Nintendo shook the video game industry to its very core with the reveal of its newest console, the Nintendo Switch.
The 3-minute video that provided the first look at the Nintendo Switch, which at the time of writing has only been online for 19 hours, has already reached almost 8.8 million views, showing how popular the console has already become.
What is the Nintendo Switch, and what do we know about it so far?
A Hybrid Console
The Nintendo Switch is a hybrid console in the sense that it can take on a variety of forms. It can function as a handheld gaming device with its own display and controls on either side of the screen. The Switch can then be placed inside the Nintendo Switch Dock to transform it into a tabletop console, with the controls sliding off from either end of the device and into a separate holder to turn it into traditional controllers.
For gamers on the go, they can also prop up the Switch while in handheld form using its kickstand, with the controllers able to be slid off and held in each hand. The controllers can also function as simple controllers with just a d-pad and four buttons that can be shared by two people for multiplayer games.
Speaking of multiplayer, local multiplayer games can be played in one Switch through split screens or through multiple units connected in a network.
Switching between the handheld version and the tabletop version also seamlessly transfers the game between the Switch's display and the TV connected to the Nintendo Switch Dock.
Nintendo Switch Specifications
Powering the Nintendo Switch is a customized Tegra processor from Nvidia, reportedly named the Tegra X2. It is said that the processor utilizes six ARM CPU cores, a pair of custom Denver cores designed by Nvidia, and four off-the-shelf ARM Cortex A57 cores. The X2 is also said to be packing 256 CUDA cores that are based on the Pascal architecture of Nvidia, which is the one used for the company's GeForce 1000-series graphics cards.
Nintendo Switch Games
The announcement trailer for the Nintendo Switch showed off a variety of games, including Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, an unnamed 3D Super Mario game, a new Mario Kart game, Monster Hunter, Skyrim, Splatoon and NBA 2K17.
Nintendo Switch Price
Nintendo has not yet revealed the official price of the Switch, but CEO Tatsumi Kimishima did reveal that it will not be made at a loss, which is one of the mistakes that the company made with the Wii U.
It has been reported that the base model for the Switch will be sold for $299, with various bundles that will carry price tags of up to $399. All these numbers are speculation at this point, but if Nintendo wants to challenge Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One, it will have to release the Switch at a price within that range.
Nintendo Switch Availability
The Nintendo Switch will launch on March 2017, which for gamers who are already excited about the hybrid console is almost an eternity away.
