Nintendo Switch Price, Release Date, Specs, and Everything Else You Need to Know

The Nintendo Switch is releasing this week. Nintendo itself might be saying very little about its new console, but early impressions have brought to light several important details you need to know about it. Here’s everything you need to know about the Nintendo Switch.

Nintendo Switch price
The Nintendo Switch is priced at $299.99 (roughly Rs. 20,000) in the United States, the same as Nintendo's current Wii U console. In Japan it will cost about 20 percent more than the Wii U, at JPY 29,980 (roughly Rs. 18,000).

Nintendo Switch release date
You can buy the Nintendo Switch from March 3 in several countries. These include the UK, France, Germany, Denmark, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, the US, and Japan. No date or plans for an official India release have been announced just yet.

Nintendo Switch OS and UI Revealed After Console Ships Early

Nintendo Switch internals
While the Nintendo Switch uses an Nvidia Maxwell GPU and an ARM processor, what wasn’t known was how much RAM it would ship with. Samsung has inadvertently confirmed that it is supplying the memory for the home console handheld hybrid. It sports two modules of 2GB LPDDR4 for a total 4GB shared between the GPU and CPU. The complete specifications of the device are as follows:

Nintendo Switch specs

• CPU: Quad core ARM Cortex A57
• GPU: Nvidia Maxwell with 256 CUDA cores
• Memory: 1600 MHz 4GB LPDDR4 (2+2GB modules)
• Memory bandwidth: 25.6GB/s
• Internal storage: 32GB flash memory

Nintendo Switch unboxing: what to expect

This is what you get when you buy a Nintendo Switch:

• Nintendo Switch console
• One Joy-Con each, for left and right hands
• Two Joy-Con straps
• HDMI cable
• Nintendo Switch dock
• Joy-Con grip
• Nintendo Switch AC adapter

Nintendo Switch day one update

Much like the PS4, Xbox One, and Wii U, the Nintendo Switch has a day one update. Although the Nintendo Switch ships with 32GB in-built storage, you can’t use an SD card until you update the console, making the update mandatory for anyone looking to go completely digital. It’s also necessary to access several key features including:

• Linking Nintendo Account to your profile
• Adding friends
• Receiving news
• Accessing eShop
• Posting screenshots on social media
• Sending/receiving Miis
• Software updates
• Connecting My Nintendo Rewards program
• SD card support

Want to Buy the Nintendo Switch In India? You Need to Read This First

Nintendo Switch battery life in portable mode

If you plan on using the Nintendo Switch in handheld mode, Nintendo estimates you would get between two and half to six hours of battery life. This seems about right according to a video from GameXplain. Using a fully charged Switch and Joy-Cons along with Wi-Fi on and maximum screen brightness (with auto-brightness turned off) while playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild saw two hours and 28 minutes of game time before the battery gave way.

You could see better battery life in portable mode with a reduction in settings and playing a less intensive games. But with Zelda being the biggest title at launch, we’ll have to wait and see if there’s anything that lives up to the six hour claim of Nintendo’s.

NIntendo Switch games release date

Barring The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, there are a host of other games due for the console at launch. Here are Nintendo Switch launch games confirmed so far and their release dates where known.

• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (March 3)
• 1-2-Switch (March 3)
• Snipperclips - Cut it out, together! (March 3)
• Just Dance 2017 (March 3)
• Skylanders Imaginators (March 3)
• Super Bomberman R (March 3)
• I Am Setsuna (March 3)
• Fast RMX (Shin'en, March 3)
• Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove (March 3)
• World of Goo (March 3)
• Little Inferno ( March 3)
• Human Resource Machine (March 3)

Nintendo games available after Nintendo Switch launch

• Splatoon 2 demo global testfire (March 24 to 26)
• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (April 28)
• ARMS (Spring 2017)
• Splatoon 2 (Summer 2017)
• Fire Emblem Warriors (autumn 2017)
• Pokemon Stars (late 2017)
• Super Mario Odyssey (holiday 2017)
• Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (TBC)
• New Fire Emblem (2018)

Third-party Nintendo Switch games confirmed for 2017

• Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ (March 2017)
• Has Been Heroes (March 2017)
• LEGO City Undercover (April 7)
• Puyo Puyo Tetris (April 28)
• Rime ( May 2017)
• Disgaea 5 Complete (Spring 2017)
• Sonic Mania (Spring 2017)
• Troll and I (Spring 2017)
• Snake Pass (early 2017)
• Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim ( late 2017)
• NBA 2K18 (September 2017)
• Project Sonic 2017 (late 2017)
• Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (2017)
• Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom ( 2017)
• Celeste (2017)

Limited Run's Josh Fairhurst on Nintendo Switch, PS Vita, and the Discovery Problem of Digital Distribution

Third-party Nintendo Switch games with no release date

• 1001 Spikes
• Arcade Archives
• Cave Story
• Constructor
• Cube Life: Island Survival
• Dragon Quest X
• Dragon Quest XI
• Dragon Quest Heroes I and II
• Dragonball Xenoverse 2
• EA Sports FIFA
• Farming Simulator
• Graceful Explosion Machine
• LEGO Worlds
• Minecraft: Story Mode - The Compete Adventure
• Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition
• Redout
• Seasons of Heaven
• New Shin Megami Tensei game
• Stardew Valley
• State of Mind
• Steep
• Syberia 3
• Project Octopath Traveller
• Taiko Drum Master
• New Travis Touchdown/No More Heroes game
• New 'Tales of' RPG
• Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers

Nintendo Switch Joy-Con connection issues
Aside from the aforementioned details, some reports have suggested that the console’s Joy-Con controllers may have syncing issues.

What this means is, the Joy-Con controllers have been disconnecting during play. It is suspected to be due to a loss of signal between one Joy-Con (the one earmarked for use with the left-hand seems to be most cited) and the console itself. Could this be a case of signal interference?

The solution could range from a firmware fix to boost the Joy-Con Bluetooth signal strength (at the penalty of a lower battery-life) to a full-scale recall. Nintendo hasn’t commented on it yet though several members of the press have voiced their concern. Safe to say, you might want to hold off buying one until this is rectified.

Why Nintendo Should Bring the Switch to India

Are you picking up the Nintendo Switch at launch or are you waiting it out? Let us know via the comments.

We discuss the Nintendo Switch on the Transition, Gadgets 360’s gaming and pop culture podcast. You can subscribe to Transition via iTunes or RSS or just listen to this episode by hitting the play button below.