You may have thought the Nintendo Switch was the ultimate portable console, but you haven’t seen anything yet. Nintendo’s Starlight Gaming Station – not a new console per se, but a special version of the Switch designed for hospitals and health centers – is equipped with 25 games and can be rolled into different rooms.
The Gaming Station, Nintendo and Starlight’s latest collaboration, was announced last year at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma, Washington. The same hospital was the first to receive the console, which comes in four versions (Mario, Princess Peach, Yoshi and Donkey Kong) and is specially designed to be easy to disinfect and clean. The 25 games pre-loaded on the Gaming Station include The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Maker 2, Super Mario Party, Pokémon: Let’s Go Pikachu, Super Mario Odyssey, Stardew Valley, Cuphead and Minecraft . What a swipe!
We end with this heartwarming quote from Starlight itself, saying it better than we ever could:
“Gaming brings happiness to hospital-trapped children by providing entertainment and much-needed distraction from stressful situations. It can even provide emotional support, resulting in less anxiety and a better mood.”
Yes, then we will just weep here in our joy cons.