Why the Nintendo Switch Lite makes perfect sense

The Nintendo Switch is the first video game console I've loved as a standalone object.

I recognize how ridiculous it sounds.

Did I like it Super NES? Yeah a little. Do I like PlayStation or Xbox 360? I suppose. More than anything, I loved the Games I played on these consoles. Not the console itself.

The Nintendo switch is different. Of course, the switch allows for excellent video game experiences, but it's more than that. The switch is an experience in itself. It's an object that has transformed the way you can interact with the home consoles. It's different.

I am a poor relative of two children and the Switch is the console that has made my video games. I can play on the bus, on the train, in bed before sleeping. This is a traditional tariff for handheld, but, again, the switch is different. He bends to my will. On the rare occasions when I make have time to sit on the couch and play old-fashioned video games, the Nintendo Switch pours in the gaps of my life in a transparent way.

Best of all, it feels premium and important. Traditional experiences with a handheld (the PlayStation Vita is probably the best example) have been great in the past, but the switch is not "just" a "handheld", it's that of Nintendo. primary console. You do not play a lite and derivative version of Zelda developed by Nintendo's B team, you play THE Zelda. You do not play in a video game port that you have already played on the big screen ten years ago, you play video games at the cutting edge of technology. That's the difference with the switch, and it's a large difference.

The Nintendo switch is more than a handheld.

Unless you talk about the Nintendo Switch Lite recently announced. Then, literally is just a pocket computer.

OK, let's talk about the Nintendo Switch Lite.

On Wednesday, July 11, the Nintendo Switch Lite went from an eternal rumor to a real thing that you can (potentially) buy in September 2019. It's already a polarizing update. The Switch Lite is smaller, lighter and more compact, designed exclusively for hand play. At $ 200, it is also slightly cheaper than its predecessor, which sells for $ 300.

But the most controversial, the Switch Lite is handheld only. It does not change, it is not a fluid and malleable experience that complies with the will of the user. This feature has been nerfed. Which goes against everything the original console represented.

Or does it? Maybe the Nintendo Switch Lite is only an evolution, a complement to a console that has already significantly changed the game.

The initial reaction to Switch Lite's announcement was mixed, to say the least. There is the price, which is lower than that of a traditional switch, but may not be low enough to justify the loss of several key features.

Among these features, it is especially important to be able to connect and play the switch via your TV. This is the feature that sets the switch Nintendo Switch "." For many, the loss of this feature will be a decisive factor. I understand this feeling, but in the context, it is far from being essential.

This sounds obvious, but if you want to connect your Nintendo Switch to a TV, you have to buy the original switch. But many do not care about this feature or do not represent themselves. These people will rush to a cheaper and more compact version of the console.

The Nintendo Switch Lite may not work for you personally, but it will certainly meet the needs of others.

There are children, of course, whose parents are looking for something that distracts them during holidays or weekends. The Nintendo Switch Lite, colorful and less expensive, clearly addresses a younger audience who wants to upgrade from his Nintendo 3DS. Kids who want to play in their room, at the back of the family car or at lunch time in schools around the world.

Also: in the fragmented media consumption landscape of 2019, there are people who simply do not have television. There are players who travel for work, players with long journeys. Players who do not feel the need to pay extra for a feature that they will not use.

Or the players who do not want to to play the Nintendo switch in connected mode. There are many. More than you think.

But perhaps the most lucrative potential audience for the Nintendo Switch Lite: the people who already own a Nintendo switch. I count myself among this group of disturbed individuals. People who ask for an excuse to buy a second Nintendo switch.

Someone like me, who already has a switch who lives on the dock. A console regularly played by my two young children and a woman obsessed with Overcooked. I found myself at a steady loose end. What am I supposed to do when my wife and her good friends play Overcooked on our big-screen TV on Saturday night?

Join to? Surely not. I hate too much cooked.

The Nintendo Switch is so popular at home that it's a regular shit fight to find out who can play. I can not take it to work if children are on school holidays. I can not take her on a business trip abroad because my wife and kids want to play at home.

In our house, the Nintendo switch is popular because it's so malleable. Strangely enough, a cheap second Nintendo switch, which is free to roam the unknown public transport planes and overseas trips, perfectly complements a switch that stays at home. This is a global problem for sure, but a Nintendo has absolutely identified and intends to solve it with the Nintendo Switch Lite.

It's a second indulgent purchase, but I will most likely do it. I like the idea of ​​having my own switch. A switch that lives with me, free from scratches and bodily fluids from rogue kids on a rampage. Free from the vile claws of my wife and her overcooked obsession.

Also whoo! Cute colors!

The Switch Lite is a testament to Nintendo's tradition of dropping the success of its handhelds. The Nintendo DS became the DS Lite, then the DSi, then the DSi XL. The 3DS became the 3DS XL, then – surprisingly – the 2DS. Then, the "New 2DS" and the "New 3DS". Later, we had a "New 2DS XL." It is unlikely that the switch is the exception.

Bruh.

Nintendo has the habit of making you buy the same pocket console twice. Or even three times!

It is also in the habit with its consoles to provide an insane number of options to appeal to the widest possible market. This is exactly what happens with the Switch Lite. It may not be for you, but it will certainly appeal to Someone & # 39; a. And this group of people will buy it en masse.