March 3rd marked the anticipated release of Nintendo’s newest console, the Switch. Capitalizing on advancements in mobile processor technology, Nintendo has catapulted forward into the next generation of hardware, with a device that combines the portability of a handheld with the experience of a traditional home console.

The Nintendo Switch’s signature move is a seamless transition between its handheld and TV modes by placing the portable console into the included accessory dock. The console itself is essentially a tablet with two detachable controllers that can operate as a single controller or as two separate controllers for impromptu multiplayer gaming.

The convergence of handheld and home console paradigms isn’t the only aspect of the Switch that breaks the mold. A cursory teardown of the main tablet unit strongly suggests that Nintendo is utilizing a Tegra X1 reference design from NVIDIA. This has enormous implications for the Switch’s development in the past, present, and future.

Before the Switch, Nintendo developed the majority of their hardware architecture internally. Consequently, Nintendo’s consoles have suffered from a lack of third party support due to development differences with Sony and Microsoft. Designing their hardware around an industry standard like the Tegra X1 has already paid off, with third parties like Bethesda, EA and an onslaught of indie developers porting games to the Switch that would have typically flown right past a Nintendo console in the past.

Leveraging NVIDIA’s tablet gaming technology means that Nintendo can focus on what they do best — innovating on tried and true game control design.

The Nintendo Switch benefits from a rich legacy of both portable and home consoles, inheriting hardware traits from more than 30 years of devices. To view the Switch as simply an on-the-go home console is to overlook the storied past of each design detail that makes it a uniquely Nintendo product.

In order to gain a better understanding of what makes the Switch a true innovation for Nintendo, we must look at the aspects of the design that are already familiar to us.

We’ll dive into Nintendo’s history and their journey of mastering the art of game control, and how it has led them to the product that we will be tearing down today.

If you want to skip the historical overview of Nintendo’s gaming innovation, you can scroll down further to the physical teardown, below.