Nintendo Switch – Nintendo announce their new console for March (formerly known as NX)
Earlier today Nintendo revealed their upcoming console, the Nintendo Switch. The device was revealed through a video that shows its dual use as a portable gaming system and a “traditional” living room console.
The Nintendo Switch basically looks like a tablet that can be plugged into a dock connected to the TV. When removed from the dock, the device can then be used as a portable console. If the promotional video is to be believed, switching between the living room experience and the portable experience is seamless, meaning you can play on your big TV screen and then just plug-out the console to keep playing outside.
This is certainly an interesting take on this recent problem that console manufacturers have been trying to solve. Sony’s solution for this has been remote play (you can play your PS4 games on your PS Vita or your phone), and for a limited amount of games, cross-play (Vita/PS4) and compatible save data.
Nintendo’s solution with the Nintendo Switch ensures that the transition between playing on your TV and on the go will be smooth, so it could be a clever move. I have to say though that I don’t personally see myself as a big user of such a feature: the games I want to play on my TV and the games I want to play on the go, I’ve found, are quite different.
There’s also the problem (typical for Nintendo?) That the Nintendo Switch will probably be dramatically underpowered compared to regular living room consoles. That’s usually not a problem for Nintendo fans: Nintendo consoles are rarely the most powerful of their generations, but this probably ensures that the Switch will not attract “hardcore” gamers more than the Wii U did. Then again, that’s rarely Nintendo’s target.
If anything, the controllers of the Nintendo Switch look really awkward and impractical, but apparently a more ergonomic controller will also be available as an accessory. And who knows… lots of us were mocking the Wii controller, but ultimately those made the success of the console.
This looks once again like a bet from Nintendo to do something very different from the competition, so we’ll see how successful it can be.
No price has been announced for the Nintendo Switch yet. The console is scheduled to be released in March.
The full press release below:
Nintendo Switch world premier demonstrates new entertainment experiences from a home gaming system
In an introductory video released today (http://www.nintendo.com/switch), Nintendo provided the first glimpse of its new home gaming system and revealed that it is called Nintendo Switch. In addition to providing single and multiplayer thrills at home, the Nintendo Switch system also enables gamers to play the same title wherever, whenever and with whomever they choose. The mobility of a handheld is now added to the power of a home gaming system to enable unprecedented new video game play styles.
At home, Nintendo Switch rests in the Nintendo Switch Dock that connects the system to the TV and lets you play with family and friends in the comfort of your living room. By simply lifting Nintendo Switch from the dock, the system will instantly transition to portable mode, and the same great gaming experience that was being enjoyed at home now travels with you. The portability of Nintendo Switch is enhanced by its bright high-definition display. It brings the full home gaming system experience with you to the park, on an airplane, in a car, or to a friend’s apartment.
Gaming springs into action by removing detachable Joy-Con controllers from either side of Nintendo Switch. One player can use a Joy-Con controller in each hand; two players can each take one; or multiple Joy-Con can be employed by numerous people for a variety of gameplay options. They can easily click back into place or be slipped into a Joy-Con Grip accessory, mirroring a more traditional controller. Or, if preferred, the gamer can select an optional Nintendo Switch Pro Controller to use instead of the Joy-Con controllers. Furthermore, it is possible for numerous people to bring their Nintendo Switch systems together to enjoy local multiplayer face-to-face competition.
“Nintendo Switch allows gamers the freedom to play however they like,” said Reggie Fils-Aime, President and COO, Nintendo of America. “It gives game developers new abilities to bring their creative visions to life by opening up the concept of gaming without boundaries.”
Developers can design their games supporting a variety of play styles, which gives gamers the freedom to choose an experience that best suits them. Some of the publishers, developers and middleware partners announcing support for Nintendo Switch are as follows:
• 505 Games
• Activision Publishing, Inc.
• ARC SYSTEM WORKS Co., Ltd.
• ATLUS CO., LTD.
• Audiokinetic Inc.
• Autodesk, Inc.
• BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc.
• Bethesda
• CAPCOM CO., LTD.
• Codemasters®
• CRI Middleware Co., Ltd.
• DeNA Co., Ltd.
• Electronic Arts
• Epic Games Inc.
• Firelight Technologies
• FromSoftware, Inc.
• Frozenbyte
• GameTrust
• GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC．
• Gungho Online Entertainment, Inc.
• HAMSTER Corporation
• Havok
• INTI CREATES CO., LTD.
• KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
• Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd.
• LEVEL-5 Inc.
• Marvelous Inc.
• Maximum Games, LLC
• Nippon Ichi Software, Inc.
• Parity Bit Inc.
• PlatinumGames Inc.
• RAD Game Tools, Inc.
• RecoChoku Co., Ltd.
• SEGA Games Co., Ltd.
• Silicon Studio Corporation
• Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd.
• SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD.
• Starbreeze Studios
• Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.
• Telltale Games
• THQ Nordic
• Tokyo RPG Factory Co., Ltd.
• TT Games
• UBISOFT
• Ubitus Inc.
• Unity Technologies, Inc.
• Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
• Web Technology Corp
Today’s video incorporated short glimpses of representative gameplay to demonstrate the liberating nature of the Nintendo Switch home gaming system. Full game demonstrations, the list of launch window titles, as well as launch date, price, product configuration and related specifics, will be shown and announced prior to the March launch.
Source: Nintendo
First. Lol
Nice.
I keep seeing mentions that the “portable mode” will not be as powerful. People are saying that there are frame drops even in the video when the player switches over.
Well. Think about it. You cant operate a Portable Device in Full Console Power Mode. The Nvidia Tegra Chip inside will swith to the Portable Mode. Changeing Graphics Quality and Resolution to a lower Settings. The Device has to do this. Or else the Battery would be Dead in Minutes.
Indeed, that seems reasonable — and truly unfortunate! A big achilles heel IMO.
A beast with 2 faces. Like the PS4 and PS4PRo
Actually, the Switch’s power IS the tablet. When its docked, its projected to the TV and charging. The dock is nothing more than a holder with an HDMI port. So the tablet will be as powerful as it is when it is docked.
have you ever had a laptop? on default windows settings, laptops performs better plugin because its using external power and not power saving. the same thing will probably be implemented on the Switch.
Only if you do not take charge of your laptops power settings. Laptops will operate with full performance on battery if you tell them to, you can even fine tune what you actually want them to devote power to. The hardware in your average laptop uses alot more juice than your average handheld gaming system, I believe.
There is no reason a dedicated gaming system would implement such power saving features without giving control to the user. Nintendo wouldn’t sacrifice performance for power longevity; they would simply choose a bigger battery.
That’s silly speculation when it’s most likely that the footage was post-production.
Yet, this is most likely to be the exact case, because that is the stage current battery-Solutions are at,
if it is truely meant to be a portable hybrid, you need to underclock the Hardware by a considerable amount if it is supposed to live longer than 2 hours when being outside, and also obviously there will be games especially from third,Party devs which WON’T
be correctly optimized for that behaviour, that’s pretty much a given.
FFS, look at the lady playing at 2:15, she isn’t clicking any buttons and Mario is jumping all around. Same goes for the guy sitting on the couch playing Skyrim. It’s just footage.
Nintendo needs a comparable machine to the Ps4 and Xbox One CPU/GPU/Controller wise. The reason is simple; like the Wii-U, third party dev won’t release for Switch
WiiU had great Nintendo title, but you have to buy another console to get NHL, COD, RE, SF, Tomb Raider and so on… AAA titles, we want them on top of Mario.
If GPU can’t handle 4K at 60fps at medium settings, its a dead pit.
IF controller doesnt have a basic/normal 4 buttons(x,y,a,b), 2 joysticks stick, L and R buttons and d-pad gamers won’t buy.
The fact is gamers are born with Mario, but like Doom as well. They need both to be satisfied and for third party to release, it needs something easy to port and comparable to other current gen console.
NIntendo has to stop making consoles and start releasing on Pc, PS4 and Xbox One if they can’t get a powerful machine that out-perform competitors. And please stops making things different(wiimotes or gamepads that no one use).
i will tell you what Nintendo needs if they want to stick to hardware ;
– 4K 60 fps capable machine
– Optional 4K VR heatset (yes, no one wants to see pixels while gaming)
– Normal controllers(like ps4 and xbox one so make it easier for dev to port)
– Rebranded Online Services. Just simple name ; Nintendo Network (no freaking miiverse or japanese names that your North American market won’t get, because they guide the rest of the sales want it or not)
Some will say the requirments I am suggesting will bring an expensive price tag, but people are willing to pay $999us for a smartphone… Why not a console that can deliver for 10 years and we we want ; 4K 60fps, vr ready, hdr, classic controller… Easy as 1.2.3…
I like it 😀 hope it will come to iran
Ok…
Well I personally don’t see a need for this tablet.
I already got my shield tablet and tv and an overpowered pc… so gaming on the go is nothing new for me anymore. Be it geforce now or gamestream.
Also I can’t really see nintendo being able to price its software as usual between 39.99 €/$ and 69.99€/$ since its a tablet… the current player generation is spoiled with ftp stuff on google play and apple shop.
Nice, its very usefull to me since i don’t have an tv. So i can just use the tablet 🙂
So it’s all digital no physical games what is the HDD space?
The video showed him inserting a cartridge into the tablet, so it’s most likely also physical.
Ya know…Nintendo is the only gaming company that still tries new concepts, and I would be more interested in buying from Nintendo because of this. I got really bored of PS4 And Xbox One, so bored that I never bought them. Once I realized that they were just releasing consoles that played games I could find on Steam for a fraction of the price. There are maybe one or two games that would make me want to buy those consoles, thats not enough. But all Nintendo games are always fun and cant be found on Steam.
honestly i hope this piece of *** devices fails just as hard as the wiiu did!
i preordered the wiiu while being promised good support and many first party games.
and as any wiiu owner pretty much knows, we got either *** ports(from games that have been long on the market…) or only a handful REAL Nintendo titles.
so if i ever buy another console, it will most likely NOT be from the big N as they clearly have no clue what their customers want, and that for more than a decade now.
otherwise, where is my Pokémon U for example?
oh and dont mention that *** tekken clone “pokén”….
But……everyone else is focusing on VR now….
This is Nintendo, they never go with the sheep, they always do things different from everyone else
Gosh my PSVita heart is slowly sinking into the abyss. Just look at the developer that is involve make me think that maybe Sony console future is going to get dark. But, really just me thought when PSVita climb out from my closet and finally some game to play, suddenly all these news came.
I don’t care about all the negative backlash, I think it’s cool. Fresh and original thinking from Nintendo rather than just slapping more power under the hood and changing the operating system for no good reason (yep, the PS3 interface isn’t perfect but it’s still less hassle to use than the PS4 one). 4K and VR are of little interest to me, I want 1080p60 and I don’t want to wear a huge stupid helmet. Call me when 4K is as cheap as HD can be now and when we have holograms, not clunky headsets.
This is what I want. The same games portable as home console with no fuss to Switch between the two. A choice of many ways to control it (is GameCube controller support asking too much?), more focus on social gaming IN THE SAME PLACE rather than online where you need multiple copies of the same game for reasons of $$$ and are at the mercy of your internet connection. It’s like a distillation of what they were going for with the Wii U, which is a misfit console I love – this time with superior third party support, a better design… let’s hope it sells well so it can build a library of classics too.
My main question is… is that Mario Kart 9 as a launch title or just a buffed up version of Wii U’s MK8?