Never let it be said that Nintendo don't like surprises. After months of rumours, speculation and hear-say, the company set the record straight this afternoon with a surprise reveal trailer, to show their brand new console to the world.
The device formerly known as the NX has now become the Nintendo Switch - and if you've read any rumours online, the chances are everything you read was 100% correct.
The Switch gets its name from the fact it's a hybrid system - a mixture of a handheld and a home console, where you'll be playing the exact same games whether at home, or on the move. Using cartridges to store your games, much like the 3DS, you can wave bye bye to discs - and bye bye to annoying installs like on the PS4 and Xbox One.
Home console mode on the top, handheld on the bottom
In portable form, the console resembles a Wii U GamePad, with a generously sized screen in the middle, two analogue sticks, and a whole host of buttons. However, it's nothing if not versatile. The two controller edges can clip on and off, becoming effectively smaller versions of Wii Remotes, where - brilliantly - they can be used stand-alone for local multiplayer antics on the go. At home, meanwhile, the system rests in a dock that lets it broadcast its picture to the TV, while the buttons get clipped into a smaller device known as the Joy-Con Grip
Those Joy-Cons can be used in loads of different ways
While nothing was revealed in terms of pricing or launch line-up, there were several games shown running on the hardware. Although many were ports of Wii U games - Mario Kart, Splatoon, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, there were some more unexpected games in there too - The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim was not a game we expected to rear its head during the trailer, yet it played something of a starring role. More excitingly, Nintendo also dropped in a few seconds of footage of a brand new, 3D Mario game to really whip us into a frenzy. Looking somewhere in between Mario Galaxy and 3D World, here's hoping it's the perfect launch title,as Mario games often are.
After months of build up - and ten hours of near frenzied excitement, Nintendo didn't disappoint. While the Nintendo Switch may have an unusual name, it's a console that's oozing potential. The ability to play console quality local multiplayer on the go has us hooked - you'll never have a boring train journey or flight again if you can play Smash Bros anywhere you are - and the wide range of control schemes should give everyone something to keep us happy. In fact, perhaps the only concern we have is one of ergonomics - those controllers don't half look tiny when being used Wii Remote style, and we can't help but think the lack of symmetrical-ness might be a mistake.
It does look a bit diddy, doesn't it?
Still - it's nigh on impossible to judge how ergonomic (or otherwise) something looks from a picture, and Nintendo haven't let us down in the past - in fact, they're the ones who usually put the most time and effort into making sure their controllers work just right.
Announced for a March 2017 release, there's now just six short months until the Nintendo Switch will be in our hands. And we can't wait.
