 Hey, this is Andrew with The Verge, and we're here in New York City taking our very first look at the Nintendo Switch. Now, the Switch is the next major piece of hardware from Nintendo, and it's a device that kind of brings together the two sides of the company. For a long time, Nintendo was sort of split into two. You had the portable side with devices like the Game Boy and the DS, and then you had the home console side with things like the NES, all the way up to the Wii U. And what the Switch does is it brings those together. It's a tablet that connects to your television, so you can play games either on the go or at home. The core of the Switch comes in the form of this fairly unassuming tablet. It has a 6.2-inch 720p display, it features multi-touch, but it's also the only tablet that can run a game like The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild. And the way this works is through these new controllers Nintendo's come up with called Joy-Con. Essentially, it's a modular controller system. So you get these two little parts that can snap onto the side of the tablet so you can play a traditional console game like Zelda on a tablet. But you can also remove them and snap them into a shell to make a proper controller so that you can then play the game on your television. Now in order to emphasize all the different ways you can use the Joy-Con controllers, Nintendo showed off a bunch of new games for the Switch. In addition to more traditional experiences like Zelda and a brand new Super Mario game, there are also a number of motion control games where you use the controllers in your hands sort of like a Wii Remote back in the day to play things like the minigame collection 1-2 Switch or the boxing game ARMS where the two controllers essentially serve as your fist so you can punch another player. And since so many people missed out on the Wii U, the predecessor to the Switch, the company is also bringing back a number of franchises just in case people miss those games. There's a new version of Mario Kart 8 called Mario Kart 8 Deluxe that adds some new characters and tracks to the series as well as a sequel to Splatoon, a colorful multiplayer online shooter that's sort of like a cross between a traditional game like Call of Duty and Paintball but where you play as teenage squids. Now because the Switch is essentially a tablet, it does come with a few drawbacks. In addition to being a little bit underpowered, the device also comes with a relatively scant 32GB of hard drive space. And the battery life isn't so great. Nintendo estimates you'll get around 2.5-6 hours of battery life depending on what game you're playing. So for something like Zelda that's a little more intense, you're probably only going to get around 2-3 hours of playtime. The Nintendo Switch actually launches really soon. It's going to be available on March 3rd globally and in the US you'll be able to pick it up for $299. And you know I've only spent a little bit of time with it but from what I've seen it does a really good job of bringing together those two sides of Nintendo. When you play it as a console, it feels like a console and when you play it as a tablet, it feels like a really good handheld experience.
 Hey, this is Andrew with The Verge, and we're here in New York City taking our very first
 look at the Nintendo Switch.
 Now, the Switch is the next major piece of hardware from Nintendo, and it's a device
 that kind of brings together the two sides of the company.
 For a long time, Nintendo was sort of split into two.
 You had the portable side with devices like the Game Boy and the DS, and then you had
 the home console side with things like the NES, all the way up to the Wii U.
 And what the Switch does is it brings those together.
 It's a tablet that connects to your television, so you can play games either on the go or
 at home.
 The core of the Switch comes in the form of this fairly unassuming tablet.
 It has a 6.2-inch 720p display, it features multi-touch, but it's also the only tablet
 that can run a game like The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild.
 And the way this works is through these new controllers Nintendo's come up with called
 Joy-Con.
 Essentially, it's a modular controller system.
 So you get these two little parts that can snap onto the side of the tablet so you can
 play a traditional console game like Zelda on a tablet.
 But you can also remove them and snap them into a shell to make a proper controller so
 that you can then play the game on your television.
 Now in order to emphasize all the different ways you can use the Joy-Con controllers,
 Nintendo showed off a bunch of new games for the Switch.
 In addition to more traditional experiences like Zelda and a brand new Super Mario game,
 there are also a number of motion control games where you use the controllers in your
 hands sort of like a Wii Remote back in the day to play things like the minigame collection
 1-2 Switch or the boxing game ARMS where the two controllers essentially serve as your
 fist so you can punch another player.
 And since so many people missed out on the Wii U, the predecessor to the Switch, the
 company is also bringing back a number of franchises just in case people miss those
 games.
 There's a new version of Mario Kart 8 called Mario Kart 8 Deluxe that adds some new characters
 and tracks to the series as well as a sequel to Splatoon, a colorful multiplayer online
 shooter that's sort of like a cross between a traditional game like Call of Duty and Paintball
 but where you play as teenage squids.
 Now because the Switch is essentially a tablet, it does come with a few drawbacks.
 In addition to being a little bit underpowered, the device also comes with a relatively scant
 32GB of hard drive space.
 And the battery life isn't so great.
 Nintendo estimates you'll get around 2.5-6 hours of battery life depending on what game
 you're playing.
 So for something like Zelda that's a little more intense, you're probably only going to
 get around 2-3 hours of playtime.
 The Nintendo Switch actually launches really soon.
 It's going to be available on March 3rd globally and in the US you'll be able to pick it up
 for $299.
 And you know I've only spent a little bit of time with it but from what I've seen it
 does a really good job of bringing together those two sides of Nintendo.
 When you play it as a console, it feels like a console and when you play it as a tablet,
 it feels like a really good handheld experience.