Since the Nintendo Switch was revealed late October, speculation for metrics that Nintendo didn't disclose has grown — and continues to grow. Even now, when Nintendo is just days away from kicking off an upcoming Switch-focused event, rumors still proliferate across different channels.
This time it's about the console's exact release date and its retail price. While it's no secret that the hybrid console is poised for a March release date, Nintendo has yet to elaborate when exactly. Additionally, price points have so far remained largely speculative.
Nintendo Switch Details Revealed Ahead Of Event?
A UK retailer, GameSeek, has listed the Switch for a March 17 release, tagged with a price point of £198.50, or roughly $245. Could this allude to the exact pricing and release date for Nintendo's new console?
Of course, the information might very well be just placeholders which the retailer itself added, in light of yet unconfirmed details — GameSeek does have a habit of slapping on arbitrary release dates for games with unconfirmed schedules, according to Gamespot. Interestingly, GameSeek offers a preorder price guarantee, wherein customers who have preordered the console will strictly pay the retailer's list price, even if the Switch's price tag turns out to be higher.
What does that mean? Well, GameSeek's preorder price guarantee scheme suggests that its confident enough that the Switch's price will hover near, if not ending up exactly as, the placeholder price.
Other Nintendo Switch Rumors
Recently published FCC filings have shed a little more light on basic internal specifications of the Switch, confirming Bluetooth and 5 GHz Wi-Fi ac support under the hood. It won't, however, at least according to the same filings, support 3G or LTE connections. Nintendo has never packed its systems with mobile network connectivity in the past, so it comes as no surprise at all.
There's also the issue with a possibly non-removable battery, which was also confirmed by the FCC filings. If true, the chief gripe with it would be that it'll toughen up repairs for the system with such a configuration.
The console's performance may have also been revealed by EuroGamer, much to the dismay of fans anticipating the machine to be a beefy powerhouse. According to the report, it'll output 307.2 MHz of graphical power when undocked, and a 768 MHz maximum when docked. Those figures certainly tout it as less powerful than the Xbox One, or PlayStation 4, but Nintendo has yet to reveal its chip customizations with Nvidia.
The console may also introduce emulated GameCube games via the virtual console platform, with several games reported to have already been tested and in working condition.
That said, rumors should still be taken with a grain of salt, no matter how seemingly plausible and logical they might be. Nintendo's event isn't too far, anyway. It's poised to disclose a bevy of metrics: launch games, pricing, release schedule, and the system's specs.
Before the official launch date of the console, Nintendo will go on tour slated to showcase the system and its games to several cities in the United States, giving select crowds a chance for a first look at the console.
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