The presentation of Nintendo Switch with Wii-style controllers took place.



    Today in Tokyo, the company Nintendo held the official presentation of the new game console Nintendo Switch , which will go on sale in the United States, Canada, major European countries and Hong Kong from March 3, 2017. The cost in the United States will be $ 299.99, in the UK - £ 279.99. The online service for the multiplayer Nintendo Switch Online game will also open in March, but from the autumn of 2017 it will be paid.

    Concept


    Nintendo Switch - a hybrid console, which is a tablet with two detachable controllers on each side. The prefix is ​​connected to the TV by installing it on a special docking station.

    Thus, the Nintendo Switch combines the features of a regular stationary set-top box with a TV connection and a portable game console that you can take with you on the road. According to the logic of Nintendo, such an innovative concept will help the company to get out of the financial hole associated with the decline in sales of consoles due to the spread of mobile games .

    Nintendo Switch is different from everything that is on the market at the moment. This is not a successor to the Nintendo 3DS or Wii U, but a completely new conceptual thing. The ability to play both at home and on the road opens up opportunities for developers to create new types of games.

    For a long time Nintendo did not dare to enter a new market for itself, but nevertheless adopted a new business model, concluding an alliance with the popular in Japan portal of mobile games DeNA . Nintendo held today's Switch presentation with DeNA.

    Nintendo Switch Presentation



    Controllers and games


    The presentation showed that the Nintendo Switch prefix is ​​even stranger than one might have thought after a preliminary announcement in October 2016 .

    Nintendo pays special attention to miniature game controllers Joy Con, which are attached to the sides of the console-tablet. Two controllers with autonomous control immediately push to a multiplayer game. The controllers support motion control like the Wii, so you can swing a sword or a tennis racket in the game. There is a special Capture button for recording screenshots of gaming sessions (in the future they will add video).


    Photos: Nintendo


    Photos: Nintendo

    Joy Con controllers support the 1-2 Switch gameavailable from day one of sales. This is a very unusual game in which players pick up the controller, look into each other's eyes and try to guess the moment when they need to press a button. One of the options is a game of cowboys, who quickly snatch "revolver".


    Up to eight controllers can be connected to one set-top box, i.e. small group skirmishes are possible. In turn, up to eight Switch boxes are connected via WiFi (large group shootouts of up to 64 people?).

    In the spring another game Arms will be released , where players will also stand opposite each other and “fight” with controllers representing the virtual extension of the arm.


    Another unusual property of Joy Con controllers is the HD Rumble mode of ultrasensitive vibration. According to Nintendo, the vibration is so sensitive and accurate that the player will recognize that he has a glass in his hand with one ice cube or three. It's not entirely clear how exactly this example from Nintendo is used in the game, but it sounds interesting.

    In addition, infrared cameras are built into the controllers, recognizing objects and the distance to them (a camera with a rangefinder in only one gamepad). The presentation said that the camera would be able to recognize stone, scissors and paper gestures.

    Batteries consoles enough for battery life from 2.5 to 6.5 hours, depending on the game, although you can be charged in the process. In The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the WildThe battery lasts for 3 hours. It is very small. For example, the Nintendo DS portable console works without recharging for 10 hours with the backlight on.

    From the first day of sales of the console, the game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will be available . A little later, a new part will be released in the series about Mario: Super Mario Odyssey . Other major games are Splatoon 2 , Xenoblade 2 , Fire Emblem Warriors .

    Super Mario Odyssey trailer


    Trailer The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild


    For trailers for Splatoon 2 and smaller titles, see the official Nintendo channel on YouTube .

    Some game trailers











    At the presentation, EA announced the FIFA game for the Switch platform, and Bethesda announced the Skyrim game. Sega also promised to release something.

    The presentation did not say a word about how much a subscription to an online service, which will be paid in the fall, will cost.

    Nintendo promised that neither the games nor the system itself would be tied to the region. You can buy them and play anywhere.

    Specifications


    Surprisingly, at the presentation of Nintendo did not even mention which company makes the video processor for the console (we know that this is Nvidia Tegra). According to rumors , this is a Tegra with a greatly reduced clock frequency. It’s not completely clear whether this is the previous generation Maxwell (X1) or the current Pascal architecture (P1).

    The tablet itself is a 6.2 inches touchscreen with a resolution of 1280 × 720 pixels. Onboard 32 GB of flash memory. There is support for microSD cards for expanding memory for digital games and user content.

    Charging the tablet console via USB Type-C connector.

    The basic package includes a tablet, two Joy Con controllers, two wrist straps, a handle for combining two controllers into a single configuration (separate from the tablet screen), a docking station for connecting to a TV, an HDMI cable (probably HDMI 1.4), a network adapter.

    Prices


    The game console is now available for pre-order on the official website for $ 299.99. Two color options are available: with gray controllers or with blue / red. Same price. With the cost of Nintendo Switch is on a par with the Xbox One S and PlayStation 4.

    Additional controller Switch Pro is sold for $ 69.99.


    Switch pro

    A charging handle that combines the two controllers together and charges them at the same time is $ 29.99. In the event of a peripheral failure, you can separately buy a kit from the docking station, charger and HDMI cable ($ 89.99). There is also an additional accessory - the steering wheel, where the controller is inserted during auto racing. Apparently, this is just a plastic steering wheel, fitted to the size of the controller, so as not to have to stick it with scotch tape. The steering wheel costs $ 14.99.

    As already mentioned, sales begin March 3, 2017.

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