Nintendo Switch revisited: Two years makes a big difference

Two years after its launch, the Nintendo Switch is an even more capable gaming console. Nintendo’s bet on portability has paid off well: While other consoles are stuck under your TV, the Switch lets you bring your favorite games just about anywhere. Similarly, Epic Games also announced that it'll be developing its own cross-platform voice-chat system that will work on consoles, PC and mobile.Switch Online works the way you'd expect when it comes to actually playing games over the internet. And an intrepid fan found some references to upcoming SNES titles on the service, which would be a huge upgrade over the NES games so far.Nintendo says it doesn't plan to launch a Virtual Console on the Switch, which is how you previously got access to retro games on its earlier systems. Compilations like Capcom's Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection are also a worthy alternative: For the price of a single game, you get access to a bunch of faithfully rendered older titles.While Switch Online is the single biggest addition to the system, Nintendo has also been incrementally improving the console. But now there are plenty of games to choose from.Of course, the biggest releases come from Nintendo and its partners, but the Switch has also become a haven for indie titles like Hollow Knight and Dead Cells. This is less of a problem with other consoles, since you can just plug a pair of headphones into Sony's and Microsoft's controllers.While Nintendo's portable hardware has generally held up well to abuse, I was still surprised to find that my Switch is relatively unscathed after two years. Once again, Nintendo redefined how we could think of game consoles.Of course, there are still things I'd like Nintendo to fix eventually with future Switch models.