The Nintendo Switch has been officially unveiled by Nintendo together with all the important information about their new console. The hybrid gaming system will apparently cost $300 and release on March 3, 2017. The console will come in two bundles during launch, one will have the grey color scheme, while the other have the neon blue and neon red colors.
There were some surprising and welcome news announced during the live webcast of its reveal. The console will no longer feature a region lock protection, which allows players to play game from different regions. Online access for multiplayer will start out for free, but eventually evolve into pay-to-play by the end of the year. Polygon also reports that players can connect up to eight consoles for local multiplayer sessions.
Bundle contents
The retail bundle of the Nintendo Switch includes the Switch itself, a pair of Joy-Con controllers in either gray or neon blue and red combination and a Joy-Con grip. A pair of wrist straps are also included, which connect to the Joy-Con controllers to prevent them from flying off your hands during motion-controlled play. The remaining items in the bundle are the dock system, an HDMI cable, and an AC adapter.
Joy-Con controller features
In previous videos and demos of the console, the controller was shown to connect to each side of the Switch for portable gameplay. Each individual unit also functioned as a separate controller depending on the game's mode. Each Joy-con has an analog stick, four main buttons, a motion sensor, and two L and R bumper buttons. The right one houses an Augmented Reality (AR) camera, which the company claims can detect distance and detect if your hand is making rock, paper or scissors gesture. It also has a built-in NFC reader/writer, possibly for Amiibo data or more. The left part features a capture button for taking screenshots like the Share button on the Dualshock 4. Both sides can be joined using the Joy-Con grip for a more standard controller configuration.
Hardware and battery life
According to Kotaku, the handheld unit sports a 6.2-inch display and uses capacitive touch. The unit's internal storage is 32GB only, but can be expanded using microSD memory cards. Battery life reportedly depends on the software and usage configurations and charges through a USB type-C port.
"The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" is the only game confirmed to launch together with the Nintendo Switch. Nintendo is expected to divulge more information in the next few days as they kick off the console's North American tour.
