Skip to main content

Nintendo to detail Switch’s release date and pricing in January

Nintendo might have given us our first glimpse of its upcoming Switch console, but don’t expect much in the way of details until early next year. In a presentation to financial analysts, Nintendo pledged to give full details on the console’s pricing and intended launch date on January 12, 2017.

The Nintendo Switch made quite a splash when it was unveiled last week, showing off its portable and home gaming ability, as well as a surprisingly intimate focus on local gaming, considering the push by other platforms for virtual reality and online play. Unfortunately though, Nintendo is being rather coy, so while we know how the system works, we don’t really know what it’s going to be like to use, nor what its game library will be.

Recommended Videos

While game teases and reveals are expected over the next few months and we expect much better third-party support from this system than we saw with the Wii U, big details like launch dates and pricing won’t be available until January it seems.

The event will be a big one, though, with media, financial analysts, and trade partners all present in Tokyo where it will be staged. Moreover, the public will also be allowed to tune in, since the event will be live-streamed — and streamed again at “U.S. time,” as well, which should mean we don’t all need to get up super early, or stay up till the early hours to view it.

Following that event, Nintendo will also be hosting testing events around the world in the following weeks. This will give the public a chance to try out the console themselves, in a range of venues around Europe and the U.S.. While again, we don’t really know what this try-out tour will entail, you can expect big games like the known launch title Zelda: Breath of the Wind to be in attendance.

The Nintendo Switch is quite an out-there design choice in 2016, but one we’re excited by and think will do well. But what do you guys think?

Jon Martindale
Jon Martindale is a freelance evergreen writer and occasional section coordinator, covering how to guides, best-of lists, and…
Change these Switch 2 settings first
The Nintendo eShop appears on a Switch 2 screen.

Everyone who is just coming home with a brand new Nintendo Switch 2 will be racing to get the system open, transfer their Switch data, and jump into Mario Kart World or any other new title to start playing. We felt the same way, but there are a few bits of housekeeping to be done with every new console. It may not be the most glamorous thing, but diving into the Switch 2's settings now can make the rest of your time with the console far more enjoyable than if you put it off. There are a lot of settings to sift through, and most of them aren't ones you will need to ever touch, but we found the most essential Switch 2 settings you should change on day one.

Limit your battery charging

Read more
Watch the Switch 2 do something unexpected in this intense bend test
The Switch 2 undergoing a durability test.

Zack Nelson of the popular JerryRigEverything YouTube channel is more used to putting smartphones through his demanding durability test, but he clearly couldn’t resist doing the same with Nintendo’s just-released Switch 2 handheld to find out if it’s a “pass” or “fail” when it comes to hardiness. 

“Out of the millions of Switches made, you kinda gotta feel sorry for the one that ends up on my desk,” Nelson says at the start of his video, suggesting that the device is in for a pretty rough time.

Read more
PSA: Don’t fall for Nintendo Switch 2 horror story hoaxes this weekend
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom runs on a Switch 2 screen.

The Nintendo Switch 2 is out today and that's a cause for celebration. Players who were able to score one will no doubt spend the day racing in Mario Kart World, testing out their Joy-con's new tricks in Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, and testing out new features like GameChat. There's bound to be a lot of excitement, but also plenty of complaints. You're bound to see players sharing their issues with the system this weekend, which may leave you wondering if it's worth waiting to buy one until the bugs are ironed out.

That would be a totally healthy response, but be warned: The fakers are coming. Take everything you see and hear this weekend with some healthy skepticism until the dust clears.

Read more