Healthy comparing and competition between companies in the gaming space has produced many innovations in gaming. But where most consumers, who are a fan-base for each gaming area, tend to get pissed off is when one gaming stream tends to overstep in overestimating their product over something completely different. Perfect example for today is mobile company Huawei, comparing their all new Huawei Mate 20 X gaming phone to Nintendo’s Switch console at their product launch event this week.
In the Huawei CEO Richard Yu’s comparison of the Mate 20 x and Nintendo Switch, he mainly touched on the phone’s screen (7.2 inch OLEd display, 1080p resolution), battery life (packing a whopping 5,000mAh battery) and processing power (Huawei Kirin 980) all being better than the Nintendo Switch’s. But the rub here is that THE WHOLE WORLD already knew the Switch was not a powerful console as at its launch last year in March. There were even phones at that time more powerful than the Switch, not to mention every other console that was released.
This comparison has fairly upset a large number of console owners but fact is, this is a comparison that should not have been made as the console itself has its strengths that blow the Mate 20 X out of gaming waters:
#1. PURPOSE
The Mate 20 X, despite all its capabilities and power and hardware, is still a phone. Implying that its going to serve many purposes. But for its reveal, its selling point was centered around gaming, but here is a fun fact: not every one buys a phone wants to play games on it, especially those who can afford such a phone! But when you bring something like a Switch in the mix, there is no way anyone buying one has plans of doing any other thing with it other than gaming.
#2. PRICE
Staring price for the Huawei Mate 20 X (emphasis on STARTING PRICE) is around $1,035 (5,035 Ghana Cedis). The Nintendo Switch, on the other hand, comes with a starting price of $299.99 (1,459.5 Ghana cedis). With the Mate 20 X’s starting price, you could buy a Switch + Dock + Joycon Grip + 2 Joycons all for $300 in a package and still have $735 to get accessories, extra storage and a boatload of games both digital and physical for the console….or just buy 3 Switches and a game or two.
#3. WAYS TO PLAY
Yes, the gaming phone does come with its own game controller accessory that is attached to just the left side of the phone, which could help but also has its limitations. But with the information given so far, that seems to be all it does: aid in gameplay. It is unknown if the mobile games currently available are compatible with this controller, as most games are designed with touchscreen controls in mind. 2-Player compatibility? Don’t think so. On the Switch side of things, every game created for the Switch is designed with every aspect of the Joy-cons in mind: some games can be played with both Joy-Cons forming one controller via the Joy-Con grip or split as two separate controllers to enable 2-4 Player gameplay if more Joy-Cons or Pro Controllers are around (all with HD Rumble by the way * wink *). Games can also be played either on the Switch’s screen or output to any T that has HDMI connectivity, boosting the quality of most of its games. A portable console that does well to double as a home console…need I go on here?
#4. HISTORY
This may not be the strongest possible point for the Nintendo Switch, but its still on the upside. Nintendo has existed since September 1889 but specialized in video games around the 1979. Thats about 39 years in the gaming industry and 129 years of existence! Huawei was founded in 1987. Lets face it, we love new things, but who doesn’t prefer to roll with products from companies that have had decades to perfect their stuff?
#5. GAMES
Android has a myriad of games available for mobile. Some of these games are even cross-platform, such as Fortnite. But game quality and library is one area where Nintendo completely trounces the Mate 20 X hands down. How many games available on Android can compete with Triple-A games on the Switch, such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Splatoon 2…the list would most likely give Huawei a headache. Even if most of such titles were to be put on mobile SOMEHOW, it would probably cost way too much to do and wouldn’t make economic sense.
Many gamers would most likely have more pointers to put to Huawei. and while we congratulate them for their strides and achievements, it was definitely a * thumbs down * move on their part to compare their new mobile device to a gaming console in an arena that has been well dominated and perfected by console companies in general long before mobile gaming even became a thing.
