After Watching Nintendo's Reveal, I'm Convinced The Switch 2 Is A Death Sentence For Handheld Consoles

screenrant.com:

At long last, Nintendo has shown off the Switch 2, and I’m convinced it signals the death of handheld consoles. To clarify, I don’t think the Switch 2 will perform badly or that it itself will be a failed console. However, a second hybrid console from Nintendo likely means that the days of getting a dedicated handheld device like the Game Boy or DS are likely over. And, if that’s true, I think it would be a real shame.

Nintendo’s handheld consoles before the Switch introduced some great games. They also had some qualities that the Switch doesn’t fully replicate despite the hybrid system being more portable than something like a PS5. Older handhelds have played a specific role in my gaming diet, and I have felt their absence a bit since the Switch came out. With the Switch 2 on the horizon, I think I have to accept that I’ll no longer have a new handheld console to look forward to.

In previous console generations, Nintendo typically had its home console and a handheld running parallel to it, and there were occasionally some games that could interact between the two. Back in 2020, Nintendo officially discontinued its 3DS systems. The online store shut down in 2023, and by 2024, almost all online capabilities have been turned off, with the exception of some Pokémon add-ons. With the Switch 2 announced and no word on a follow-up to the 3DS, it seems clear that Nintendo is all in on the Switch and won’t be making any smaller consoles to go along with it.

The Nintendo 3DS consoles are still being played today, despite not being supported any longer, mostly because of the amazing games they had.

I won’t pretend this doesn’t make total sense. The whole point of the Switch 2 is that it can serve as both a handheld and a home console. Releasing a second handheld device would essentially be admitting that the Switch 2 doesn’t properly serve both its intended functions. That said,I would argue that it doesn’t. At the least, it’s lacking some attributes of other handheld