Nintendo is the video game company that never dies. Some of our oldest, fondest memories are with one or more of their systems. Depending on your age you may have played Duck Hunt on the original Nintendo, Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo, GoldenEye on Nintendo 64 or Mario Kart on the Nintendo Wii.
After the failure of their last system, the Wii U, Nintendo is desperately in need of a hit. Well, they might have one on their hands with the Nintendo Switch, which until today was being referred to as the NX.
Announced on Thursday, the Switch is a unique and varied take on the home gaming system. In a landscape where home consoles such as the Xbox One or PlayStation 4 don’t vary widely from one to the other, Nintendo is trying something different.
The Switch for all intents and purposes is a controller linked up to a tablet screen. By docking the device (tablet) you can play it on your TV screen at home. If you need to jet but are mid game you can switch (ah now I get it!) to playing it on your tablet.
Based on the 3-minute reveal trailer there are a number of different ways to use the Switch, different configurations if you will. As I said before, you can play it at home by placing it in the dock and using a controller or the accompanying gamepad.
When you’re ready to get on the move simply slide it out of the dock and remove the side controls of the gamepad to attach them to the tablet. The video makes it look really easy.
These controls, known as Joy-Con controllers, can also be used, one in each hand, detached from the portable console. If you’re on a plane or in a café you can use the kickstand to set it down giving you a quasi-home console/handheld console kind of deal.
The Switch also offers a portable multi-player option. Set it down with the kickstand, hand one of the Joy-Con controllers to your friend and keep one for yourself. Now fight to the death. Just kidding. But this does allow for you both to play at the same time. If you have more than one Switch you can bring even more friends into the fold, all playing the same game.
One half of the Joy-Con controller seem a bit small so you may want to opt for a different controller set up which they do offer with the Switch Pro Controller.
One thing that Nintendo seems to be trying to bring back with the Switch is the game cartridge. Games are once again in cartridge form, ditching the disc format other consoles use. Ok, they’re more like game cards but still when I see them I think “cartridge.”
Let’s just hope you don’t need to blow in the thing to get it to work. We don’t need a bunch of kids getting light-headed and passing out. My generation knows the struggle.
The Nintendo Switch will hit shelves in March 2017. No word yet on price or even an exact date but we’ll make sure to tell you when we know.
What do you think of the new Nintendo Switch? Does Nintendo have a hit on their hands?
