Nintendo Switch: watch the first trailer for the new console

The Nintendo Switch has finally been revealed. The three-minute trailer, above, gives us our first official look at the long-awaited console.

As rumored, the new console is a console-portable hybrid that will use cartridges rather than discs. In the trailer, a man lifts the core of the console from a home base station, attaches to controller accessories, and plays Zelda on the go. In a later sequence, the two controllers disconnect, and players play a multiplayer on the standalone screen. In another scene, four players play Mario Kart by sharing two controllers. A traditional wireless controller also works with the devices both in its console and portable forms.

The most fascinating part of the trailer shows e-sports players practicing Splatoon in a stadium hallway, before taking their consoles to the show floor for a competitive event. The implications of a portable console catering to e-sports are huge, and show a forward-thinking application for the hardware.

Nintendo has a lot riding on the Switch, formerly known as the NX. The company followed the tremendously successful Wii with the Wii U, an unusual system that never quite found its audience. While the system featured some truly excellent games by Nintendo, the console, which paired with a tablet controller, failed to attract the support of publishers like EA, Activision, and Ubisoft, whose AAA games help to fill the catalogues of Sony’s PS4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One.

The Switch is set to be released in March.