Nintendo has officially announced the Nintendo Switch. Way back in March of 2015, Nintendo confirmed they were working on a project called the “NX.” Countless rumors have spread about this console over the previous year-and-a-half. This project began as an idea from the now deceased CEO Satoru Iwata and very well could have been the last project he had involvement with. In my opinion, this console will do one of two things. Either this console will be an immense success, bringing Nintendo back to the top, or this console’s sales could be even lower than that of the Wii U’s. If the company faces increasingly low sales, fans could completely lose their remaining confidence in Nintendo and the company would be forced to sell their franchises. The Switch could quite possibly be the last hope for Nintendo to remain a frontrunner.
The console is being marketed as a gaming device that is both a portable and home console. The promotional release video features the device as being similar to a tablet with two controllers attached to the sides that resemble smaller versions of the Wii’s motion controllers. They are detachable and there is also a separate, more traditional gamepad controller available. To an extent, the device sounds like a dream come true for many gamers. There are many factors that could be an issue. Will the device’s battery life be short in portable mode? Will the accessories featured in the video be included or sold separately? Will the device use the older Nvidia Tegra X1 processor or a soon-to-be-released updated version? Will third-party developers finally contribute their featured series? A new report also says that the device could support micro-SD cards for memory and USB Type-C for charging. In making these an option, it will make the device more universally compatible, leading to further expandability.
The promotional release video also features mostly young adults which, to me, is interesting. This is because throughout much of Nintendo’s history they have focused on advertising to families and children. This focus on young adults could represent that Nintendo plans to pursue a demographic that takes gaming more seriously. To add support to this theory, the video also features major games such as NBA 2K17 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition. These are series from developers that have primarily only featured their games on consoles that can handle higher frame rates in high definition.
More information is expected to be announced on Jan 12, 2017, and the official launch is set for March of 2017. In an interview with Bloomberg, an analyst projected that the console would sell most effectively at $250. However, GameStop’s UK website accidentally posted a preorder page for the console at £399, which is approximately $500. If the anticipation is killing you to get a new console before this Christmas, Nintendo just released the NES Classic Edition for $59.99 on Nov. 11, which includes 30 NES classics such as The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Final Fantasy, Galaga, Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Super Mario Bros.