There’s a new gadget that you can count on to soon zoom to the top of people’s wish lists: the Nintendo Switch.

The Japanese game company is releasing the Switch, a brand-new $300 video game console, on Friday. For months, the device has been generating buzz because it is two gadgets in one — both a console that can sit in your living room and one that you can easily take with you on the go — making it extremely versatile.

Last week, I took possession of a Switch from Nintendo to get a closer look at what the hype was all about. At home, I put the Switch on a dock to play games on my big-screen television. Over the weekend, I took the Switch off the dock for a trip to Los Angeles and used the gadget’s embedded screen and attached controllers to play games while out and about.

Playing with the Switch was a blast. The hardware is well designed and capable of delivering powerful graphics. And early Switch games I tested made clever use of the included motion controllers.