After months of speculation, the Nintendo NX … ahem, I mean … the Nintendo Switch has finally shown itself to the world.
In a short, three-minute trailer shown on Nintendo’s website, the console unveiling had little pomp and circumstance, focusing on the games and experiences you can expect when you get your hands on the Switch in March 2017.
Some of the games shown in the trailer we know full well – Splatoon was a game that found major success on the Wii U, for example – while others were a bit more nebulous. (Was that a brand-new Mario game?!)
Until Nintendo gives us a full launch day games guide, here’s what we think you’ll be able to play on your new console, according to the Nintendo Switch Trailer.
This one was the only gimme. Announced at E3 of this year, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was the only title outed by the company with Nintendo Switch support. But even though Breath of the Wild was expected to show up, no one could’ve predicted how beautiful the game would look on the Switch’s second screen. Need more Zelda in your life? Check out the new Breath of the Wild trailer Nintendo launched earlier this morning.
Despite only having three minutes to do so, Nintendo made one point abundantly clear about the Nintendo Switch: This is not a kid’s console. To that end, the second game to be shown off during the Nintendo Switch trailer was a M-rated one, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. If we had to be specific about it, what Nintendo showed was probably Skyrim Remastered, the soon-to-be-released HD remake of 2011’s Game of the Year award winner.
Here’s where things start to get good. Zelda’s a given and Skyrim was a nice surprise, but Mario Kart (and Mario games in general) are always going to be Nintendo’s bread and butter. In the Switch trailer we got a good look at the console’s first racing title: Mario Kart 8. Not only is the game looking even crisper here, but it looks like it will support local multiplayer in the Switch’s portable mode, too.
To balance out the adventure and racing titles, the next game Nintendo showed came out of nowhere and sank like a three-pointer – the latest title in the NBA 2K series. The purpose for showing the game in the Switch’s first-look trailer is two-fold. The first is that, for the sports gaming crowd, Nintendo’s offering some reassurance that they’ll find something on the new console. The second is that NBA 2K17 offers a look at the Switch’s ability to connect two systems together for a miniature LAN party – a neat feature that will resonate with gamers who remember the days of drinking Kool-Aid and playing games together on a couch.
We needed this. Nearly every successful Nintendo console has launched with a Mario game, and this yet-untitled iteration is going to be the Switch’s. While we didn’t get more than a few seconds of gameplay, it looks like this could very well be the third Super Mario Galaxy game we’ve been clamoring for or – at the very least – offer a 3D Mario experience on par with Mario 64 or Super Mario 3D World.
Closing out the Nintendo Switch trailer was Splatoon, the breakout hit from the Nintendo Wii U that was one part Call of Duty, two parts Nintendo’s secret sauce. Beyond offering us a look at what the colorful third-person shooter could look like on the Switch, Splatoon’s section of the trailer shows us something even more important – the world loves eSports and Nintendo wants to be part of that conversation. It’s a slow trend Nintendo’s been following for the past few years (the inclusion of a Super Smash Bros. tournament at E3 was a good example of this), but the Switch could be the first time Nintendo breaks into the big league.
Excited about the titles shown off so far? Disappointed that Bayonetta 2 isn’t on there? It’s fair to feel that way. But these five titles aren’t the only ones Nintendo has in store for the Switch. Here’s a list of all the developers and publishers Nintendo has already partnered with.
- 505 Games
- Activision Publishing, Inc.
- ARC SYSTEM WORKS Co., Ltd.
- ATLUS CO., LTD.
- Audiokinetic Inc.
- Autodesk, Inc.
- BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc.
- Bethesda
- CAPCOM CO., LTD.
- Codemasters®
- CRI Middleware Co., Ltd.
- DeNA Co., Ltd.
- Electronic Arts
- Epic Games Inc.
- Firelight Technologies
- FromSoftware, Inc.
- Frozenbyte
- GameTrust
- GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC．
- Gungho Online Entertainment, Inc.
- HAMSTER Corporation
- Havok
- INTI CREATES CO., LTD.
- KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD.
- Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd.
- LEVEL-5 Inc.
- Marvelous Inc.
- Maximum Games, LLC
- Nippon Ichi Software, Inc.
- Parity Bit Inc.
- PlatinumGames Inc.
- RAD Game Tools, Inc.
- RecoChoku Co., Ltd.
- SEGA Games Co., Ltd.
- Silicon Studio Corporation
- Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd.
- SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD.
- Starbreeze Studios
- Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.
- Telltale Games
- THQ Nordic
- Tokyo RPG Factory Co., Ltd.
- TT Games
- UBISOFT
- Ubitus Inc.
- Unity Technologies, Inc.
- Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- Web Technology Corp
