Jumping right into the big story of this week, the Nintendo NX was finally revealed as the Nintendo Switch. A console handheld hybrid device that will serve as the company’s singular primary platform going forward. As was expected, the system is made up of two elements, the Console and the Dock. The Nintendo Switch Console is a handheld component that is made up of a tablet that does the majority of the work involved in running any game and two detachable controllers, known as Joy-Con controllers. The Joy-Con controllers can either be utilized by two players as they enjoy split-screen gameplay together, be kept in separate hands and used in single player experiences, or be combined together using a Grip accessory, allowing the two Joy-Con controllers to resemble a more traditional controller.
The Nintendo Switch Dock is a reciprocal for the Console that allows games to seamlessly transfer to a television display and charges the Console. Further details about what this dock does, such as displaying games at higher resolutions or framerates have not been specified. The only finite detail available is that games can be played on the Switch Dock using a Nintendo Switch Pro controller instead of the Joy-Con controllers.
SImilarly, exact details pertaining to the launch date, price, library, and general system specifications have not been given. The trailer did, however, show off numerous games, namely Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition, NBA 2K17 , a new or updated Mario Kart title, a new or updated Splatoon title, and an entirely new 3D Mario title. Which can be combined with Dragon Quest XI, Project Sonic 2017, and Just Dance 2017 to form the list of confirmed games for the system. Oh, and yes, it is cartridge based. For some reason people think that’s a big deal. I mean, what were you expecting, the return of UMDs?
As for what I think of this new system? I really like it. There is no gamepad, no small low resolution screen, no glossy finish over anything, and no gimmicky touch screen or motion control rubbish, just games. Just good and fun Nintendo games that will be available on a small console with a traditional controller. The only problems I have with it stems from presentation, as the Nintendo Switch does look a bit odd, and a personal issue that may require me to replace my monitor with one more geared towards switching inputs and with better audio out. The ninth generation of video gaming will begin in about five months, and I’m excited about it.
However, there is more to this story than just the reveal. Mostly in the form of information gathered by the lovely Laura Kate Dale, who previously provided details on the Playstation 4 hardware revision and details about the Nintendo Switch that proved to be true. For the sake of disclosure, I support her on Patreon and helped crowdfund her vagina. The details pertain to things like battery life, the nature of the games that were shown in the reveal trailer, and the touch screen, along with how she gathered her information before the system’s launch, and is well worth checking out if you don’t want to wait until next week for more information. Sorry, I mean wait until 2017 for more information… What the hell is wrong with you Nintendo?
Laura Kate Dale also published a piece on the development and state of the Beyond Good and Evil Successor, which is set to be a Nintendo Switch exclusive according to her sources, and is also not going to be a proper sequel like some assumed. Rather, the game will be a semi-reboot that takes place both before and after the original title, and is not the same Beyond Good and Evil 2 that has been in development of some sort since before 2008. This new project was only recently started after discussions with Nintendo and Ubisoft came through earlier this year, and is now scheduled to be released in summer 2018.
A few hours afterwards, Rockstar Games officially announced the third game in their acclaimed cowboy sandbox series Red Dead, with Red Dead Redemption 2. A new CG trailer provided only scant details about the game, meaning next to nothing, and as somebody who did not enjoy the second Red Dead title, I do not really care to give this one a fair shake when it launches for PS4 and XBO in Fall 2017. With a PC release presumably coming later. Come to think of it, I really don’t care for any of Rockstar’s output. I just find them to be the most boring and mundane version of whatever premise they tackle.
As something I would normally reserve for the first story in any other week, the Pokemon Sun and Moon demo was released. It was a bit light on content, and its fixation on giving the player older Pokemon with Greninja and Pikachu was a bit odd, but the world was more detailed and realized than ever before. There are minor things I could complain about, such as the battle UI overhaul that is a bit hard to get used to after nearly a decade, the 15 second wait time before random battles begin, the way in which the main character walks, and requirement to hold the run button in order to run, but I’ll detail all of those things in my massive review of this game after the full version is released.
As was unsurprising, a group of dedicated people soon datamined this demo upon release, and while much content was scrubbed away, GameFreak forgot to remove something more than a little important. Sprites detailing each and every new Pokemon in the game and every Pokemon in the Alolan Pokedex. There was also some interesting information regarding HMs, items, and moves, but I won’t post excessive spoilers for an unreleased game on my site. I will link to them though. Also, here’s a video of someone running the demo in an emulator at 1080p without borders over the character models.
To finish things off, XSEED announced the release dates for two PC ports due out in November. The first being the stupidly long awaited Xanadu Next. An action RPG by the fine folks at Nihon Falcom that is noteworthy for being one of the few games ever released for the Nokia N-Gage. It is set to come out for modern PCs, with a new translation in tow, on November 3rd. Then, a week later on November 10th, Senran Kagura: Bon Appétit will bring its rhythm and cooking action to the platform. An unsurprising move that only caught me off guard because, well, XSEED kind of did not announce this game was even coming to PC.