1-2-Switch – it’s nothing if not different (pic: Nintendo)

As the Nintendo Switch celebrates its sixth anniversary a reader looks back at his history with the console and its many unusual experiences.

With the Nintendo Switch reaching its sixth anniversary recently, wow that really has flown by hasn’t it?

I’ve been looking back on what I myself, as a gamer, was doing for those last six years.

Now I do own an Xbox Series S with Game Pass and I love it, but when it comes to gaming in general I want to be challenged in the most unorthodox way possible.

I want to approach new games with childlike eyes, knowing that I’ve never done anything like this before, for good or for bad.

I like new experiences, after all, isn’t that what being a gamer is all about?

Doing things that wouldn’t be considered an everyday thing for most people?

From the start, 1-2 Switch got me pretending to eat a baguette from a controller and that game where you had to try to count how many balls were rolling around in your Joy-Con? That itself was a piece of gaming magic, I don’t care what you think of 1-2 Switch or the console itself. That was pure genius.

Then a couple of years later Nintendo Labo came out. It got a bad rep for being overpriced sheets of cardboard (which it was) but anyone who ever put one of those kits together will tell you it’s almost like a feat of engineering.

It was clever, it was sturdy, and it certainly was like nothing else gamers had seen before and it worked too.

It even dabbled with VR with impressive results to boot.

To digress, Nintendo teamed up with Lego, not a bad move for either company and I found myself making Lego playsets of Mario and his chums.

Then it hit me, I’ve spent the majority of my last few gaming years with a smile on my face, making ridiculous silly things that only matter to me.

I’ve become that kid again, only this time I can afford it and what a blast I’ve had.

It’s been a weird generation for Nintendo, that is for sure. They started it off with a lot of people writing them off, but they did their own thing and it worked out for them.

A lot of the success has come from Wii U ports. Which says a lot more about the perception of a product than the quality of its software (but that’s another feature – if anyone cares to venture there?)

Nintendo are definitely moving away from solely being a games company, with their new film and theme parks.

Yet they still manage to make me smile with their intuition.

My point is, I’ve spent a lot of time as a gaming fan not actually playing games the last few years, but just enjoying what evolutes from it. I’ve had a smile on my face all the way through, which really is what it’s all about.

Now I’m looking forward to putting my Joy-Con in a toilet roll and rolling it over my Homer Simpson dinner tray, because I’m a big kid and why the hell not?

By reader freeway 77

The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.

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As the Nintendo Switch celebrates its sixth anniversary a reader looks back at his history with the console and its many unusual experiences.