After months of waiting, it finally happened. Nintendo at long last drew the curtain back on their latest console, dubbed the Switch, with a three and a half minute video. If you haven’t seen it, here it is:

Ok, so what exactly is the Switch? From the video, it appears to be a modular console with detachable controllers that can be played on a television through a docking station or on its own as a portable device. There appears to be a wide variety of accessories for the system, including a redesigned standalone controller, a stand, a mounting bracket, and a shell that the detachable controllers can attach to in order to mimic a standard gamepad. Flexibility seems to be the main design philosophy, as evidenced by a player in the video being able to transfer his Legend of Zelda play session from his TV to mobile with no need to pause. Cool stuff.

Certainly, there remains plenty of questions regarding the Switch. First, we don’t know how powerful it will be, although the video suggests that it will at least be as capable as the Wii U. Second, we don’t know how much the console will cost, but with HD processing capability, (presumably) on-board storage, and a decent screen, the system probably won’t be cheap, even without the (likely) optional accessories. Finally, we still don’t have much of an idea of what the system’s launch line-up, online strategy, or system interface will look like. There will be plenty to reveal about the Switch between now and March, so the standard disclaimers on video game hype hold true. But despite all that we don’t know, I can’t help but be excited about the Switch, and I say that as someone who hasn’t owned a Nintendo console since the Wii. The reason that I’m excited is because the Switch is less a successor to the Wii U and 3DS than it is to the Playstation Vita.

I probably lost a bunch of you with that last statement, but stick with me. The Vita, by all accounts, was an attempt by Sony to bring home console gaming to the portable space. The system reflected this goal by being able to output near-Playstation 3 visuals, a robust online implementation complete with must-have apps like YouTube and Netflix, and a control layout that almost completely resembled that of the established DualShock. The launch lineup brought this point home with gorgeous and fully featured games like Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

Of course, we all know where the Vita went from there. Burdened with a high price point, marketplace indifference, and Sony ignoring the system in favor of the Playstation 3 (and later, the Playstation 4), the Vita became a niche indie and Japanese games machine that only crazy people like myself still enjoy. But what if we consider an alternate universe? One where instead of the Vita being a successor to the Playstation Portable, it was the successor to the Playstation 3. What if Sony had put their considerable resources entirely into making the Vita success? Maybe we’d have seen Sony fast-track the Playstation TV to give players the option to play at home. Maybe we’d have seen first party titles like Uncharted 4, Until Dawn, and Bloodborne released on the Vita, giving it the library needed to push sales. Maybe because of all this, the $250 USD launch price wouldn’t have stung so bad.

For many reasons, this alternate universe would have never come to pass. Sony is too entrenched in their home console business and the hardware war with Microsoft to make such a radical move, nor should it. But Nintendo is another story. The House of Mario long ago bowed out from the hardware arms race, and due to the middling sales performance of the Wii U, they clearly have no business interest tying them to an entirely home console. For them, perhaps a Vita-like solution is exactly what they need.

For those of us still on Vita island, we see the brilliance of the handheld peeking through the corners constantly. We see it when we play well designed home console-like games such as Gravity Rush. We see it when we look at our home screen splashed with dozens of quirky indie titles that look and play so wonderfully on the hardware. We see it when we run Destiny raids in bed thanks to Remote Play. And watching the above video, we see it with the Nintendo Switch.

I’ve already started to see skepticism in the reaction to the video, and I can see where it’s coming from. If you’re someone who exclusively games at home, the Switch’s ability to go mobile may seem pointless to you. If you were hoping for a console that could match the Playstation 4 and Xbox One in terms of power, the Switch’s capabilities look dated. If you were wishing that this was the console that finally regains a foothold into third-party multiplatform development, the Switch will likely disappoint. But when we consider the system holistically, those concerns become minimized. Sure, the Switch likely won’t be able to run Cyberpunk 2077 or Mass Effect: Andromeda, but have you seen how gorgeous even Wii U games look with Nintendo’s art direction? Sure, we likely won’t see the latest Call of Duty or Madden on the Switch, but with the entire output of Nintendo’s legendary development teams coming to the console, are you really going to miss them? And sure, the online system will likely be trash, but how cool will it be to play multiplayer Mario Kart wherever you go?

I wrote a little while ago about how I just want Nintendo to deliver a back-to-basics sort of console that puts its fantastic games front and center. The Switch, at least on first impression, seems to be doing just that. Granted, there are plenty of details not known about the console, and there very well could be a dealbreaker yet to be revealed. But as a dyed in the wool Nintendo kid who still gets a warm feeling whenever he sees Mario, I can’t help but feel good about what’s been announced. For me, March can’t come fast enough.