Even having a direction input alone makes a huge improvement over touch only controls. If tablets/phones had even a little joystick on them, the types of game experiences you could have on them would improve monumentally, I've always said that. 

Besides if you don't like that setup, you don't have to use it, that is one thing Nintendo does deserve credit for with Switch. 

They're not force feeding any specific way to control the games, the video showed people using like 4-5 different control set ups, even for multiplayer. You can use whatever setup you prefer, there's no singular controller setup being shoved down anyone's throat. 

Being able to use the controller sides in a pinch is a nice thing to have, especially I think for kids, lets say little Johnny takes his NS to school and his friend wants to try Mario Kart, but you're obviously not going to carry around a freaking Pro Controller everywhere, well that's a better than nothing way to play together for a couple of games. No big deal. 

That was one thing I liked about the Switch reveal it was more like "hey play how ever the fuck you want, we don't mind" instead of "HEY WE GOT THIS NEW CONTROLLER! LOOK! NEW CONTROLLER! Did you see the NEW CONTROLLER?! Imagine Mario with the NEW CONTROLLER! Forget your old Nintendo controller! This NEW CONTROLLER is how you'll play for the next 5 years!" type thing, lol.

Me and my mate joked about how because it was 'in' a bit ago, and because of who you can pick it up and go.... it should have been called Nintendo Go.

My likes:

Seems a natural progression from the WiiU, so they are doing their thing which is good. Choice of controller. Straight swapping thing looks good.

Dislikes:

Not sure of the market, are they trying to secure handheld market or home console? It could price itself out of the former. (okay so I know both but still). ... that's it, it's a console.

They showed it with NBA 2k16 I believe. Here is the offensive controls for PS4:

Now this will work just fine on a standard switch controller, but I don't see any way you can divide this in two and maintain the same quality of gameplay and controls. It looks like you won't be able to do any of those dribble moves, or call plays,  or call for screens in the Switch 2 player version. For those that are really into basketball games, the limitations could be incredibly frustrating.

This feature just seems so needless. It adds complexity to the design, it makes it far easier to lose or damage parts of your controller, and it adds cost to console. For what? A handful of games that might be able to use it well.

I mean Screen Controller and TV Screen. Like a Wii U

Thats NBA Live.

I noticed that. No Mario Maker 2, then.

So it is. I google NBA 2K16 controls, and this is how google fucks me.

So just buy an extra Pro Controller if having "Pro" moves NBA 2K multiplayer is a must for you.

Again one of the things I think Nintendo has gotten right with Switch is there's no forced control setups. You can play as you want.

If I'm with a buddy and we just need to burn 30 minutes or something, being able to shoot/dunk/pass in NBA 2K is fine if I need to play in a pinch.

Most games are playable to a large extent with a directional input + 4 action buttons, if your game is freaking complex it can't be played at all, NS' Joypad controls might be a neccessary excercise in considering how you design games. 

Anybody else noticed this?

I was discusing today with a friend, and I'm curious about peoEpe's answer to this particular question, which I think could probably be key in Switch's sucess. Providing it has decent battery life (please, Nintendo, having decent battery life is a MUST). Which do you prefer? Playing a game with a perfect performance (1080p/60fps) on a console you can't really move from your house, or playing a downgraded, but decent enough performance (let's say 900p/30 fps), but with the possibility of playing anywhere? I'm wondering if the Switch, being obviously underpowered, will have that possibility. Running this gen games with an inferior performance, but still playable.

I prefer portability, honestky. Daily rutine makes me more of a portable person.