Nintendo has finally decided to show off their new "home gaming system", code-name NX. It's time to see what Nintendo has up their sleeves and put all the rumors to rest.
GBAtemp will covering the announcement and the OP will be updated as new information rolls in from the preview. Remember, the video starts at 9AM Central Standard Time, so be sure to watch, and discuss your thoughts here!

Nintendo Official Site

Trailer

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It's called the Nintendo Switch. Rumors are true, it's a tablet with connectable buttons that you can play at home and on the go. Console Controller looks similar to the Xbox One's. Has small little remotes and supports multiplayer. NBA game being shown. 3D Mario title. When you connect the portable controllers the system goes from console to portable. Skyrim and Splatoon shown. Still coming March next year.

Press Release​

Detachable Controllers Reinvent Gaming

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- In an introductory video released today, Nintendo provided the first glimpse of its new home gaming system and revealed that it is called Nintendo Switch. In addition to providing single and multiplayer thrills at home, the Nintendo Switch system also enables gamers to play the same title wherever, whenever and with whomever they choose. The mobility of a handheld is now added to the power of a home gaming system to enable unprecedented new video game play styles.

At home, Nintendo Switch rests in the Nintendo Switch Dock that connects the system to the TV and lets you play with family and friends in the comfort of your living room. By simply lifting Nintendo Switch from the dock, the system will instantly transition to portable mode, and the same great gaming experience that was being enjoyed at home now travels with you. The portability of Nintendo Switch is enhanced by its bright high-definition display. It brings the full home gaming system experience with you to the park, on an airplane, in a car, or to a friend’s apartment.

Gaming springs into action by removing detachable Joy-Con controllers from either side of Nintendo Switch. One player can use a Joy-Con controller in each hand; two players can each take one; or multiple Joy-Con can be employed by numerous people for a variety of gameplay options. They can easily click back into place or be slipped into a Joy-Con Grip accessory, mirroring a more traditional controller. Or, if preferred, the gamer can select an optional Nintendo Switch Pro Controller to use instead of the Joy-Con controllers. Furthermore, it is possible for numerous people to bring their Nintendo Switch systems together to enjoy local multiplayer face-to-face competition.

“Nintendo Switch allows gamers the freedom to play however they like,” said Reggie Fils-Aime, President and COO, Nintendo of America. “It gives game developers new abilities to bring their creative visions to life by opening up the concept of gaming without boundaries.”

Developers can design their games supporting a variety of play styles, which gives gamers the freedom to choose an experience that best suits them. Some of the publishers, developers and middleware partners announcing support for Nintendo Switch are as follows:

Companies that will support the Switch
505 Games
• LEVEL-5 Inc.
• Activision Publishing, Inc.
• Marvelous Inc.
• ARC SYSTEM WORKS Co., Ltd.
• Maximum Games, LLC
• ATLUS CO., LTD.
• Nippon Ichi Software, Inc.
• Audiokinetic Inc.
• Parity Bit Inc.
• Autodesk, Inc.
• PlatinumGames Inc.
• BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc.
• RAD Game Tools, Inc.
• Bethesda
• RecoChoku Co., Ltd.
• CAPCOM CO., LTD.
• SEGA Games Co., Ltd.
• Codemasters®
• Silicon Studio Corporation
• CRI Middleware Co., Ltd.
• Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd.
• DeNA Co., Ltd.
• SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD.
• Electronic Arts
• Starbreeze Studios
• Epic Games Inc.
• Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.
• Firelight Technologies
• Telltale Games
• FromSoftware, Inc.
• THQ Nordic
• Frozenbyte
• Tokyo RPG Factory Co., Ltd.
• GameTrust
• TT Games
• GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC.


• UBISOFT
• Gungho Online Entertainment, Inc.
• Ubitus Inc.
• HAMSTER Corporation
• Unity Technologies, Inc.
• Havok
• Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
• INTI CREATES CO., LTD.
• Web Technology Corp

Screens





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It will be powered by a custom Nvidia Tegra chip.

Nintendo Switch is powered by the performance of the custom Tegra processor. The high-efficiency scalable processor includes an NVIDIA GPU based on the same architecture as the world’s top-performing GeForce gaming graphics cards.

Nvidia Blog

Nintendo Switch Site

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Nintendo First Look​

The detachable controllers are called Joy-Con controllers.

Gaming springs into action by removing detachable Joy-Con controllers from either side of Nintendo Switch. One player can use a Joy-Con controller in each hand; two players can each take one; or multiple Joy-Con can be employed by numerous people for a variety of gameplay options. They can easily click back into place or be slipped into a Joy-Con Grip accessory, mirroring a more traditional controller. Or, if preferred, the gamer can select an optional Nintendo Switch Pro Controller to use instead of the Joy-Con controllers. Furthermore, it is possible for numerous people to bring their Nintendo Switch systems together to enjoy local multiplayer face-to-face competition.

“Nintendo Switch allows gamers the freedom to play however they like,” said Reggie Fils-Aime, President and COO, Nintendo of America. “It gives game developers new abilities to bring their creative visions to life by opening up the concept of gaming without boundaries.”

Developers can design their games supporting a variety of play styles, which gives gamers the freedom to choose an experience that best suits them. Some of the publishers, developers and middleware partners announcing support for Nintendo Switch are as follows:

Nintendo Site

 

[Chary]

The Nintendo Switch Dock has been created so that it is extremely easy to seamlessly switch from playing games on a TV to transition into a portable mode," a Nintendo representative told IGN.

Nintendo continued: "The dock is not the main console unit of Nintendo Switch. The main unit of Nintendo Switch is the unit that has the LCD screen, which the two Joy-Con controllers can be attached to and detached from. The main function of the Nintendo Switch Dock is to provide an output to the TV, as well as charging and providing power to the system."

According to Nintendo, the Joy-Con controllers — named Joy-Con L and Joy-Con R — will be included alongside the Nintendo Switch system.

Going off an IGN interview.

 

[tarumbo83]

Since the Wii? They did it since the N64 with the analogue controller and rumble pak

I was going to say since the DS, but that makes sense too.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Going off an IGN interview.

Joy-Con? Is that seriously what they're called?

 

[grossaffe]

If the resolution is anything like the wii u i wont be buying it.

The Wii U tablet had to have an SD screen because it was wirelessly streaming the video data. HD would require a lot more data to pass through and latency is a pretty big deal. This, however, does the processing on the unit, so that constraint is no longer there

I know people in the gaming community are saying that, but the now old Nvidia Shield tablet that has hardware now about 3 generations behind what should be in the Switch supported a screen with a resolution of 1920x1200. Granted taking the resolution down could increase framerates etc, but Nintendo told IGN withing the last hour or so that the whole consoles power is in the tablet part. So no extra power in the base at all. It charges and provides the connection to the tv. So if it can support 1080P or higher on a tv then it would not make sense to down the resolution on the device itself.

There remains the issue of the resolution of the screen itself, and battery life. When not docked and it's on battery power, a mode that reduces power consumption to increase play time would be reasonable.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Going off an IGN interview.

Well that's depressing

 

[KingVamp]

I can see battery companies using that sides of the handheld somehow.

 

[DanTheMan827]

Apple and thinking differently are not words that belong together.

I would consider these pretty revolutionary...

• Apple II
• Mac OS X
• iMac
• iPod / iTunes (1,000 songs in your pocket...)
• iPhone
• iPad
• Not there quite yet but I'm guessing the Apple Watch will join that list...

Lately their computer hardware has been lackluster but the mobile side of things hasn't slowed at all...

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Since the Wii? They did it since the N64 with the analogue controller and rumble pak

Well... those "gimmicks" sure took off...

Some people might also refer to those "gimmicks" as innovation...

 

[petethepug]

The name "switch" sounds a lot like a soda/juice product name :/. But I do think they improved the portabillity of a single console by today's standards, what I'm concerned about is how it's going to play out portabillity wise, whether you have to always bring the console with you & the extra PS-Vita like screen, or being able to go 5 - 10 miles & use it like an iPhone.

 

[Bros.Life]

Do we already know the system specification of this console?

 

[OliverWinstontin]

The Wii U tablet had to have an SD screen because it was wirelessly streaming the video data. HD would require a lot more data to pass through and latency is a pretty big deal. This, however, does the processing on the unit, so that constraint is no longer there


There remains the issue of the resolution of the screen itself, and battery life. When not docked and it's on battery power, a mode that reduces power consumption to increase play time would be reasonable.

1080P is pretty low resolution with phone tech these days. A lot of phones and tablets are exceed 1080P. I don't see there being a huge issue between 1080P and 720P for battery life. Not only that, I am not sure the Tegra SOC would even support something as low as 720P seeing as they have never released a device with such a low resolution screen. I think that with current tech 1080P seems more than doable.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Do we already know the system specification of this console?

It is an Nvidia based SOC https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2016/10/20/nintendo-switch/

Nintendo Switch is powered by the performance of the custom Tegra processor. The high-efficiency scalable processor includes an NVIDIA GPU based on the same architecture as the world’s top-performing GeForce gaming graphics cards.

It is also using a new Custom API so it can take advantage of the hardware. So it should get some performance boosts for their specific hardware if the custom API does its job.

 

[DanTheMan827]

I can see battery companies using that sides of the handheld somehow.

I would be extremely surprised if the tablet base doesn't already have the possibility to draw power from them...

 

[invaderyoyo]

I would consider these pretty revolutionary...

• Apple II
• Mac OS X
• iMac
• iPod / iTunes (1,000 songs in your pocket...)
• iPhone
• iPad
• Not there quite yet but I'm guessing the Apple Watch will join that list...

Lately their computer hardware has been lackluster but the mobile side of things hasn't slowed at all...

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------


Well... those "gimmicks" sure took off...

Some people might also refer to those "gimmicks" as innovation...

The iPhone was revolutionary. It wasn't the first, but it was the first to do it right. I don't agree with the other stuff, though.

 

[tarumbo83]

My main concern is actually battery life- regardless of resolution, there's not much point to it being portable if it can only last 3 hours, and I see them having a hard time having a long-lasting battery for a console with Wii U levels of power. If they do, it'll ramp up the price, which'll be another problem..

 

[grossaffe]

1080P is pretty low resolution with phone tech these days. A lot of phones and tablets are exceed 1080P. I don't see there being a huge issue between 1080P and 720P for battery life. Not only that, I am not sure the Tegra SOC would even support something as low as 720P seeing as they have never released a device with such a low resolution screen. I think that with current tech 1080P seems more than doable.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------



It is an Nvidia based SOC https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2016/10/20/nintendo-switch/

Higher resolution requires more power. More power draws more current. More current drains batteries faster.
As for supporting 720p... Of course it can support resolutions lower than its max.

 

[DanTheMan827]

1080P is pretty low resolution with phone tech these days. A lot of phones and tablets are exceed 1080P. I don't see there being a huge issue between 1080P and 720P for battery life. Not only that, I am not sure the Tegra SOC would even support something as low as 720P seeing as they have never released a device with such a low resolution screen. I think that with current tech 1080P seems more than doable.

The screen wouldn't take much more power (if any)

However, the extra power would have to be allocated to the GPU for the higher pixel density to provide the same framerate...

Yes, the tablet could do 1080p...

It would just use more power...

Really though, this is all conjecture since Nintendo hasn't said anything about the specs...

 

[Lightyose]

Awesome! The results were better than my expectations...

 

[Katsumi San]

I read somewhere this new system is region free...

 

[tarumbo83]

I read somewhere this new system is region free...

Doesn't affect me if it is or not, but a lot of people will be excited if it is.

 

[raulpica]

My wallet might not be ready yet, but my body definitely is.

Can't wait. Day one purchase!

 

[Deleted User]

I read somewhere this new system is region free...

I heard that too, and I hope that's the case. IIRC Nintendo's consoles are some of the only consoles that still have some sort of region locking in place.

 

[Lightyose]

Switch Scene hype!