Japanese video game company Nintendo is known for its innovation. To name only a few game-changers, the household name introduced the directional pad, quality handheld play, polygonal graphics and exploration, dual-screen touch controls, motion controls and stereoscopic 3D to the masses. Now, their newest console, the Nintendo Switch, intends to innovate the industry all over again.
The Nintendo Switch, for which the company released a trailer () on Thursday to wide public reach and acclaim, promises to combine the facets of a home console and handheld gaming system into one machine.
As the trailer depicts, one can control video games on their television and then, if duty calls elsewhere, slide special Joy-Con controllers, each with four buttons and an analog stick, out from the main controller shell to attach to a screen docked within the Nintendo Switch home console. If what the trailer depicts is accurate, taking your games on the go is a simple and satisfying affair.
Being able to take any Switch games on a plane, through the park or around a neighborhood provides a wide array of opportunities. For instance, a gamer could prop the Switch screen up with a kickstand, remove the Joy-Con controllers and play as if you were using a smaller television.
A more traditional pro controller can provide an experience akin to usual console gaming if one takes that with them as well. People can play and work off each other if they bring multiple Switch systems to play.
On-the-go multiplayer has never been easier either; sliding the Joy-Con controllers off the screen and giving one to a partner can make for quick split screen competitive or cooperative gameplay for titles such as Mario Kart.
The hype and early brand success for the Nintendo Switch comes off a year-and-a-half period of hype in which hardly any details were known about the system. Mysteriously, the promised gaming system was codenamed the NX, and rumors constantly plagued fans with misinformation and, in some cases, a spoiling of the main gimmick of the Switch being able to take it wherever.
Most agree though that even if one believed recent rumors that were mostly right about the Nintendo Switch’s main mechanics, it was awesome to finally see the machine in action in the trailer. Surprising to some, the Switch retains its projected March 2017 release window, a period with little competition from the other key players like Sony and Microsoft in the gaming market, so many are interested to see if Nintendo can manage another highly profitable, successful and innovate console again.
As a Nintendo fan myself, I couldn’t be more excited about the Nintendo Switch. Watching that trailer multiple times, I can’t fathom how someone could not at least want the Switch a little bit after seeing the one-of-a-kind machine in action.
