Nintendo is trying to Switch it up. The Japanese video-game company revealed details Friday about its hotly anticipated Nintendo Switch, a video game console that also serves as a hand-held gaming device, during a global rollout on Friday.
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The price in the U.S. will be $300, a bit above the $200 to $250 that analysts were expecting. It will debut March 3. The Switch is the first major hybrid console/hand-held gaming device.
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Nintendo Switch is a new way to play, said Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime at a packed event in New York, where several hundred reporters tried out games including the fantasy game Zelda: Breath of the Wild and the fighting game Arms on the device.
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Hoping To End a Dry Spell
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Nintendo needs the Switch to be a hit. Its previous game console, the Wii U, faded quickly, and its 3DS handheld was also a disappointment. The one-time king of the video-game console has since been largely eclipsed by the Sony PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One.
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The company has also been trying to catch up in mobile games, having largely missed a major shift to smartphones and tablets. Pokemon Go, an augmented-reality smartphone game based on monster characters featured in Nintendo video games, was a surprise hit last summer — but Nintendo didn’t create it.
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Nintendo finally made a big push into mobile with Super Mario Run for the iPhone, which launched in December. The app became the highest grossing game in 11 countries a few hours after its release on Dec. 15, according to App Annie, making over $4 million worldwide in consumer spending on its first day. But by Christmas, it had fallen from the top, and it now ranks as the 26th top-grossing game in the U.S. App Store.
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Analysts say the Switch needs to win over new, younger players…