The Nintendo Switch is Revealed

It has been a while since we saw a new console from Nintendo. This is one that has been anticipated for a while. Originally introduced under the working title of the Nintendo NX, it has been revealed to be the Nintendo Switch. It has a release date in March 2017.

Having a life-time of seeing console, this one is something very unique. Before there had been a line between portable gaming and console gaming. The Switch is the first console to fully brace both aspects of the video game console market. The largest knowledge component in the system is the Nvidia Tegra chip. This is helping people figure out at least some of the capabilities of the console. It will also be region-free.

The trailer showed off the various capabilities of the system. It was shown seamlessly moving between Console, sending the image to the TV to portable mode. It will be able to support local wireless multi-player. It will also feature cartridge based games. It will have a number of controller options and likely have more in the future. These will be both attachable, wireless or traditional. The Switch's dock has at least 2 USB ports on its front that can be used for attachments or to charge the controllers. It is very likely to feature an HDMI out. The dock itself is likely intended to function both as a dock and a transmitting device for the console itself.

The first, as a portable, has it resembling the WiiU Gamepad. You can connect the Joy-Con controller onto the side to have a more traditional portable gaming device. Even these have a few versatile modes that they can be used it.

The Joy-Con is a 2 part controller. It breaks between the Joy-Con L and Joy-Con R. Each features a thumbstick and D-pad, 4 face buttons and 2 shoulder buttons as well. On the Left, you will have the Up, Down, Left and Right Arrows, like the C-buttons of the Nintendo 64. On the right you have A, B, X and Y. They can be used together or individually. This allows one Joy-Con set to be used either for 2 players, utilizing a simplified control scheme, to game together or both by a single player. This already has unparalleled utility within the realm of gaming. This speaks toward the Switch being able to support 2 controllers per unit. It does appear that at least 4 consoles can link together.

There will be an attachment piece that lets the Joy-con be used as a single traditional controller as well. This is known as the Joy-Con Grip. There will be lights in the middle to show which controller set is synchronized with which player.

You will also have the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. This controller is the most traditional one of the set. With a D-Pad, 2 Thumbsticks, 4 face buttons, 4 shoulder triggers, the “-” and “+”, the Home Button as well as the power button.

The console itself, while being using its portability, has a single stand that can be extended from the back of the screen. This will be very useful for any portable multiplayer games with a few people on one screen.

Revealed today using a trailer, gamers were treated to additional footage of Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild. We also saw Splatoon and surprisingly Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim running on it.

There still, officially remains the question of price. It is presently rumored there will be 2 versions of the console. One stand alone and one bundled with a game and some extras. They are supposedly priced at $299 and $399.

So far, for its launch line up, it is apparent there is going to be: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Remastered (or shortly thereafter), a new Mario game, possibly Mario Kart 9, a new(ish) version of Splatoon. They also have a large third party support base to help augment the launch titles and future console support.

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