So today the NX was unveiled as the Nintendo Switch, and... it's pretty much exactly what the solid rumors of the last few months have said, so my previous post about why I was positive on NX still applies. There are a few things technically still up in the air. Like after the video, people started wondering why it never showed the screen used with touch? And relatedly, the split controllers were never explicitly shown to use motion controls, either. So was it an indication Switch has a regressive control scheme in order to make identical controls for home/go modes easy? I don't think so. The same solid set of rumors that were right about 90+% of everything so far also say it's got a multi-touch screen and motion controls similar to Wii Remote Plus, so why start doubting them now? It seems like Nintendo just wanted to push a simpler message today about playing the same games at home or on the go with a few standard control options, and didn't want to deviate into more specifics in a 3-4 minute video.
As is always the case, there is some doubt about whether the name is good. I'm a bit split on it. I don't think it's particularly awful, and don't think Switch is worse than Box, Cube, Station, or other things game systems have been named... except they haven't been ONLY named those things. Without some other word attached, Switch feels kind of like some regular dictionary word accidentally got promoted. Just Switch, not GameSwitch or XSwitch, or PlaySwitch or any other such thing. I could go for the DipSwitch myself, controlled by the Dip-Cons and the analog Dipstick.
One of the more interesting rumored/speculated things that turned out to be accurate is that the two controller halves (Joy-Cons) can each be used individually for simpler multiplayer control. A big question was how do you design something that works well both in tandem vertically and solo horizontally? The answer seems to be... well, you have to let one suck a bit more. The sideways mode definitely doesn't seem the way many would choose to play. The analog stick and buttons are cramped pretty close together, and depending on whether you're using Joy-Con L or R they're off-center to one side or the other. What are the shoulder/trigger buttons when played normally are still present, but will be located awkwardly to either the left or right side. Still, I see this as more of the emergency setup. If you're really planning on some multiplayer you'll get extra sets of Joy-Cons or Pro Controllers, but this is the way that you can be sure to NEVER be without a multiplayer option, and any two Switch owners who meet up are equipped to get four-player going.
There's been some concern about Nintendo saying it's first and foremost a home console. Buuuut this seems totally a PR thing, like back in 2004 when they were claiming the DS was a third pillar separate from GBA. In this case, the Wii U is much deader than the 3DS, so it needs replaced first. There's also that while neither price nor battery life has been announced yet it seems both will be notably worse than 3DS for now, so it's better to talk up its console side while 3DS is more slowly phased out over the next couple years. By that point Switch can be cheaper and have better battery life, either by way of larger battery or system revisions. Maybe even a smaller variant meant more for portable play, the opposite of the XL machines the DS and 3DS got. But it still seems clear Switch is the basket Nintendo intends to put all of its development eggs into if the public will let them.
One game I was very happy to see in the video was Skyrim! With the remaster coming it was one I hoped for as there was no technical reason not to, but feared that either due to western third parties' dismissive nature towards Nintendo machines and the hardware not being out for months after the remaster's October release it would be considered too late. But here it is. Some question why it's such a big deal for a port of an old game shown in a new console announcement video. I'd say the biggest thing is it shows Nintendo getting support from companies who traditionally haven't bothered with their hardware, and showing off a type of game that's never had a proper portable version is no little deal either.
There were snippets of some other Nintendo games in the trailers, but not a whole lot to tell about them from a few seconds of footage each. The 3D Mario platformer did interest me, though--with the camera angle used it didn't seem like a "3D World" style game, and nor did it seem to be based on planetoids like the Galaxy games. So it seemed most similar to the oldest 3D Marios, Super Mario 64 and even moreso Super Mario Sunshine--and by the time this one releases it might be 15 years since SMS's release.
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