I bought a Switch on day one. Love it. Everybody should buy one.

With that said, I already own a ton of games--many of which are full console games. It's awesome. That console experience on the go--you can't beat it!

...but wasn't that the reason why the Vita failed? Why the DS best the PSP? Those consoles offered "console experience on the go" titles and we all said "Nope. Nintendo understands the portable market. They know people want portable experiences!"

What changed? An I rewriting history? Discuss.

Well, I didn't buy Switch for the "console experience on the go" - the Switch is a home console. And I've only used it as such thus far, that's why I bought it. I think the success of the Switch has almost nothing to do with its portability, I just think Nintendo came out with a clean, simple console that has a steady flow of quality titles. Not too hard to figure out.

The biggest difference are:
1. games: Sony never fully supported both handhelds with all of their 1st party might.

2. timing: Switch has the hardware to deliver console graphics at a good enough resolution, neither PSP nor Vita were ready. Most Vita games didn't even run at its native 540p something screen.

3. Another strength of the Switch is its dock mode for TV. The Switch wouldn't nearly be as successful if it didn't deliver a TV experience.

The PSP still sold about the same as the GBA, so it was a success.

One of the things that changed is that the games are actually console games on the go. The PSP and Vita didn't get GTA San Andreas, MGS 3, Shadow of the Colossus, ect. It got games like Liberty City Stories and Portable Ops. Switch is actually getting the same Doom, the same Breath of the Wild, the same Sonic Forces. That's something we haven't really seen before on a handheld.

Mario Kart 8 is a great handheld game. Plus Pokémon, Monster Hunter, and Animal Crossing will be coming, along with fresh experiences.

But the Switch is a hybrid, meaning all three styles of game will contribute (traditional, motion style, and handheld style). The big issue with Vita was that it didn't offer a lot of good games. They were half-baked versions of home console games. While DS had games like THE Dragon Quest game, complete with new features, concepts, and improvements over the last game (except cosmetically). Vita had games that were gimped down in every way. So Vita was like Gamegear, better graphics, but the games weren't as good.

Switch is a hybrid the's a significant difference in that alone, a number of people complained that they'd prefer to play PSP and Vita games on their TV and Switch allows them that option, Sony never fully supported both their handhelds either. Vita had the added problem of having a propriety memory card format that was very pricey, PSP still sold well despite being beaten by the DS.

Meanwhile i have used the Switch almost exclusively in handheld mode since launch. I also almost never play it outside, but the ease traveling with it is a major plus for me.

Nintendo has always delivered big experiences on their handhelds, but made them convinient for on-the-go use. Zelda, Pokemon, 2D Metroid as well as third party games like FF or MH have always been big experiences made convenient through clever saving mechanics and design. I think that is something Nintendo just carried through to their Switch titles.

It is all about flexibility.

Some games are great on a handheld and a console. For instance I can play Pac Man on a big 54 inch tv and still enjoy it as much as on a portable. However some games do not fit on both. Animal Crossing is best on a portable. A huge cinematic game is best on the console.

The Switch has games that are good at being a portable game and a home console game. Also the Switch does both so it can be whatever you want it to be. Like a Ditto.

Smartphones changed the game! Now a handheld home console is changing the market too

I actually think the Vita did as well as could be expected considering the circumstances. The handheld market was essentially cut in half for the generation because of the growing popularity of smartphones, it had no compelling games that could entice a large chunk of the gaming audience, Sony lost Monster Hunter, the 3DS got a head start, the Vita was limping out of the gate because of greedy decisions from Sony like expensive proprietary memory, it wasn't a pirate's dream machine like the PSP was and Sony/3rd parties abandoned all support after a year, leaving the Vita to limp on with Japanese indies.

It's not like Nintendo knocked it out of the park with the 3DS either. It was essentially a half-step power-wise, even for Nintendo, with a sub-par gimmick, expensive launch price and crappy launch lineup that depended heavily on the (already departed) casual market.  The difference was that Nintendo took the time and effort to right their ship while Sony just said "screw it" and focused all of their resources into the console market.