Nintendo Switch Hands-On Video Gives First Glimpse At Touch Screen In Action
Until this point, Nintendo has shown us how games look and play in portable mode, but we had not yet seen how games will take advantage of the device’s touch screen. Thankfully, a new hands-on video is giving us an early look at what to expect when the console launches on March 3rd.
Skip ahead to about the 6:30 mark, and you will see a demo of the game Skylanders Imaginators, which shows off full multi-touch functionality. We have known that the Switch would launch with a multi-touch display for quite some time, but it’s surprising that Nintendo didn’t even show off the feature during its January keynote or give the press the chance to sample supported games shortly thereafter.
However, as EuroGamer points out, Nintendo is likely trying to put as much focus on the Joy-Con controllers when using the Switch in mobile mode. It doesn’t want to give the appearance that the Switch is a fancy tablet that just so happens to be able to dock with your TV. And given that Nintendo already has touch-enabled mobile gaming consoles like the 3DS, it probably just didn’t feel the need to promote the feature.
The Switch’s 6.2-inch display has a resolution of 1280x720 (that is bumped up to 1920x1080 when docked with a TV) and it is powered by an NVIDIA Tegra processor. 32GB of storage is included, although you can always expand upon that with the included microSD slot. The console has integrated 802.11ac Wi-Fi, can last between 2.5 hours to 6.5 hours on a charge, and it can be recharged using a standard USB-C cable.
When the Nintendo Switch launches in March, it will be priced at $299. Nintendo promises that there will be 2 million units at launch and that it will not repeat the inventory shortages that plagued the NES Classic Edition (although we’ve heard that line before).
