The Nintendo Switch has been the number 1 console this holiday season. It has become one of the biggest selling consoles of all time despite being released in March rather than launched during the holidays. It has dominated Cyber Monday and Black Friday sales and deservedly so.

The Switch has so far delivered on all the promises of the Wii U and offers a unique console experience in a niche that the other console giants, Sony and Microsoft simply have not been able to compete in.

The console now has had time for third party developers to create a whole range of unique gaming accessories for the Switch which is great news as most people find Nintendo’s own peripherals are usually very very expensive so cheaper thirds party options are always welcome. Let’s look at some essential accessories for any Switch owner.

Controller Options

The Switch’s Joy Con controllers are quiet specialised pieces of hardware so naturally, purchasing replacement controllers can be a challenge. There are a variety of controller options out there but for quality and value the Hori Hori Pro controller is tough to be beat. It retails for less than half the Nintendo Pro Controller’s price as well

The only downside here is that this pro controller does not have the motion control features built into it that the Nintendo version has. These pads are purely for games that do not require motion controls to play.

Another great controller accessory is the 8bitdo N30 arcade stick. With the excellent version of Ultra Street Fighter 2 that Capcom released as a Switch exclusive, this arcade authentic stick is essential to capture the right mood for a few beat-em up sessions.

Protections and Safety

With the Switch’s focus on its portable aspects, it only makes sense that you will want to get some kind of protective gear for your Switch and controllers. While there are official, more flimsy options from Nintendo, there are much better third party accessories.

Switch owners can finds tempered glass screen protectors for the Switch, along with hard cases for the console itself. Hard cases are shock and scratch resistant meaning you can carry your console around anywhere without fear of damage.

If you like to detach your Joy-Con controllers from the main console, you can pick up Mibote’s Joy-Con Gel Guards which are protective skin like covers for your controllers that keep them safe. You can also keep an eye out for the FastSnail Joy-Con controller grip, which are special cases for your switch controller shaped like a full size pro controller.

Space for New Memories

Probably the most essential gaming accessory for the Switch is a decently sized memory card. SanDisk is probably the most well known and reliable brand out there and they offer memory cards that range from 14GB to 400GB.

With many new ports to the Switch being close to 60GB in size, you will want to go for the big guns here and splurge on that 400GB card. It’ll safe you a lot of trouble down the line.