Summary
- Although devices like the Ally and Steam Deck have access to huge game libraries, there’s no choice but to buy a Switch if you want to play most Nintendo games.
- The Switch 2 is also more affordable than the latest handheld PCs, and won’t need an upgrade for several years.
- GameChat is poised to make audio and video chat a lot more convenient, though we’ll have to see how Nintendo executes on it.
Personally, as gaming handhelds go, I’m counting myself firmly in Camp PC. I do own a Nintendo Switch, but it’s been sitting unplayed since I got Valve’s Steam Deck OLED. The Steam Deck features a much more advanced processor, and on top of that, it’s hard to ignore the massive library of PC games available — many of which actually get discounts, unlike first-party Nintendo titles. It doesn’t matter how nice a console is if you can’t afford something to play on it.
With that said, there are still plenty of valid reasons to get the Switch 2, out next week. In fact I’m not ruling out buying one myself once money allows, since it’s always nice to have multiple options for gaming. The age of a single device “winning” over others is over — it’s all about what you want to play and how.
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1
Nintendo’s exclusive game library
No stomping Goombas on a PC
Nintendo understands that its main asset isn’t its hardware — it’s a set of well-known franchises, some so popular that even people who don’t play games at all are familiar. To sell its hardware, it keeps those franchises exclusive, with very few (and largely historical) exceptions. The company would rather forget those outliers, in fact, which may as well have been tossed down an Orwellian memory hole.
The gist is that you will never, ever see a PC port of Mario Kart World or the next major Mario platformer. The same can be said of current and upcoming Zelda titles, or even Metroid Prime 4. The company doesn’t port older titles either, since if there’s nowhere else for gamers to buy them, it can continue to sell them near or at full price.
You will never, ever see a PC port of Mario Kart World or the next major Mario platformer.
That’s the cost of being in the Nintendo ecosystem. But there’s a reason people keep coming back — a lot of Nintendo games are absolute classics.
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2
Cheaper hardware (to an extent)
You do get what you pay for
Pocket-lint / Nintendo
While some console gamers have balked at the Switch 2’s $450 US pricetag — $500, if you want the Mario Kart World bundle — that’s still more affordable than a Steam Deck OLED or ASUS ROG Ally X. The only way of beating the Switch 2 on price is by choosing an LCD Deck, or the basic Ally, which suffers from overheating issues.
Remember also that handheld PCs tend to ship with little in the way of accessories. My own OLED Deck came with a charger and case, but nothing else — I had to buy a dock to connect to my TV, and separate controllers so that more than one person could play locally. Every Switch 2 ships with a dock, and for some games, you can split the Joy-Cons between two players. That’s going to be a far better deal for some shoppers, especially parents getting a console to share with their kid(s).
Bear in mind that the Ally X is likely more powerful than the Switch 2, and that both ASUS and Valve’s devices are more flexible in terms of app support. They even offer desktop modes, allowing you to browse the web, run productivity apps, and load third-party emulators and app stores.
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3
GameChat
If Nintendo lives up to its promises
Nintendo
Nintendo has long struggled to figure out the internet, which is a bit ludicrous — Microsoft had most of it figured out when it launched the Xbox 360 back in 2005. For whatever reason, the company’s executives have just never prioritized online play, let alone streaming or socializing. That’s how we ended up with awkward solutions like friend codes and chatting via a phone app.
GameChat takes another step in the right direction. By hitting the C button on a Joy-Con or Pro Controller, you can jump into voice chat with up to 12 friends, or even video chat if you and/or your friends have compatible cameras. You can stream gameplay as well, if only among friends — not on a mass scale like you can with Twitch.
Similar things are possible on the Ally and Steam Deck, but typically you have to install third-party apps like Discord, and there’s no dedicated “chat” button. GameChat is meant to be dead simple, to the point that you don’t even need a dedicated headset — voice chat supports the Switch 2’s built-in microphones.
As of this writing, the real question is how well GameChat will function in practice. Nintendo is new to this arena, and even voice chat can be demanding on some internet connections, never mind trying to merge with it camera and screen sharing.
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4
Long-term value (hopefully)
A story of slow upgrade cycles
Nintendo has never felt much pressure to deliver rapid hardware upgrades. The Super Nintendo only reached the US six years after the NES, for example. The Switch 2 is shipping over eight years after the Switch 1, despite rivals Sony and Microsoft releasing consoles in November 2020. Sony’s even had the time to ship a half-step upgrade since then, the PlayStation 5 Pro.
The point is that if you buy a Switch 2, it’s likely to remain relevant for quite a while before Nintendo considers replacing it. Competitors have already leapfrogged its specs, but that may not matter, since you’ll have a steady stream of games optimized to run on your hardware.
Neither ASUS nor Valve seem interested in releasing huge upgrades every year — but we could see an Ally 2 and Steam Deck 2 before the end of 2026, and there’s mounting pressure from the rest of the handheld PC market. MSI and Lenovo are making hard pushes, and Microsoft has promised to join the fray sooner or later. Meanwhile, PC games keep advancing graphically, so there’s a real risk that an Ally X you buy today won’t be able to run something you want to play three years from now. That might not bother some hardcore gamers, but for everyone else, it’s a serious point to consider.
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