March 3 (worldwide launch, no region locking) $299 USD Online play will (eventually) be pay, like Sony and Microsoft There's two packages: one with grey side controllers, one with a red and a blue
games shown - Legend of Zelda, Breath of the Wild (launch) - 1/2 Switch (duels, only one switch needed, launch) - Arms (springy arm boxing, Spring 2017) - Splatoon 2 (Summer 2017) - Super Mario Odyssey (sandbox Mario, Holidays 2017) - Xenoblade 2 (no date) - Fire Emblum Warriors (no date) - Shin Megami Tensei - Skyrim - No More Heroes - EA FIFA (no year given, suspiciously)
80 games are said to be in development. Lots of other games were shown in trailer s(Sonic, Mario Kart, NBA2K18) but without dates.
Edit: The Mario Kart show is apparently not a new Mario Kart, but a upgrade version of WiiU version with the old (proper) battle mode restored and a few new characters. It'll be out in April and it's very weird a port isn't ready for launch.
The lack of dates is the big obvious weakness. Only Zelda & 1/2 Switch appear to be launch titles. The depth that's been a WiiU problem may still be a Switch issue at the start. I would like to play those games, but I'm not sure I need to get his at launch. (I'm wondering if Nintendo missing the holiday season was more about the software not being ready than the hardware.)
$299 is a heavy price for a handheld system in 2017, but the Mario and Zelda games looked top notch console games. If they can get over the idea that this is a console system you can take with you, it's a good deal. Still, I'm not sure I'd hurry to pick it up until that Mario game comes out, just so I'd know there was two games to play.
I'm sold and will likely be there day one, but I'm admittedly a Nintendo fanboy and I was in line on launch night for Wii and Wii U.
Zelda and Mario are all I really need.
The presentation was weird. Weird to try to start with thhe combo of the mini games game and Arms. Also the translators bordered on terrible part of time time. It's also weird to have the Sega guy come out and say a bunch of nothing, then throw up a Sonic Mania trailer on YouTube minutes after it is over.
Apparently, the weird deal the No Man Heroes guy was doing was a Great Muta pose, and he mentioned a wrestling influence in the game. The translators were really not good.
Nintendo just sees things differently. All the video game console makers push out game to show what their system is capable of doing. That's huge visual games with Sony & Microsoft, showing off the power of whatever chips they've put under the hood this time. For Nintendo, it's whatever crazy idea they've come up with the interface or the controller this time. 1/2/Switch feels like an overgrown demo to show off - to the users and the developers - all the things you could do with the new controllers, just like the Knacks of the world are more about the polygons they can put on the screen than the gameplay.
I'm really not sure about the asymmetrical positioning of the sticks. I think that's going to be hard to use.
I can sum it up best by saying I had the Best Buy product page open when I started the presentation in case pre-orders went live as soon as it ended. I closed that tab before the show was over.
I don't know. I love Nintendo consoles and handhelds - even the ones nobody else likes. And Super Mario Odyssey looks amazing. But I look at this and the little controllers just don't look comfortable to me. They've announced next to no launch games; Zelda looks fantastic and I'm not even a Zelda guy but 1-2-Switch is basically Staring Contest: The Videogame. I can't quite fathom that ports of Mario Kart 8 (which they didn't even mention during the show) and Skyrim aren't ready at launch, and they notably didn't mention anything about the Virtual Console games I already own being carried over.
Mostly, this presentation reminded me that I already have Mario, Zelda, Splatoon, Mario Kart, and Skyrim, and I should maybe play them instead of spending $400 CDN on a machine that will let me spend hundreds more to play them again.
Nintendo announced a lot of indies games, probably mostly to say 'this device is going to have support, trust us'. Polygon has a list, which I've put in release order. It doesn't seem like a full list; I checked this info because I got an email from the Toejam & Earl Kickstarter confirming they'll be on the Switch. You can see their logo in the presentation but not a date (and it really still doesn't seem like they're that close to one. )
Launch (03/03) Fast RMX Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove
03/09 Blaster Master Zero
March Pocket Rumble (Switch exlusive) The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth
April Graceful Explosion Machine Mr. Shifty (timed exclusive)
soon Shakedown: Hawaii
this spring TumbleSeed Thumper
this summer Steamworld Dig 2 Dandara Stardew Valley (new multiplayer on Switch first)
this fall Runner3
later this year Yooka-Laylee (w/New multiplayer mode) The Escapists 2 Gonner (exclusive coentent) Flipping Death WarGroove Perception Ultimate Chicken Horse Rogue Trooper Redux NBA Playgrounds Celeste
no date mentioned Overcooked Special Edition Kingdom Two Crowns