Earlier today Nintendo officially revealed the Nintendo Switch console. The new video game console is a hybrid console, meaning that gamers will be able to play on it both at home on a large TV or on the road as handheld.
At home the Nintendo Switch is seated in a console stand that takes care of transferring the image to the TV. In this mode players can use a gamepad to play games.
When using the Nintendo Switch on the road players have the option of taking the Nintendo Switch out of the console stand and attach controller pads on both sides of the device. Nintendo calls these controller attachments Joy-Cons.
Joy-Cons can either be attached to the console or can be used wirelessly to play Nintendo Switch games. According to the reveal trailer multiple people can play games on one console by connecting a controller wirelessly.
The Joy-Cons can also be attached to a Joy-Con Grip to turn both pieces into a normal controller. A gamepad version branded the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller will also be available separately. The Pro Controller looks strikingly similar to the current Wii U Pro Controller.
The Nintendo Switch uses a cartridge slot that is used to boot up games both at home and on the road. Even though these cartridges look like SD cards, they are most likely a custom format designed specifically for the console to prevent players from booting up copied games.
In the reveal trailer Nintendo has shown several titles, including The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, an unknown NBA game, Splatoon, Mario Kart and a new 3D Super Mario game. It is currently unknown if the titles will be available at launch.
In terms of technical specifications the Nintendo Switch will make use of a custom NVIDIA Tegra graphics chip. According to NVIDIA the console will feature a revamped physics engine and new advanced game tools and libraries.
After the reveal of the console Nintendo has also released a list of companies that will be developing titles for the Nintendo Switch. These include Bethesda Softworks, Take-Two Interactive, SEGA, Capcom, Epic Games and Square Enix.
Nintendo Switch is scheduled to launch in March of 2017.
