It’s been a long, long time coming, but Nintendo have taken the wraps off the Nintendo Switch. Sure, last year’s aspirational video was nice, we got to learn of their general vision for their next generation of console, but there were so many questions left unanswered. Following this morning’s Nintendo Switch Presentation, we know everything from the launch date and price to the launch titles and whether or not Shigeru Miyamoto looked happy!
Not everything is completely cleared up though, so we’ll be updating this article as we learn more of the final details.
[27/01] – Far too many long overdue updates.
[5PM 15/01] – Clarified Dock capabilities and corrected error with bundled Joy-Con Grip.
[1PM 14/01] – Noted lack of Miiverse and StreetPass support.
[9PM 13/01] – Added UK accessory prices via Nintendo.co.uk.
[6PM 13/01] – Added games and clarified release dates.
Watch our Nintendo Switch unboxing
And also read our first impressions with the final console!
Watch the Nintendo Switch Presentation
In case you missed it and want to watch what happened, here’s the whole presentation for you to watch. I guess you could consider it spoiler territory after this point.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyFCm0_UKjI
Price and Release Date
The two big ones, right out of the gate. The Nintendo Switch will cost $299.99/¥29,980, and it’s out on 3rd March 2017 worldwide. EU is determined by retailers, with Nintendo UK Store, Amazon and Game having settled on £279.99.
Stock is expected to be limited, and Amazon UK have opened their pre-orders as of 7AM GMT today with a restriction of one console per customer per address.
The Specs & Whats in the Box
In the box, you get a Nintendo Switch, two Joy-Con controllers (one left and one right), the Nintendo Switch Dock, a Joy-Con Grip (not of the charging variety), two Joy-Con Straps, an AC adapter and an HDMI cable. It’s available in two identically priced versions, one with black Joy-Con and one with a neon red and neon blue Joy-Con.
Nintendo kept very quiet about the nitty gritty console specs, but here’s what we do know:
- A 6.2″ capacitative multitouch screen at 720p
- 32GB built in storage – 25.9GB available to users – expandable with MicroSDXC up to 2TB
- 4310mAh batter with 2.5 to 6 hours play time, dependent on the game – Zelda runs for around 3 hours. This is not user serviceable.
- USB-C port for charging and data
- Game cartridge slot
- A 3.5mm headphone jack
- Kickstand
- Games are not region locked
The console is envisioned to work in three modes of play: TV Mode, which allows it to output to TV at 1080p, Tabletop mode, with the kickstand propping up the screen and Joy-Con controllers detached, and Handheld Mode, with the whole unit in your hands.
The Switch’s USB Type-C – USB-C for short – connection means that it can be charged with standard USB chargers and battery packs. Ideally you will want one that is capable of charging an iOS or Android tablet at full speed, but your existing USB chargers will also do the job simply with a USB Type-A to Type-C cable.
You can connect up to eight controllers to the console at once, while up to eight Switch can hook up for ad hoc multiplayer.
The Joy-Con Controllers
Though the Joy-Con controllers are not identical, they can both be used individually to play multiplayer. Both feature one analogue stick, four face buttons (either a D-pad or traditional ABXY), one shoulder button, one analogue trigger, and two system buttons (minus and Share on the left controller and plus and Start on the right).
The right Joy-Con contains an NFC sensor for amiibo support and an IR camera as well that can determine distance and basic shapes like rock, paper, scissors. They feature “HD rumble” that can convey the feeling of an ice cube rattling in a glass, more being added, and even the glass being filled with water.
The Joy-Con can charge when physically connected to the Switch when the console is docked or when in the Joy-Con Charging Grip, which has a built in battery of its own – the bundled Grip does not have a battery. Even so, the Joy-Con feature a 525 mAh battery, which is rated for an impressive 20 hours of wireless play, connecting to the Switch via Bluetooth 3.0.
Additional Joy-Con, the Joy-Con Charging Grip and the Switch Pro Controller can be bought separately.
The Switch Dock
The Dock is a fairly simple enclosure and break out box, with a hidden rear compartment. The Switch itself features just a simple USB-C port, which the Dock translates into the older rectangular USB-A form, with two USB 2.0 on the side and USB 3 alongside HDMI output and power input in the rear compartment.
Placing the Switch in the dock in nice and smooth, with a satisfying amount of resistance. You don’t need to be too careful either, with a guiding bolt and a spring-loaded piece of plastic helping to make sure that the USB-C connector goes in without any problem.
Paid Online Services
Nintendo are finally getting serious about online, with features common on other services like letting you invite friends to join you, setting play appointments and online chat. This will be accompanied by a smartphone app in the Summer.
It’s a paid service, but will initially be free before transitioning to paid in the autumn. One perk of this is that subscribers will get to download a NES or SNES game, though the wording suggests that this is not permanently added to a PS+ or Games with Gold-style game collection. This is now confirmed. You will not keep the free games after the end of the month.
Pricing has yet to be confirmed, but Nintendo’s President Tatsumi Kimishima has stated it will be between 2000 and 3000 Yen. That equates to £13.97 to £20.96 before taking VAT and sales tax into account.
You can now claim your new Nintendo Account User ID that will be used for Switch online play.
Nintendo of America have confirmed to VentureBeat that the Switch will not have StreetPass, as featured on the Nintendo 3DS, and that Miiverse will make way for support of third party social networks.
Launch Games
Surprisingly, the current launch line up is a little… sparse, though further Nintendo exclusives are spread throughout the year and we hope to find out about more games soon.
- 1-2-Switch – Out 3rd March for £39.99
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Out 3rd March for £59.99
- Super Bomberman R – Out on 3rd March
- Just Dance 2017 – Out on 3rd March
- Skylanders Imaginators – Out on 3rd March
- Snipperclips – Cut it out, together! – Out digitally on 3rd March
- Fast RMX (Fast Racing Neo) – Out on 3rd March
- I am Setsuna – Out on 3rd March
- Shovel Knight – Out on 3rd March
- Has-Been Heroes – Out in March
Later Games
Heading beyond the “Launch Window” and later this year, Nintendo and others have announced and shown off:
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 28th April
- Arms – Spring 2017
- Puyo Puyo Tetris – Spring 2017
- Disgaea 5 – Spring 2017
- RIME – Spring 2017
- Splatoon 2 – Summer 2017
- Skyrim – Autumn 2017
- Super Mario Odyssey – Holiday 2017
- Xenoblade Chronicles 2 – 2017
- Fire Emblem Warriors
- Dragon Quest Heroes I & II
- Dragon Quest X – Japan only
- Dragon Quest XI – Japan only
- Shin Megami Tensei Brand New Title
- No More Heroes-related Suda51 project
- Project Octopath Traveler
- FIFA
- Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers
- Steep
- Rayman Legends Definitive Edition
- Project Sonic 2017
- Constructor
- Seasons of Heaven
- Farming Simulator
- Syberia 3
- NBA 2K
- Minecraft
- Sonic Mania
- Oceanhorn: Monster Of Uncharted Seas
Virtual Console
Aside from the NES and SNES downloads as part of the new online subscription service, we don’t know much about Virtual Console on the Nintendo Switch.
NeoGeo Virtual Console games have also been announced.
Nintendo have announced that
Accessories
- Individual Left or Right Joy-Con with Strap – $49.99/£39.99
- Joy-Con Strap – £4.99
- Paired Joy-Con with Straps – $79.99/£69.99
- Switch Pro Controller – $69.99/£59.99
- Joy-Con Charging Grip – $29.99/£24.99
- Switch Carrying Case and Screen Protector – £16.99
- Joy-Con Wheel (pair) – $14.99/£12.99
UK pricing via Nintendo.co.uk
Third parties will also have you covered for the likes of skins, cases and fight sticks, as reported on previously.
Did Shigeru Miyamoto Look Happy?
Yes. He was playing Zelda, of course he looked happy!
The Lone Steven
32GB is crap. Assuming that Skyrim is the original version(No confirmation on what version it is and if they called the current gen ports the Special edition, they are likely to have done so with the Switch version but haven’t yet), that is 15GB. Half the intial space is taken up by Skyrim and it’s DLCs. That is the largest game on the system that is confirmed at the moment and practically being limited to either one massive RPG or a lot of other games is not a fun prospect. It should have been 80GB at least. Even that is too small but big enough to be managable. At least they had the sense to allow users to add more space in though doing so just to have a decent amount of space is bloody annoying. I mean, why? Why do I need to pay £50 just to have a decent amount of space?
£60 for the pro controller!? What the hell, Nintendo!? Assuming it’s the controller that looks like the controller and more comfortable to use, that is bloody disgraceful. The Joy-Cons are too small and one of them has a rubbish layout. Why put one analog stick at the bottom? Buttons underneath it and tiny directional buttons? I get that they may have been trying to go for a unique layout but i can see being uncomfortable to hold and it is quite gimmicky. But if it’s used as an optional method, fair enough. If not, kinda going to be a bit of a hard sell.
£110 in additional costs so far. One hundred and freaking 10 quid if you want to have the pro and bigger space. £400 in total! Even more if you want the others. It’s too expensive, Nintendo. They are focusing on mobile gaming. You can probably get a gaming tablet for the same price with a greater line up.
There’s too little available and some are re-releases of games that they want £50+ for it!
I can see this flopping if they do not focus on getting more and more games within the first 6 months. Let us know there is more coming. Do budget title releases. I would love to see XCOM:Enemy Within get released on it. Get the Resident Evil Remakes on it! (think REmake is on the PS3/4 and X360/1 thus likely to be the last gen versions).
Just get tons of content on it or be doomed to repeat the failure of the Wii U and i don’t think they can afford to have a second console flop in a row.
As for the console itself, apart from the gimmicky joy cons and god awful battery life(Seriously? 6 hours? That’s one session if i’m bloody lucky and really destroys the portable aspect of it if you are on long journeys.) It is a neat console. If it shows improvement on the line up front, I may invest in one next year. (Got a bit of a queue of platforms to get).
If not, I don’t think I would bother. Darnit, Nintendo, stop making me sound like i’m tearing it apart. I want to praise it, I want to go “Ooo, feck yes, i get it!” but tis not the case. Just get games on it. Get the bloody classics on it! The original Super Mario trilogy for a few quid? Hell yes. Original Zeldas? Feck yeah! They could easily make a ton of cash by using NES/SNES/N64/Gamecube titles as their budget line ups. Most are perfect for the portable platform due to the nature of them.
But if Nintendo keeps being Nintendo and not adapt new practises, they may become the new Sega. Which turns Sega into the old Sega. It really messes up the established order of the gaming industry. Don’t go that way, Ninty!
colmshan1990
The games are going to be on flash cartridges. Not slow blu rays.
Unless you download everything, they won’t need to be installed.
Lyts1985
But digital download games…? That kind of storage space limitation makes buying digital a very hard sell.
colmshan1990
SD cards are dirt cheap if you want them.
This isn’t the Vita’s proprietary cards.
Lyts1985
Not as cheap as hard drives though and a lot less convenient. And I can’t imagine doubling or even quadrupling the capacity of flash memory would increase the production cost by more than a few quid these days… a handful of fully fledged games would fill a middling 128gb card too so you’re going to end up needing more than one.
colmshan1990
You’re talking about a small tablet here. Something the size of the iPad mini.
No hard drive is fitting into that.
There is no competing hardware offering anything close to what the Switch is doing. Half the price of an iPad with far better, custom built games. Similar price and spec to the Nvidia Shield but running console games instead of mobile.
The Switch truly seems to be in a league of its own.
Games will be compressed. Games will be stored on flash cartridges and have read speeds faster than blurays and nowadays even faster than SSDs. This is the smallest of issues.
If you’re the type of person who doesn’t buy physical cartridges anymore (me with the Vita), a large SD card to hold your whole library won’t cost much more than a game. 128GB micro SD can be found for €30, and the price falls constantly.
Awayze
I’ll pick one up when they’re being forced of the shelves because there are no new games to attract people and sales are non existent. Home console users demand power and being priced more than a PS4, it wont get many sales.