The Nintendo Switch costs $300

The Nintendo Switch will cost $300 (£280) when it hits store shelves (of the digital and physical variety) on March 3rd. Nintendo revealed the price and release date — we only had a release month previously — during its Switch live stream on the evening of Thursday, January 12th.

#NintendoSwitch will be available for $299.99. pic.twitter.com/Dwgduo0sT7

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) January 13, 2017

The Switch is Nintendo’s latest console, and it’s designed for both the living room and portable play. The Switch itself is a tablet-like device that has detachable controllers on either side; players can either set the screen up on a TV-connected dock for the living room, or take it out and use the gamepads as mobile controllers.

The gamepads, called Joy-Con controllers, connect to a main grip to become a traditional gamepad (similar in style to the N64 controller) for living room play. Or, they can be used as individual motion controllers.

The Joy-Con’s motion-sensing system is able to differentiate among rock, paper and scissors hand motions. They also have an HD Rumble system that Nintendo says allows players to feel individual ice cubes falling into a glass, or water filling up a vessel.

The Switch features a capacitive touchscreen, as opposed to Nintendo’s previous consoles (the DS, 3DS and Wii U), which have resistive touchscreens.

Also revealed today, the Switch won’t be region-locked, allowing players to load up games from any territory without issue. Additionally, the system will offer online multiplayer, but it won’t be free.

Nintendo showed off a handful of games heading to the Switch, including Splatoon 2, Super Mario Odyssey, Minecraft: Story Mode, Skylanders Imaginators, Rayman Legends, Skyrim, Minecraft, NBA 2K18, Arms and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which is officially a launch title due out on March 3rd.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from Nintendo’s Switch event.

Nintendo Switch software won’t be region locked

Nintendo has always been aggressive with region locking, but that’s changing with the Switch. That’s right, the Switch will be able to play games from any territory. Meaning, importing games from Japan and playing them on your US-based console will be totally doable — no need to buy a region-specific hardware for those anymore. Nor will you have to wait for a certain game to get translated to English. Hey, alright!

Nintendo will not apply region-locking to #NintendoSwitch software.

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) January 13, 2017

Click here to catch up on the latest news from Nintendo’s Switch event.

Nintendo Switch online multiplayer won’t be free

There’s a lot to love about Nintendo, but it’s always been a generation behind the curve when it comes to online services. The Nintendo Wii was hampered by an awkward friend code system, and the Wii U’s network services were weird, goofy and heavily monitored. With the Switch that all might change: Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima just announced Nintendo Online Services — the company’s latest attempt to figure out online multiplayer. Kimishima didn’t reveal much about the service, but the in general the news is good: Nintendo Online Services sounds a lot like Sony and Microsoft’s multiplayer services. The bad news? Just like those services, it’ll cost you a monthly fee.

According to Kimishima, Nintendo Online Services will let players set play appointments, chat with friends and, of course, play games online. The interesting part, however, is he described all of that being done on a “smart device,” not on the Nintendo Switch. The details of that aren’t clear, unfortunately — and neither is the service’s monthly fee. There’s a couple of silver linings, though: the service will be free until fall of 2017, and subscribers will get to download one free NES or SNES game per month — some of which may be patched to have online multiplayer. Not bad, Nintendo. Maybe you’ll figure this out after all.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from Nintendo’s Switch event.

Nintendo finally discovered capacitive touch screens

At Nintendo’s Switch press conference today, the company revealed that its upcoming gaming console will have — wait for it — a capacitive touch screen. This is a pretty big move for Nintendo, which has traditionally gone with resistive touch displays — the DS, the 3DS and the Wii U all had resistive touch screens and had to be used with a stylus. Resistive touch screens are typically not as finger-friendly as capacitive displays that are widely used in smartphones and tablets today. Capacitive screens also allow for multi-touch gestures, which is lacking on resistive models. It’s a small difference, perhaps, but it’s a move that makes the Switch that much more enticing to a modern audience.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from Nintendo’s Switch event.

‘Arms’ brings shooter-esque boxing to the Nintendo Switch

Nintendo isn’t wasting any time with original games for its new Switch console. During its launch livestream tonight, the company announced Arms, a new boxing game that also shares a lot with shooters. It relies on motion controls to attack enemies from a distance. In practice, it looks like you’re punching with a bit of a delay, thanks to your freakishly long arms (get it?!). In many ways, Arms looks like the successor to Wii Boxing that we’ve been waiting for. Unfortunately, it won’t be ready for the Switch’s launch — you can expect it sometime in spring.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from Nintendo’s Switch event.

‘Super Mario Odyssey’ puts Nintendo’s plumber in the real world

Super Mario Odyssey is Nintendo’s latest Mario game and it’s due to hit the Switch during the holiday season this year. The new adventure is a sandbox-style game that throws Nintendo’s famous plumber into environments from the real world.

There’s also something strange going on with Mario’s hat — it has eyes and appears to be sentient in some way. Nintendo didn’t reveal many details about the plot of Super Mario Odyssey, but the hat definitely has a role to play. Also, Bowser and Peach are apparently having a royal wedding in the new game, but Peach doesn’t look too happy about it.

This looks like the 3D Mario game that we spotted when Nintendo revealed the Switch back in October.

Mario’s hat looks quite unusual. What role will it play in this adventure…? Coming to #NintendoSwitch Holiday 2017. #SuperMarioOdyssey pic.twitter.com/c0SwnRAbo9

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) January 13, 2017

Click here to catch up on the latest news from Nintendo’s Switch event.

‘Splatoon 2’ brings new weapons, stages and fashion to Nintendo Switch

When Splatoon announced that its late July Splatfest would be its last online multiplayer event, there was a collective sigh from Miiverse. The multiplayer shooter dragged Nintendo into a competitive gaming space it had never competed in before — it was fun, frantic and had a lot of personality. Thankfully, the franchise lives on. Today Nintendo announced that the Switch version of Splatoon isn’t a remastered port, but a full sequel.

At a glance, the game looks a lot like its predecessor, but the game’s producer, Hisashi Nogami, says there’s plenty of new content. In addition to getting what looks like a much improved frame rate, Splatoon 2 will feature new stages, new fashion styles, new special attacks and new weapons — including a pair of dual pistols called the ‘splat dualies’ that can apparently be used like rockets to propel the player across the stage.

Just like with the original game, players will have the option of using gyro-controls to aim — a control style Nogami says will be available no matter what controller the player chooses to use. And Splatoon 2 uses all of them: the game can be played using the Joy-Cons, in portable mode, detached from the TV and even with the Switch Pro Controller.

That’s all nice, but Splatoon 2 surpasses the original in one key way: it has local multiplayer. For the first time players will be able to face off in a proper battle (as opposed to the first title’s minigames) with other local players. Unfortunately, the game won’t be available at launch: Splatoon 2 is scheduled to hit stores this summer.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from Nintendo’s Switch event.

Nintendo Switch controllers tout sharing and object detection

It was evident from the get-go that the Nintendo Switch’s Joy-Con controllers weren’t just your ordinary gamepads. However, the console’s launch event has revealed that they do much, much more besides detach and offer local two-player play. The left-side Joy-Con has a sharing button, for starters — you can take screenshots to show off memorable moments. The Switch won’t share video right away (one area where the PS4 and Xbox One have an edge), but Nintendo is promising that it’s in the works.

The Joy-Cons have both motion detection and fairly sophisticated vibration feedback. In its promo clip, Nintendo claimed that you could not only tell that someone had dumped ice cubes into a glass, but how many cubes there were. And the left-hand controller can detect objects in front of it — Nintendo used the classic “rock, paper, scissors” game as an example.

Some of the mini pads’ features are expected. The right-side Joy-Con has an NFC pad for your Amiibo, and there will be wrist straps to avoid flinging controllers across the room. And did we mention that the Joy-Cons will come in blue and red? The best part: you won’t necessarily have to pay extra for this gear. The wrist straps are included in the box, and you can buy a Switch system that includes the blue and red Joy-Cons for the same price as the somber gray models. If you do need extra controllers, they’re $80 for a pair and $50 if you just need one for an extra player. An extra grip is $30, and the Pro Controller will set you back $70.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from Nintendo’s Switch event.

Source: Nintendo (YouTube)

‘Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’ lands on Switch at launch

Game consoles don’t tend to have stand-out, killer software at launch, but Nintendo is bucking the trend again. The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild will be released in concert with the console itself on March 3, 2017. Not picking up the new console? The game comes out the same day for the Wii U. If this seems familiar it’s because Nintendo did something similar with Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, launching it on the Wii and Gamecube simultaneously.

To help make the wait seem a little shorter, Nintendo also debuted a new trailer for the game, showing off a few familiar sights (like the Master Sword) as well as our hero of Time, Link rode on horseback, lighting up foes with fire arrows and of course, hang gliding and riding on horseback. It all looked seriously pretty, too. If you missed it during the stream, we’ll embed it as soon as NIntendo puts it on YouTube, just be patient.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from Nintendo’s Switch event.

Nintendo Switch battery lasts three hours of portable ‘Zelda’

Nintendo’s new hybrid console is rated for “more than six hours” of use away from an outlet, but mileage will vary depending on the game. In a press release sent out following last night’s Switch event, Nintendo says that launch title “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild can be played for roughly three hours on a single charge.” Obviously, less-taxing games will last considerably longer, allowing Nintendo to claim six hours of battery life with a clear conscience.

Whenever the Switch is docked to the TV it automatically charges, so you should leave the house with a full battery every time. However, the Switch uses regular USB Type-C for charging, so you could feasibly top up with the same charger you use for your laptop or phone.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from Nintendo’s Switch event.