On Thursday, October 20th, 2016, Nintendo finally revealed the trailer for their secret project, codenamed the NX, to the world under its new and proper name: the Nintendo Switch. And the Internet exploded.

Within a single day the video had 10 million views and was number #1 trending on every single social media site from Facebook to Instragram and Twitter. Opinions were given and voices were heard. Everyone and their grandmother had something to say about Nintendo's latest venture. And whether you love it or hate it, I think it will change the face of gaming.

Here's the trailer for those of you who somehow haven't seen it yet.

Exciting, right? Up to this point, rumors had been circulating about the big N developing a home/portable console hybrid, and it looks like the rumors were true! It's actually a wonder this hasn't been done at a large scale like this by now, but this puts Nintendo in an interesting position to be ahead of the curve of its competitors once again.

Now I'm not going to speculate on the technical aspects of the Switch, for there's hundreds of already-published articles that do so. I'm here to say why I think this will be revolutionary. I've had some time to think about the system after my initial excitement died down a bit, and I've come to the conclusion that this will usher in a new era of gaming. Why? Because it's unique.

Think of what the Wii did for gaming ten years ago. You, your friends, and even your parents got up and played countless rounds of Wii Sports and Just Dance because not only was it a novel idea, but because it was fun. It was because it was so easily to wrap that remote around your wrist and knock over virtual pins or box with a rival that the console sold more than 100 million units worldwide. Quite frankly, that's insane.

Sony and Microsoft saw Nintendo's success and rushed to emulate it with the Move and Kinect, but the fact remains that Nintendo pushed forward left its competitors in the dust (however briefly). The Switch has the potential to do the same, as not only as this is something that has never been done before, but also because Nintendo is clearly marketing toward the community aspect of gaming once again, something that has always been fundamentally at the company's heart. They know games by yourself is fun, but games with others full of shenanigans and memories made is even better.

To me, Nintendo at its core is about three things: innovation, community, and fun. Sometimes those innovations don't pan out (I'm looking at you, Virtual Boy), but sometimes they're a major success; the DS still stands as the second best-selling console ever only behind the PS2. It's a risk they take, and they aren't afraid to try new things rather than simply upgrading graphical capability and slapping a number on the next console incarnation like some of their competitors.

The sense of community is also why Nintendo is so near and dear to me. There's no entry fee to play with your friends online and no barrier to find new ones through games and interests you both enjoy. At the end of the day they understand that games are meant to be enjoyed. And with the staggering amount of third-party support the Switch has from other developers, Nintendo isn't alone on this one. Yes, it's nice if they look great, but that's always been secondary.

Do I think the Switch is going to be the end-all-be-all of gaming? No, for at this point we still don't know a lot about the system. But does it have the potential for something new? Definitely. How it capitalizes on this potential, only time will tell. But for now, we wait in anxious anticipation.

All eyes are on you, Nintendo. Let's see if you can pull it off.