After months of rumours and guessing, Nintendo have revealed a bunch more details about their upcoming piece of hardware, the Nintendo Switch.
First things first, the launch date and some of the prices of the Switch in various locations have finally been revealed. The Switch will be launching simultaneously in many countries, including Japan, the US, Canada, "major European countries" and Hong Kong on March 3rd. Pricing has only been revealed in Japan and the US officially though, with Japan having a price tag set of 29,980 yen and the US seeing it launch costing $300. However over Nintendo UK's Twitter they have said that the Switch will be selling for £279.99 on Nintendo's official store, so that at least sets us a figure that retailers will probably be selling around in Britain.
Next up, we have a whole bunch of titles that were announced to be launching for the new system. The biggest one arguably is that the new Legend of Zelda game, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, will indeed be a launch title for the Switch as had been previously rumoured. It will also be launching for the WiiU on the same date as well.
The trailer itself shows off Link interacting with a bunch of characters, fights and puzzle solving, as well as a shroud of darkness enveloping the world, and it seems to be teasing us with the story quite a bit. More details will be coming later with a further stream today, but for now check out the trailer:
Another of Nintendo's most iconic characters is also getting a new game on the Switch. Mario's latest romp is named Super Mario Odyssey and sees Mario not in the Mushroom Kingdom for once, but rather in a range of places that look much more realistic as well as a few more fantastical locations.
The game will feature new abilities tied around Mario's hat, which not only has eyes but can now be thrown and can be used as a platform to allow Mario to reach higher up ledges. It's not going to be a launch title however, and while the launch date has been given as roughly Holiday 2017, there have been no prices announced for the game.
As you could expect, a new platform from Nintendo just wouldn't be complete without an outing from Mario's other popular game series, Mario Kart.
Rather than being a new Mario Kart though, the Switch will instead be getting a special edition of Mario Kart 8 with additional features as well as all the DLC from the WiiU version. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will come with some additional tracks to race on, as well as new features including the ability to carry two items at once, outputting to TVs at 1080p and what was called a "Smart Steering" function. It will be launching April 28th 2017.
Splatoon is also getting a new game for the Switch after its success on the WiiU with the first game, the the game's producer Hosashi Nogami saying "A new variety of squid was discovered recently, I'm here to announce the fruits of my labor," as he took to the stage in a lab coat with some unfamiliar looking ink weapons.
Much like the first game, Splatoon 2 will be a full-on ink-flinging team verses team game, and will introduce new stages, fashions and weapons including the ones Nogami took to the stage with - splatdualies, dual-wielded ink SMG weapons. The game has a launch date of around Summer 2017, and after launch will be updated with more weapons, stages and in-game events.
Included among the trailers for games was the announcement of a sequel to Monolith Soft's action role-playing game Xenoblade Chronicles.
The trailer didn't give us any hints of a release date, not did the show on stage, but tweets from the game's scriptwriter and designer Soraya Saga hints that they are looking for a 2017 release for Xenoblade Chronicles 2 on the Switch.
Capcom are also getting a game onto the Switch with a release of a new version of Street Fighter 2 called Ultra Street Fighter 2: The Final Challengers. The game will use the updated art from 2008's Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix and will include a new mode as well as two new characters - Evil Ryu and Violent Ken.
Evil Ryu is a version of the character who has become obsessed with fighting to prove he is the strongest, losing all sense of honor he once had to enjoy absolute power and a bloodlust for battle; while Violent Ken is the "result of M. Bison kidnapping and brainwashing Ken", twisting his friendly rivalry with Ryu into something far darker and enhancing his abilities with Psycho Power which gives his moves purple flames instead of the signature fire the character would usually have.
The game will feature the classic arcade mode, as well as a co-op 2v1 fight mode similar to the Dramatic Battle mode from Street Fighter Alpha series. The game will include two visual options as well, pixel-art graphics and HD graphics that were created by UDON Entertainment.
Although prices and launch dates haven't been set yet, Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono is due to appear on the follow up stream later to discuss the game, so more details will probably be revealed then.
And in titles that aren't part of a series already, Nintendo announced a fighting game that sees you fighting as characters with extendable arms. Kind of like a Stretch Armstrong tournament.
Arms uses motion control for play in that controllers are held in each hand and punches are physically thrown. You can twist your punches to have the virtual ones do the game, and Nintendo describes it as a combination between a boxing game and a shooter as you need to aim your punches at your opponent. Dodging, dashing and jumping will also be available moves. The game will include single play mode, as well as a mode that allows you to compete against another player, online or locally. Arms will launch Spring 2017.
Other games that were shown off during the presentation included 1-2-Switch, a party game in which you don't need to face the screen to play; a trailer for Fire Emblem Warriors; a FIFA title that EA have said they'd be bringing to the platform as the most authentic sports game they'd ever done; Sonic Mania, the title that goes back to the roots of the Sonic franchise; and a version of Skyrim for the Switch that Todd Howard from Bethesda showed up to talk about.
Finally, there were quite a few details revealed about the hardware itself and the services we can expect around it.
The Switch of course is made to be played at home, then undocked and taken out and about and comes with three modes - TV mode for the docked play sessions, Handheld mode for taking out and about, and Tabletop mode in which the Switch is rested on a tabletop on its inbuilt kickstand and two players play using the detachable controllers. Battery life upon the Switch being undocked will vary based on the game being played Nintendo say, with an estimate of about 2.5 to 6.5 hours time being given.
We also got to find out what comes in the box with your typical Switch, and the retail pack does come with quite a few things. There are two different retail versions available but the only difference between the two are the colours of the controllers (one has them both dark grey, the other has one red and one blue). Each retail pack comes with:
- The Nintendo Switch console
- Left and right Joy-Con controllers (dark grey, or one red, one blue depending on pack)
- Joy-Con wrist straps
- The Joy-Con Grip
- The Nintendo Switch Dock
- An HDMI cable
- and an A/C adaptor
So as you can see, everything you need will be included and both retail versions will cost exactly the same.
There will also be a number of separate accessories available, as you would expect. These include Pro Controllers for around $70, a pair of Joy-Con controllers for about $80 or each one separately for $50, and a set of Joy-Con wheels for about $15.
The Joy-Con controllers are set up with touch capabilities, as well as motion controls, the right one being able to scan Amiibo, something called "HD Rumble" which lets them simulate different types of motion instead of just your typical rumble feature and even a share button to let you share screencaps you take with other people. Quite a lot of tech for such small devices.
There will also be an online service for the Switch that supports online multiplayer, with it being free to trial during the game's launch. Subscription fees will then come in from around Autumn 2017, with Nintendo saying that a free game will be given to subscribers each month. Nintendo will be launching a smartphone app to go with the Switch's online service around Summer 2017 as well to let players schedule game sessions, invite friends to play and just to chat.