Are You Ready to Switch for Nintendo?

A huge part of Nintendo's success has

always been handheld gaming devices.

Since its launch in 1989,

Game Boy sold 150 million units around the world.

Game Boy Advance sold 80 million units.

Nintendo DSs sold 150 million units.

Then, this came along.

Smartphones doubled as a portable game device,

and Nintendo struggled to keep up.

The made up some ground last year

by bringing Mario to the iPhone with Super Mario Run,

but now, Nintendo is taking an entirely different approach.

Its new console, the Switch, let's you take

your living room game experience

with you when you leave the house.

It's half game console, half handheld.

In other words, basically the gaming version

of get you somebody that can do both.

Playing at home with the Switch connected to your TV

via HDMI cable doesn't feel too different from playing

on the Switch's predecessors, the Wii and the Wii U.

The controllers that come with it, the Joy-Cons,

are significantly smaller than the now iconic Wiimote,

but they functionally similar.

You can use one in each hand,

or if you're playing a two-player game,

one can be used by each person.

They're also motion-sensitive like the Wiimote,

which means you can use it to aim a bow and arrow

or to milk a cow in a party game.

Yes, seriously, to milk a cow in a party game.

Nintendo consoles don't match up with PlayStations

or Xbox in terms of processing power or graphics,

and they don't try to.

Nintendo gave up on that arms race years ago.

Still, in 2017, even a relatively underpowered console

can deliver stunning HD graphics and huge open-world games

like Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild,

which is the Switch's standout game at launch.

(upbeat electronic music)

Even better, that experience fits

into a tiny tablet-shaped device

that's not much bigger than an Amazon Kindle.

And that portability is what makes

the Switch so interesting.

You just slide the controllers back onto it and boom,

you have an all-in-one gaming device.

Everything you saw on your TV at home is now there

on the Switch's dedicated screen, just a little smaller.

Now, the battery life for gameplay,

when this is detached, runs about three hours.

But the controllers last much, much longer than that.

So you can detach them again and keep playing while

you've got the Switch plugged in charging via a USB-C cable.

It's even got a kickstand on the back to let you do that.

If you're the type who buys a ton of digital retro games

via Nintendo's eShop, there's microSD card slot

behind the kickstand that let's you turn the Switch

into a veritable gaming machine.

The question with Nintendo's systems though,

always comes down to the games.

On launch day, there are more than 10 titles available.

Some of which were downloadable-only

and others were either available digitally

or on dedicated actual little cartridges,

among them, Legend of Zelda, which, of course,

is the marquee game at launch.

The next few months promise high-profile releases

from big franchises like Mario Kart and Street Fighter,

and even big sports titles like Fifa and NBA 2K are

gonna be coming to the Switch later this year.

So if you're a Nintendo fan,

there's plenty to get excited about.

If you've already got a game console

that you're happy with though,

it may take a little more to get you to switch.