re: Nintendo Switch: Official Thread

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"If a Nintendo Switch game supports amiibo then the Nintendo Switch home gaming system will as well," a Nintendo representative told IGN.

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When asked if the Nintendo Switch will have touchscreen support, Nintendo declined to comment. "We will make additional announcements about the Nintendo Switch hardware later, before the launch of the product," Nintendo told IGN.

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The clamshell-shaped bugger itself was more than a little strange, but the chip—Nvidia's take on the type that powers phones and tablets instead of PCs—was the secret star. It was small and efficient enough to fit in a handheld, but powerful enough to run games that looked great, and run them in high enough resolution that you could stream them to a TV. It was our first real glimpse of the trick that makes the Nintendo Switch look so great. It just didn't have the modular controllers, the stylistic fit and finish, or a historic brand name. The Shield itself never quite took off, but Nvidia kept refining the tech.

Over the years it has released new versions of the clamshell device, the Shield Tablet, and finally, a set-top box also called The Shield, which uses Nvidia's powerful Tegra X1 chip to function like a little Android-powered game console. The whole line was extremely impressive, but it never really caught on for one important reason: There wasn't anything worth playing. ...AND YOU GOTTA HAVE THE GAMES Until now, Nvidia's Tegra has been used exclusively in Android devices, and Android just doesn't have great games. Sure, it has Threes and Pokemon Go and Candy Crush and all that, but not much on the level of real consoles like the Xbox or Playstation, or real handhelds like the Playstation Vita or Nintendo's 3DS.

Meanwhile, Nintendo has had the games, but not the tech.

After decades of domination in home consoles and mobile systems, Nintendo has a bench of games that's almost absurdly deep, including ones that work on the big screen or on the go. We're talking Mario, Zelda, Metroid, and Kirby when it comes to the old standbys, as well as more modern classics like Smash Bros., Fire Emblem, Splatoon, and Pikmin. That's just scratching the surface. NINTENDO HAS HAD THE GAMES BUT NOT THE TECH. In recent years—pretty much since the wild success of the original Wii starting in 2006—Nintendo's actual hardware has been underpowered. The Wii had Wii Sports and other blockbuster hits, but never really had the horsepower to handle the Call of Duty and Skyrim titles that were melting faces on the Xbox 360 and PS3.

The Wii U couldn't stop the technological backslide. The confusingly named console hinted at a wonderful future of mixing mobile and handheld, but ultimately fell sort. Ports of popular, high-tech games were promised, but often fell through because of the console's lack of horsepower. Meanwhile, Wii U's unwieldily and large screen-controller let you play games on the go, but not without looking like a weirdo. In the end, Nintendo was left with a beefy stable of properties living on lackluster hardware.

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