-home Switch, remaining tethered to the TV. This made perfect sense in my mind, because the Switch Lite is unable to dock with a TV the way a normal Switch can (arguably removing the functionality that makes a Switch a Switch, but there you are).

You might be thinking that the solution to this problem would be to make my new Switch Lite my primary Switch, and therefore able to play games on the go, and make my old Switch, which will always be connected to the internet by virtue of being left at home, my secondary. Indeed, that would solve this one particular facet of my dilemma. But this is Nintendo we're dealing with, so you know it's about to get Asinine and Draconian.

See, the other difference between a primary and a secondary Switch is that a primary Switch will allow other user profiles to play its games, while a secondary Switch, for whatever reason, will not. So if my stay-at-home, TV Switch is my secondary Switch, my girlfriend can no longer play any of the digital games in my library, unless she purchases them through her own Nintendo account. Granted, this would not be a great number of games, but it's an unnecessary expense, and a ridiculous reason to have to re-purchase a game you've been playing for years.

Where this gets even stickier and more confusing is with Animal Crossing. My girlfriend loves the little island we created together in 2020, and still visits occasionally. That's a game that I bought digitally, meaning if i made my Switch Lite my primary Switch, she would lose access to our shared island. But since Animal Crossing islands are tied to your physical Switch unless you manually transfer your data, that island wouldn't exist on my Switch Lite in this scenario.

So in order for my girlfriend to be able to continue to visit the island that she has put way more work and love into than I ever have, and that can only be accessed on this one Switch anyway, we would have to re-purchase the game. Nintendo, everyone.

Nintendo is so worried that someone somewhere might play a video game, that they continually make everything about their online offerings so much harder than it needs to be, or just outright burn their own history to the ground.

I would even accept this online requirement if it gave you just a little more leeway. For example, if you were allowed to play games offline, but were required to connect the console to the internet every 30 days, or hell, even every 24 hours would be better. Instead, Nintendo just pops up a little message saying, "you can't do that," and offers no recourse. Thank god I found this out in the comfort of my own home. Can you imagine how much longer this blog would be if I had been on the subway? On an airplane?? I'm letting Nintendo off easy, here.

For now, I'm resigned to simply re-purchasing the games my girlfriend wants to play on our TV Switch, and resolving to buy physical copies of games we might both want to play going forward. Until then, I'm keeping my Switch Lite as my secondary Switch, and simply using it at my desk or in bed. My plan is to have all this ironed out by the time I need to travel for the holidays.

It's a shame this little quirk has had to overshadow so much of this review, because I've genuinely fallen in love with the Switch Lite in every other way. I was always a handheld gamer growing up, so I love the smaller size, the lighter weight, and the real d-pad, and I don't miss the ability to play games on a TV. Especially since I have a second Switch for that when I want it.

If you're looking to buy your first Switch, or to replace your dock-able Switch, or you simply don't share your Switch with anyone else, the Switch Lite is a no-brainer for those looking for a Certified Little Guy to play some Nintendo games on. Otherwise, if you're in my situation, there are some unfortunate factors you'll have to weigh.