Nintendo has announced the Switch Lite, a smaller and lighter model that lacks the TV docking mode. That makes this version of the Switch a dedicated handheld, similar to Nintendo`s long legacy with the Game Boy, DS, and 3DS. Hardware revisions have become a regular practice for Nintendo`s handheld systems, for a variety of reasons. To glean why, and what this might mean for the future of the Nintendo Switch, we can take a look back at Nintendo`s history of hardware revisions.From Game Boy to 2DS LiteThe Game Boy, Nintendo`s first dedicated handheld hardware (setting aside the Game & Watch), was followed by both the Game Boy Pocket and the Game Boy Color. The first was a revision to the form factor, while the second added color functionality lacking from the original and was backwards compatible with existing Game Boy games. The Game Boy Advance similarly was followed by the Game Boy Advance SP, which added a much-needed backlight, and the ultra-tiny Game Boy Micro.The clunky first iteration of the Nintendo DS was then followed by the much more popular DS Lite. Nintendo followed that with the DSi, targeted at the emerging online marketplace, and finally the DSi XL with larger screens.Nintendo`s latest handheld system, the 3DS, has had the most hardware revisions of any system--in part because it split into a separate `2DS` line with its own iterations. The original 3DS was followed by the 2DS and a big-screen XL model. Confusingly, though, the system iterations also started branding themselves as `New.` This left three more revisions: the New Nintendo 3DS, the New Nintendo 3DS XL and the New 2DS XL. The New 2DS is the latest iteration, though it notably ditches the flat system design of the original 2DS in favor of the clam-shell design of the other 3DS models.Better, Stronger, FasterThe rationales behind these various hardware revisions were numerous. Some, like the Game Boy Pocket and 3DS XL, were revisions to the overall form factor without many notable chang ...
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