The Switch Lite brought me back to gaming
I have a confession, I haven't played video games seriously in a long time.
As a kid and through my teens, games were a massive part of my life. I have fond memories of long afternoons playing co-op with friends or staying up far too late trying to beat one more level boss. Games like Gauntlet on the ZX Spectrum and Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake on the PC weren't just entertainment,they were social and immersive. Friday night LAN parties were a big thing for me and I made a lot of friends this way.
But I got older, life moved on. When I moved overseas, I had to let go of a lot of things, including my collection of consoles and classic computers. I really regret it, I lost computers including: Xbox, Playstation, GameCube, N64, Gameboy, Gameboy Advance, and many more. My mum even gave away my Amiga 500. At the time, I needed the money and didn't want to have to cart them half way around the world, but now, many of those consoles have become hard-to-find collectibles with prices to match. Getting back into retro gaming today is expensive!
That hasn't stopped me from looking, though. I've kept an eye on newer devices like Panic's Playdate and Palmer Luckey's new Chromatic hand held device. Both are amazing in their own way, beautiful pieces of hardware with good game catalogues,but they're expensive and hard to get in Australia.
I've always had a soft spot for Nintendo and i've always loved the Mario franchise. At university, Mario Kart was the go to game in every shared house I lived in. So when news of the Switch 2 arrived and prices on the original Switch models began to dip, I thought i'd try muy luck.
Using Facebook Marketplace, I managed to pick up a Switch Lite for about $100,roughly a third of what they cost new. There's a really active second-hand games scene too, so I've quickly built up a decent collection, mostly spending around $25 per game. Mario Kart 8, Mario Wonder etc.
The Switch Lite is a great machine. The recent OS update added Game Sharing and other features that show Nintendo hasn't abandoned it even as the Switch 2 launch approaches. It might not be the newest device on the market, but it's still a great little console.