Nintendo love to buck a trend.
Everyone in gaming looks left, they look right.
Microsoft and Sony hammer down the importance of online play? Nintendo bring out a console with a motion-sensing remote control.
Microsoft and Sony talk up HD razor-sharp graphics? Nintendo bring out a handheld device to let you play in 3D.
Microsoft and Sony decide to mess up the agreed five year cycle of consoles offer consumers a slightly more amped up machine for high end gamers in the new Project Scorpio and Playstation 4 Pro?
Nintendo announce this, the Nintendo Switch.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5uik5fgIaI
So the big N has done away with the NX codename that they’d been using up until today, but otherwise the Switch is the console/handheld hybrid that the internet had already told us it was going to be, and as predicted, it will return to cartridge-based media.
The Switch can be plugged into your telly as normal, where you can happily while away the hours playing Zelda and Mario. But the real USP of the machine is that you can attach the two mini controllers to a tablet and take it on the go.
The portable set-up allows you to either play with the screen in your hands, or you can prop it up on a table and remove the side controllers.
#NintendoSwitch it's about damn time you guys come out with this, and damn, did you come out swinging pic.twitter.com/Kor9Ojfq9a
— Josh @ Backlog Hell (@EliteFourJosh) October 20, 2016
It sounds a bit finicky, but in fact the trailer immediately demonstrates exactly what this console is for and how you’re going to use it, a simple message Nintendo failed to deliver when showing off the Wii U for the first time. You can play the Switch on your sofa, in the park and on the toilet; it’s a one-stop shop for all your Nintendo needs.
There’s an argument to be had that the legendary Japanese company has lost its way a bit in recent years (Pokemon Go success aside), but they still have a fiercely loyal fanbase who are always yearning for the creativity and sheer fun factor that only Mario and co. can provide.
And a quick glance at social media will tell you that the fans don’t feel let down.
Nintendo Switch looks like a revolution in toilet gaming.
— TotalBiscuit (@Totalbiscuit) October 20, 2016
https://twitter.com/anthonypadilla/status/789129981414604800
Best thing about the Nintendo Switch:
Not. One. Bit. Of. Attention. On. MOTION CONTROLS.
— SSF1991 (@SSF1991) October 20, 2016
Nintendo Switch is a terrible name, but I'm on board. Looks great! Really intrigued to see how the market will take to it.
— Colin Moriarty (@longislandviper) October 20, 2016
NIntendo Switch looks dope as hell.
— Will Smith (@willsmith) October 20, 2016
https://twitter.com/kevleeb/status/789118362597068801
The Nintendo Switch looks like a great upgrade to bathroom gaming. 😀
— Nathan Adams (@Dinnerbone) October 20, 2016
There’s no word on price yet, but the Nintendo Switch is due to launch in March 2017.
