It’s a home console, it’s a tabletop gaming system and it’s a portable games tablet. It’s the Nintendo Switch and after months of waiting, we’ve finally taken it for a spin.
2016 was supposed to be the year modular gadgets caught on. Phones like Google’s Project Ara , the LG G5 and the Moto Z promised to let you upgrade your phone just by snapping on new parts. Intel’s Thunderbolt 3 port paved the way to turn a thin laptop into a beefy gaming PC just by plugging in an external graphics dock.
(Motorola appears to be full steam ahead on Moto Mods, promising 12 new snap-on accessories per year , but a leak suggests that the company’s upcoming Moto X may not include the feature.)
Nintendo’s Joy-Con controllers slide right into the Switch console, and maybe other devices will do the same down the road.
What does any of this have to do with the new Nintendo Switch? It could be the last, best chance to prove people actually do want modular gadgets — or the final nail in their coffin.
The Nintendo Switch is a portable gaming system that uses modular parts to transform. Snap on a pair of controllers and pick it up like a gamepad, or snap ’em off to use as wireless motion controllers.
