The Switch launched in March 2017, which seems like a different world at this point, severely underpowered compared to its home console competition. Of course it wasn't just a home console, but while it definitely got some wiggle room because of its portability, as a unified platform it has been the most powerful device Nintendo and its third party support have had access to for close to a decade. The Switch is somewhat more powerful than the Xbox 360, to which it was frequently compared at launch, but not much more powerful. That console was already over 10 years old when the Switch launched. It is now just under 8 years later, and the 360 will turn 20 next year. By comparison, when the Xbox 360 launched it was just over 20 years after the launch of the NES. 20 years used to be an eternity in gaming tech, now it's more like movies, where a 20 year old movie is identifiable as old but it doesn't feel like almost an entirely different medium.

The Switch, specifically, though, still feels like a modern system. Its UI hasn't changed significantly in the 7 and a half years it's been on the market, but it has a clean look that maybe feels a bit old fashioned but not outdated. To be fair the Xbox UI's changes, though more substantial, have also been limited during that period. It helps that the Switch hasn't been too larded down with advertisements and other useless "features" so it's still relatively snappy and responsive, though the Switch Online app does lag if you have a game open (and the eshop has always been a laggy disaster, which they just did not ever fix.)

In terms of graphics power, the Switch can't really compete, but it's astonishing what Nintendo and others can squeeze out of it. Compared to the PS5 pro it has 1/4th the RAM and 1/16th the processing if measured in Teraflops (which aren't really a great power measurement at this point), but it continues to receive ports of some modern games, and its homegrown titles like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom can still look impressive, even if they rely more on art style than raw detail to do so. Tears of the Kingdom, in particular, goes beyond visuals to its incredible physics engine that arguably pushes the Switch past its breaking point with an inconsistent frame rate and despawning objects, but offers more complex gameplay than most "current gen" games. The Switch is also known for its miracle ports where games that seem like they should have no chance of running on the thing are somehow made to do so, and well. Those have dried up a bit as the Xbox One and PS4 are finally being left behind, but their persistence for so long is impressive in and of itself.

But more than just the fact that the Switch doesn't feel nearly as creaky as its specs would suggest, the Switch has largely avoided the decline in creative relevance and game appeal that has plagued other Nintendo systems towards the end of their lives. The Wii is infamous for falling off a commercial cliff towards the end of its life. It sold very well for the first few years but interest dried up as the motion control gimmick became available elsewhere, and its standard definition output hurt it badly at a time when pretty much everyone was getting HD TVs. Creatively it also suffered, with few memorable games released in 2012, its last year as Nintendo's prime platform, and Nintendo fans famously launching operation Rainfall to get some Japanese RPGs brought over just so they'd have some new stuff to play. You can argue that Skyward Sword was the last truly big Wii exclusive (though there were a few others like Mario Party 9, released later) and that came out a year before the Wii U launched.

As for the Wii U itself, well, it never really got off the ground commercially so it's harder to identify a true downslope, but it was barely selling at all by the time the Switch came around and its last year was creatively barren. You do have Tokyo Mirage Sessions and Paper Mario: Color Splash, and you can squeeze Pokken Tournament in there, but there's not a lot. Obviously Breath of the Wild is a legendary game and a very strong Swan Song, but most people think of it as a Switch game.

The Switch, on the other hand, has largely escaped this. 2024 hasn't been its strongest year, of course, but the Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door remake and Brothership continue the Switch's strong showing in the RPG sector, and Echoes of Wisdom is a well-received return to top down Zelda. It also has games scheduled for 2025, including the hotly anticipated Metroid Prime 4. Will that be another Breath of the Wild style cross-platform launch? That's not known, but what is clear is that the Switch is having a much more gentle decline than its predecessors, despite having a much longer lifespan (The Wii lasted 6 years while the Wii U only 4 and a half.)

A lot of this has to do with the unified platform. While 2012 and 2016 were not great years for the Wii or Wii U, they weren't necessarily bad years for Nintendo, which had hit handheld games released during both. Nintendo has a long history of leaning on its handheld division during rough spots for its home consoles, but with a unified system that just means...more Switch games. It's pretty clear that both Echoes of Wisdom and Brothership would have been 3DS games if they were released in 2016, and without them the Switch's last year lineup looks a whole lot weaker, consisting almost entirely of remakes and Mario Party.

But beyond the specifics, I'm just surprised at how much I'm playing my Switch in its later years. I bought mine at launch and the fan burned out so I need to use an external fan for it to not overheat, but last year two of my top 5 games were Switch games, and this year it's going to be at least 2 of my top 10. It remains a very relevant platform for me personally, and there are a bunch of games I haven't gotten to yet that I really want to before Switch 2 launches, even though that will be backwards compatible. It's a phenomenal little system with an absolutely incredible library and somehow it doesn't feel old yet, at least not to me.

There was a lot of skepticism about the Switch and its power when it launched. Seeing how well it's done and how well it's aged (even if you didn't like 2024, 2023 had Tears of the Kingdom and Mario Wonder), Nintendo really knocked it out of the park. I think this may end up being their best system of my lifetime, and that's an impressive feat for such a storied company. Iwata didn't live to see the Switch launch, but his last project was an unassailable triumph.

i'd agree that it's remarkable what can be achieved when you build to spec. i'm only really playing 1st party on the Switch, and i'm generally not a pixel peeper or a frame counter- so i maintain it's a remarkable and competent device. it reminds me a lot of the playdate, actually- insofar as if you're a great designer, working within constraints isn't necessarily a handicap. headroom can invite complacency.

that said, holy hell do i hate using the eshop or the 'nintendo switch online' apps.

Nintendo Switch is a great console for most gamers, and it has a huge variety of genres (Regardless of their party), like Platformers, Kart Racing, and much more. It feels so different compared to the PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X.

If you ask me what's my favourite game to play with Joy-Con's motion controls, I say the Just Dance series but I wished Bemani would have developed a new dance pad along with the newer Dance Dance Revolution series (A rhythm game franchise published by Konami).

Edit: I'll see what games will come onto the Switch's successor.

Putting everything else aside, having all their studios backing one platform was a wise decision. The pace of releases has been steady throughout the Switch's life, and this has not been the case for Nintendo since probably the SNES. N64-WiiU had pretty baren final years, and a few dips in between as well.

I dunno I have found it... difficult to enjoy playing things on Switch in these later years of the console specifically. It's almost always for exclusives and every time I do so I am constantly in a mindset of like... this game's alright but I wish I were playing it on something else.

Breath of the Wild was the first Switch game I played the game it had pretty poor IQ and dropped frames, I wish I could look past these issues like many others seem able to.

It has a lot of longevity because it's the perfect system for the kind of games Nintendo tends to make. Not once when when playing, say, Mario Odyssey, do I think about how it would look better on PS4 or PS5. It's getting a bit long in the tooth now, and I'm interested to see what Nintendo is capable of with more power, but many games on the Switch still look great to my eyes. It's certainly not the best place to play the newest AAA games, but I have other consoles for that. I've probably played the Switch far more than any other system, using it on a pretty regular basis for all of the last seven years.