Nintendo Switch Accessories

December 6, 2017 5:37 PM

The small McGees are getting a Nintendo Switch from their grandmother, so mom & dad are going to add some accessories. Which ones are must-haves?

6- and 8-year-olds, probably mostly playing docked on the TV screen. Biggest draw at the start will definitely be Mario Kart. Grandma's also sending Legend of Zelda.

It sounds like they definitely need a screen protector and a big SD card. I have never played a Switch and know very little about them, so what else would be protective/helpful/fun? General recs are good, but so are specific links!

posted by Eyebrows McGee to Technology (15 answers total)

Extra joycons are nice for Mario Kart, so you can play with three or four racers.
posted by redfoxtail at 6:05 PM on December 6, 2017 [2 favorites]

I was just researching the same thing! Not an accessory but worth thinking of before Christmas morning -- charge it up and do any other setup a few days before. Especially if you will be downloading anything.
posted by selfmedicating at 6:20 PM on December 6, 2017 [3 favorites]

I would get this SD card. I got it for $50 during prime day, but it appears to be a bit more expensive now: amazon link

For "day one" accessories, that should be sufficient along with an extra set of joy-cons for multiplayer action. I don't think the screen protector is necessary if they are mostly playing it while it is docked.
posted by King Bee at 6:34 PM on December 6, 2017 [1 favorite]

We've had one for a few weeks now. Can't really think of any further accessories other than extra controllers - and it was surprisingly quick to set up - but you might get Mario Odyssey as well. For a casual player like myself it is miles more fun than Zelda.
posted by tavegyl at 6:39 PM on December 6, 2017

The screen does scratch a lot more easily than the screens on smartphones and iPads and the like, because it's made of plastic rather than glass. So for kids I would definitely agree that some kind of screen protection is a good idea. Just make sure you watch some YouTube tutorials on how to apply the protector properly. You can damage the device if you do it wrong. You could do without it, but you'd probably have to live with some cosmetic damage—which is maybe okay for a kid-owned device. But as an adult game enthusiast it would drive me crazy.

Also I'd highly recommend a travel case, because the thing will get dinged up if the kids are just tossing it in backpacks or carrying it around in cargo pockets.

An extra set of joycons might be good. Maybe the charging grip as well, so you can keep both sets all juiced up, and so both kids can use the grip-style control if they want to.

That's probably all you really need. There are lots of other accessories out there, but they're unnecessary at best and useless at worst. You don't want to end up with a basket full of plastic detritus that you're just going to end up selling at a garage sale for 10 cents a few years from now.
posted by AAAA at 6:41 PM on December 6, 2017 [1 favorite]

Screen protector and carrying case.

I think the IQ shield is excellent - amazon screen protector link

Little askme also got a case like this - amazon case link

It doesn't have a lot of storage, but it works
posted by askmehow at 7:31 PM on December 6, 2017 [1 favorite]

Extra JoyCons, a glass screen protector plus a case and you’re all set.
posted by porn in the woods at 7:39 PM on December 6, 2017

Unless you know right off the bat that you're going to be downloading a lot, you can probably hold off on purchasing the SD card until you need it.
posted by Seboshin at 7:48 PM on December 6, 2017 [2 favorites]

You might want to grab this Nintendo Switch Joy Wheel Pack, there's two wheels in the pack, it's under $20 and and it gives your joycons a steering wheel vibe, might be nice for kids at that age.
posted by furtive at 9:15 PM on December 6, 2017

Games
- Mario Odyssey & Zelda have enough depth to last for some time before picking up other games
- Mario Kart and Just Dance are favorites in our house for local multiplayer

Accessories
- SD Card definitely. Some games require it, even if they are cartridge based (like nba2k for instance)
- Carrying case
- Extra USB-C Cable to charge on the go
- Extra Joycons or an 8bitdo controller
- A better stand or a holder to put it in the back of a car
posted by motdiem2 at 12:37 AM on December 7, 2017

Splatoon is also super fun...
posted by sexyrobot at 3:34 AM on December 7, 2017 [1 favorite]

"Downloading a lot": Splatoon, Mario, and Zelda will take up nearly all the storage space on the Switch (ask me how I know!). So I would reiterate my suggestion to just get the SD card now.
posted by King Bee at 3:57 AM on December 7, 2017 [2 favorites]

Snipperclips is a fantastic 1-4 player local co-op multiplayer game.

This is going to depend on personal preference, but as an adult gamer used to playing on Xbox or PlayStation controllers, I VASTLY prefer the Pro Controller to playing with the joycons when I'm playing docked. For little ones with little hands, this may not be such an issue though.

Zelda and Mario are both huge with hundreds of hours of gameplay in them. Mario Kart and Snipperclips will both give a large amount of co-op play time.

Enjoy! The Switch is the first Nintendo console we've had in a long time and it's very very good. (I, a grownup person and intense gamer, ADORE it for business travel. My sister, who's never really gamed at all, has beat two games on it over the last year.)
posted by oblique red at 7:26 AM on December 7, 2017

@King Bee: If they downloaded all the games. If they go with the physical cartridges, they should have plenty of room sans SD card - I have M.Odyssey, Arms, M.Kart cartridges, a couple digital games, and still got some room.
posted by Seboshin at 7:42 AM on December 7, 2017

I like having a wall mount, though whether that's "necessary" is going to depend a lot on your room setup.
posted by teremala at 11:03 AM on December 7, 2017