There has been a rumor for the past year and a half that Nintendo was going to release a new console in March of 2017. This rumored console had been dubbed the NX bay many people in the gaming areas of the internet. Just this past week, Nintendo finally officially announced their new console, the Switch, set to come out in March 2017.
The Switch is advertised to be a home and portable gaming system in one convenient package. Not only that, but it uses the cartridge as storage for each game. So, in other words, think the 3DS or even a mini SNES cartridge. This change in physical game format means that there is potential for each game to be a masterpiece with hours of gameplay available to the players. This change comes at a time where Nintendo has fallen behind in the "Next-Gen" consoles, with the WiiU not fully living up to the XBox One or the PS4.
The portable aspect is an added edge against the XBox One and the PS4. Nintendo has always excelled in the portable market, with systems such as the Game Boy and the 3DS both having major ground when it came to the portable system of the day. Nintendo is also advertising an offline mode that will make the portable available even when traveling or at a coffee shop that does not have WiFi.
As of right now, there is no information on Amiibo capability; thus, there is the question of: will the large amount of Amiibo in production and circulation become irrelevant?Personally, I doubt that the Amiibo market will be a thing that crashes, because it has a large amount of third party developers interested in the concept.
Speaking of third party developers, Nintendo seems to be embracing the idea of having new and old third parties on board. From CAPCON to Warner Brother's Entertainment, there are a slew of developers known for fantastic games that define genres (Full list of third party developers here). This is something to look forward to since we have gotten gems such as Shovel Knight and Stem World Heist from third part developers partnered with Nintendo.
Nintendo is also advertising a portable two player mode. The concept seems pretty simple, the two different sides of the portable system become two different controllers--one for each person. This is good news for people who enjoy the two person experience that can be hard to come by outside of fighting or party games.
Overall though, there have been mixed reactions to the reveal of the Switch. Many people are excited that Nintendo may finally be a strong competitor in the "Next-Gen" consoles, and that there might finally be a competitive e-sports scene in the world of Nintendo. Of course there are people that have their doubts about the switch, from the console's engine to the frame rate. As of right now though, all that is known is what Nintendo is giving us through their website and the four minute YouTube commercial.
