Nintendo Switch

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search

Nintendo Switch

A Nintendo Switch console in docked mode (above) and portable mode

(below)

Also known as NX (code name)

Developer Nintendo PTD

Manufacturer Foxconn, Hosiden[1]

Type Hybrid video game console

Generation Eighth generation

 WW: March 3, 2017[a]

Release date

Retail 2017–present

availability

Introductory  US$299.99

price  JP¥29,980

 £279.99

 €329.99

Units sold 22.86 million (as of September 30, 2018)

Media Physical and digital[show]

Operating Nintendo Switch system software

system

System-on- Nvidia Tegra X1

chip used

CPU Octa-core (4×ARM Cortex-A57 & 4×ARM Cortex-

A53) @ 1.020 GHz

Memory 4 GB LPDDR4

Storage Internal flash memory: 32 GB

Removable microSD/microSDHC/microSDXC up to 2 TB

storage

Display 6.2-inch, 1280 × 720p LCD @ 237 ppi

Up to 1080p via HDMI while docked

Graphics Nvidia GM20B Maxwell-based GPU @ 307.2 - 384

MHz while undocked, 307.2 - 768 MHz while

docked

Sound Linear PCM 5.1ch (via HDMI)[2]

Stereo speakers

Headphone jack
 Controller input Joy-Con
Pro controller

GameCube controller (Via GameCube Adapter[3])

Touchpad Capacitive

Connectivity 2.4/5 GHz 802.11ac Wi-Fi

Bluetooth 4.1

1 × USB 3.0 (on dock)

2 × USB 2.0 (on dock)

1 × USB Type-C (on unit)

Power 4,310 mAh, 3.7 V lithium-ion battery

Dimensions 203.1 mm × 102 mm × 13.9 mm (8.00 in × 4.02 in

× 0.55 in) (Console only)

239 mm × 102 mm × 13.9 mm (9.41 in × 4.02 in

× 0.55 in) (Joy-Con attached)

Mass 297 g (10.5 oz) (Console only)

398 g (14.0 oz) (Joy-Con attached)

Best-selling Super Mario Odyssey, 12.17 million (as of

game September 30, 2018)

Predecessor Wii U

Website www.nintendo.com/switch

The Nintendo Switch,[b] commonly abbreviated as the Switch, is a video game console developed
by Nintendo and was released on March 3, 2017. It is a hybrid console, which means it can be used
as both a home console and as a portable console. In the home console mode, the main unit is
inserted onto a docking station to connect to a television screen or monitor. Alternatively, for portable
use, it can be removed from the dock and operated similarly to a tablet computer through its
LCD touchscreen. It can also be placed in a standalone tabletop mode visible to several players. Its
wireless Joy-Con controllers, which include standard buttons and directional analog sticks for user
input, motion sensing, and high-definition tactile feedback, can attach to both sides of the console to
support handheld-style play. They can also connect to a Grip accessory to provide a traditional
home console gamepad form, or be used individually in the hand like the Wii Remote and Nunchuk,
supporting local multiplayer modes. The Nintendo Switch's software supports online gamingthrough
standard Internet connectivity, as well as local wireless ad hoc connectivity with other Switch
consoles. Nintendo Switch games and software are available on both physical flash-based ROM
cartridges and digital distribution via Nintendo eShop; the system does not use region locking. The
Nintendo Switch competes on the console gaming market with contemporaries
being Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4.
Known in development by its codename NX, the concept of the Switch came about as Nintendo's
reaction to several quarters of financial losses into 2014, attributed to poor sales of its previous
console, the Wii U, and market competition from mobile gaming. Nintendo's then-president Satoru
 Iwata pushed the company towards mobile gaming and novel hardware. The Nintendo Switch's
design is aimed at a wide demographic of video game players through the multiple modes of use.
Nintendo opted to use more standard electronic components, such as a chipset based
on Nvidia's Tegra line, to make development for the console easier for programmers and more
compatible with existing game engines. As the Wii U had struggled to gain external support, leaving
it with a weak software library, Nintendo preemptively sought the support of many third-party
developers and publishers to help build out the Switch's game library alongside Nintendo's own first-
party titles, including many independent video game studios. While Nintendo initially anticipated
around 100 titles for its first year, over 320 titles from first-party, third-party, and independent
developers were released by the end of 2017.
The Nintendo Switch was unveiled in October 2016 and was released in most areas worldwide on
March 3, 2017.[a] The console shipped nearly three million in the first month of its launch, exceeding
Nintendo's initial projection of two million, and within a year of release achieved over 14 million units
sold worldwide, outselling total lifetime sales of the Wii U. As of September 2018, it has sold 22.86
million units. It is the fastest-selling console in Nintendo's history, and is the fastest-selling console of
all time in Japan and the United States[when?]. Nintendo Switch sales were heavily tied to the critically
acclaimed titles The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Super Mario
Odyssey, which became best-sellers for the system, with over ten, eleven, and twelve million copies
sold respectively by September 2018.

Contents

 1History
o 1.1Background
o 1.2Development
o 1.3Announcements and release
o 1.4Marketing and promotion
 2Hardware
o 2.1Console and Dock
o 2.2Joy-Con
o 2.3Technical specifications
o 2.4Other controllers and accessories
o 2.5Production
 3Software
o 3.1Security
o 3.2Online services and functionalities
o 3.3Media support
 4Games
o 4.1Distribution
o 4.2Third-party support
o 4.3Library
 5Reception
o 5.1Pre-release
o 5.2Release
o 5.3Sales
o 5.4Financial impact
 6Retail configurations
 7Legal issues
 8Notes
 9References
 10External links

History
Background
Nintendo had seen record revenues, net sales and profits in 2009 as a result of the release of
the Wii and Nintendo DS in 2006 and 2004 respectively,[5][6][7]but in Nintendo's subsequent years, its
revenues had declined.[citation needed] With the release of the Wii U in 2012, the company had posted its
first loss as a video game company.[8] The New York Times attributed Nintendo lowering financial
forecasts in 2014 to weak hardware sales against mobile gaming.[9]Previously, the company had
been hesitant about this market, with then-president Satoru Iwata considering that they would "cease
to be Nintendo" and lose their identity if they attempted to enter it.[10] About three years prior to the
Switch's announcement, Iwata, Tatsumi Kimishima, Genyo Takeda, and Shigeru Miyamoto crafted a
strategy for revitalizing Nintendo's business model, which included approaching the mobile market,
creating new hardware, and "maximizing [their] intellectual property".[11] Prior to his death, Iwata was
able to secure a business alliance with Japanese mobile provider DeNA to develop mobile titles
based on Nintendo's first-party franchises, believing this approach would not compromise their
integrity.[12][13] Following Iwata's death in July 2015, Kimishima was named as president of Nintendo,
while Miyamoto was promoted to the title of "Creative Fellow".[11]
Development
Initial conception for the Switch started shortly after the release of the Wii U in 2012.[14] Kimishima
stated that when Nintendo was evaluating what new hardware they wanted to produce, they "didn't
just want a successor" to either the Nintendo 3DS or Wii U, but instead asked "what kind of new
experience can we create?"[11] In an interview with Asahi Shimbun, Kimishima stated that the Switch
was designed to provide a "new way to play" that would "have a larger impact than the Wii
U".[15][16][17] Nintendo of America president and COO Reggie Fils-Aimé emphasized the console's
appeal as a device that would provide gamers the option to play at home or on the go, and noted
that it would enable developers to create new types of games.[18]
Part of the inspiration of the Switch's design was from feedback players had given Nintendo on
the Wii Remote, according to Shinya Takahashi. With the release of games like Wii Sports and Wii
Fit, players had asked Nintendo if they could make the Wii Remote in a smaller form factor,
potentially strapped it to a part of their body. This led to Nintendo envisioning what a smaller form-
factor controller could provide in both hardware and gameplay, and led to the idea of a console that
was small enough with these new controllers to also be portable.[19] Other concepts came out of
consumer feedback that was critical of the Wii U. Fils-Aimé said that one common criticism they had
for the Wii U was that while players did enjoy using the Wii U GamePad and would want to play
games on it anywhere, it became functionless if they moved a distance away from the main console.
This served for Nintendo to design a home console that the player could take with them anywhere.[20]
One market area that Nintendo wanted the Switch to satisfy was to create a device that could play
"leisurely" video games along games that are aimed to be played "deeply", attempting to bridge a
polarization of the gaming market at the time, according to Shinya Takahashi and Yoshiaki Koizumi,
general manager and deputy general manager of Nintendo's Entertainment Planning & Development
division (EPD), respectively.[14] Takahashi considered that the Switch's design addresses the cultural
differences between Western and Japanese gamers, particularly students; while Japanese students
generally spend more time together after school and where gaming is integral to that social time,
Western students tend to have busier schedules that limit this, making the portability features of the
Switch capable of meeting both lifestyles.[21] In some cases, games for the Switch are designed to
encourage social interactions in groups, such as 1-2-Switch which requires players to look face-to-
face rather than at the screen. Kimishima said that, as Nintendo is an entertainment company, they
see games on the Switch that encourage enjoyable social interactions as supporting their ultimate
goals.[22] Two key elements that were set to address the mixed market were the ability for the unit to
play both on a television screen and while used as a portable, and the use of detachable
controllers.[14] The "Switch" name was selected not only to refer to the console's ability to switch from
handheld to home console modes, but to present "the idea of being a 'switch' that will flip and
change the way people experience entertainment in their daily lives".[23]
Koizumi served as the general producer of the Switch during development.[21] According to
Miyamoto, the Switch's development within Nintendo was headed by younger employees, with him
saying "...it's really been them that have put this forward and designed this system".[24][25] Miyamoto
said of the younger employees: "I always look for designers who aren’t super-passionate game fans.
I make it a point to ensure they're not just a gamer, but that they have a lot of different interests and
skill sets."[25] Miyamoto, Takeda, and Iwata were less involved, but provided necessary oversight on
the Switch's development principally around the cost of implementing new features that would make
the Switch stand out.[26] Around five different prototypes were developed for the Switch before they
finalized on the released design. This included developing different methods of how the Joy-Con
controllers would physically connect to the console, including using magnets to hold them in
place.[14] For Miyamoto, his limited involvement allowed him to spend more time on Nintendo's
software titles being developed at the time, such as Super Mario Run.[24]
The development of the Switch continued Nintendo's blue ocean approach for the competitive
console marketplace. Rather than trying to compete feature-for-feature with Microsoft or Sony's
offerings, Fils-Aimé said that Nintendo's goal for the Switch was "creating products and experiences
that are unique and really can't be copied by our competition".[27] Takahashi said that for Nintendo,
"we feel like we're an entertainment company rather than necessarily a games or a graphics
company", and described the Switch as "a system that really has the best balance of being able to
create fun and new ways to play, but doing so with the graphic quality that's still good enough while
also being one that's easy to develop for."[21] Miyamoto said that some broad concepts of the Switch
extend from the "lateral thinking with seasoned technology" design philosophy of Gunpei Yokoi that
Nintendo has used over the last couple of decades.[26]
In addition to the form-factor design, Nintendo needed to balance the power and speed of the
console's central processing unit with battery life and the unit's size, coupled with limited
development resources and deadlines set by Nintendo's management. One choice made by the
development team was to use an existing system on a chip (SOC) rather than creating their own as
they had done on previous consoles. Koizumi said that this break from tradition was done to gain
more third-party support for the console by using an SOC that developers could easily port to.
Nintendo was not focused on raw processing power, but were instead looking to balance the overall
features of the system, including battery life and size, as well as keeping in mind their limited
development resources and timeline. Koizumi said "The most difficult part was on how to take an
overall balance while we were getting entangled with all of those in complexity."[14] To achieve this
balance, they did not opt to use the more powerful hardware they could have used, instead using a
middle-ground approach to achieve their vision of the Switch.[28]
Speaking to investors in January 2018, about ten months after the Switch's release, Shinya
Takahashi said that the Switch could have a lifecycle longer than the typical five-to-six years that
current home consoles have. Nintendo has brought a number of "junior" developers within the
company to help brainstorm ideas that would "create interesting products" using the Switch
hardware that could further reach a wider audience, thus aiding in extending its lifecycle.[29]
Announcements and release
The first public news of about the Switch's hardware happened alongside the announcement of
Nintendo and DeNA's partnership on March 17, 2015. At this stage, Nintendo referred to the console
under the codename "NX", and described it as a "brand new concept".[30] At an investor's meeting in
April 2016, Nintendo announced that it planned to release the NX worldwide in March
2017.[31][32] While Nintendo did not unveil the NX's hardware at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2016 in
June, it did announce that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which was originally announced
as Wii U-exclusive, would also be released for the NX. At a Nintendo shareholders' meeting
following the conference, Miyamoto stated that the company had concerns that competitors could
copy ideas from the NX if they revealed it too soon.[33][34] The following month, rumors began to
surface surrounding the nature of the console, including its use of Nvidia Tegra hardware, being a
"hybrid" device intended for both home and mobile use, controllers that can detach from the main
device and be played separately, and that Nintendo would distribute games on the console via
cartridges and digital downloads.[35][36][37]
On October 20, 2016, Nintendo officially announced the console under the name Nintendo Switch,
alongside a trailer that demonstrated the hardware's nature as a hybrid device.[38] At the time of the
trailer's release, Nintendo did not provide many details on features of the platform, though they
planned to have events in 2017 to provide more details about the console. The company did state
that there are additional features that were not presented in the introductory trailer.[39][40] Miyamoto
and Fils-Aimé presented the Switch to host Jimmy Fallon on a broadcast of The Tonight Show
Starring Jimmy Fallon in December 2016. In addition to showing more of the console's hardware and
functionality, Fallon was given the opportunity to play part of Breath of the Wild live.[41]
Nintendo revealed technical details of the Switch, including its worldwide launch date and price, at a
press event in Tokyo on January 13, 2017.[42] The event was livestreamed,[43] with an
English voiceoverprovided by Nintendo of America through their broadcast and
regional Twitter accounts relaying details in other languages. A Nintendo Treehouse event occurred
the following day to reveal the full launch lineup and upcoming games for the Switch.[44]
The Switch was officially released on March 3, 2017 worldwide, notably in all key markets, but
excluding some parts of Asia, including India and Mainland China.[4] However, the Nintendo Switch
continues to be officially released in particular markets, such as Argentina on August 15, 2017[45] and
in South Korea and Taiwan on December 1, 2017.[46][47] Independent resellers have been trading the
console in Brazilsince March 2017 due to Nintendo's exit from the Brazilian market back in
2015.[48] Nintendo has since assigned NC Games as their local game distributor in May 2017,[49] and
the local company has committed to sell some officially imported Nintendo Switch units in small
quantities.[50] In April 2018, CD Media, Nintendo's official distributor in Greece and the Balkans since
2016, announced after opening their new offices in Istanbul, that Nintendo's products will officially be
distributed in Turkey later in the year.[51] Nintendo abruptly withdrew from the Turkish market back in
June 2012 when then-distributor Nortec Eurasia closed.[52] CD Media released the Nintendo Switch in
Turkey in July 2018.[53][54]
Although the Nintendo Switch has not officially been released in China, it is still widely available in
the country due to grey market imports from Hong Kong and other regions.[55] In January 2018,
former Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima said in an interview with Chinese news
website QQ that Nintendo has tried to release the Switch in China, but has been unable to do so.[55][56]