Nintendo unveils Switch console design
With the release of a three-minute video on its site, Nintendo has revealed its next console, the Switch, which beyond being able to play games on your big screen can also be picked up and taken on the go.
The video shows various gamers who, while playing on their TVs, hear the call of the great outdoors. So they detach parts of the controller, attach the pieces to a portable tablet screen, lift it out of a docking station and continue playing the game.
The Switch was formerly code-named NX, and has been the subject of much speculation since March 2015, when the company announced that it was under development. Nintendo billed the video, released on Wednesday, as the first glimpse of its next console.
Switch will be available in March 2017. The broad strokes — a home console with some kind of mobile component — had been leaked, but not the configuration; the new video ad shows the design. While the gamepad looks somewhat similar to the Wii U, the Switch tablet appears thinner and seems to be completely mobile. A small cartridge was shown being inserted in the tablet. That is likely where the processing guts of the gaming system must be, although there is still a lot that’s unknown about how it all works and whether games-on-the-go perform as well as in the living room.
What Nintendo is offering here is an unbroken game experience at home and on the go, which could be an impressive draw. There are still many questions. How long does the battery last? How good does the wireless access need to be for multiplayer games? How much will it cost? As well, the games shown during the video comprise Nintendo exclusives such as a Mario platformer and Splatoon, but also seemed to include The Elder Scrolls, a popular fantasy adventure series.
One of the big problems with the Wii U is that with poor sales and its two-screen design, Nintendo has had trouble attracting third-party developers to its consoles. So its devices have become places to only play its exclusive games. Nintendo would like to reverse that trend and hopefully build out the library from other developers. In a press release, the company listed over 45 developers working on games for the Switch, including Bethesda, Warner Bros. Interactive and Electronic Arts.
Once again, Nintendo is going its own way with design. While Wii popularized motion controls, it had lesser graphics than competitive devices from Microsoft and Sony. Both of those companies allow some kind of remote play over the Internet on computers, although the experience can be affected by lag.
Until recently, Nintendo owned mobile gaming with its DS line of portable consoles, but its dominance has taken a hit from smartphone gaming. The company was slow to create games for phones, as it didn’t want to move people away from its hardware. But this year, the company released Miitomo, and it partnered with Niantic on the smash hit Pokemon Go. Nintendo also announced that Super Mario Go will be coming to iOS devices in December.