Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

Nintendo has revealed a price and release date for the Switch

Gabe Carey
By

After months of teases, Nintendo announced that its next console, the Nintendo Switch, will be available worldwide on March 3, 2017, and will cost $300 in North America. The company announced the news during an unveiling event in Tokyo Thursday, January 12.

Each console will be bundled with a Joy-Con controller, wrist straps, Joy-Con dock, Switch dock, and an AC adaptor. The Pro controller will be sold separately from each of these packages. The console will ship with two color variants, one with black Joy-Con controllers and another with a blue and red Joy-Con. Both models will be sold for the same price.

Recommended Videos

The company also confirmed that the system, a hybrid fusion of both a handheld and a console when docked, will support online services compatible with mobile smart devices. On unspecified mobile devices, presumably iPhones and Android, you’ll be able to invite friends to play games with you on the Switch no matter where you are.

Related

As shown in the initial teaser, two players can split the Joy-Con pads — called “sharing the joy” — which connect to the console via infrared sensors. In this form, the joy-cons can be paired with a strap peripheral, which also adds pronounced “+” and “-” trigger buttons. Both the joy-cons and straps come in a variety of colors, including black, blue, and red. The console’s Joy-Con controllers will support motion controls, and feature a hypersensitive HD rumble feature.

Thus far, Nintendo said that its console will launch with a proof-of-concept party game geared towards families and friends called 1 2 Switch, which features a compilation of various mini games. Unlike previous Nintendo platforms, the Switch will not be region-locked, meaning you can finally import all those Dragon Quest games that inevitably only come to Japan without buying an imported console. Other games confirmed for the Switch include The Elder Scrolls V: Skryim, Super Mario Odyssey (December 2017), and a new motion-controlled boxing game called ARMS (spring 2017).

The battery life of the Switch, according to Nintendo, will last somewhere between 2.5 and 6 hours. Optimistically assuming it lasts closer to the latter, this is good for players looking to enjoy lengthy Splatoon 2 sessions, which, by the way, is also coming to the Switch in summer 2017.

If you’re wondering if Nintendo Switch is worth it, read our review on Nintendo Switch.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Gabe Carey
Gabe Carey
Former Digital Trends Contributor
A freelancer for Digital Trends, Gabe Carey has been covering the intersection of video games and technology since he was 16…
All upcoming Switch games: 2024, and beyond
The main character of Tales of Kenzera: Zau stands with two elemental items.

The Nintendo Switch is one of the most popular consoles Nintendo has ever produced, with a wide variety of games to choose from and plenty of unique features. We’ve already gotten to play new entries across the Zelda, Super Mario, and Pokémon series on Nintendo Switch, but there are still plenty of great games on the way for the hybrid console. These include exclusive games developed internally by Nintendo, as well as third-party titles and ports of games that are also available on other platforms.

Here's our list of the best upcoming Nintendo Switch games for 2024 and beyond. Of course, some titles without release windows could skip the Switch entirely and wind up on Nintendo Switch 2 (or whatever it ends up being called) And if you're looking at future releases on multiple consoles, don't forget to check out what's upcoming on PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC this year.
Upcoming Switch games 2024
The games listed below either have 100% confirmed release dates or solid release windows that we expect them to hit this year. Anything that's up in the air due to more vague launch predictions or previous delays will be listed below confirmed launches.

Read more
PlayStation 6: release date speculation, price, specs, and more
sony reveals customizable ps5 dualsense edge controller front and back

In a recent quote, Sony Senior Vice President Naomi Matsuoka said: "Looking ahead, PS5 will enter the latter stage of its life cycle." Many in the industry took that to mean that we may be hearing about the next PlayStation console sooner rather than later.

Considering Sony has yet to break its naming convention, it feels safe to assume whatever future home console we get will be called the PlayStation 6. But not only has the name not been officially confirmed, but neither has the idea of a next-generation PlayStation console or even a PS5 Pro. It's almost a guarantee, but technically nothing is set in stone. Rumors and potential leaks have already started stirring up excitement, so let's see what the future of PlayStation may look like according to the rumors.
Release date speculation

Read more
World of Goo 2 might just be the Nintendo Switch’s next must-own co-op game
A built structure in World of Goo 2.

When I sat down to demo World of Goo 2 at this year’s GDC, I noted to the developers on hand how surprising it was to see a sequel after so long. “It’s been, what? Ten years?” I said. I was very far off the mark: They noted that the original World of Goo launched in 2008. After playing a few levels (and having an existential crisis over time’s rapid passing), I’d find myself wondering how such an obvious slam dunk didn’t come sooner.

Like its predecessor, World of Goo 2 is a physics-based puzzle game where players craft structures from little, gooey critters. It presents a series of engineering challenges, as poorly built structures will topple under the weight of all those jiggly little pals. Rather than reinventing that concept entirely, World of Goo 2 adds some wild new ideas onto that stable structure that opens up its puzzle potential. The result is a chaotic co-op game that’s a perfect fit for the Nintendo Switch.

Read more