Honestly, it's a milquetoast take. The only advantages of the Switch at this point are Nintendo exclusives and better support.

There are some rough edges with the Steam Deck, but it's a bit odd to frame the Switch as "ready for mass consumption" when it lacks access to Steam, something every other handheld has, and consumers expect in 2025.

The majority of the population doesn’t hang on Gabe Newell’s every word and buy 75 early access Factorio clones at each biannual sale.

> The only advantages of the Switch at this point are Nintendo exclusives and better support

Err what? This has always been the point of a Nintendo console.

It’s like saying “the only reason people buy Windows/macOS is because they want an easy to use OS.” Like, yes. That is indeed the point.

I think the point is that with the Switch you get Nintendo only, and in the past at least that meant anemic hardware and paying for old games you already bought. With the Steam Deck you get a portable PC with all that implies, meaning PC games, but also emulation.

So on one hand you have a walled garden, of the type that HN tends to hate (when it's Apple), but on the other hand you have an open platform that's significantly more powerful.