Nintendo NX is Nintendo Switch

While Aussies slept, Nintendo’s new console, previously code-named ‘NX’, has finally been officially revealed as the Nintendo Switch in a slick new trailer.

The announcement trailer shows the console being played on a regular TV, but then quickly being able to plug in the controllers to the side of a tablet that sits below the TV in a dock so that it can be taken out as a portable handheld so that play can continue anywhere. The tablet has a stand built in so that you can disconnect those controllers to then play the Switch with a friend quite easily, or sit back and play it yourself without having to actually hold the screen yourself like with all other tablet-like pieces of hardware. It also uses cartridges, much like the Nintendo 3DS.

According to Nvidia, the console is powered by the performance of the custom Tegra processor. “The high-efficiency scalable processor includes an NVIDIA GPU based on the same architecture as the world’s top-performing GeForce gaming graphics cards. We’ve optimized the full suite of hardware and software for gaming and mobile use cases. This includes custom operating system integration with the GPU to increase both performance and efficiency.”

Perhaps more importantly, the trailer shows a more adult audience engaging with the Nintendo Switch and features some big third party franchises, including NBA 2K17 and Skyrim: Special Edition. One of the ongoing struggles of Nintendo’s recent consoles has been the real lack of third party support, which has left the Nintendo library very quiet, only really being held up by its core games like Mario, Zelda and so on. With Bethesda and 2K highlighted in the trailer in this way, it bodes well for Nintendo, who also released the image below showing a range of developers, publishers and distributors we can expect to support the new console.

With that support, decent hardware and a new way to play, Nintendo Switch could indeed be the breath of fresh air that Nintendo needs to make a comeback from the unsuccessful Wii U. Check out the trailer below! What do you think of the Nintendo Switch?