I couldn’t believe my eyes when the Nintendo Switch launched. Here was a handheld device with real console games like Skyrim and Doom attached to it. I’ve never been particularly fond of platformers, so a lot of Nintendo’s handheld library had eluded me over the course of the 3DS generation (though my sky blue launch device still sits proudly on my shelf). This time I could get in on the action, while playing the games I wanted to play on the go. That was revolutionary - and it was these console-like experiences that had me finally pull the trigger on the original Nintendo Switch with one of my very first ‘real’ paychecks after university.
It’s been seven years since I was enthralled by the Nintendo Switch. I’ve grown up, the industry has changed, and devices previously unthinkable are now mainstream. That all means that the Nintendo Switch 2 isn’t packing the same punch for me. Nintendo did the thing, now it’s just iterating on it - obviously that’s not as exciting. But there’s more to it this time around.
