This. It's a modern PSP with a novel video out. People should definitely view this as a portable first, console second type deal. In that regard, it's a damn awesome little machine. Nintendo is trying to have the "console experience" on the go nonsense branding that did nothing for Sony.
I know you're speaking in defense of the Switch here, but there is a sizable difference between what the Switch does and what the PSP could do. Sure, if you write out a list of bullet points between the two systems, you can make them look really similar, but the truth is that the Switch was designed to be a hybrid from the ground up, and it really shows, where as the PSP was not.
There is a difference between 'console on the go' and 'console you can take on the go'.
Consider the Tegra X1. The other notable system which that powers isn't a portable either. It's the Shield TV, which is absolutely a console, even if it isn't as powerful as PS4 or the Xbox One. It's a proper console with proper console games like Tomb Raider and Resident Evil 5 and what have you.
You *can* dock the PSP, but it always offered a less than optimal experience. It couldn't compete with the IQ of PS2 games. It didn't offer the same control options when portable as it does docked. The controls damaged the experience of playing PSX games on the go, and the video quality damaged the experience of playing PSP games on the big screen.
With the Switch, sure, it's 'only' pushing out better visuals than the 360, Wii U and PS3, (just as with the Shield TV) but it is clearly designed around easily going from one way of playing to the other, seamlessly and basically instantly.
I don't think we have to fit it into a pre existing category to either make it look more powerful or to make it look less powerful.
It's the Surface Pro of gaming systems. It's the first system that delivers on the potential only hinted at by systems like the PSP and the Shield Tablet that offered the same functionality, but in a way that wasn't central to their design.
I don't judge the Surface Pro line as either a tablet or a laptop. Sure, you can buy keyboards for other tablets and technically do a lot of the same things... but it never felt central to the experience.
The Switch isn't a handheld that had a dock added as an afterthought. It's a hybrid. It's internals were chosen accordingly. Which other dockable handheld can push a higher resolution and uncompressed surround sound when hooked up to a TV? What other dockable handheld can instantly switch resolution and control type and seamlessly go from playing one way to another?
The switch is the first console designed from the ground up to be a hybrid. Given that, I think it's internals, it's controls and it's outputs all make sense.
Other systems had hybrid functionality, but it was secondary. This is the first proper gaming hybrid. More will follow and improve on it, I'm sure. But like the Surface Pro, it's really a third category, even if there's a lot of overlap between it and other categories.
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