It seems like a different set of tradeoffs. RetroPie (if you're running on a Raspberry Pi, and not on a PC) will have fewer game systems that it can support, of course. But it's also cheap enough to just buy one as a dedicated game system that you leave connected to a TV, so the kids aren't grabbing your laptop to play retro games, or something. For a little more money, you could set up an NUC or something, of course.
> You need a mac or PC anyway to load up the SD card
A lot of kits come with NOOBS loaded on them. You can load RetroPie directly into Raspbian by using a setup script that they provide. You could also boot into Raspbian via NOOBS and use a USB adapter to flash a microSD with another OS.
You could even take a blank SD, extract NOOBS onto it with your phone, and boot the Pi off that (NOOBS and Berryboot just need to be unzipped onto the SD; they don't require images to be flashed).
That's really my biggest complaint with the unit, the difficulty of charging the joycons. Taking off the wrist straps each time is really bad UX.
In my case it's also nostalgia. I've been working on my own apps and games, not to mention a day job, so this is the first console I have owned since the N64. Never got into console titles that seemed to be just as good on the PC.
That's 3 reasons right there... I ended up buying the Special Edition ($100 gets you the game, a music CD, a hard traveling case and a collector's coin) in March before I found a Switch in April.
I prefer the Pro Controller and using it as a standard console, but the mobility is great if needed. Sticker shock hasn't been a factor, since I remember buying 3 extra controllers for the N64.
The hunt for the Switch is as much as the hunt for the Classic was. Of course, now the Classic is going for 4-5 times as much... more than the Switch!
(Note: skip the Classic and skip RetroPie. You need a mac or PC anyway to load up the SD card... better to spend $60 on a nice XBone controller and play games in a better emulator on your computer. Just my 2 cents.)