It happened. This morning Nintendo took the wraps off of its brand new console, the Nintendo Switch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5uik5fgIaI
The rumors floating around the web over the last few months turned out to be mostly true.
The device is “console-first” according to Nintendo, though you wouldn’t know it by the sheer design. Housed in a screen 6″ wide or so are the guts of the Switch. Nintendo has not revealed if the LCD will be touch-capable or not, but development kits are rumored to incorporate data for a 10-point multitouch capacitive screen. No specific hardware power is discussed either, but Nvidia has confirmed that it is powering the device. A custom version of the company’s Tegra X1 (or an early X2) may be behind the GPU. An important note: The X1 chip is capable of outputting 4K video, much like Microsoft’s Xbox One S console, so Ultra High Def streaming could be a thing with the Switch.
The screen will also work with amiibo and incorporates a kickstand for viewing. Nintendo will even leave the courage with Link, by incorporating a headphone jack for audio preferences. Games will be stored on an internal hard drive (size TBD) and game cartridges (named Game Cards) instead of Blu Rays.
Miniature controllers, named Joy-Cons, can be attached to either side of the HD screen. While not much is known about these either (eg. how they attach, how they’re powered/charged, if there are motion controls) we can ascertain that there are four action face buttons, an analog stick, special menu button (+ or -, depending on the side) and two shoulder buttons. One of the Joy-Cons has a home menu button as well. This would bring the total to 7+ buttons each, or about 15 total (if not more).
If user wish to play at home, the device can be slid vertically into a dock, zipping the video output through HDMI to a TV for big screen play. The dock itself has multiple USB ports for accessories and charging, though what those are is still unknown.
Players can either use the Joy-Cons as their controllers for the console while at home, or plug the mini controllers into into a dog-faced hub that functions more like a traditional (albeit big) game pad. Finally, Nintendo showed that a Switch Pro controller would also be available, similar to the Wii & Wii U pro controllers and looking a lot like Amazon’s Fire gaming pad.
Nintendo wants the Switch to be a device that lets user take their console experience with them, without sacrificing visual fidelity or multiplayer gaming.
It launches March 2017.
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