Nintendo Switch

Lore & Background

The concept for the Switch started shortly after the release of the Wii U in 2012. Nintendo's then-president Satoru Iwata pushed the company towards mobile gaming and novel hardware. The design was aimed at a wide demographic through multiple modes of use. The commercial failure of the Wii U pressured Nintendo towards developing the Switch, which became a 'make or break product' for the company. The name 'Switch' refers to the console's ability to switch from handheld to home console modes and to the idea of flipping how people experience entertainment.

In Their Own Story

The flight is three hours over the Atlantic. Seat 14C. You click the right Joy-Con into the screen's edge, feel the small magnetic snap, and the screen wakes to a soft blue glow. The cabin is dim, half the passengers asleep. You open Animal Crossing, and the island is quiet—just the sound of distant rain on your roof and a single villager watering flowers. The left Joy-Con sits in the seatback pocket, its analog stick a small grey nub in the dark. You water your own garden. The controller hums faintly, a vibration so low it's more felt in your fingertips than heard. Three hours dissolve. When the seatbelt sign chimes, you slide the Joy-Con back on, the screen goes dark, and the island waits exactly where you left it.

Reader's Guide

The Switch is a tablet that can be docked for home use or used portably. Its wireless Joy-Con controllers can function as two halves of a standard controller or as individual controllers, featuring buttons, analog sticks, motion sensing, and tactile feedback. They attach to the sides of the console, to a grip accessory, or can be used unattached. The system supports online gaming and local wireless ad hoc connectivity. Games are available on physical flash-based ROM cartridges and via digital distribution on Nintendo eShop; the system has no region lockout. Two hardware revisions were released: the handheld-only Switch Lite on September 20, 2019, and an OLED model on October 8, 2021.

Did You Know?

• The Switch was unveiled on October 20, 2016.
• The chipset is based on Nvidia's Tegra line, chosen to make game development easier.
• The Switch is the second-best-selling console ever, behind the PlayStation 2, and the best-selling Nintendo console, with over 155 million units shipped worldwide.
• The Nintendo Switch 2, backward compatible with most Switch games, was released on June 5, 2025.