For someone who loves old Nintendo games and enjoys the comfort and convenience of an affordable handheld system, a Steam Deck running Emudeck is a godsend. Best of all, you don't have to join a Discord server for help; even a monkey (like me) can figure it out.
There's been a bit of discourse surrounding the Switch 2, especially regarding the price of the system and its games. Two additional issues include: (a) you can't own a game on this console, even if you buy a physical cartridge; and (b) you can only access a larger library of older games through a subscription service.
There's also the giant elephant in the room, which is that the general level of consumer income hasn't increased along with inflation. This makes the choice to buy a Switch 2 more financially painful than it needs to be, especially since Nintendo prides itself on providing "accessible" consoles and games.
No one asked, but my recommendation for anyone who's looking for an upgrade to the Switch but feels dubious about its successor is to get a Steam Deck, which is essentially a gaming PC in handheld form. The cheapest model is perfectly fine and plays contemporary AAA titles like Elden Ring and FFVII Rebirth with no problems at all.
Another selling point of the Steam Deck is that it runs Emudeck, which makes it easy to play an archived library of games for older systems ranging from the Game Boy to the Wii. Emulators for more recent systems (like the Wii U) may take a bit of extra effort, but there are plenty of easily accessible tutorials on YouTube and Reddit.
Thankfully, once you get everything running, Emudeck takes care of itself and lets you access your games through the main Steam Deck interface. It's surprisingly easy, even if you're bad with tech.
Setting up Emudeck can also serve as a good introduction to figuring out how to navigate the console's Linux desktop. What this means is that you'll be able to download and play interesting super-indie games from platforms like Itch.io. Many of these games are never published for an actual licensed gaming console; and, if they are, you can directly support the creators by circumventing storefronts.
Gaming PCs are expensive and not feasible for everyone. Meanwhile, handheld consoles are great for people with limited space, students who move a lot, and people who prefer "work" and "play" to be on separate screens. If you're interested in preserving your archive of games while enjoying them too, running Emudeck on Steam Deck is an easy and accessible solution that's worked well for me.
