Is Nintendo's Switch hybrid console the future of gaming?

The new machine seeks to merge the handheld and home console experiences. Now it needs to find an audience

In 2013, Nintendo opened a new research and development facility in its home town of Kyoto, Japan. Usually, a consumer technology manufacturer opening a new office wouldn't be news, but this was different: the $350m building would house both the company's handheld and console gaming R&D teams.

In the past, these groups had been kept apart, producing very different hardware and games for the different markets - now they would be merged. At the time, analysts thought this was to improve functionality between the Wii U and 3DS, but now we understand this was not the end goal - the end goal was Switch. This hybrid gaming system, which works as both a portable machine and a home console, now looks to represent Nintendo's future in the games industry. But what does that mean?