@spookytapes: Take-Two is actually listed on Nintendo's website in "a sampling of Nintendo switch partners." It sure looked like NBA2k to me.

I wonder why NVIDIA would write new APIs for a device that is meant to run games like Skyrim. Are they expecting the NX to receive a lot of mobile ports? They want to be the nexus between console/PC and iOS/Android?

wow this actually looks pretty fecking cool

just realized this means pokemon proper on a home console sorta.

@captainslender: For some reason, I thought that was an SD card, like the game was installed on it that way. I'll have to watch it again to get a better view.

I guess Nintendo is saying screw any backwards compatibility with WiiU software (and the now available Virtual Console Nintendo DS backwards compatibility) that requires dual screens?

I wonder if there's some form of backwards compatibility. Is that a Splatoon sequel they were playing? Certainly doesn't look like there's anywhere to put a disc in that box by the TV. Definitely intrigued by this though.

Seems great, but I'm curious to see what the reception is 2-3 years down the line. It is, presumably, weaker than both the PS4 and XB1, correct? If those can barely keep up with modern games in most peoples' eyes, what's this gonna do? Yeah, it's cool Skyrim and whatnot are gonna be on it, but what about the next Elder Scrolls? What about the next Grand Theft Auto? How are those gonna run?

I expect Nintendo's first party to look and run great as always, but are we gonna see third parties start to slip on support again?

Hey, like I said, I'm excited and it looks awesome. Doesn't suddenly make me not worry though.

Great work with the short article, Alex!

From that end splatoon part it looks like you can use normal classic controllers on the mobile screen for multiplayer

I think that dock looks awful, that logo ain't great either.

I love everything about this. Everything.

@soulstoner: yeah that thing doesn't look comfortable at all.

According to pc advisor Tesco accidentally posted the price on their website at £350 , which usually means USA people will pay $350

@retrometal: dual screen may be possible by flipping it on its side? or it would just be in the middle but probably still similar size as 3ds screens were originally. of course this is assuming the thing has touch control.

Having owned every Nintendo handheld but my last Nintendo home console being the GameCube, this is basically a dream come true for me. One system with all of their games, that’s portable to boot.

I’m probably in the minority on this, but I might not even use the docking station at all depending on how much of a hassle it is to make the “switch.” If I can sleep the console so I never have to turn it off, and I can literally just slot it in, switch HDMI ports, pick up the Pro controller, and hit the sync button to start playing, then I might. Any more than that and I can’t be bothered. Those detachable controllers will stay on permanently.

Also, this could very well be the last bastion of Japanese console game development. I mean, so many developers are already switching to iOS/Android. Take Level-5, for instance. The Snack World would’ve been a 3DS exclusive, but now it’s coming to iOS/Android like 4 months in advance.

I need developers to migrate to this rather than iOS/Android. The problem isn’t the hardware but how developers decide to use it. Portrait mode, forced touch controls, constant bombardment with micro transactions and all sorts of other bullshit that you can’t get away with on console. At least not yet. I really hope it stays that way.

i want one

@niceguydan8 said:

It will carve its own niche for sure, and I sincerely hope it does well. My opinion though is that this is a completely unnecessary device nowadays. Realistically speaking, Nintendo doesn't actually develop that many games. How many Zelda and Mario titles did they release in the entire Wii U cycle? On that subject who even talks about the Wii U anymore? Nintendo sure as hell doesn't.

It will more than likely play Nintendo games relatively fine, but for third party games? Why on earth would you play them on this device as opposed to on a PS4 and XB1? The portability is nice but you're gonna take frame rate hits, graphic reduction, probably have quite a lot of limitations and that's not even getting into network and online capabilities.

They already have a portable device that has the eShop, and it's friggin' amazing. I just don't get it.

It may not be their aim, but by getting these 3rd parties on board, it is exactly what they are doing, and even Microsoft and Sony are stumbling around as their consoles slowly just turn into PC's.

Yeah, I need one of these. Dumb name though.

What do you mean 1 system with all their games?

I'm guessing Ndivia hardware and no touch screen rules out Wii U backwards compatability. That would suck, especially as it would hamper multiplayer games like Splatoon and Mario Maker although I can understand why they would focus on something new rather than spending money on supporting a failed console. I never got a Wii U becuase e-shop purchases tied to an account on a specific console. If they fix that, then I'm excited.

@whitegreyblack: So much is still unknown. The biggest being, is the base station actually doing anything? If it's just a place to connect to your tv and charge the thing, that's a wasted opportunity. With Sony releasing the PS4Pro and the upcoming Scorpio from Microsoft, they're basically asking devs for 2 or more different versions of those games anyway so this'll just slot into that and if devs just work from PC code where they can scale anyway, it shouldn't be much of an issue. It could mean the difference that games in portable mode run at 720p@30fps vs 1080p@60fps in home mode, at least, that's how I think it should be handled if the home dock actually does provide additional power.

I didn't see any Mario Maker in there, a tablet with no touch? Seems like a huge mistake to me. Lots to like too but since I can't imagine ever taking this out of its dock (portable controls look like garbage) I don't want to pay for the screen. Looks like a major step backwards, might convince me to finally buy a Wii U though.

To be honest we need to look at this from a variety of different perspectives. Gamefreak has already announced they are creating content for this. Which means this is basically the upgrade of the 3DS. As an avid user of the 3DS system this is a HUGE upgrade. Rumors from last week say we'll get 900p from the tablet screen and 1080p from the docking station. Going from 240p to 900p as going to be great. Bigger screen, better resolution and more comfortable gaming experience really make this a no brainer if you are upgrading from the 3DS. On the other hand this is also an upgrade to the Wii U. Again we have a spec upgrade but what we also receive is even more versatility then the Wii U provided. Plus we get better 3rd party support. All the 3rd party support that the 3DS has received will now come to the Switch. Finally, we have the support of Nvidia. I was team red for a long time but I had to switch to Nvidia cause AMD just didn't have the power or efficiency. Nvidia has an overwhelming 70% market share in the gpu market. The GTX1080 is super powered and the chip in the Switch is based on that architecture. Nvidia has been wanting to get more into the gaming market, thats why the put out the shield tablet/console. Partnering up with Nintendo gives them the foothold that they never had. They have the technology and resources to help Nintendo make this a fantastic product. I think this is going to be a fantastic product and a great addition to anyone's gaming collection.

Well, the resolution appears to be an improvement over the 3ds. Also, all first party effort going to one platform is pretty exciting if that is the case.

Please mark me down for "hype".

I know this is such a big side note but that entire trailer they made for the console was shot in Vancouver.

THE UNIFICATION IS UPON US

I am fascinated, and yet...

A Nintendo console with no D-pad on the default controller??

We live in crazy times.

Definitely interested in this, though the performance on games is a concern to me until we see better game trailers and spec details.

I'm also curious about price. Lots of families buy each of their kids a DS so they aren't fighting over one during their family road trips. Surely this console/handheld hybrid is going to be a bit pricier so parents can't buy each of their kids a handheld to keep them occupied on family drives.

That thing looks cool as shit, I can't wait to play Pokemon, Monster Hunter or the next Pushmo game on my tv. My one question is can you play on the tablet screen with the regular controller because playing games with something that's essentially a wii remote doesn't seem like the best way to play a Splatoon or Zelda game. Also I continue to be excited for Breath of the Wild.

Does ti have a touch screen? I didn't see that.

If that thing runs Android, it would be a attractive device but other than that, this seems like just warmed up Sega Nomad, Wii U level graphics with hardware gimmick. The screen had to be smaller for it to be really portable and how long could it last with battery power? Wonder if the dock/charger itself has a faster gpu system for it to power larger displays like TV.

@asphalizo: Nvidia doesn't have a x86 APU and didn't want to create one or only the GPU for the Xbone/PS4 since the margains seem low there I think. AMD could just smack their APU's in there so no real problem for them.

Interesting for Nintendo to go the ARM way (where Nvidia does have a powerful tablet SoC available). Makes sense with the handheld, but I don't know how well third party support is going to be then. I guess the dock doesn't have some extra computing power in there and is just... a dock I guess. With DX12 shenanigans a dual GPU/APU combo could've been possible maybe. Stick a less powerful one in the handheld and a more powerful one in the dock and let them work together when the handheld is in the dock. Nividia would be good for that too since they use their Pascal GPU's in laptops because they're so efficient. Although that might become to expensive to produce.

Another really awesome hardware design from Nintendo, but I'm reserving my judgment until I see how games run on it. I'm actually mostly interested in seeing how well it can handle Skyrim. If it's the remaster, and the graphical bells and whistles are mostly the same as the console versions (minus the resolution, of course), then I'd be amazed. I have an NVIDIA Shield tablet and I doubt that thing could run Oblivion, much less the original release of Skyrim. A tegra chip that can run the Skyrim remaster sounds like technology from 5 years in the future.

If the dock doesn't add any processing power, I'd be curious to know what's up with Zelda's framerate looking waaaay worse when they showed it in handheld mode in the video. Maybe that's just weird video production stuff?

That could be an absolutely amazing launch lineup depending on how much of Splatoon and Mario Kart is new content. A home console and handheld in one seems really neat too.

Is this thing meant to have backward compatibility with Wii U discs? I don't see a disc slot on the handheld (no surprise) but figured they could jam it into the dock but it doesn't seem to be the case. Any official word on backward compatibility? I guess there's that sweet sweet Virtual Console money to be made.

Goodbye my sweet d-pad prince...

This looks awesome! I am SO in!

I think we all may be suprised how powerful it may be. IF they use the tegra X2, we could be looking a some impressive numbers, especially coming from a Portable tablet. Now the tegra X2 has been said to already be nearly as powerful as the ps4 and xbox 1.

Some people have already claimed that Nvidia made Nintendo wait for the reveal, so Nvidia can reveal the new chip. Which would make since. If you look for it, and the chips they have shown specs for, you could be in for a nice surprise.

"The Tegra Parker SOC is first featured on the Drive PX 2 which comes with two such Tegra modules and even more space to support dedicated MXM graphics cards. This product packs 12 CPU Cores, four Pascal GPUs (2 Tegra / 2 MXM) with 8 TFLOPs of FP32 and 24 TFLOPs of INT8 compute. We have already seen the product packing two GP106 GPUs in MXM form factor so we expect something close to the GTX 1060 (Notebook) on NVIDIA’s Drive PX 2 solution."

"While NVIDIA may not reveal the full purpose of Tegra Parker aside from automotive, I believe they have hinted that Parker is as good as an gaming chip as it’s an automotive processor. The Multiprocessor architecture that combines big+super cores are mentioned to be great for single threaded performance, maximize the aggregate performance andhave a sufficient thread count for automotive and gaming applications."

This table shows what the chips can do on the automotive side. These values are not what the Nintendo Switch will have. But it can give a indication on what the potential the chip could have with the NS. I'm betting on the SoC Parker at about 2.3 TFLOPs. Which will be more than the older ps4 and xbox, but not the new ones.

Source: http://wccftech.com/nvidia-tegra-parker-soc-hot-chips/

But I could also just be blowing smoke up my ass...

@avenlaya: Are...are these the FLOPS?

Hate the name and the look but love the functionality of it. Also, I'm way less interested in what a new Mario or Zelda looks likes on the Switch and more interested in what a new Pokemon or Fire Emblem game looks like.

The handheld version looks a bit big. Or maybe it isn't and just looks that way in the video? Is that even a problem?

There's a shot of someone inserting an SD card, so I'm guessing that's the physical medium for games. Interested to see what the internal memory is going to be for digital purchases, though.

Also, maybe just me, but the Zelda footage they showed near the start, where the guy is playing it as a handheld, looked noticeably choppy... I'm wondering if the dock will be offering more than just a way to charge and connect the Switch to your TV. If so, it's going to be a little disappointing if there are some games that just don't run well when you're undocked.

If they really are combining their handheld and home console platforms into one, I think that's a super-smart move. I'll wait for more software announcements before making any decisions, but conceptually I'm intrigued.

If it's android based, could homebrew emulators potentially become a thing?

I'm actually kind of impressed by the simplicity of the design it really looks like it could be good. I think if they price it at $399 it will be a hit but at $499 I don't know if it would catch.

$299 to $399 ( $399 is gonna be with a bundle of sorts). I'm calling it here and now. They need to drum up market shares (which it seems they have) and recoup costs from low shipments of the WiiU.

i wonder how long it takes before those controllers break off the screen also more info nintendo wtf are you doing !

I'm super in. The design, the idea, the controllers and all the snapping on and off of stuff looks super fucking cool. It obviously solves the problem of having two Nintendo Consoles for increasingly similar games. It'll be neat to see the likes of Pokemon and say Breath of the Wild on one system.

After the Wii and Wii U which were both good consoles with great games but dumb/stupid design choices like the names, the controllers, motion controls and the fairly pointless gamepad on Wii U, its nice to see Nintendo get it right with a good and smart name and what seems to be an awesomely designed console.