It was a blustery Friday afternoon when Nintendo graced the world with its latest presentation on the Nintendo Switch. Some people are excited, some disappointed, while others can be seen latching onto anything to justify their natural disposition towards anger. I personally missed out on a portion of the presentation due to the aforementioned wind causing a power outage, but nevertheless the Nintendo Switch has piqued my interest.
A basic rundown of the event will reveal a number of games to be released with the console and over the course of the year, as well as the price on launch day ($470AUD at EB Games). If you are inclined to pre-order, you will have the choice of the grey or neon colour palette with the only difference being the colours of the controllers. The console itself will feature a 6.2 inch capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 1280 x 720. It’ll come with less than 32GB of space, but can be further upgraded through the use of microSDXC cards. The expected battery life is reported to be somewhere between 3-6 hours, with the console being able to play Breath of the Wild undocked for 3 hours before needing to charge.
Included in the box is:
- Nintendo Switch Console
- Nintendo Switch dock
- Two independent Joy-Con controllers, which can be combined into one
- Joy-Con grip and straps
- AC Adaptor
- HDMI cable
The highlight in terms of games would undoubtedly be the new The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild game that will be available release day of the Switch alongside the WiiU version. Aside from Zelda, launch titles include 1-2 Switch, Just Dance 2017, Super Bomberman R, and I am Setsuna among others. While not the strongest front line, the prospect of more to come throughout the year, such as Super Mario Odyssey, helps generate more excitement towards the system. Unfortunately the Switch is not backwards compatible, but it will also not be region locked, which is a welcome addition.
One thing I have always appreciated Nintendo consoles for is their exceptional exclusive titles, and I look forward to the slew of these that are being developed. However, I’m worried that the high price point of additional accessories, as well as the likely introduction of a subscription service for online play, will leave the Switch in a similar state that the WiiU is in. For myself, the WiiU has a few games that interest me greatly, but I could never justify buying a whole console for such a small amount of games. In an ideal world the Switch will become wildly popular and the WiiU will either reach a price that will make it worthwhile, or the games I want will become downloadable on the Switch. In any case, the Switch at least appears to be another fun party system that can be enjoyed by the whole family, as is tradition with Nintendo.
