Console Buyer's Guide 2019

Black Friday and the holiday season begins very soon, so there is the look of what game systems are out on the market. For 2019, it may mark one of the last big years for the current ones out there.

Starting with the dead systems, it's safe to say you can't find many PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, Wii U, and Vita games on store shelves. Your best bet is going to be the used local stores or having to use online to get the games. Everything but the Vita can still be found easily at a GameStop, but how much longer they will have these games, I'm not sure. Until PS3 and 360 stop using servers for good would be my guess or when the new systems come out in November.

I'm surprised to still see the 3DS on store shelves. Nintendo stated that it will still be supported heading into 2020, but I don't buy into it fully. Not any big releases and being eight years old is not healthy. I guess milk it until the cows come home. For what it was able to do, it stabilized and did very well following a disastrous launch due to the high price. You can find 2DS XL's and some games, but the selection is not the greatest at most stores. Used local stores and online may be the ultimate way to get the titles you may want that aren't the usual suspects.

This year will be the last very huge year for PS4 and Xbox One. I don't think there's one advantage over the other except in exclusives. It comes down to what you like more. Do you like Halo, Gears of War, and a couple others? Uncharted, MLB, Ratchet and Clank? I still think the edge goes to PlayStation, but I don't think either one is a bad choice. They're cheap and you can get games at good prices everywhere. Not much else to say.

Last is the Switch. The Lite model should entice some for the holiday season, but will they like that it's portable only? That I'd ask because it being a hybrid prior to the release may be the only incentive. I think there should be a price cut for the original model. Beyond the first party games, there is relatively good support still and plenty of releases from older games and new ones. It's a way to make up for some of Nintendo's blunders. How well this does beyond this year and 2020 is a question in itself and if the novelty sticks or fades away.

Shop safe. Shop smart. And shop carefully for these systems and games.

Switch Lite... Could It?

Down the road, I do want a Nintendo Switch. I figured down the road, they would have a revision of the hardware and the past year or so has had stories regarding that. With the news regarding the Switch Lite, I'm not too sure how I feel about it.

I just looked at the design and it looks like a mix of the PSP, Game Gear, and the gamepad of the Wii U. Not necessarily a bad a thing, but it's going to be as the reports are saying a handheld only system. That would mean no docking station or any extra stuff to plug the system into a television or any of that. I do wonder what the numbers are and what skews into which part is favored. I'm guessing Nintendo thinks the portability should be a bigger emphasis. It also means the joycon controller is now hardwired into the system. I'm not sure if this will be a cost cutting measure or not, but who knows.

I would think the system would go for 200 or 250 dollars. It could be a little boost, but without knowing the reception outside of the hardcore gamers, it's hard to know whether people will bite. This should do decent, but how much people will actually play this revision, I don't know. But it is something that will be interesting come November and December.

My guess: Should do well, but it's a gutsy guess.