The 3DS was a wonderful proper handheld console.
I beg to differ. The 3DS was a terrible piece of hardware, I say that despite owning one and having used it an awful lot. The saving grace and the only reason I own one was the games. It has good games on it, I'll gladly admit.
If you wanted good hardware, look at the Vita. That had the opposite issue. Good hardware/console OS, but it lacked games, wasn't supported by Sony and hence failed.
The 3DS had like 4 iterations and still didn't have a proper 2nd analogue stick by the end of it. The C-nub barely qualifies. As least most 3DS games don't need it. And you can see how much they were inflating the price by comparing the 2DS to the 'new' 3DS models released afterwards. Heck, even compare it to WiiU. New 3DS XL is almost the same price as a WiiU and look at the difference. Can't use the excuse that the two are different (one is portable), since WiiU gamepad also has a screen.
And thus the point is... it doesn't matter how good or bad the Switch is hardware-wise. If it gets a ton of great games, then 1, I'll buy it and 2, it'll end up being a success.
But it looks like we'll have to wait a year to see whether or not that's the case. Will third parties stick around? Will the big Nintendo portable franchises launch on Switch? Will Switch get good console bundles and potential price-drops? Only time will tell. Hence why it's a bad idea to buy a console on release.
It would be nice to have a cheaper home console version for those who aren't interested in the portability aspect.
Not impossible, considering Nintendo loves iterations on their handheld hardware. Also remember that Sony did something similar with PSVita, by making the PSTV.
But more likely is the other way around. A portable only version. Could be as simple as not including the dock with the console and shaving a little off the price (or a lot, but knowing stingy old Nintendo, they won't drop the price much) or doing something akin to the 2DS and completely removing the TV output from the hardware and slimming it down.
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So if your Switch brakes or you loose it you still have to go through Nintendo customer support to download the games to the new device. What a pain in the backside as I've been down this path before and it took 6 weeks to sort. What's the point of doing half a job Nintendo !?!?!
