Although the Nintendo Switch includes a dock that works just fine for connecting to a TV, it’s not perfect. Some have reported it’s actually scratched their portable’s screen, and its functionality is barebones. Now’s the perfect time to give your Switch an upgrade with a dock that does more than just pay homage to the GameCube.
The Nintendo GameCube had the difficult task of following in the footsteps of the groundbreaking N64 which brought many of Nintendo’s most popular franchises into the world of 3D gaming. Despite being far from one of the company’s best-selling platforms (Nintendo sold 22 million GameCubes worldwide during its lifespan, whereas the N64 sold 33 million, and the Wii eventually sold a staggering 101 million) it still offered some noteworthy contributions to gaming consoles, including an innovative controller layout we still see in use, the excellent wireless WaveBird gamepad, and that hypnotic start up animation.
The SW Dock Power-Bay from Brook looks like a GameCube console that’s been squished in a hydraulic press, but in lieu of a top-loading tray for loading game discs, a pop-up support reveals a USB-C connector that will charge a Switch while it’s docked, and route a signal to your TV over HDMI. Those are basic dock features, but the Power-Bay also adds two old-school GameCube ports for attaching controllers, or the WaveBird’s wireless adaptor, as well as two additional USB ports on the front for attaching other wired gamepads.
For $US55 ($89) when available in June (which is considerably cheaper than the $130 Nintendo wants for the official Switch dock) the Power-Bay also includes a feature that many gamers with the Switch have longed for: support for wireless headphones. The Switch can’t connect to Bluetooth headphones or earbuds natively, but while docked on the Power-Bay users can wirelessly connect two pairs of cans at the same time allowing gamers to play head-to-head late into the night without disturbing the peace.