nintendo switch

Nintendo's seventh game console, released on March 3rd, 2017 as part of the eighth generation of consoles. It is successor to the Wii U, and it was succeeded by the Nintendo Switch 2.

The Switch is a hybrid console, usable as both a handheld game console or docked to be used as a home game console. It has two wireless game controllers (one for each hand) called Joy-Cons that can be attached to the console for handheld play, or removed for use while docked.

A smaller version designed strictly for handheld gaming, the Switch Lite, was released on September 20th, 2019. It has no detachable Joy-Cons or HDMI output. An OLED model was released on October 8, 2021.

As of early 2023, the combined Switch product line became one of the best-selling platforms in Nintendo's entire history, outselling both the Wii and the Game Boy, and as of the end of 2025, outselling the Nintendo DS, becoming the second best-selling video game system of all time.

For tagging purposes, if the Switch is docked or has its Joy-Cons detached, tag it as a game console. If the Switch has its Joy-Cons attached or the console is the Switch Lite, tag it as a handheld game console.

Its successor, the Nintendo Switch 2, which is backward compatible with most Switch games, was released on June 5, 2025.

Examples

Handheld mode

Docked

Nintendo Switch Lite

See also

• Nintendo Switch 2
• Nintendo Switch Pro Controller
• Nintendo Switch Lite
• Nintendo Switch - OLED Model
• Nintendo Labo
• Ring-Con
• List of game consoles

External links

• Wikipedia: Nintendo Switch

The following tags implicate this tag: nintendo_switch_lite (learn more).