I have not given up on The Game Slush Pile. There have been no updates in three weeks because I have no Switch. So my Switch died. Then I got hooked up with a guy who offered to fix it. I sent it off. He repaired it. Sent in back. I did one week of updates, then I had to send it back because it was still broken. Had to wait a week while he was one vacation. He comes back, repairs the problem, but the motherboard died. He’s now trying to find me a replacement board, but Its mostly likely truly dead now. I’ll most likely buy a used OLED Switch next week and continue on. But in researching the issue, I discovered a problem: I’m not alone. Apparently, the Switch, at least the original one, has a lot of problems.
In the picture above, you see my 26 year old n64 sitting on top of my 19 year old XBOX. Both work well. My n64 I’ve had since early 1997. Its been put through a lot of abuse, and still is kicking. The Xbox is also a brick. A friend found an Xbox in a dumpster, and it still worked. True story. That’s not to say the n64 and XBOX do not succumb to ravages of time. Corrosion death is common. Batteries die(might I suggest a Forever Pak 64 for your N64 memory card needs). However, I had my switch for only five years and it died.
Entropy is the nature of the universe. Things degrade and corrode over time. Technology is no different. However, the original Switch hardware, unfortunately is trash, if the pile of problems it has is any indication. The poor quality of the original switch hardware reminds me of the PSP 1000(pictured above), which has a tendency to break easily. I bought a PSP 1000 a few years ago, it’s UMD drive broke just sitting there unplayed. My fifth PSP, a 2000 model, is fairing a bit better. I really want a PSP 3000 model, but don’t feel like shelling out the big bucks.
The question is, of course, why is the original Switch such trash? My tech blamed it on cheap Chinese manufacturing. I think there’s something to that in the sense Nintendo cut corners to make a profit on the Switch. For example, my tech said the soldering on the motherboard was so bad, that playing it over time causes it break as it heats and cools. I’m sure if they wanted to make a brick, you’d be looking at a hundred dollars more, at least. All I know is, once the Switch goes retro, the price on a working Switch will skyrocket as they inevitably break. I think on Monday, if I my tech hasn’t found a new board, I’ll tell him to just forget it. The reason is, it’ll probably just break again. Let’s hope the OLED has a better track-record.
