Nintendo needs new Switch console to be a hit
TOKYO — Nintendo is trying to Switch it up.
The Japanese video-game company revealed details Friday about its hotly anticipated Nintendo Switch, a video game console that also serves as a hand-held gaming device, during a global rollout on Friday.
The price in the United States will be $300, a bit above the $200 to $250 that analysts were expecting. It will debut March 3. The Switch is the first major hybrid console/hand-held gaming device.
“Nintendo Switch is a new way to play,” said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime at a packed event in New York, where several hundred reporters tried out games including the fantasy game “Zelda: Breath of the Wild” and the fighting game “Arms” on the device.
Nintendo needs the Switch to be a hit. Its previous game console, the Wii U, faded quickly, and its 3DS handheld was also a disappointment. The onetime king of the video-game console has since been largely eclipsed by the Sony PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One.
The company has also been trying to catch up in mobile games, having largely missed a major shift to smartphones and tablets.
Nintendo finally made a big push into mobile with “Super Mario Run” for the iPhone, which launched in December.
Analysts believe the Switch needs to win over new, younger players who may not be hardcore game fans — and who now might be daunted by its heft y price tag. Many had hoped the Switch might sell for closer to $200. In Japan, the console will sell for 29,980 yen (about $260). Nintendo didn’t release prices for other countries.
Investors were underwhelmed, sending Nintendo stock sinking in Tokyo trading after the announcement. It closed the day down 5.5 percent.
The Switch features a large hand-held controller designed for both hands that works with the console. You can also snap off the sides of that controller to serve as separate left- and righthand remotes, which Nintendo calls Joy-Cons, for two-handed play — sort of like Nintendo’s older Wii controllers.
But there’s more to the Switch’s Lego-like tricks. You can also slide a flat screen resembling a tablet out of the main console and attach the Joy-Cons to it, and suddenly you have a new independent hand-held gaming device.
All that makes it possible to use the Switch as a regular handheld, put the display on a table, or use a TV screen as a monitor.
N i n t e n d o i s p r o mi s i n g a n immersive interactive experience with the Switch, including online play and ability to use the remote controller for games that don’t require constant attention to a display.
Nintendo said 50 software makers, including Electronic Arts and Sega, are preparing 80 games for the Switch. It also promised in-house games such as a Legend of Zelda game, which will go on sale the same date as the Switch.