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Nintendo Switch launch confirmed for 3rd March globally

Doctor Oak

Staff member
Overlord
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Today's big Nintendo Switch presentation has been and gone in the wee hours of the morning, and the end result is... mostly just confirmation of what a lot of us had already assumed, but confirmation all the same. The Switch will be out worldwide on the 3rd March for $299US/£279.99. There may be software bundles announced later, but for now, there will be two configurations available at launch, one with two grey Joy-Con controllers and one with a Red and a Blue Joy-Con controller, which you can see below with the rest of the contents of the box:

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The Joy-Cons also have attachments that add a strap to the controller so you can avoid chucking them at the TV when you're playing motion games, as well as making the shoulder triggers a bit bigger and easier to press. The trigger buttons on the joycons would not appear to be analog, though - but it's not clear if it's the same for the Pro Controller.

The sizzle reel below detailed a number of the games coming to Switch, but most aren't available at launch in March - in fact the only two games announced for the 3rd March itself so far are a new 'game' called 1, 2, Switch, which uses the Joy-Cons for a mini-game that involves you pressing a button on it quicker than the other player and inexplicably will cost full price, and the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - which despite rumours to the contrary, will be available worldwide on the 3rd. The amazing trailer for that is also below.



Also revealed at the presentation was Splatoon 2 - a sequel to the breakout hit of the Wii U - coming in the summer and Super Mario Odyssey - a sort of open-world-ish Mario game that looks to bring a lot of the best elements of Mario 64 and Mario Galaxy together with some actually new concepts. Both trailers are also below:



Arms, a brand new IP which seems to be an attempt to bring together the success of Wii Sports and the success of Splatoon into one package will miss the launch in March, but is due sometime shortly afterwards in the spring. Using the Joy-Cons for direct physical control, the game is effectively a long-range boxing match not too dissimilar to Punch Out on the Wii - but with greater range of movement, attacking and defence. Nintendo claims that the game is both instantly accessible because of the controls as well as deep and full of strategy (and hopefully content given the full game price tag). It genuinely looks fun, but it is a little concerning that it's both not a launch game and quite expensive for what surely seems to be the Switch's Wii Sports - a game everyone got for free with their £180 Wii...


Not featured in the presentation, but confirmed all the same is an updated ('Deluxe') release of Mario Kart 8, featuring all the game's DLC content as well as new content based on Splatoon. It's due out at the end of April in the US (no details for anywhere else yet, which is probably why it wasn't featured) for full price.

Other confirmed, new, games for the Switch include Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Snipperclips - a cute two-player puzzle game - Super Bomberman R (trailer below) - a truly new Bomberman game featuring plenty of local 8-player content as well as single (or 2-player co-op) content - and Puyo Puyo Tetris from Sega (trailer below) - a mashup of Puyo Puyo (or Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine as most people outside of Japan probably know it better as) and Tetris with a bunch of multiplayer content.


Sonic Mania, Skyrim, Disgea 5, Minecraft, Minecraft Story Mode, Rayman Legends Definitive Edition, I am Setsuna, Steep, Dragonball Xenoverse 2 and Fifa 18 were also all confirmed for a Switch release alongside reveals of Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers - an updated release of Street Fighter II - a new Shin Megami Tensei game, Fire Emblem Warriors and a new game from Squeenix's Bravely Default team, Project Octopath Traveller.

Overall, it's a promising eventual lineup, but it's a little concerning how sparse launch itself currently is. We'll reserve final judgement until closer to release, though. On the plus side, it's actually not too bad to see big name titles coming throughout the year.

In other details, Nintendo revealed that their online service for the Switch will be joining Microsoft and Sony's in requiring a paid subscription to play online and use voice chat. Similar to the PS+ and Games with Gold deals, subscribers will receive a free game monthly - but unlike those deals, which feature games native to that console, and thus released within the last 20 years, Nintendo will be giving away NES and SNES virtual console games.

The paid online service will come with a free period allowing subscribers to use it until Autumn 2017 for free, but for reasons known only to Nintendo and whatever fever dream convinced them to do it, the service will only be available in the USA, Canada and Mexico at launch in March. No pricing details have been announced yet.

A range of official accessories has also been announced. The Switch's Pro Controller (not included with the console) will be available for $69.99, while you can pick up a pair of extra Joy-Cons (in grey or in a pair or combination of the two colours available) for $79.99. You can also buy the left and right Joy-Cons individually for $49.99 and a charging grip, similar to the one included in the box, but with the ability to charge the Joy-Cons while you play, for $29.99. If you have multiple TVs you'd like to use your Switch with, you can also pick up an extra dock separately for $89.99, and finally for those who simply can't play Mario Kart without a plastic wheel, a set of two for fitting individual Joy-Cons into will be available for $14.99.

Pre-orders won't open in Japan until next week, but will open up in North America, the UK and Europe throughout today and the weekend. We should have a better idea on games and accessories outside of the US then too.

In short: the console isn't too expensive, but launch looks concerningly sparse. Zelda making it for launch is certainly very positive, but it'd be nice to see a bit of a wider range of content available on day 1. Let us know what you think below.
 
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why didnt they call it SPLA2N?

ALSO SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY REMINDS ME OF SONIC '06
THATS NO GOOD
 
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Loving a lot of what's being shown here, even though most of it was already known to be existing. ARMS looks like a novelty game at first glance, but I remember how much fun I had with Wii Sports Boxing, and this is undoubtedly an upgrade to that experience. I don't know how much depth this game will have beyond what looks like a 2-player versus game, but could be a top party game if it's done right.

Breath of the Wild is of course the star of the show, and and the best title they could pick for a launch, I'm a little iffed that it and 1 2 Switch are the only launch titles. But if anything could sell the Switch a new Zelda can.

From experience, I know that Koei Tecmo has done some great entries in their Warrior franchise with Nintendo IPs, so I'm looking forward to what they do with Fire Emblem. Chrom being the subject of the teaser is unsurprising, given his resurgent popularity bursts such as his appearance in Mirage Tokyo Sessions. Really looking forward to finding out who else makes the character line-up. Smash Characters should be no brainer choices, butit will be interesting what else they will cherry pick from the older games. I imagine the Rekka No Ken Lords would be good picks due to their variety of combat styles, Hector and Lyn would be awesome to have. Would be incredible to have antagonists like Lyon and Walhart as well. We'll probably not see it until Winter 2017 at best though, given their usual period between announcement and launch of their games. It could be even longer though, Hyrule Warriors took nearly 2 years after the first gameplay demo to be released after all.

I have a couple of concerns despite my hype though. Firstly, despite the relatively cheap price of the console itself, its accessories are absurdly priced. The Pro Controller for example is a whopping £65, and a lot of people are going to want this over the other controller for competitive games, so I think they're going to feel shafted by this.

Although it's great that Skyrim is finally making its way to a Nintendo console, I'm worried because they've omitted mentioning the Legendary Edition whatsoever, which means its probably closer to the 2011 version of the game more than the newer release, likely because the console can't handle that kind of output. This says some worrying things about its technological capabilities, and might only serve to compare it to the PS4 and One. Being weaker than those consoles would be okay, because that's not what people will be buying the console for, but we're getting to the halfway point on those consoles life-cycles, and you never know if Sony or Microsoft kickstart their next generation early. When they inevitably do appear though, they're going to leave the Switch in the dust.

I'm looking forward to playing Breath of the Wild on the Switch in March, I just wish it wasn't so close to the Mass Effect release as well. March is going to be a very busy and expensive month for me, and I'm not going to regret it for a moment.
 

Teapot

Virtual Duck Enthusiast
Staff member
Administrator
Whoo boy. Nintendo have managed to land exactly on the edge of the precipice between having a great (if embryonic) platform, and having a complete bust on their hands.

On the one hand, their Christmas lineup is looking pretty impressive – genuinely new triple-A Zelda and Mario games, a Fire Emblem Warriors game (which will be amazing if it's anything like Hyrule Warriors), a nice meaty JRPG for those that like them, and quite a few curios and ports to keep people trucking along, both first- and third-party. Even better, we've still got another conference at E3 to see even more new stuff, potentially including Pokémon Stars.

But... the other boot always drops with Nintendo, and drop it has. First, the price – as much as the rumours were pointing at it, £280 is rather dear for any sort of dedicated gaming unit, particularly when the PS4 and XB1 are so well established and can be gotten for nearly a hundred quid less with games bundled in. The games themselves are, at least for now, £60 each for the triple-A games. The online, as usual with Nintendo, sounds muddled and confused, and most importantly, for the first three months of this thing's life, we will have exactly two new games worth playing – Zelda, which is also available on Wii U, and Splatoon.

Realistically, Nintendo have done a good job with the first-year plans, at least compared to the states that the PS4 and XB1 launched in. The problem is that it's launching into a market where those consoles are well established, and despite how much the Nintendo faithful like me will cry that the Switch isn't the same thing as them at all, it's bound to draw unfavourable comparisons. Unfortunately, due to the inherent compromise of the hybrid form, the Switch can neither best the home consoles, or pride itself as a competent, versatile handheld. Add to that the high asking price and lack of truly compelling reasons to buy one (at least for now), and the Switch is made a fairly hard sell.

I dunno. I've been watching Nintendo for long enough that I can see that so many of the obstacles that they've found insurmountable before have been solved – reducing their product line to a single platform to support means they can put out more polished, high-quality first-party games; their partnership with DeNA for online means that the Switch should be stable and competent in the online world; their partnership with nVidia should mean their hardware should be performant and reliable. The hybrid solution means they can sell the same SKU as a handheld in East Asia and a console in the West, appealing to both markets without having to split their efforts in two.

But despite all these fresh advantages, they're still peering over that familiar cliff into irrelevance, relying on fan loyalty and a small handful of (hopefully!) truly great titles to keep their hardware relevant. They've priced the hardware, accessories, and games seemingly to milk their core fanbase, but at the expensive of wider appeal, and their game reveals were scattershot and confused – exactly unlike the usual polish and aplomb Nintendo presentations are used to. It's telling when there's more warmth, humour and clarity in a video showcasing parental controls than there is in the entirety of an hour-long reveal presentation.

As a die-hard Nintendo fan, It's a frustrating thing to see. I want to love the Switch, I really do, but Nintendo are already making it hard for even the faithful to truly feel excited for this console. I just hope that its first year treats it well, so it can pick up the audience and developers it needs to truly shine.

Mark me as really excited – especially for Zelda and Mario Odyssey – but cautious for now.
 
I'm with you on this @Teapot. I want to love this thing and be a day 1 adopter, but I'm really not so sure. Price isn't an issue for me though. I'm just fine paying a premium for something that is well-built and will last, as all my Nintendo consoles and accessories have.

As for games, Arms looked kinda goofy at first, but upon further thought it seems to have a TON of potential in the competitive scene. New Zelda and Mario (& Kart) are always welcome, and if this thing can run the remastered version of Skyrim I would get it, no question. I want a new JRPG machine as well, so I'll be excited for Octopath Traveler and Dragon Quest XI.

However, the real make-or-break thing for me will be the online functionality. I realize they are moving to a pay model for their online multiplayer gaming. I have no problem with this. I honestly don't. What worries me is they are saying that your "smart device" will be the thing you manage your party chat with. I don't have a smart phone and don't intend on getting one. If there STILL is no party chat through the console itself it will be VERY disappointing. I don't care for Microsoft as it is, but XBL is currently the best way for me to play games with my far-away relatives. I wouldn't mind going completely to Nintendo's online pay service... If they give us damn voice chat through the console.

Other than the uncertainties with their online services, I like what I see and don't mind the price point.

EDIT: Arms reminds me of Beetlejuice. Hope it's not just me. :D
 
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No Stars huh?
Oh well, I'm sorta excited about Spla2n.
My brother is gonna be pretty upset when he gets home and I tell him he's gonna have to pay to play Splatoon online. :p
Hopefully it'll be a reasonable, preferably yearly price like Bank is...
I would rather not deal with a monthly thing. :/
 
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OMG IT'S MINECRAFT STORY MODE I FANGIRLED SO HARD!!!

...

You try explaining to a class full of teenage boys why you're obsessing over a bunch of block people when you don't even know.
 
And, no, Pokemon was not featured in any way. No Pokemon Stars and no Pokken. I'd expect to see a bit more on that front at E3 this year instead.

I'm actually glad they didn't reveal Stars yet. Sun and Moon has only been out for 2 months, and a lot of the players would have felt shafted, conned even, if they announced the third game so soon. E3 is a much more ideal platform to pull the sheet off this elephant, maybe at an even later Direct.
 
I didn't make much use of my Wii U so I'll be holding off on the Switch until the game lineup fills out a little more-- if Pokemon Stars is real, I will shell out for that one-- and I'll have to wait to hear if the differences are big enough in Zelda to warrant waiting for or if I should just pick up the Wii U version. (A little voice is telling me to get one and keep it on 1.0 firmware to see where the hacking community goes, though.)
 
All the other games don't really intrest me (Seriously, Splatoon 2?!), but oh my god.
SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY?!
That game looks so cool! Riding on a lion, running around a city and forest, dancing with living rainbow forks, Bowser in a tuxedo and a massive top hat aircraft?! It looks cool! Only strange thing is that the people in the city aren't toads... they are full realistic people, where Mario looks like a mascot costume.

Also, ARMS looks quite terrible and hard to play, and 1-2 Switch! looks cool and addictive
 
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Linkachu

Hero of Pizza
Staff member
Administrator
I'm a fool when it comes to shiny new Nintendo products so I've already got a preorder down on the console, and both Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild & Puyo Puyo Tetris for Switch. When ARMS releases (which I've been hearing good things about) I'll likely also shovel out some extra cash for a pack of the blue Joy-Cons and the Joy-Con charging grip. It's going to be a silly amount of money in CAD, so here's hoping that it pays off in the end. :p

While I'm very excited to finally try the Switch for myself, I'm not expecting it to properly come into its own until late 2017 or 2018. Many of the games that have been shown off over the past few days intrigue me but it's the games that haven't been shown yet that interest me most. The Switch will undeniably be an amazing platform for the Animal Crossing franchise, and it'll be equally great for the main series Pokémon RPGs. All I can hope is that third party support stays strong, because I'd really love to be playing some of the upcoming PS4 JRPGs on a proper hybrid device.

At the end of the day, as long as Nintendo doesn't mess up Switch's launch year as badly as the Wii U's I'll remain hopeful of the thing's future. The potential for it to be a lovely gaming platform definitely exists, it's just down to how Nintendo themselves manage/market it.

Edit: Forgot to mention, my biggest disappointment of Switch's launch reveal? The fact that 1-2 Switch is being treated as a standalone game. That game would have been great bundled in as a demonstration of the Switch's features but heck no am I paying more than $20 for it. :p
 
super mario odyssey was looking alarmingly sonic-'06-ish at the beginning but once he hopped onto that space doo-dad I was sold.
 
Ugh. I just bought a Wii U a couple months ago, so I'm a tad irritated but other than that, the Switch looks 'eh.' Maybe after the hype drops after it comes out I might buy it. I'm not a huge fan of the red/blue combo, so I hope they have a solid blue one because that is a pretty shade. As for the games, the only things that look interesting are Minecraft, Skyrim, and the new LoZ, but I already have the first two on PC. I'll probably end up buying it at some point, but definitely not this year.
 
I'm REALLY excited for the switch, as I am getting it day one. The game i'm most excited for is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, as I have been a Zelda fan ever since the Gamecube.

As much as I am excited for the switch, i'm depressed just as much, I'm gonna have to say bye to the Wii U. The Wii U was my 3 Nintendo Console, first being the Gamecube, second being the Wii, third being the Wii U. I got it on Christmas of 2012. I got the games Nintendo Land and Mario Bros U. Later I got Twilight Princess HD, and Wind Waker HD.

So even though having to say be to the Wii U, I hope that the switch doesn't fail and is a massive hit on the gaming community.
 
I'm REALLY excited for the switch, as I am getting it day one. The game i'm most excited for is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, as I have been a Zelda fan ever since the Gamecube.

As much as I am excited for the switch, i'm depressed just as much, I'm gonna have to say bye to the Wii U. The Wii U was my 3 Nintendo Console, first being the Gamecube, second being the Wii, third being the Wii U. I got it on Christmas of 2012. I got the games Nintendo Land and Mario Bros U. Later I got Twilight Princess HD, and Wind Waker HD.

So even though having to say be to the Wii U, I hope that the switch doesn't fail and is a massive hit on the gaming community.
Hey you got your WiiU the same day we got ours! :D
Sadly I don't play my WiiU anymore because the control stick is broken...:(

Also good luck getting your hands on a Switch day one. Nintendo has some serious issues with producing enough product...there will prob only be like 3 consoles per store xD
 
Hey you got your WiiU the same day we got ours! :D
Sadly I don't play my WiiU anymore because the control stick is broken...:(

Also good luck getting your hands on a Switch day one. Nintendo has some serious issues with producing enough product...there will prob only be like 3 consoles per store xD

True enough, I'm not as worried about the switch as I am of the games. 1-2 switch i'm getting at launch, and i'm not too worried about it only being available on the switch itself. But i'm really worried about The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, as my original idea was if I couldn't find it for the switch, or the switch itself I was going to get it for Wii U, but now I'm not completely sure. My idea is to get up incredibly early on Friday, launch day, try and grab the Neon Red and Blue Joy-con, if they don't have neon version, i'm fine with gray. Grab the switch and the two games and want, get out, and run to school. Of course I don't have a car of my own, me only being 14. But my mom said she'll drive me.
If they don't have the switch on launch day, which is highly expected, Ill wait for at least a week at the maximum to go look again. So yeah.
 
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