I was first introduced to video games when I saw a neighbor kid playing on his Gameboy. I have been a fan ever since. My first console was a Playstation 1. Then a few years later, a friend of mine showed me the newest console rolled out by Sony, the Playstation 2. I wanted one but it was only until later when they released a slim version that I was able to get my hands on one. Sure, it was smaller but it was comparably less durable than the original.
This year, two years after Nintendo released its latest handheld Switch, they are coming out with a new "slim" version of the portable gaming device, called Switch Lite. However, in doing this, the Switch Lite has lost the capabilities of the original Switch to well, switch.
The new revision is solely designed for handheld play, meaning it doesn’t have detachable controllers, a kickstand, or the ability to be played on a TV. That’s just the way it goes with video game consoles, though. While new generations of hardware introduce far greater power and functionality, often revisions within the same generation take certain steps backward.
Whether the trade-offs are made to reduce costs or because certain elements were deemed unimportant, over their history, all three current console makers have released multiple machines that killed various features. The question, as ever, is how much those missing features mean to you.
Here's a brief history of slim versions of gaming consoles by Verge.
(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)