After much speculation and anticipation about the Nintendo “NX”, as it was initially reported to be called, the company has finally lifted the veil off their mysterious project. It turns out that the project got a new name at some point in its development, as it’s now called the Nintendo Switch, and it’s coming in about half a year.
Nintendo have had a strange run with their console products lately, and it’s not clear if the Switch is going to be the successful release they so desperately seem to need right now. Neither the Wii nor the Wii U managed to grab a solid market share, despite the novel designs of the consoles.
And even though the Switch was preceded by quite a lot of anticipation and many fans were excited to see the official announcement, that’s still no guarantee that the device will see true success. Especially when we look at how Nintendo have been handling their marketing for it ever since they made the official announcement.
For example, the company is rather cryptic on certain details like the design of the screen and the price of the console. It’s hard to make an adequate prediction for how much the Nintendo Switch is going to cost, but most expect it to be somewhere in the $200-$300 range.
If it’s above that, Nintendo would have to justify their decision with some impressive new hardware features, or possibly something else. A unique software service attached to the console can work quite well in the modern market, although it’s likely not going to be enough to grab much of an audience for the console by itself.
We still don’t even know if the device will have a touchscreen or not, and that’s a critical feature for some gamers. While Nintendo were specifically asked about this aspect by the community, they’ve so far not commented on it.
At least it looks like there will be a good selection of games at launch (or perhaps a bit later), including an iconic upcoming release by Nintendo themselves, “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild”. One flagship title alone is hardly enough to make this console prominent by itself though, but reports indicate that we’ll also get games like “Splatoon”, “Mario Kart 8”, and several other Mario titles.
We’ve even seen reports of a special version of “Skyrim” modified to work specifically with the Nintendo Switch, and that alone has turned some heads in the industry. While we don’t know the exact details of how the console will work, it could potentially be a great platform for a game like “Skyrim”, especially if it comes with a nice, high-resolution screen like some of the rumors are claiming.
Other, smaller studios have also expressed interest in working with Nintendo on the console, such as Devolver Digital, who claimed that they had actually met with Nintendo representatives and have discussed bringing some of their titles to the console. This announcement also generated a lot of discussion in the community, and some fans are wondering how many of Devolver’s games will actually make it to the console.
Nintendo are known for being a bit stricter when it comes to questionable content, and they have blocked certain popular titles from being released on their consoles for this reason alone. Devolver Digital are known for apparently preferring questionable content in the games they publish, so it will be interesting to see how things work out between them and Nintendo.