My original Switch should feel retired by now. It has the thick bezels, the aging screen, the tired battery life, and the unmistakable aura of a gadget that has survived too many backpacks. Next to Switch 2 and the current wave of handheld PCs , Nintendo ’s first hybrid console looks hopelessly outgunned. And yet, I keep picking it up. My standards are not heroic here. I want to wake it and start playing before the part of my brain that checks battery percentages gets involved. I use the old console in 2026 because it’s almost annoyingly direct. That shouldn’t feel radical. Somehow, it does. Simple is still a feature Low bar, sure. Portable gaming has done impressive work finding ways to trip over it. The Switch 2 is the obvious upgrade, and Nintendo’s newer system has the stronger hardware argument. It costs $449.99, though, which isn’t exactly an impulse upgrade when my old Switch already has the games I bought for it.…