Gadgetory

- Pokemon is one of Nintendo's biggest franchises, and standing amongst all the gigantic number of them that now exist, one of the all-time most popular has, of course, been Pikachu. So popular, in fact, that he now even has his own movie, Detective Pikachu. - That's my character! I'm the trash man! - So, to celebrate it coming out, let's look at some of my favorite Switch and just other Nintendo-relevant items that have come out, celebrating the world's most famous lightning mouse. Kicking things off is this Pokemon-themed Switch Pro Controller, which technically doesn't exist. Nintendo has done a lot of really cool Pro Controller designs, mostly celebrating very specific games, but there hasn't actually been a lot of them just yet. And surprisingly, Pokemon is one of the series that, well, didn't get one. Thankfully, shell exchanges are really easy to do on Pro Controllers. So, if you're interested in a design like this, or something else that doesn't officially exist yet, you can find shell swaps like this that get the job done. Now, when I say Pro Controller re-shells are easy, I mean they are really easy. Joy-Cons take a lot of work and can be a little scary, 'cause you have to mess with a lot of the boards inside of the controllers, 'cause you're placing both the bottom and top of the system. The shell main body itself isn't too difficult, but still a little annoying to get just right. Pro Controllers? Super simple though. You just remove a number of screws in order, switch the parts off. You have to move a little bit of the boards, but it's not that difficult. Really easy to do. Now, this design is inspired by the official Pokemon Nintendo Switch. I say inspired, because it's actually not entirely correct, but works out even better if you just really like Pikachu. It does feature the handles that are both Pikachu and Eevee-colored, but the patterning on the main body, instead of featuring cutouts of Pikachu and Eevee, are cutouts of Pikachu, Pichu, and little Pokeballs. If you wanna take this a step further, you can even grab this shell exchange and just a random yellow handle option, so that way, you can go double yellow, making it a full-blown Pikachu design. When it comes to collectible stuff, there is an endless list of things based on Pokemon, but one that's officially made by Nintendo, for the Switch, are Amiibo. Now, there's a couple different Pokemon Amiibo, mostly pulled from Super Smash Bros., but when it comes to Pikachu specifically, there are two options. The Super Smash Bros. Pikachu, who is regular, small-sized, pretty cute, or you get the gigantic Detective Pikachu. This was a limited design that you can still find, just not for the original MSRP it was at. It's a little more expensive now, but it is a noticeably larger Amiibo based on the Detective Pikachu from the 3DS game, and even features a base that has a little city map on the bottom of it. Its uses as an Amiibo are honestly pretty specific and limited, but if you just want an awesome collectible that has a really detailed Detective Pikachu, I mean really, look at the texturing on the hat. It is an awesome little collectible. When it comes to Switch controllers, one of those popular options, aside from the official Nintendo Switch one, is GameCube-style controllers. So popular, in fact, that all three major third parties that make accessories for Nintendo have released their own version of it. And surprisingly, pretty much all of them have also released a Pikachu version. Two main examples you can grab right now, PDP and Hori's options, which offer slight differences from each other, aside from the obvious fact the way they approach the Pikachu branding, it's just a little bit different. The biggest thing you will really notice is that the PDP design is a noticeably larger controller, along with having larger shoulder buttons. Despite being the smaller of the two, the Hori option actually offers the larger buttons and D-pad. As a third option that is not actually out yet, PowerA, the other manufacturer of GameCube-style controllers, has their wireless GameCube option, which will be getting a Pikachu design later this summer, that is currently up for pre-order. I will say the PowerA design is, to me, the one that's closest to feeling like you're using a traditional GameCube controller, but since this is the wireless option, which is also an upside, it is gonna cost you more money than these two. All three of them do a great job of celebrating Pikachu. If I had to pick one from a pure aesthetic standpoint, though, I think I'm gonna have to go with the PDP design. I love the black circle with the full-body Pikachu right in the middle, sideways profile, looks super awesome. Since they're GameCube controllers, if you love playing Pikachu in Smash Bros., these are all great choices, or really, if you're just a Pokemon fan in general, great designs. One of the biggest ways that Nintendo themselves have officially celebrated Pokemon on the Switch, is the official Pokemon: Let's Go Nintendo Switch collector's edition. Now, I've unboxed and talked about a couple different special designs that Nintendo has done for the Switch, and a lot of them have been kinda hit or miss with me. The don't necessarily look bad, I just feel like Nintendo could go more all-out with them. But as far as the options that have been released so far, the Pokemon one is definitely the best design they've done. Going along with the theme of Pokemon: Let's Go being focused on Eevee and Pikachu, the design comes with a Pikachu-yellow right Joy-Con, and Eevee-brown left Joy-Con, and they even come with special wrist straps that give a two-tone approach that match the Pokemon as well. Matching the theme of the Joy-Cons, the dock also features both Pikachu and Eevee in their respective colors on the same sides, and the back of the Switch itself has this patterning that shows off silhouettes of Pikachu, Eevee, and some Pokeballs. Something interesting about this bundle as well is that, unlike most, which come with a specific game, well, this one has one of two choices you can find out there, one with Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu!, and the other with Let's Go, Eevee! Again, this is, in my opinion, the best special edition Nintendo has put out yet for the Nintendo Switch. If you really want a special design, or you're a huge Pokemon fan, this one is definitely worth tracking down. By the way, if you want an easy way to add a little Pikachu yellow to your favorite system, an easy way to do that is with skins like these from today's sponsor, dbrand. They have a whole line that are safe to use on your Joy-Cons, the dock, or even the Switch itself. Check out the link down below. Now, we've talked about a couple different controller options, but those are mainly used for if you're playing in docked mode or maybe tabletop. What if you want a way to celebrate Pikachu in handheld? Well, that's where the Hori D-pad Joy-Con comes in. They've actually released a couple versions of this. Originally, it was a Mario and Zelda design, but eventually, to celebrate Pokemon, they made this Pikachu one as well, with a Pikachu silhouetted at the bottom, and a bunch of lightning bolts covering it in a pattern. Now, this is not a full-blown traditional Joy-Con. It does not have vibration, it cannot be used wirelessly, but as long as it's connected to your Switch in handheld mode, it's gonna give you access to a D-pad, something that a lot of people miss from standard Joy-Cons, which just have the four-button setup as well. Something really cool about it, too, is that, since it's a left Joy-Con, if you have the Pokemon-edition Switch, well, you can pair it with the Pikachu yellow on the right side, left Pikachu on this side, and you have a complete Pikachu-focused design. It's worth noting that if you really want a D-pad on your Joy-Cons, there are other options out there. There are cases you can put over a regular Joy-Con, there are shell exchanges you can do that replace the buttons with a D-pad-shaped design, though it still kinda clickiness. This option, however, is I think a really good balance of something that's just a complete easy-to-use package right away, you're not doing any kind of assembly or anything, and it has a pretty solid D-pad as part of it. One of my all-time favorite Switch accessories that doesn't really offer any major function to gameplay, but just adds a little bit more style to your system, are these PDP light-up docks. And it's a really simple mechanism. It's basically a dock-dock. You take your regular Switch dock, put it in the PDP dock, and place a number of different face plates on the front that'll light up, featuring a number of different designs. When first released, they originally came bundled with two different designs based on Mario Odyssey. - [Officer] Name! - Mario. - Last name. - Mario. - And Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but later on, to celebrate the release of Pokemon: Let's Go, they released a new bundle, featuring two different Pokemon options. One, this more generic Pokeball design with just a bunch of them in a pattern, which looks pretty cool, or two, more relevant to today's video, this design, featuring Pikachu running around, covered in electricity. The dock can display in a couple different colors, so you can match it up style-wise if you like. For instance, red for the Pokeball, yellow for Pikachu, and just gives a nice little cool way of personalizing your dock a little more, beyond being the very basic black-and-gray design that it ships as. It's also worth noting, that if you're not fan of any of the designs currently available, there are people on Etsy making their own custom frames, fitting a whole bunch of different. Now, I know we've been talking about Switch a lot, but there's another Nintendo system that deserves a little bit of love that's still worth grabbing, and that is the Nintendo 3DS. Specifically, the 2DS XL. The Switch may be the big hot thing right now from Nintendo, but the 2DS still has an amazing library of games worth playing through, so if you haven't grabbed one before, now is a great time to still do so. And even better, the 2DS XLs have had a lot of really amazing limited-edition designs. One of the best is this Pikachu-edition one right here, featuring Pikachu's face on the top of the system, and something that's always a great little detail about it, is that it's actually grooved a little bit, so his nose is pointing out, which is kind of stupidly adorable. - You're adorable! - Topping it off, I think Nintendo just also did a great job with the color coordination on the system. Obviously, Pikachu's face makes a lot of sense, but it has this nice little brown bordering on the main body of it, brown buttons up top for the shoulders, and the front face also has brown for the D-pad and front-facing buttons. Now, this an older design, and discontinued. They're not officially making them anymore, so it is a little more expensive than buying a regular 2DS, but if you love the Pokemon design, it really isn't actually that crazy overpriced for resale. So, it's worth throwing down some extra money for. It's worth noting that this is not the only Pokemon design they've done for the 2DS XL. There's also a Pokeball design, which is actually, personally, my top-favorite 2DS XL. One big accessory that pretty much everyone needs for their Switch, and I'm sure you guys saw this coming the moment you saw that this was an accessory list video, carrying cases! There are so many different carrying cases designed out there, and a lot of them feature Pikachu in a number of different ways. One of my personal favorites that we have, however, is this PDP design, which features a pretty intricate cover with Pikachu running. Very similar to the light-up dock design, actually. This is gonna give you a way to safely transport your Switch in style, as well as giving you a way to store not only the Switch itself, but also some game cards and any kinda necessary smaller accessories or cables that you need to bring around. Again, this is not the only Pikachu design out there. There are a lot of them to choose from, so if you don't like this one, we're gonna list a couple other really cool options down below if you wanna check 'em out. Now, if you already have a Switch and you didn't get the chance to grab the Pokemon-edition one, one way to add a little extra Pikachu flavor to your system is a clear shell case like this, from Hori. Now, this particular design is, of course, focused on Pikachu. It adds a clear front to both the Joy-Cons and the Switch itself. The front of the Joy-Cons get little Pikachu tails that are golden, and on the back, it makes the whole design black, with a golden Pikachu on it. This is an especially good choice if you have kids that love Pokemon, and you want a way to both give them a way to add Pokemon flavor to their Switch, but also give a little extra protection, so it keeps it nice and safe from scratches or even if they drop it, this is gonna give it a little extra protection on the whole body. It also leaves a little space open for the kickstand to still be used, if you still wanna prop it up for tabletop mode. It even comes with its own separate stand that works better. So, there you have it, some awesome ways to celebrate Pikachu on the Switch and some other Nintendo systems as well. Nintendo has released a lot of different Pikachu stuff in the past, so let me know down in the comments what your favorite Pikachu-themed products are.