Nintendo Switch
The Nintendo Switch is the seventh home video game console released by Nintendo. The console is the successor to the Wii U and it competes with Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One console in the 8th generation of video game systems.
Known in development by its codename NX, it was unveiled in October 2016, subsequently revealed as the Switch in January 2017, and was released worldwide on March 3rd, 2017. A second handheld-only model of the Nintendo Switch, the Nintendo Switch Lite, was released later on September 20th, 2019. The Switch is considered a "hybrid" console; it is designed primarily as a home console, with the main unit inserted onto a docking station to connect to a television. Alternatively, it can be removed from the dock and used similarly to a mobile tablet, or placed in a standalone tabletop position visible to several players. The Switch uses Joy-Con wireless controllers, although Pro Controllers are also available as separate purchases for a more traditional controller.
Hardware
The Switch console is solely based in the tablet. Everything else operates in tandem with the device. The Dock serves as a means to connect the tablet to a television, as well as charging it and any attached controllers. The console itself has 32 Gigabytes of on-system storage and has a slot for optional microSD card memory expansion of up to 2 Terabytes. The console is capable of 720p output in tablet and tabletop mode with adaptive resolution, and can go as high as 1080p while docked.
The Joy-Con controllers are wireless, bluetooth-based and the right Joycon is equipped with an infrared camera on the bottom which allows gyroscopic data (among other things) to be surveyed to the Switch, allowing for Wiimote-like motion controls in various games. The Joy-Cons can be used in tandem with eachother in various ways. They can be equipped to a grip to make a whole controller, be held separately, or can be held horizontally and played as their own controllers. Additionally, a more traditional controller, called the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, is also available, which also has built-in gyroscopic controls. All controllers feature HD Rumble, an advanced form of haptic feedback that enables the system to replicate every single tap and sensation in game, with much more realism and efficiency than traditional haptic motors.
The physical media for the console consists of proprietary cartridges as opposed to the optical Blu-Ray discs of its direct competitors. The cartridges are not region-locked, though they do require a profile on the console that matches the region the games were purchased in in order to play them. The cartridge plastic has been coated in an extremely bitter, non-toxic substance in order to prevent children from swallowing them.
In the Dragon Quest series
Dragon Quest Builders 2, the sequel to Dragon Quest Builders, was released in Japan in December 2018 and worldwide in July 2019 on the Switch. Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition is a Switch exclusive port of Dragon Quest XI, featuring content from both the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo 3DS versions of the game, as well as addition content such as the party following the Luminary around. It was released worldwide on September 27th, 2019. On the same day, Dragon Quest, Dragon Quest II, and Dragon Quest III all received ports to the Switch.
