If you’re just as desperate as most of the internet to learn new information on Nintendo’s upcoming next-gen gaming platform, now officially revealed as ‘Nintendo Switch’, then you can now circle a date on your calendar! Nintendo president, Tatsumi Kimishima addressed Japanese financial analysts during a company presentation in Tokyo today, where he revealed that Nintendo will release the next batch of info on the Nintendo Switch early next year, on January 12th, 2017. This falls in line with a previous claim by Nintendo’s PR reps, who declared that Nintendo will not discuss the Nintendo Switch at all for the rest of the year, after the device’s recent reveal trailer was released online.
This new Nintendo Switch event was claimed to be directed at media, analysts and trade partners within Japan, though it will also be livestreamed on the internet for the general public. While this could simply offer a way for non-Japanese speakers to hear the news, it also doesn’t rule out that a concurrent Nintendo Direct broadcast will deliver the information to territories outside of Japan. It will be a lot of key information as well, since Kimishima directly confirmed that the event will officially announce the price and release date of the Nintendo Switch, as well as games that Nintendo currently has in the works for their new platform, likely comprising launch titles and games scheduled for the first year or so of the platform’s life cycle. While not directly clarified, it’s also practically guaranteed that many third-party games will be officially revealed for the platform at the event as well, especially if they’re launch titles.
Another claim was made by Kimishima on the note of public sampling events, which he claims will be hosted leading up to the hardware’s launch at some point next March, though declined to comment further for now. This likely references a frequent rumour that Nintendo will give out demo Switch units to various participating retailers next February, though Nintendo hasn’t yet confirmed that this is the plan. Kimishima did claim however that specialized Switch sampling events for media, partners and consumers will be hosted early next year for the U.S. and Europe, with details to come later.
So far, Nintendo is confirmed to have two games in development for Nintendo Switch, with the first being new mainline Legend of Zelda sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which will also release for Wii U, and the second being an all-new mainline Mario game designed exclusively around the new hardware. The CEO of Nintendo partner corporation, The Pokemon Company has confirmed that unidentified Pokemon games are in development for the platform as well. A handful of third-party games have also been confirmed for the platform at this point, with 48 third-party triple-A game publishers and developers pledging support for Nintendo Switch as of now, over twice as many as the 21 that pledged support for Wii U during its launch in 2012.
Nintendo Switch’s reveal trailer was officially released online last week, where the device went on to become the #1 trending topic on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook for several days afterward. The three-minute trailer revealed Nintendo Switch’s official name, as well as the fact that it is a hybrid home console/gaming handheld device, which can be hooked up to a TV docking station for play on a television at home, and taken on the go as a high-powered mobile gaming device, one that can use transformable controller attachments called ‘Joy-Cons’. Despite some questions surrounding price and battery life by analysts and pundits, the online public has largely received the Nintendo Switch’s reveal trailer very positively, with the like/dislike ratio to the reveal video on YouTube currently being approximately 24:1, and comments generally expressing optimism after the negative clout of poor sales for Nintendo’s current Wii U console.
Keep transforming Eggplante for all major news and updates on Nintendo Switch.