Nintendo doubles down on portables, reveals Nintendo Switch tablet-based console
Mike Wuerthele
Alongside mobile ambitions with iOS, Nintendo's new console called the "Nintendo Switch" has debuted, and a promotional video shows a Tegra-powered game console able to be hooked up to a television in a dock, with controller connectors that when connected strongly resemble the older GameVice iPad and iPhone peripheral.
The cartridge-based Nintendo Switch console, previously referred to as the NX, is a hybrid system that will connect to a television when connected to the charging dock, and will "instantly transition to portable mode" when removed from the stand.
The controllers, called "Joy-Con," flank the console when inserted into grooves and connect to the console wirelessly. When installed, the entire assembly resembles the GameVice MFi peripheral released for the iPad in 2015.
GPU developer Nvidia notes that it is the supplier for the Tegra system-on-a-chip that powers the device. Included in the unspecified processor is a GPU based on the same architecture as the "top-performing GeForce gaming graphics cards" used in the PC industry.
Nvidia additionally created new gaming APIs for the device. The newest API, NVN, was built specifically for Nintendo to "bring lightweight, fast gaming to the masses" according to the company.
Activision, AutoDesk, Bethesda, Capcom, Epic, Ubisoft, and others have all pledged to support the console in some form.
Pricing, and technical specifications are not yet known. The console is expected to release in March 2017.
The shift in focus away from a console tethered to a television with the Nintendo Switch is happening in parallel with Nintendo's offerings for other hardware.
While "Pokemon Go" is affiliated with Nintendo, and continues to be extremely profitable for the consortium that was responsible for its intellectual property and development, Nintendo itself does not make that much money off of it directly. The vast majority of the generated income from the title goes to Apple and Google for hosting the title in respective app stores, and the development house behind the game.
"Super Mario Run" was revealed during the iPhone 7 debut event in September, and will be released in December for iOS. Nintendo also promises titles relating to the "Fire Emblem" adventure series, and the "Animal Crossing" town builder on mobile in March 2017.
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Mike Wuerthele and Malcolm Owen
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33 Comments
This looks like a system I would actually want. I'll wait until it has a lot of games I want to play released before purchasing. Got burned on the Wii U with this, still no Zelda, no Mario in forever. All the decent titles are coming out on their handheld system, which I don't care for. Switch looks like the best of both worlds, exciting.
Would have loved to see an Apple collaboration here.
I think it's a little past March 2016 >:)
I watched the video and I was impressed at first, but by the end I wasn't convinced this is going to be a hit. It's just too complicated. There are too many different parts to lose and break. It's essentially a Wii U with removable controllers and a dock.
The sliding and click sound effects made me uncomfortable. And then somehow my attention left the console entirely and I began watching the people interacting with it which caused my OCD to freak out thinking about how dirty and ungroomed most of them were... and I imagined the bad breath they'd have as they used their greasy hands touching my Switch controller that I'd have to sanitize before I ever clipped it back into the system. I will now jump off a bridge...
This looks awesome. But NX is such a better name than Switch. Was is Nintendo struggling so much with bad naming??