**UPDATE (1/12/17, 10:37pm)** Rumor has it that AMAZON will be opening up pre-orders at 1am PST so stay tuned and caffeinated! (link below)
Tonight, Nintendo held their highly anticipated “Nintendo Switch Presentation 2017” live from Tokyo to give fans a better idea of what to expect when the Nintendo Switch releases later this year.
First and foremost, the NINTENDO SWITCH will be released in North America on March 3rd 2017 for the retail price of $299.99. As of this writing, pre-orders are not yet up, but I have a feeling it will be happening very soon.
If interested in pre-ordering, open THIS LINK up in a new tab and hit “Refresh” forever until it appears!
For $299.99, consumers will get the main Nintendo Switch console, x1 Joy Con Controller that can be separated to make 2, x2 Joy Con wrist straps for each piece, x1 main controller grip, x1 system dock, x1 HDMI cable, and x1 AC adapter.
It was also noted that the more classic “Pro Controller” will be available at launch and sold separately for $69.99 which is WAY too expensive. And you can buy singular “Joy Con” controllers for $49.99 each or x2 for $79.99. Again, WAY too much. Yeesh. Up to 8 controllers can connect at one time for multiplayer gaming.
The beginning of the presentation really stressed all the unique ways you will be able to play the Nintendo Switch. There’s “TV Mode” to play classically at home on the living room screen, “Tabletop Mode” where players take the screen from the dock on-the-go and use the kick-stand to stand the screen, and “Handheld Mode” where players play on the screen out of the dock much like a Gameboy or 3DS. These all seem like really cool ways to play making gaming-on-the-go very easy and really expands the multiplayer options like we’ve never seen before. I’m impressed with how many different ways you can play and being able to bring my Nintendo Switch wherever I go is fantastic. It was noted that the battery will have between 2.5-6.5 hours of life when unplugged. That’s not a really good duration, but it was said you can play while it’s charging, and I’m sure there will be plenty of 3rd party options to extend that life.
As for the games…
The next section of the presentation was extremely awkward and weird detailing some of the new games we will be playing on our shiny new Nintendo Switch systems. I say weird because there were just a shit load of poorly scripted moments, bad Japanese to English translations, and the “jokes” almost never hit their mark translated or not. There were a lot of crickets chirping in that audience and in my living room whilst watching. Ok, so the games..
1-2-SWITCH – A Nintendo game that has players exploring all the functionality of the new “Joy Con” controllers. They showed off a Wild West gun duel that looked like it may be fun for a few minutes. It was pitched as a “party game” that will allow players to play a variety of mini-games in new and fun ways. Meh, not that interesting. Looks more like a tech-demo to me and not worth extra cash. This should have been included with the system itself. Whaddaya gonna do…Available at launch on March 3rd 2017.
ARMS – A new fighting game from Nintendo that has players take control of fighters that have springs for arms with boxing gloves attached to the end. Contenders use 2 Joy Con controllers each (one gripped in each hand) and duke it out utilizing a wide range of moves. It looked really easy to play but harder to master. And I’m actually sold on this one. The art direction looks great, the action looks really fun, and it appears to be a game only possible on this new hardware at the moment. Plus it’s just so weird in a way only Nintendo can achieve. My only gripe will be needing to purchase some of those crazy expensive controllers for multiplayer mayhem. It will be available Spring 2017.
SPLATOON 2 – This is the official sequel to the WiiU classic. Players take control of human-squid hybrids who engage in huge paintball battle with one another with the goal to splatter the most paint on the arena before the match ends. Yeah…very Nintendo…in a good way! While I never delved into the original, I know a few people who will be stoked to see this. It will be available Summer 2017.
SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY – Probably the biggest and best announcement in the entire presentation was the reveal for a brand new SUPER MARIO game! It’s Mario unleashed in a big over world again with various paths and universes to explore. While I felt pretty awkward watching him romp around big cities with “normal” sized people, there was plenty of otherworldly locals to countermeasure. That said, it looks fun as hell and seems bursting with classic gameplay! It’s Mario, nuff said. SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY is set for a Holiday 2017 launch. This could very easily get delayed.
After those four big games were announced we got a long-winded sting of awkward presenters kind of showcasing new games. Nothing I could really sink my teeth into. I suppose highlights included XENOBLADE CHRONICLES 2 which looked stunning, a new FIRE EMBLEM entry, DRAGON QUEST X, XI and HEROES 1 & 2, SKYRIM, and a confusingly vague announcement that we may get another NO MORE HEROES entry. So yeah, nothing to get too excited about just yet.
And finally, THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD gets an official release date for March 3rd 2017 on BOTH the NINTENDO SWITCH and the NINTENDO WiiU. We got a fresh look at some gameplay and the game look overwhelmingly amazing. Sold, sold, sold. It’s not clear what the differences will be for each system release so I really can’t say what console I will be getting this on just yet. I won’t make up my mind until I hear more advantages or disadvantages concerning each version.
All in all it was an exciting, albeit awkward, presentation. We got our release date, we got our price point, we got a new SUPER MARIO announcement, and we got a BREATH OF THE WILD release date. All those elements alone make this one hell of a day for Nintendo fans.
Stay tuned as new details emerge.
Check out the SUPER MARIO OYSSEY and THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD footage below as it was clearly the highlight of the night. The rest can be seen in the above presentation in it’s entirety.
