The Day the Handheld Line Came Home
For almost thirty years Nintendo ran two separate families: home consoles under the TV and Game Boys in your pocket. On 3 March 2017 it merged them. The Nintendo Switch is a handheld that slides into a dock and becomes a home console, and that one idea turned Nintendo's fortunes around.
The Switch has a 6.2-inch touchscreen, runs on a custom NVIDIA Tegra chip, and plays at up to 720p in your hands or 1080p on a television. The two Joy-Con controllers slide off the sides, so you can play on the TV with them, prop the screen on a table and share one Joy-Con each with a friend, or keep everything attached and play like a big Game Boy.
One Machine, Everywhere
The genius is how seamless it is. Lift the Switch out of its dock in the middle of a game and the picture jumps from the TV to the screen without missing a beat. That's what made it feel like the true successor to the Game Boy and the 3DS as well as the Wii U: the same games, the same saves, wherever you are.
It launched with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, still one of the best launch games any console has had, and the library grew fast: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario Odyssey, Splatoon 2, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Pokémon Sword and Shield and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The Switch went on to sell more than 150 million units, putting it among the best-selling consoles of all time.
Know Your Model
There are three main versions of the full-size Switch. The 2017 original was followed in 2019 by a revised model with a more efficient chip and much better battery life, often close to double, so it's worth checking which one you're buying. In 2021 came the OLED model, with a bigger, more vivid 7-inch screen, a sturdier stand and better speakers. There's also the handheld-only Switch Lite.
The Switch's best-known flaw is Joy-Con drift, where an analog stick registers movement when you're not touching it. It's common on older controllers, and repair kits and replacement sticks are easy to find.
Buying One Today
Check the screen for scratches, test both Joy-Con for drift and make sure they click on securely, and confirm the dock, power supply and HDMI cable are included. Look at the model number on the back to tell the original from the improved 2019 version.
Physical cartridges are worth collecting, especially limited releases. With the Nintendo Switch 2 now on sale and able to play most of the library, the original Switch has become an affordable way into one of Nintendo's greatest game collections.
Take it out of the dock, carry it to the sofa, and keep playing. That moment still feels like magic.