The Nintendo Switch 2 is arriving very soon. While we know a great deal about it, the hefty $449.99 price tag and $79.99 games make it a less appealing investment than I had hoped. Honestly, I’ve rarely touched my original Nintendo Switch since getting an Asus ROG Ally, and the issues I had with the first console seem even more pronounced in its successor—especially now in an era filled with handheld gaming PCs.
The Asus ROG Ally Meets All My Gaming Needs
I’ve been a handheld gamer since I was a kid, moving from the Game Boy to the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable. It’s still my preferred way to play—nothing beats curling up under the covers and gaming from my bed. I was even one of the devoted few who believed in the PlayStation Vita, using it daily on my train commute in college.
The Nintendo Switch amazed me back in 2017, but even though I bought mine near launch, I only used it for exclusive titles. PC gaming never felt comfortable to me, so whenever a game seemed better suited for handheld play, I’d want it on the Switch. Those games ended up in a mental folder labeled “Handheld Only,” as if my brain wouldn’t let me enjoy them anywhere else.
However, if a game was available for free on the Epic Games Store, Game Pass, PlayStation Plus, or Humble Choice, I felt guilty about buying it again for the Switch. The fact that Switch games are known for rarely going on sale—and when they do, the discounts aren’t as deep as on other platforms—only made it worse. This frustrating cycle of “Why pay for a game I already own?” versus “But I want to play it on a handheld” always ended the same: I just wouldn’t play the game.
Then the Asus ROG Ally launched in 2023 and finally broke that cycle. As a handheld PC running Windows 11, it gives me access to Steam, Game Pass, Epic Games, and more. All those games I avoided on PC because of discomfort could now be enjoyed from the coziness of my bed.
These days, I’m diving into a treasure trove of indie titles on my Ally and steadily working through my backlog. Without it, I would never have experienced Celeste, Little Nightmares II, or the Resident Evil Remake—now among my all-time favorites. Best of all, I didn’t have to spend extra to play them, whereas I would have had to repurchase each one on the Switch. The Ally has become my handheld of choice, and it’s saved me a lot of money.
Even so, I was still looking forward to the Nintendo Switch 2 announcement—Nintendo’s games have always had a special place in my heart. But after watching the Switch 2 Direct, I’m not sure where the new console fits into my life anymore.
When the original Switch came out, it offered more than just exclusives. Its flexible design and affordable price made it a fantastic entry into a unique gaming ecosystem. Back then, it was the only viable handheld: inexpensive, packed with great exclusives, and completely unmatched.
The Switch 2 Now Faces Stiff Competition
Starting at $449, the Nintendo Switch 2 enters a highly competitive market. That price brings it close to the $499 PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. In fact, the PS5 Digital Edition actually launched at a lower $399. Making matters tougher, the original Switch’s design has inspired rivals over the past eight years. The Steam Deck kicked off the trend in 2022, and since then, manufacturers have released handheld PCs like the Asus ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go, and MSI Claw. There’s even talk of Xbox developing its own handheld. The Switch 2 is no longer one of a kind—it’s a worthwhile investment mostly if you don’t already own another handheld. And I do.
Handheld gaming PCs come with powerful hardware that handles indie and third-party games with ease. With a much larger library and access to the games you already own, they serve as an excellent all-in-one platform. The chipsets inside these devices are only getting better over time, too. The AMD Ryzen Z2 Extreme is poised to power even more capable systems, meaning the Switch 2 could soon be outpaced by the competition.
For existing handheld PC owners who want to play new Nintendo exclusives, the Switch 2 presents a high upfront cost with limited use. If a device like the Asus ROG Ally can smoothly run everything from third-party titles to indies, then buying a Switch 2 would mean using it almost exclusively for first-party games.
The high cost of exclusives makes the prospect even harder to justify. With Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza launching at $79.99 and $69.99 respectively—and Nintendo games, especially first-party ones, seldom receiving meaningful discounts—it’s difficult to feel excited about purchasing them.
To be clear, Nintendo’s exclusives offer tremendous value. The company has created some of the best games ever made, and for many players, the upcoming Switch 2 lineup will justify the console’s premium price over the coming years. But for handheld PC owners like me, the Switch 2 needs to offer a bit more.
The Nintendo Switch 2 isn’t a smart buy for everyone, particularly if you already have a handheld gaming PC. Systems like the Legion Go deliver impressive performance and give you a huge library of indie and third-party games. My Asus ROG Ally handles everything I used to rely on my Switch for, and with so many storefronts available, it’s simply a better place to play.
