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Nintendo's Switch doesn't come with a charging Joy-Con grip
If you're dead-set on owning a Nintendo Switch, you should probably start thinking about your charging setup. In addition to the main unit, you'll need to keep the detachable "Joy-Con" controllers topped up, which could prove tricky if you're playing the console exclusively at home. That's because the Joy-Con Grip bundled with the Switch (shown above) doesn't have any charging capabilities of its own. As Eurogamer reports, it's basically just a plastic shell designed to keep the two Joy-Cons in place.
Gear up for tonight's Nintendo Switch live stream
Nintendo revealed the Switch, its latest console, back in October -- but the company left out plenty of key details about the half-portable, half-living room system. So, that's what tonight is all about. Nintendo will host a live stream at 11P ET on Thursday, January 12th, intended to outline more of the features, hardware specs and games coming to the Switch when it lands in March. Watch the live stream right here with us tonight and keep the Engadget home page open for all of the news as Nintendo announces it. Until then, here are a few things to expect out of tonight's Switch event:
Farming sim 'Stardew Valley' is coming to Nintendo Switch
Ever looked out of your window, longing for the chance to yield the greatest crops known to man? Well, Stardew Valley might just be the game for you. After becoming a runaway success on Steam earlier this year, the indie farm-em-up is coming to PS4 and Xbox One, launching on December 13th and 14th respectively.
The Switch shows desperate Nintendo is the best Nintendo
Nintendo has something to prove. After the Wii U flamed out spectacularly, the company needed to do something truly different to stay afloat in the console world. Its answer is the Switch, a hybrid portable/home gaming system that's unlike anything we've seen before. While Microsoft and Sony are simply trying to shove in faster hardware to support 4K and HDR, Nintendo is going back to its roots with a device that evokes memories of spending carefree afternoons with your Game Boy, or going head-to-head with your friends in Mario Kart on the SNES. The Switch is a reminder that Nintendo innovates best after it fails, when its back is against the wall and it's not just reacting to pressure from the competition.
'Switch' is Nintendo's next game console
It's been almost a year and a half since Nintendo announced the NX, and now the gaming giant has finally dropped the codename and secrecy in favor of something more official: Switch. Like the countless rumors previously asserted, it's indeed a hybrid mobile and home console with a tablet element and detachable controllers. The tablet itself (which Nintendo calls "the Switch Console") is thin and pretty attractive. It looks to have a screen measuring around 7 inches, of unspecified resolution. At home, it'll plug into the "Switch Dock," which in turn plugs into your TV. While out and about you can either hold it like a Wii U gamepad or use the built-in kickstand to prop it up. In the trailer, a gamer slides what looks to be a 3DS-style cartridge into the tablet, meaning games are likely to distributed both digitally and physically. It's powered by an unspecified custom Nvidia Tegra processor, which is "based on the same architecture as the world's top-performing GeForce gaming graphics cards." Whether that means Pascal -- the architecture underpinning the 1000 series of GeForce cards and the yet-to-be-announced Tegra X2 -- or just that Tegra chips in general are based on the GeForce architecture, is not clear. But the question of which SoC is powering the Switch -- and whether it's based on newer or older architecture -- is important to answer if we're to work out what exactly it's capable of.
The new Zelda 'Breath of the Wild' trailers are the best yet
We're hours away from Nintendo's (brief) reveal of the NX, and if there's one game we're excited for, it's The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The new adventure, which is coming out on both the Wii U and NX next year, was a highlight at E3 2016, giving fans their first exposure to the more open, dynamic world. Now, Nintendo has released two new trailers, which show off its exploration and combat in equal measure. They're beautiful snippets of the full game, underpinned by a sweeping orchestral score. I don't need to say much more -- just go watch them, you won't regret it.
Nintendo promises our 'first glimpse' of the NX
After all the rumors, we're about to get a look at Nintendo's mysterious NX system. The company has invited everyone to check out a "preview trailer" tomorrow on Nintendo.com at 10AM ET. Nintendo Japan tweeted that it will only last about three minutes, so prepare your expectations accordingly. Nintendo already announced the console will launch in March next year, but other than the release window and a few game titles, we don't have much hard information to go on. What we do know for sure is that despite the success of Pokémon Go a new console can't come a moment too soon for Nintendo.
Pokémon chief says Nintendo's NX is both handheld and console
The head of The Pokémon Company has let slip that his outfit is working on a pocketable monster title for Nintendo's NX. Given that TPC is part-owned by the Japanese gaming giant, he's probably seen the new handheld/console/tablet hybrid up close and personal. The Wall Street Journal quotes Tsunekazu Ishihara as saying that "the NX is trying to change the concept of what it means to be a home console device or a hand-held device."
Nintendo opines on where it went wrong with the Wii U
Nintendo wants to make sure it "does better" next time when it comes to launching its NX platform. Judging by a recent interview of Nintendo of America head Reggie Fils-Aime in market mag AListDaily, the company thinks it has learned its lesson from the Wii U launch. The Nintendo head outright admitted that Nintendo has to do a "better job helping people to understand [the NX's] uniqueness and what that means for the game playing experience."
Recommended Reading: Nintendo's NX sounds weird and that's okay
NX is different, and different is Nintendo's best option Oli Welsh, Eurogamer Based on the rumors so far, Nintendo's upcoming NX handheld console will be... unique. This piece from Eurogamer, a site that's been the source of some of the details, takes a look at why switching things up a bit may be the company's best bet. A touchscreen device with detachable controllers may sound strange, but if the reports are true, "we should savor and celebrate NX's weirdness" like Eurogamer explains here.
Nintendo's lack of breakthrough games hit profits hard (update)
Despite Nintendo's attempts to lower expectations ahead of announcing its financial results, its latest quarterly earnings aren't good. At all. Net sales are down 31 percent compared to the same quarter last year, down to 62 billion yen ($587 million). Meanwhile, it saw an operating loss of 5.1 billion yen (roughly $48 million). Nintendo managed to sell 220,000 Wii Us, nudging the total number of consoles sold over 13 million, while the aging 3DS notched another million sales. Despite the company owning parts of Pokémon Go, it isn't reflected in the earnings, as the game was released after the quarter that ended in June. However, the company took to Twitter to announce that its curious Pokémon Go Plus accessory has been delayed two months until September.
Report: Nintendo NX is a tablet with detachable controllers
Remember those early reports that described Nintendo's next game console as a TV / portable hybrid device? According to Eurogamer, they were right on the nose. Eurogamer sources claim that the Nintendo NX is a handheld game console with detachable controllers, a TV base station and NVIDIA Tegra graphics. In other words, it sounds like a standalone Wii U gamepad dialed up to 11.
'Project Sonic 2017' is coming to Xbox One, PS4 and Nintendo NX
While fans will celebrate the series' 25th anniversary with a 2D throwback game in Sonic Mania, the Sonic Team (Sonic Colors, Sonic Generations) is working on something new. Tonight Sega dropped this teaser trailer for "Project Sonic," which is due for the 2017 holiday season on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo's NX. Everything in the trailer is CG, but it does indicate that we can expect both a "Modern" and "Classic" Sonic to make an appearance.
Nintendo didn't show the NX at E3 over copycat concerns
Away from the media's prying eyes, Nintendo's investor meeting allowed some people to ask some surprisingly frank questions -- and glean a few more insights into where the company is going -- whether that's smartphones, new consoles, VR, theme parks, movies... or all the above. If you were surprised that Nintendo wasn't showing its incoming NX console (currently pegged to launch in March 2017) at E3, the world's biggest gameshow, earlier this month, there was at least a reason. According to Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto, the company didn't because it feared copycats if it revealed the console so far in advance of the launch.
'The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild' is Nintendo's next classic
Nintendo kicked off its E3 2016 livestream with a frankly gorgeous Zelda trailer, showcasing what we'll get to play and experience when the game eventually lands in 2017 on the Wii U and NX. The style of the entire thing is somewhere between Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, albeit cranked to the max. This is Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and it already looks pretty amazing. Was that voice-acting? At least four outfits, including armor? Cooking? Gliding? Oh boy.
Why Nintendo chose 'Animal Crossing' over 'Mario' for mobile
Last week, Nintendo announced that it will bring popular titles like Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem to its new smartphone game lineup. While this was good news for fans of those franchises, it still raised some questions, like why those franchises specifically? During a special Q&A session after Nintendo's latest earnings report, current president of Nintendo Tatsumi Kimishima chose to shed some light on the situation, explaining that Animal Crossing and Fire Emblem were selected to "follow Miitomo from the viewpoint of increasing the diverse types of consumers interested in Nintendo, and widening opportunities for gameplay."
Nintendo delays new 'Zelda' to 2017, announces NX version
There's good news and bad for Nintendo's upcoming Legend of Zelda open-world title for the Wii U console. First the bad: It's been delayed again, so it won't arrive now until 2017. The good news is that it's going to come out on the next-gen Nintendo NX console, which, by the way, Nintendo just revealed. In a (roughly translated) tweet, Nintendo Japan says that it pushed back the game "for further quality improvement," adding that it will be released "simultaneously" on the Nintendo NX.
Nintendo to launch NX console in March 2017
We don't know what it looks like. We don't know how it works. But now, we finally know when Nintendo's next system will launch: March 2017. The company's mysterious "NX" platform was first teased more than a year ago, during an investor presentation that also outlined its smartphone strategy. We've heard plenty of rumors since then, including a console-handheld hybrid, a system more powerful than the PS4 and Xbox One, and a console with a bizarre touchscreen controller (including faked photos) based on Nintendo patents. The house of Mario has stayed quiet throughout, stating only that it will talk about the console later in 2016.
Nintendo reportedly stops Wii U production in late 2016
You might need to bid farewell to the Wii U sooner than you think. Nikkei sources claim that Nintendo is halting production of its struggling home console at the end of 2016, and that the gaming legend is already discontinuing some accessories. Nintendo hasn't confirmed anything (we've asked for comment), but it's easy to see this as preparation for the NX system you'll likely hear about this year. Just don't see this as a guarantee that the NX will ship this year, even if it's true -- stopping production doesn't mean that Nintendo is stopping sales, and it might keep the Wii U around for a while longer as it clears remaining stock.
Should Pokémon move to consoles?
Today marks the 20th Anniversary of Pokémon's Japanese debut. To celebrate, Nintendo announced the next generation (VII, for those keeping count) of the RPG, Sun and Moon, and the reaction from Engadget's staff has been mixed. Let's start things off with the trailer, just because it's great: Now, while the Pokémon fans among us will obviously all play the game, some were and are hoping for more from the series. Two, in particular, have spent the past 48 hours arguing over one question: should Pokémon move beyond Nintendo's handhelds and onto the company's fully fledged console?
