
Today Nintendo announced it's brand new gaming system dubbed the Switch which will go on sale March 2017. The Switch features a tablet sized screen with detachable controllers called Joy-Cons allowing it to be docked to a unit at home to serve as a traditional console or have the controllers attach to the side of the screen giving gamers the ability to take the system with them on the go.
(image: Polygon)
In addition, the Switch will utilize mini cartridges as a medium for its games although it remains to be seen whether it will have built in storage to accommodate downloadable games and/or content. There are no details yet about online gaming although given the fact that it's 2016 and the emphasis in the trailer (see below) is on social gaming, it would be a huge oversight not to include it.
(image: Polygon)
Unlike Nintendo's previous Wii U console which saw poor partner support, Nintendo today announced a fairly healthy list of developers for their new console which include EA, Activision, Bethesda, Capcom, Sega, Ubisoft, Square Enix, From Software, Warner Brothers, Codemasters and Atlus.
Finally, it was rumored that NVIDIA would be behind the Switch and today it was confirmed that they are indeed the ones that engineered the Switch in conjunction with Nintendo - the full press release by NVIDIA is available at the end of this article.
The Nintendo Switch in action:
NVIDIA press release regarding Nintendo Switch:
QuoteA Console Architecture for the Living Room and Beyond
Nintendo Switch 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.
The Nintendo Switch’s gaming experience is also supported by fully custom software, including a revamped physics engine, new libraries, advanced game tools and libraries. NVIDIA additionally created new gaming APIs to fully harness this performance. The newest API, NVN, was built specifically to bring lightweight, fast gaming to the masses.
Gameplay is further enhanced by hardware-accelerated video playback and custom software for audio effects and rendering.
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.
NVIDIA gaming technology is integrated into all aspects of the new Nintendo Switch home gaming system, which promises to deliver a great experience to gamers.
The Nintendo Switch will be available in March 2017. More information is available athttps://www.nintendo.com/switch.
Nintendo Switch is a trademark of Nintendo.
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