Unlike past Nintendo consoles, the company's newest hybrid handheld, the Switch, doesn't have that many configurations to choose from.
Beyond the initial launch colors — one with Gray Joy-Con controllers, and one with Neon Blue and Neon Red — there doesn't seem to be that much to select from.
To that end, people have gone out of their way to customize their Switch units, slapping skins, stickers, and other accessories to make them more personal.
MakoMod Makes The Sheikah Switch
People over at MakoMod, on the other hand, have managed to create a Switch that looks less of a modern console and more of a prehistoric tablet, one you'll most likely see when playing Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
In fact, in the game, Link, the protagonist, uses something similar: a so-called Sheikah Slate that can take pictures, access the map, and help guide Link where to go next. Nintendo designed the said slate to look akin to the Wii U, Nintendo's embattled console before the Switch. Its latest console, however, nearly looks like an upgraded Wii U gamepad anyway, so it pretty much resembles the Sheikah Slate, too.
To that effect, MakoMod calls its custom-designed Switch the Sheikah Switch, a console that looks straight out of Breath of the Wild and can play Breath of the Wild — so meta.
As a related side note, any diehard Star Wars fan knows that George Lucas, in conceptualizing A New Hope, didn't want the world — geography, structures, and droids included — to look new. Everything needed to look "used" and "lived in," as if to give the whole film added realism, achieved of course through thoughtful and crafty production design. The Sheikah Slate-themed Switch appears to mirror the same principles.
To make it look like the Sheikah Slate, MakoMod seem to have applied a wood and stone veneer to the Switch's main body. It didn't skimp on the tiniest details — the buttons on each joy-Con feature a roughed-up aesthetic, with crudely etched and stained up, down, left, and right buttons, as if carvings on a piece of stone.
The dock, another showstopper, looks like a neat slab of stone, with the Sheikah Eye markings carved right at the center, providing a "pressed" effect. Again, the details sell it a long way further: the dock has tiny green spots near the bottom, as if moss splotched around the stone. If that doesn't sell the idea, then what will? The whole presentation looks gorgeous, authentic, and truly inspired.
You can take a look at a video of the special-themed Switch below:
Other Nintendo Switch Designs
Since Nintendo hasn't announced special themed Switch consoles beyond a Monster Hunter XX edition and a special Splatoon bundle, some owners have independently created their own designs. A few of the most notable Switch designs come from Reddit user DEAD_GIVEAWAY, who has made several Switch mockups featuring Nintendo titles.
Whether Nintendo plans on releasing special-themed Switch consoles going forward remains a question, but one could argue that the Joy-Con controllers — which users can detach — already present an astounding number of ideas for customizations. Perhaps, something akin to Instagram user hypnopompe's designs?
