Nintendo Switch's Return

For months and months, the NX hung over gaming conversations and created a pretty hefty shadow for the Wii U and 3DS. Nintendo finally unveiled it as the Switch but has since gone silent again.

Nintendo has finally confirmed when we'll get to know the Switch more. On January 12th Nintendo will be hosting an event for the device and whilst it will be live streamed it will not be a traditional direct, in fact, it's going to be closer to an E3 event with the media, analysts and trade partners in attendance. 

Nintendo will be talking a lot about the system in very certain terms and has confirmed they will talk about the following;

• The exact launch date.
• Price.
• Launch titles.
• Titles currently in development.

Following the event, Nintendo plans on having "sampling events" in Europe and the US for " invited consumers, media and partners" and seperate events for the public to get to grips with the console before launch in March. That means we only have to suffer through rumours and hearsay for the next 76 days!

Abe's Take

So it looks like Nintendo will dominate the gaming narrative in January. I'm excited about the console though Nintendo's talk of supporting the 3DS after Switches launch gives me pause. If it's the usual "we'll support the old device for a while" that's fine but there does seem to be chatter that the Switch isn't ever going to replace the 3DS as Nintendo's handheld. The strongest case for Nintendo making a hybrid was that it would unify home and handheld teams, dramatically increasing the companies output and freeing studios to pursue more IPs

on a positive note, it appears the Joy-Cons have hidden shoulder buttons for multiplayer. which means they have the same number of inputs as a SNES pad.