Nintendo's Announces Some Big News During It's Nintendo Switch Presentation 2017 Livestream

Nintendo Switch Launches on March 3 for US$299.99
Nintendo revealed during its livestream presentation on Friday that it will release its hybrid home/handheld Switch game system on March 3 in Japan, the United States, Canada, major European countries, Hong Kong, and other territories. The console will be priced at 29,980 yen in Japan, and US$299.99 in North America.

The Switch will have a paid online service, but it will be free on launch until fall. Through this online service, users will be able to set up online games, play appointments, and chat with friends. The console will have no region locking for games. Nintendo stated that there are over 80 games in development for the console.

The console's battery life will be from 2.5 to 6 hours, depending on the game. The console can be charged while playing with a USB Type-C cable. Up to eight consoles can connect to each other in local area network.

Nintendo will offer Joy-Con controllers in neon blue and neon red colors in addition to the default grey. The Joy-Con controller itself has an IR camera that can sense hand shapes and distances from the sensor. The controller will have an HD rumble feature, and will also allow players to take screenshots, with a video capture option available sometime after launch. The Joy-Con controller can also read and write amiibo data. Nintendo will offer two Switch packages, with one package bundled with the grey Joy-Con, and the another bundled with the neon blue and red Joy-Con.

The game package will come with the console, wrist straps, the left and right Joy-Con controllers, a Joy-Con grip, an HDMI cable, and an AC adaptor. The Pro controller is sold separately.

The Nintendo Switch offers a custom NVIDIA Tegra processor with an NVIDIA GPU, a built-in high-definition display, detachable Joy-Con controllers, and the Nintendo Switch Dock for connecting the system to a television.

A user can play games several ways: 1) hold a detached Joy-Con controller in each hand, 2) use two controllers when they are attached directly to the main Switch device, 3) split the two controllers with a second player, or 4) attach the controllers to a Joy-Con Grip accessory. The player can also use an optional Nintendo Switch Pro controller instead of the Joy-Con controllers. In addition, groups can "bring their Nintendo Switch systems together to enjoy local multiplayer face-to-face competition."

Nintendo previously announced 48 publishers, developers and middleware partners who are supporting the system. Nintendo said that the Switch is not compatible with Wii U game discs or Nintendo 3DS cards, and added that the Nintendo Switch is not designed to be the successor to either earlier system. However, Nintendo did not confirm or deny the Switch's ability to play earlier systems' games via digital download or emulation.

New The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Trailer Reveals March 3 Release
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will launch on both Nintendo Switch and Wii U on March 3, the same day the Switch itself launches. Nintendo also streamed a new trailer for the game.


Nintendo revealed the game was in development in 2013, and revealed the first gameplay footage in 2014. Nintendo originally planned to release the game in 2015, but then the company pushed the game back to 2016, and then delayed it again to 2017. While originally slated for release only for Nintendo's Wii U console, the game is now slated for simultaneous launch for both the Wii U and the newly revealed Switch platform.

Nintendo revealed its "Master Edition" of the game. The edition will retail for US$129.99 and include a Master Sword statue, Sheikah carrying case for the Switch, 24-track soundtrack, Sheikah eye coin, and tapestry world map.


Splatoon 2 Game For Switch
Hisashi Nogami, the game's producer, introduced the game's first footage.

The game will use both the Joy-Con and Pro controllers, and can be played in both TV Mode and Handheld Mode. Players can play matches against opponents online, or via local multiplayer. Similarly to the original Splatoon game, Nintendo will continue to update Splatoon 2 with new stages and weapons after the game launches. Nintendo is also planning in-game events.

Splatoon 2 launches this summer.

Fire Emblem Warriors Game for Switch
Nintendo announced during its livestream presentation on Friday that KOEI Tecmo Games, its Omega Force team, and its Team Ninja team, are developing a new game titled Fire Emblem Warriors (Fire Emblem Musou) for the Nintendo Switch. The game is slated for this year's holiday season. Nintendo unveiled a trailer for the game, that shows the sword Falchion (as it appears in the Fire Emblem Awakening game), hinting that Fire Emblem Awakening's Chrom will be a character in the game.

Omega Force is a subsidiary of KOEI Tecmo, and it develops KOEI Tecmo's Musou (Warriors) series of games, known for its action hack-and-slash gameplay where players control a character to fight hundreds of enemies at once.

Intelligent Systems' first Fire Emblem game launched in 1990 and spawned a series of tactical role-playing games. The Fire Emblem Fates games, the latest installments in the series, launched in Japan in June 2015 and in North America in February 2016.

Monolith Soft Reveals Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Sequel Game
Monolith Soft is developing the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 sequel game for the Nintendo Switch platform, and unveiled a trailer for the game.

Tetsuya Takahashi returns as the game's executive director. The game features character designs by Masatsugu Saitō (Expelled from Paradise, Cyborg 009 Call of Justice). Yasunori Mitsuda, ACE (Tomori Kudō, Chico), Kenji Hiramatsu, and Manami Kiyota are returning from the first game to compose the game's music.

Nintendo released the original Xenoblade Chronicles for the Wii in Japan in 2010, Europe in 2011, and North America in 2012. Nintendo released Xenoblade Chronicles 3D for the New Nintendo 3DS in April 2015 in North America and Europe. The Xenoblade Chronicles X "spiritual successor" shipped for the Wii U system in December 2015.

Square Enix Reveals New 'Project Octopath Traveler' RPG
Square Enix is working on a new original role-playing game project for the Nintendo Switch platform tentatively titled "Project Octopath Traveler." The same team who worked on the Bravely Default game is working on the game.

Square Enix released the original Bravely Default: Flying Fairy game for the Nintendo 3DS in October 2012. An enhanced version of the game, titled Bravely Default: For the Sequel in Japan, shipped in Japan on the Nintendo 3DS in December 2013 and in North America in February 2014.

Square Enix released the Bravely Second: End Layer Nintendo 3DS sequel game in Japan in April 2015, in Europe in February 2016, and in North America in April 2016.

New Shin Megami Tensei Title
Atlus is developing a new installment in its long-running Shin Megami Tensei role-playing game series for the Nintendo Switch platform, using Unreal Engine 4. The game is the Shin Megami Tensei franchise's 25th anniversary project.

Atlus revealed on Tuesday that it is working on a 25th anniversary project for the franchise. The 25th anniversary logo references the series' first four main games that debuted in 1992, 1994, 2003, and 2013, respectively.

Game developer Atlus recently released Persona 5 — the latest installment in the spinoff series of its Shin Megami Tensei RPGs — in Japan on September 15. The game will ship in the West on April 4.

The Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse (Shin Megami Tensei IV: Final) Nintendo 3DS game shipped in Japan last February. Atlus released the game in the Americas in September, followed by Europe and Australia in December.

Super Mario Odyssey Game
The game will be available in holiday 2017.

In the game, Mario leaves the Mushroom Kingdom to "go on a new sandbox-style journey." Yoshiaki Koizumi, the game's producer, said that Mario's eyed cap will play an "important role in Mario's journey" in the game.

Nintendo also announced that it is releasing the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe game on Switch on April 28. Mario Kart 8 launched for Wii U in May 2014.
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Not impressed. Still waiting for Metroid Prime like game.
I'm the worst kind of fanboy. I make no excuses for my behavior.

 

You can pretty much forget about the Zelda Master Edition. Scalpers raped the market so true fans will likely have to pay at least double the retail price because the scalpers have no life beyond ripping people off. Nintendo, GameStop, Best Buy, and Amazon are notorious about not putting limits on items like these.