Sure, Steam Deck may get all the headlines these days, but when you want a no-nonsense, pick-up-and-play portable gaming experience, the vaunted Nintendo Switch still holds the crown—especially if you want to play Nintendo exclusives like Zelda and Bayonetta. Good news! If you're looking to hop onboard the bandwagon, Nintendo's annual Black Friday Switch bundle is back and it's the perfect starting point for experiencing everything the console has to offer.
Nintendo's Black Friday Switch deal isn't technically a discount—the system costs the same $299 as usual and it's only available with the red and blue Joycon controllers. But you'll get some very nice extras tossed into the pot too: A free copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and a code for three free months to Nintendo Switch Online, which you'll need to play games online. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the game to pick up on the Switch and usually costs $50 to $60 on its own. I've been playing it weekly for years now, both on the go and hooked up to my TV!
You'll find the Black Friday Nintendo Switch deal at the usual retailers:
While you're shopping, consider picking up an SD card to expand the Switch's paltry 32GB of onboard storage. SanDisk's nifty Nintendo-themed 128GB SD card is also on sale for Black Friday, going for just $16 rather than the usual $35. You won't find any discounts on the upgraded Switch with a luscious screen, alas—the Nintendo Switch OLED still costs $349 at the moment.
This story, "Nintendo’s Black Friday Switch deal is the ideal Switch starter pack" was originally published by PCWorld.