Here’s What We Learned From Nintendo’s Live Presentation On The Nintendo Switch

Nintendo Switch might be Nintendo’s declaration of war against Apple or it might be another Wii U, that’s all yet to be seen. But their live presentation on Thursday night gave us a deep look at what we can expect once the console is released on March 3rd alongside The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild . Not only is the console carrying a $299 price tag, but there’s also going to be a online paid service that seems to take a few cues from competitors at Sony and Microsoft. Nintendo will offer a service for free to start with a trial period, but you’ll have to pay soon after that.

Another interesting aspect about the actual gameplay is the lack of any region locking for the Switch. That would mean gamers can import games that are only out in Japan and play them on the console they’ve purchased here. This isn’t entirely new for Nintendo given the abilities of the DS, but it’s definitely a nice feature to have. It will also have multiplayer with up to 8 people connected to the system at one time.

Nintendo also introduced some new colors for the Joyconn controllers on the side of the console, including red, blue, and grey for some reason. Not only that, but each of the controllers will feature a chip to read Amiibo, gyroscopes and accelerometers like the Wiimote, and a touchscreen. It’s definitely taking some of the best parts from their last few consoles and also hints that some of the games we’ve seen on Wii will be making an appearance on the switch.

Ths system itself will sadly feature a weak battery life, sure to be bad news for heavy gamers out there. Nintendo claims the battery life will stretch from 2 1/2 to 6 hours per charge, which is not promising but will hopefully get better down the road.

Nintendo also shared a few games we can expect to be playing at launch, showing off the games 1 2 Switch and a boxing game called Arms. Each are heavy on playing with others in the room with you, taking the best from VR games and putting it into a real life situation.

1 2 Switch is almost like a hand slapping game that wants you to look at the other player, but provides a video game in between to help things along. Arms on the other hand is all about punching the other player, around columns and right into your opponents face with silly precision.

We also got a good look at Splatoon 2 coming to the Switch in Summer 2017, which should be good news for those who fell in love with the original. It was soon followed by the latest Mario game titled Super Mario Odyssey, this time bringing the iconic plumber to the real world and beyond for some sort of color-packed adventure. Odyssey will apparently jump around from the real world and fantasy lands and will be the first time since Super Mario 64 and Sunshine since Mario will have a “sandbox” to run around in. He can also throw his cap, which is now apparently alive for some reasons that have to do with the Switch itself. There’s also evil rabbits for some reason. Fans can expect it near the holiday in 2017.

After these first party games on the way, Nintendo introduced some of their third-party games that will be supporting the system — mostly in the epic JRPG variety. This includes Xenoblade 2 and Bethesda bringing Skyrim to the Nintendo system for the first time. That means portable Skyrim, wherever you go at any time. Bethesda has not worked with Nintendo before in the past, so this gives a lot of support to the power of the Switch and the types of game developers we might be able to see working with the console.

Nintendo closed the event with the latest look at the new Legend Of Zelda game and announced that it will launch alongside the console on March 3rd.

There’s also apparently a sequel to No More Heroes on the way, which a fantastic idea of crazy protagonists who sometimes have to use the bathroom with motion controlled action. Switch will also be getting some EA Sports action in the form of a custom FIFA game that gamers can take on the go with them.

For the $299 you’ll get the Switchm, the dock, the Joycon controller dongles, the special grip, the HDMI cable and an AC Adapter. The pro controller will be sold seperately and there doesn’t seem to be a game included like Wii Sports was with the original Wii console, but you will get two options of colors with the grey and the blue/red version.

Will you be buying one at launch? If you’re in one of the selected cities, you might get an early chance to play the system before it is release. Check out the official site for more info.

(Via Nintendo)

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