You would be forgiven for thinking that the core feature, or gimmick, of the Switch is its portability, but this just one aspect of what it is truly about - reducing barriers to entry. 

"I want to play a game now"

*snap*

The system loads fast. Real fast. You won't be waiting around to game, once you have the urge then you'll be playing in seconds. The system menu is devoid of all unnecessities, no convoluted menu structure or advertisement to be seen. The games are front and centre, because that's what you came for. 

"I want to play a game anywhere"

*snap*

What used to require a dedicated portable device is now an additional feature of the Switch. Remove it from the dock and you are near-instantly playing on the go. In bed. On the toilet. On the train. On the train toilet. On an airplane. On an airplane toilet. The possibilities are endless and little will keep you from gaming. 

"I want to play a game with more immersion"

*snap*

Dock the Switch and you're playing on whatever TV/theatre setup you have available. The docking time is mere seconds and you are good to go for a full home console experience. 

"I want to play a game with a friend"

*snap* *snap*

One pair of Joycons are included and will follow you everywhere. Snap them off and you immediately have two seperate controllers. Albeit rudimentary controllers, but that isn't the point. You will always have at least this setup available to you to be playing with a friend in seconds. 

For too long, consoles have been blurring the lines with PCs. With the benefit of power and media storage came the downsides of physical size, loading times and setup/installation times. The Switch reminds us of what console gaming used to be, and of what used to require a dedicated home console and a portable console to achieve. 

Save the hassles for PC gaming. It's where the true power lies for those who crave it, anything else is just a compromise anyway. Console gaming has always been about easy access and that is the message of the Switch. 

Agreed with everything you said. This is a video game console that makes gaming accesible and hassle-free. I don´t want constant updates, long load times and complex operating systems. The weird thing is that they are offering alot of "new" things that were actually standard in the 90´s and adding the portability factor adds on top of that.

Great thread! There are some interesting points here. Just waiting to get mine tomorrow.

Nah, the gimmick is that it's modular.

All your other points are true, though.

All fair points but I think once you get going with a game the Switch is ultimately limited on a performance level and offers poor value currently at least.

Lastly you have to want to play those games. Currently because I have a wii u there are no games I want for Switch so its not easily accessible because there is nothing I'd actually want to play on it.

However I think your points will have much more merit as the library increases and prices reduce.

Yeah the Word Processor on the PS4 is great for school work. 

Also I guess technically the GameCube then won it's generation, since PS2 and XBox are not real game consoles since they play DVD movies, as such they're just media players, Nintendo was the only one offering a game console. 

The sixth gen was only the infancy of the blurring of the lines. 

Games could still loaded directly from boot/disc insertion, and menus were barebones, mostly for memory card access.

The seventh gen really kicked it off, and the last gen was a complete joke.

True, but the price is a pretty big barrier D:

We've been headed in this direction since the PS3 vita combo to Wii U/3ds era. It was bound to come. The question I have for the switch is the same I had for the vita (which I didn't buy). What types of games could it play and port over from the PS3 and is it important to me. It ended up looking like a exclusives and indies support system to me no different than the switch right now.

I'll admit that it's nice and breath of the Wild looks flipping amazing but this would've been better realized or accepted if there was no competition.

While I agree that there are many ways to use the switch, I would purchase It as a handheld through much like most reviewers have said.

The Switch much like the WiiU will be a flop. The way Playstation has directed gaming is the future. The PS4Pro is a better console with more features and better 3rd party support. Nintendo needs to stick with games and start developing for other consoles.