nintendo switch nintendo switch a nintendo switch console in docked mode above and portable mode belowalso known asnx code namedevelopernintendo ptdmanufacturerfoxconn hosidenmedia physical and digital game card digital distribution nintendo eshop operating systemnintendo switch system softwaresystemonchip usednvidia tegra x1cpuoctacore 4arm cortexa57 4arm cortexa53 1020 ghzmemory4 gb lpddr4storageinternal flash memory 32gbremovable storagemicrosdmicrosdhcmicrosdxc up to 2 tbdisplay62inch 1280 720p lcd 237 ppiup to 1080p via hdmi while dockedgraphicsnvidia gm20b maxwellbased gpu 3072 384 mhz while undocked 3072 768 mhz while dockedsoundlinear pcm 51ch via hdmipredecessorwii uwebsitewwwnintendocomswitch the nintendo switch commonly abbreviated as the switch is the seventh major video game console developed by nintendo considered by nintendo as a hybrid console it is designed 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 tablet computer through its lcd touchscreen or placed in a standalone tabletop mode visible to several players its wireless joycon controllers which include standard buttons and directional analog sticks for user input motion sensing and highdefinition tactile feedback can attach to both sides of the console to support handheldstyle play they can also connect to a grip accessory to provide a traditional home console gamepad form or be used individually in the hand like the wii remote and nunchuk supporting local multiplayer modes the nintendo switchs software supports online gaming through standard internet connectivity as well as local wireless ad hoc connectivity with other switch consoles nintendo switch games and software are available on both physical flashbased rom cartridges and digital distribution via nintendo eshop the system does not use region locking the nintendo switch competes on the console gaming market with contemporaries being sonys playstation 4 and microsofts xbox one known in development by its codename nx the concept of the switch came about as nintendos reaction to several quarters of financial losses into 2014 attributed to poor sales of its previous console the wii u and market competition from mobile gaming nintendos thenpresident satoru iwata pushed the company towards mobile gaming and novel hardware the nintendo switchs design is aimed at a wide demographic of video game players through the multiple modes of use nintendo opted to use more standard electronic components such as a chipset based on nvidias tegra line to make development for the console easier for programmers and more compatible with existing game engines as the wii u had struggled to gain external support leaving it with a weak software library nintendo preemptively sought the support of many thirdparty developers and publishers to help build out the switchs game library alongside nintendos own firstparty titles including many independent video game studios while nintendo initially anticipated around 100 titles for its first year over 320 titles from firstparty thirdparty and independent developers were released by the end of 2017 the nintendo switch was unveiled in october 2016 and was released in most areas worldwide on march 3 2017 the console shipped nearly three million in the first month of its launch exceeding nintendos initial projection of two million and within a year of release achieved over 14 million units sold worldwide outselling total lifetime sales of the wii u since then it has sold 2286 million units further outselling the gamecubes lifetime sales it is the fastestselling console in nintendos history and is the fastestselling console of all time in japan and the united states nintendo switch sales were heavily tied to the critically acclaimed titles the legend of zelda breath of the wild mario kart 8 deluxe and super mario odyssey which became bestsellers for the system with over ten eleven and twelve million copies sold respectively by september 2018 history background nintendo had seen record revenues net sales and profits in 2009 as a result of the release of the wii and nintendo ds in 2006 and 2004 respectively development initial conception for the switch started shortly after the release of the wii u in 2012 part of the inspiration of the switchs design was from feedback players had given nintendo on the wii remote according to shinya takahashi with the release of games like wii sports and wii fit players had asked nintendo if they could make the wii remote in a smaller form factor potentially strapped it to a part of their body this led to nintendo envisioning what a smaller formfactor controller could provide in both hardware and gameplay and led to the idea of a console that was small enough with these new controllers to also be portable one market area that nintendo wanted the switch to satisfy was to create a device that could play leisurely video games along games that are aimed to be played deeply attempting to bridge a polarization of the gaming market at the time according to shinya takahashi and yoshiaki koizumi general manager and deputy general manager of nintendos entertainment planning development division epd respectively koizumi served as the general producer of the switch during development the development of the switch continued nintendos blue ocean approach for the competitive console marketplace rather than trying to compete featureforfeature with microsoft or sonys offerings filsaim said that nintendos goal for the switch was creating products and experiences that are unique and really cant be copied by our competition in addition to the formfactor design nintendo needed to balance the power and speed of the consoles central processing unit with battery life and the units size coupled with limited development resources and deadlines set by nintendos management one choice made by the development team was to use an existing system on a chip soc rather than creating their own as they had done on previous consoles koizumi said that this break from tradition was done to gain more thirdparty support for the console by using an soc that developers could easily port to nintendo was not focused on raw processing power but were instead looking to balance the overall features of the system including battery life and size as well as keeping in mind their limited development resources and timeline koizumi said the most difficult part was on how to take an overall balance while we were getting entangled with all of those in complexity speaking to investors in january 2018 about ten months after the switchs release shinya takahashi said that the switch could have a lifecycle longer than the typical fivetosix years that current home consoles have nintendo has brought a number of junior developers within the company to help brainstorm ideas that would create interesting products using the switch hardware that could further reach a wider audience thus aiding in extending its lifecycle announcements and release the first public news of about the switchs hardware happened alongside the announcement of nintendo and denas partnership on march 17 2015 at this stage nintendo referred to the console under the codename nx and described it as a brand new concept on october 20 2016 nintendo officially announced the console under the name nintendo switch alongside a trailer that demonstrated the hardwares nature as a hybrid device nintendo revealed technical details of the switch including its worldwide launch date and price at a press event in tokyo on january 13 2017 the switch was officially released on march 3 2017 worldwide notably in all key markets but excluding some parts of asia including india and mainland china although the nintendo switch has not officially been released in china it is still widely available in the country due to grey market imports from hong kong and other regions marketing and promotion nintendo sought to avoid the struggles it had with communicating the capabilities of the switchs predecessor the wii u whose gamepad left some mistook as an accessory for the wii rather than a controller for the wii u a key part of marketing the switch was to be crystal clear in our communication of what the product was and what the product could do according to filsaim so as to avoid similar issues with how they presented the wii u for example the october 2016 trailer considered significantly unlike nintendos past marketing efforts according to bloomberg nintendo aired its firstever super bowl ad during the united states broadcast of super bowl li set to the imagine dragons song believer additional television commercials are expected to follow the super bowl spot which are to demonstrate switchs use cases among different demographics as well as casual and core gaming audiences the grand palais in paris france during the switch media event on january 15 2017 in addition to advertising nintendo had planned several ways for players to try the system before its release through various sampling events kimishima felt that it was important particularly for career gamers for nintendo to get the switch into players hands so that players could understand how the system differs from nintendos previous offerings kimishima also said that the company was running a guerrilla marketing program where were just dashing around and trying to have as many events as possible and get it in the hands of players so they can experience the difference in june 2018 nintendo announced it was partnering with disney channel to help produce nintendo switch family showdown a televised competition where families competed in challenges around various switch games in august 2018 hardware the back of the nintendo switch showing the kickstand microsd slot charging port and intake vents the nintendo switch is a hybrid video game console with the main system comprising the switch console the switch dock and the joycon controllers although it is a hybrid console filsaim stated that the switch is a home console that you can take with you on the go console and dock the main unit of the switch is the console a batterypowered tabletlike monitor that comprises an lcd screen measuring 62 inches 160mm on its diagonal the same as the wii u gamepad the nintendo switch dock the back of the dock opened the console with or without joycon attached can be placed into the switch dock a docking station with electrical connectors to connect the console to a power supply to charge its battery and to a television via an hdmi connection for videoaudio output the dock also includes two usb 20 ports and one usb 30 port there are three gameplay modes that can be used with the switch tv mode with the console slid into the dock to support play on a television tabletop mode with the console placed on a table or other flat surface using its kickstand for shared gaming away from a dedicated screen or in handheld mode as a standard portable tablet device nintendo stated that the switch is a singlescreen experience in that the player either sees the content on the console when it is out of the dock or on the screen attached to the dock when the console is docked the switch cannot feature dualscreen functionality that was offered through the wii u via its gamepad nintendo patented a means of using multiple switch consoles to create a multimonitor configuration by arranging them on a flat surface and spanning a single gameplay environment across their screens this technology was first seen in super mario party joycon joycon the gray joycon l and joycon r controllers the neon red and blue joycon attached to the joycon grip controller the nintendo switch comes with controllers collectively called joycon individually called the joycon l and joycon r each joycon includes four frontfacing action buttons joycon r featuring nintendos signature abxy buttons and joycon l featuring directional buttons an analog stick which can be pressed down as a fifth button a plus or minus button a shoulder button lr a trigger button zlzr and a system function button joycon r houses the home button and joycon l the screenshot button within the rail are two additional buttons sl and sr buttons which can act like leftandright shoulder buttons when the joycon is held horizontally joycon can be obtained in several colors as part of the switch bundle or through added purchases in addition to the slate gray that the rest of the unit offers consumers can opt to get joycon in neon red and blue colors in early to mid2017 nintendo introduced neon yellow joycon which launched alongside arms on june 16 2017 technical specifications the switch uses a systemonchip from the tegra family of products developed in partnership with nvidia the switch offers dualband 80211ac wireless connectivity and is compliant with 80211 abgnac modes the switch is primarily powered in portable mode by a nonremovable 4310 mah 37 v lithiumion rechargeable battery the switch includes 32gb of internal storage which can be expanded up to 2tb using a microsd a microsdhc or a microsdxc card the switch console contains a 35mm headphone jack the unit does not directly support bluetooth wireless headphones though they can be connected with thirdparty wireless adapters via the headphone jack other controllers and accessories the optional and more conventional pro controller the top of the charging grip showing the usbc port though not revealed in the october 2016 reveal the nintendo switch supports a wide array of additional accessories according to kimishima kimishima suggested that the switch is part of a large ecosystem of devices though the switch unit remains the core console element a charging grip is available for the joycon which provides a means to attach a usbc cable for power in january 2018 nintendo announced nintendo labo a childoriented platform that combines games coupled with doityourself cardboard projects that attach or wrap around the switch console and joycon effectively creating toys around the switch to interact with games these cardboard units which may also include string rubber bands and other pieces are referred to as toycon the game software provides instructions for the toycon construction and provides the interface to control the toycon such examples given include a remotecontrolled car where the two joycon attach to the car and their vibration feedback provide the motion for the car controlled from the switch a fishing rod where the joycon are part of the reel and handle of the rod and their motion controls used to simulate the act of fishing in the minigame and a small toy piano amid complaints about the switchs kickstand nintendo released an adjustable charging stand for the switch on july 13 2018 after it was announced on may 9 2018 which allows users to place the console onto the stand as to play in tabletop mode providing better support than the consoles own builtin kickstand and allowing the user to optionally charge the console tatsumi kimishima stated that nintendo was investigating the possibility of offering a virtual reality headset for switch in the future if we are able to resolve the issues with playing comfortably for long hours nintendo did submit design patent applications for a virtual reality accessory similar in design to those intended for smartphones in which the device would be inserted into an enclosure and its screen viewed through lenses to achieve a stereoscopic effect a pcspecific usb keyboard is also compatible with the nintendo switch in docked mode production the nintendo switch is produced between taiwanbased foxconn and japanbased hosiden with foxconn accounting for the largest volume prior to launch nintendo anticipated shipping two million nintendo switch units by the end of the consoles first month and assured that its supply chain would be able to meet demand following the launch period to avoid the shortage situation with the nes classic edition in late 2016 following the initial sales report numbers in april 2017 the financial times reported that the company was seeking to produce 18 million switch units in its 2017 financial year as to avoid customer tantrums with poor supply levels particularly near the 2017 holiday season and the release of super mario odyssey on october 27 2017 on the presentation of the 2017 fiscal year results to investors nintendos newlynamed president shuntaro furukawa stated that they anticipate producing 20 million switch consoles over the 2018 fiscal year keeping the momentum of its sales in that year software the main menu screen of the switch console nintendo switch system software the switchs user interface features tilebased access to games that are either present in the game card slot or stored within the units storage devices it includes quick access buttons for a news feed from nintendo eshop access and a photo album for screenshots captured during gameplay prior to the 40 update players discovered that the switchs firmware included an easter egg to allow players to play the nes golf title via a builtin emulator while nintendo has not confirmed its presence journalists and players believe this is a tribute to nintendos former president satoru iwata golf was programmed by iwata and the game can only be accessed if the system clock is set to july 11 the day that iwata died and the joycon are moved similarly to how iwata would move his hands in his nintendo direct presentations some japanese users referred to this as a omamori charm left by iwata himself in august 2018 a twitter user found files on the switchs firmware while reverseengineering the console which suggest that nintendo was possibly testing vr functionality for the switch the twitter user was able to activate the hidden vr mode which split the screen into two displays security nintendo continued its white hat security program that it had with the nintendo 3ds with help of thirdparty website hackerone nintendo will award up to 20000 to the first user to identify any vulnerability that impacts piracy cheating or potential sending of inappropriate content to younger users the amount based on the severity of the security flaw in april 2018 two separate groups discovered a means to use an exploit chain in the tegra chip system that can be used to boot other software on the switch which could have both beneficial or malicious uses the exploit is unpatchable as the necessary support to update the tegras rom was not included on the switch systems as shipped both groups had notified nvidia and nintendo of the exploit before public announcement of their findings in june 2018 two hackers found a way to be able to run the switch systems developer software devmenu on nondeveloper switch units allowing hackers to be able to directly load games onto sd cards or create custom avatars for their user profile including pornographic and nsfw pictures which violate nintendos terms of service a nintendo spokesperson responded to kotakus article on the topic saying that modified nintendo switch systems have been banned shortly after the release of nintendo switch online in september 2018 hackers and modders were able to figure out how to run unauthorized roms on the nintendo switch nes emulator a switch hacker who goes by the name devrin was the first to discover the hack and posted his findings on youtube which prompted a modder who goes by the name kapuccinoheck to investigate the matter with two others and their findings were later posted on kapuccinohecks twitter account nintendo switch online logo of nintendo switch online the dedicated online service for the console that launched on september 18 2018 the nintendo switch service includes online functionality including online multiplayer downloading and purchasing games via regional nintendo eshops an online lobby service and voice chat unlike previous nintendo consoles and in line with current microsoft and sony consoles access to online multiplayer lobby and voice chat services would later require purchase of a paid subscription to the nintendo switch online service some features of the online service such as voice chat require the use of an associated smartphone app the app was released prior to the services launch on july 19 2017 for ios and android with support for voice chat in splatoon 2 additionally the service also allows subscribers to back up their game saves to cloud storage however not all games for the switch currently support cloud saves including splatoon 2 pokmon lets go pikachu and lets go eevee fifa 19 and dark souls remastered nintendo incentivizes the online service by extending certain offers exclusive to subscribers such as offering purchase of nintendo entertainment systemthemed joycon exclusively to online subscribers the service was initially targeted for a launch in fall 2017 but was later delayed to september 18 2018 nintendo aimed the cost of the switch online service to be about half that offered by either the playstation plus or xbox live gold as the switch online service does not include the same range of features as these subscription services provide price details were revealed in june 2017 with a 1month subscription costing 399 a 3month subscription costing 799 or a year costing 1999 in september 2018 nintendo switch consoles started experiencing connectivity issues in china due to the nintendo switch online service using googles servers which are blocked in china amid complaints about nintendo switch online requiring a smartphone for voice chatting the president and coo of nintendo of america filsaim responded saying that nintendos approach is to do things differently we have a much different suite of experiences than our competitors offer and we do that in a different way this creates a sort of yin and yang for our consumers theyre excited about cloud saves and legacy content but wish we might deliver voice chat a different way for example other online services nintendo switch offers integration with thirdparty social networking services to provide social and sharing features unlike the nintendo 3ds and wii u nintendo does not plan to offer firstparty social networking services such as miiverse or streetpass the latter owing to nintendos promotion of switch as primarily being a home console players can register friends through friend codes as with previous nintendo systems searching for friends in the local network through past multiplayer interactions or through nintendo account profiles registered as friends on nintendo mobile apps such as miitomo and super mario run the nintendo switch supports a companion mobile app called nintendo switch parental controls providing a suite of parental control features media support the switch did not initially launch with many multimediaoriented features such as a web browser or support for video streaming services niconico a popular japanese video service launched for the switch in japan on july 13 2017 and was the switchs first thirdparty media app in any market korg a music production app was released for the nintendo switch on april 26 2018 despite the lack of an enduser web browser a netfrontbased infrastructure is integrated into the switchs ui which allows the system menu to support several browserlike functions such as authenticating for wifi hotspots games distribution the nintendo switchs game cartridge games for the switch can be obtained through either retail channels or digitally through the nintendo eshop games distributed at retail are stored on proprietary cartridges similar in design to the game cards used for nintendo ds and 3ds games albeit smaller and thinner than the ds3ds cartridges game cards at the time of the switchs release had a 32gb capacity nintendo had planned to introduce 64gb game cards by the second half of 2018 but had to push this back until 2019 the switch supports the ability for cloud gaming to run games that require more hardware capabilities than the switch allows running these games over a network with the game computations performed on server hardware these games may be tied to specific regions due to purchasing options early examples of such games on the switch include resident evil 7 biohazard phantasy star online 2 and assassins creed odyssey unlike previous nintendo home consoles the switch is regionfree allowing players to use cartridges or downloaded content from any part of the world though nintendo recommends using the appropriate regional eshop for digital purposes for obtaining the best postpurchase support if needed emulated versions of games from previous nintendo systems are being offered through eshop and the nintendo switch online service although the blanket virtual console brand used for these releases on wii wii u and 3ds has been dropped thirdparty support one of the generally perceived failures of the wii u was a lack of support from thirdparty developers leading to a weak library of games nintendo also began gaining support of independent video game developers in the middle of 2016 to provide assistance to help them bring games to the switch led by nintendos head of partner management damon baker while many independent developers have praised nintendo for better support for the switch others speaking anonymously through nintendo life noted that nintendo seemed to have a walled garden approach with independent developers a remnant from the wiiware program that allowed a great deal of shovelware to be pushed onto it these anonymous developers found that nintendo was either eschewing some developers completely or requiring them to have a wellknown publishing partner or an inside person within nintendo to be able to gain the rights to publish for the switch during its official unveiling in october 2016 nintendo deliberately opted not to provide a list of games for the system as they want people to touch the device in january in the past nintendo had previously relied more on providing its own internally developed tools and libraries that thirdparty developers would use to develop games for earlier systems with the switch the company went a different route according to takahashi we have been aiming to realize an environment in which a variety of different thirdparty developers are able to easily develop compatible software taking advantage of the nvidia chipsets support for many standard libraries that allows for ease of transition from other platforms to the switch library list of nintendo switch games at the january 2017 press event nintendo said that there were at least 80 thirdparty titles in development for the system from over 50 developerspublishers and by nintendos fiscal report to investors on january 31 2017 nintendo had confirmed over 100 titles from over 70 developerspublishers the switch did not launch with any bundled games nor had any preloaded games or game demos filsaim stated that once they had decided on the price point and evaluated the forthcoming game lineup they opted to allow consumers to choose which games to get rather than include one in the bundle and increase its price reception prerelease market analysts had a mixed response to the october 2016 announcement of the nintendo switch others saw more positive traits in the switch stock research analyst john taylor expressed the opinion that nintendo checked off an awful lot of boxes with further debate among analysts arose following the january 2017 presentation of the units price and specifications several noted that the switchs price point of 29999 was higher than the anticipated 250 these analysts observed that this is about the same cost as the current xbox one and playstation 4 consoles but the switch does not appear to be as powerful as these units investors in nintendo have been more cautious about the switch leading to a significant drop in its stock price which had otherwise been trading at their highest values over the previous five years game and hardware developers were more positive towards the switch seeing the system as a more unifying experience between their handheld and console divisions but expressed concern on unanswered hardware specifications and how nintendo would market the unit to draw in developers hideo kojima compared the notion of the switch to his idea of transfarring that he presented in 2011 allowing players to take a game from a home platform to a portable one which became the basis of sonys crossbuy program he said that the switch was an extension of that idea the fact you can play something at home and take it outside this is the gamers dream the switch is an evolution of that the october 2016 trailer became nintendo of americas mostviewed video on youtube within 24 hours and was the top trending video on youtube for about a day analyst firm dfc intelligence estimated that while the switch might have a slow commercial start due to existing consumer trepidation toward nintendo and nintendos lack of stock it would overcome this by the end of 2017 and sales would reach around 40 million units by 2020 release at its release the switch was praised by reviewers for having a lot of potential but they were underwhelmed by the limited number of titles available at launch that did not show the full extent of the consoles abilities reviewers also noted that the initial operating software and features were limited and included software bugs that while likely to be fixed in time marred the experience of the system about six months after release nintendo reported their usage statistics for the switch using statistics collected by the system for the primary player on the console they found that 30 of users operate the console in handheldtabletop mode more than 80 of the time slightly more than 50 of users operate the console in both tv mode and handheldtabletop mode equally with the remaining users preferring tv mode nintendo stated we can clearly see that consumers are playing to suit their own play styles following the implementation of hardware revision 50 several switch users began reporting that their consoles became unusable after having been docked within a thirdparty portable dock manufactured by nyko nyko commented on the issue stating that they were aware of the issue and thought it to be caused by the switchs handling of av output while nintendo advised users against docking their systems inside unlicensed docking peripherals after purchasing the dock at a walmart store in jacksonville florida and losing usability of his console upon using the dock switch owner michael skiathitis filed a class action lawsuit against nyko alleging the dock to be prone to causing numerous problems to the devices they are intended to support against the knowledge of purchasers as well as noting that nyko hadnt put much effort into warning consumers about the issue other switch owners reported having their consoles bricked upon using various other different thirdparty docks including one made by fastsnail and insignia sales lifetodate number of units shipped millions date japan americas other total hardware software hardware software hardware software hardware software 20170331 060 089 120 286 094 171 274 546 20170630 112 245 195 649 163 466 470 1360 20170930 195 526 311 1225 256 997 763 2748 20171231 372 982 594 2365 520 1910 1486 5257 20180331 438 1315 714 3037 627 2544 1779 6897 20180630 489 1610 781 3874 697 3209 1967 8693 20180930 552 2031 913 4997 820 4082 2286 11110 the switchs initial sales were strong with nintendo reporting that based on its first weeks numbers the switch was the companys fastestselling console nintendo issued the switchs first months performance in their 2016 fiscal year results which ended march 31 2017 reporting that more than 274 million units had been sold worldwide exceeding their target of 2 million retailer gamestop reported significant growth in hardware sales in its first quarter of 2017 due primarily to the switch the large sales within the first month forced nintendo to increase their production capacity the switch continued to show strong sales throughout its first year of release in its financial report released in october 2017 for the quarter ending september 30 2017 nintendo reported worldwide sales of the switch at 763 million with the expectation to sell more than 14 million by the end of its current financial year exceeding the wii us lifetime 1356 million sales five software titles have achieved at least one million in sales by this point breath of the wild 47m mario kart 8 deluxe 442m splatoon 2 361m 12 switch 137m and arms 135m on december 12 2017 the company announced the system had sold over 10 million units worldwide having reached its sales goal for the 2017 fiscal year within nine months nintendo raised its switch sales expectation to 14 million units for the fiscal year in its fiscal report for its 3rd quarter of 2017 ending december 31 2017 nintendo reported it had sold 1486 million units worldwide with 72 million sold in that quarter alone and officially exceeding lifetime sales of the wii u of 136 million sales in the quarter were helped by the holidays as well as the october 2017 release of super mario odyssey which shipped over 907 million units and became the consoles top selling game by march 29 2018 switch sales in japan totalled around 4 million units sold the switch had modest growth in the following quarter with 1967 million units sold by june 30 2018 firstyear sales of the switch wii u and playstation 4 in japan click to enlarge based on its first year sales the switch was considered to be the fastestselling game console in history in many regions with 2017 year end japanese sales data from media create the switch became the fastestselling home console in japan in first year sales with its total sales of 32 million units exceeding the 30 million units of the playstation 2 during its first year of release financial impact nintendos business performance which had been struggling for several years prior to the switchs release soared on its release by may 23 2017 the success of the switchs launch raised nintendos stock price to its highest levels in seven years and an increase in price of over 100 from the previous year however the price still trailed nintendos peak price by about half back in 2007 when it had just released the wii in september 2017 nintendo announced a partnership with tencent the leading publisher for mobile games in china to bring their title arena of valor the international version of their mainland chinese game wangzhe rongyao to the switch following its december 2017 release in western markets on mobile platforms the game has an estimated 200 million players most in china and analysts anticipated that nintendo will be releasing the switch in china by 2019 as part of this deal as a result nintendos stock price rose overnight on the news by 7 reaching a nineyear high nintendos quarterly reports for the period ending september 30 2017 showed a profit of 209 million the first profitable quarter in several years due to both success of the switch and its mobile gaming strategy nintendos quarterly profit jumped by 44 in the first fiscal quarter of 2018 and their net profit totalled 2749 million during apriljune 2018 retail configurations at launch the switch was sold as a bundle with a msrp of 29980 japan 29999 united states 27999 united kingdom and au46995 australia with standardized pricing for the european market varying the first switch packin bundle included splatoon 2 alongside the switch console for release in europe on july 21 2017 and in japan additionally a separate bundle that included neon green and pink joycon matching the color schemes from splatoon 2 was offered in japan nintendo has offered special hardwaremodified retail configurations around certain games the monster hunter bundle offered alongside the monster hunter xx switch release in august 2017 for japan includes monster hunter imagery emblazed on the switch dock and console other retail configurations have packaged the standard switch hardware with games and other bonus items a mario tennis aces and 12switch packin bundle was released exclusively at walmart on september 5 2018 in may 2018 nintendo released the switch 2nd unit set in japan exclusively on the my nintendo store the set includes the switch console joycon and wrist straps but excludes all other accessories including the dock ac adapter hdmi cable and joycon grip the bundle is positioned towards existing owners who wish to provide dedicated consoles for other family members legal issues in august 2017 los angelesbased tablet peripheral manufacturer gamevice inc filed a lawsuit against nintendo in the united states district court for the central district of california alleging that the design of the switch conflicts with its patent on the design for the wikipad an androidbased gaming device that also features a tablet with a detachable controller the lawsuit sought damages on existing switch sales and banning further sales of the console however in march 2018 gamevice initiated a second patent infringement lawsuit on nintendo related to a different set of patents gamevice also sought action through the united states international trade commission related to patent infringement under section 337 of the tariff act of 1930 and was seeking to block imports of the switch into the united states notes wikimedia commons has media related to nintendo switch official website vtenintendo switchhardware nintendo switch joycon amiibo nintendo labo software and services system software mii nintendo eshop home menu apps hulu niconico youtube game library bestselling my nintendo predecessor wii u category vtenintendo video game hardwareconsoleshome nes famicom titler twin famicom nes101 sharp nintendo television nes classic edition accessories super nes newstyle sf naizou tv sf1 super nes classic edition nintendo 64 ique player gamecube panasonic q accessories wii wii u switch handheld game boy game boy color virtual boy game boy advance sp micro dockable entertainment pokmon mini nintendo ds lite dsi nintendo 3ds 2ds new 3ds new 2ds xl dedicatedhome color tvgame nes classic edition super nes classic edition handheld game watch mini classics pokmon pikachu arcade vs system playchoice10 super famicom box nintendo super system peripheralsaddons 3d system data recorder disk system satellaview super nes cdrom unreleased super game boy game boy camera game boy printer 64dd rumble pak ereader game boy player connectivity nes four score nes satellite game link cable gcngba link cable controllers family basic nes advantage nes zapper power pad rob speedboard snes mouse super scope nintendo 64 controller gamecube controller wavebird wireless wii balance board wii remote classic controller motionplus wii zapper thirdparty accessories wii speak wii u gamepad wii u pro controller joycon networking family computer network system teleplay modem xband satellaview nintendo wifi usb connector other nintendo power nintendo ds dsi browser amiibo technologymedia nes game pak snes game pak n64 game pak game boy advance video nintendo optical discs nintendo game card processors 2a03 ppu 5a22 gsu rcp gekko broadway hollywood pica200 espresso erista allwinner r16 list of products vtevideo game consoles eighth generationtypes home video game console list handheld game console list microconsole list dedicated console list generations first 197280 second 197692 third 19832003 fourth 19872004 fifth 19932005 sixth 19982013 seventh 200517 eighth 2012present eighthgenerationhome playstation 4 wii u xbox one handheld nintendo 3ds family nintendo 3ds 2ds new 3ds new 2ds xl playstation vita playstation tv hybrid nintendo switch micro amazon fire tv apple tv gamestick mojo nexus player onlive ouya nvidia shield seventh generation emulator game history list manufacturer vtehome video game consolesatari atari 2600 atari 5200 atari 7800 atari xegs atari jaguar atari vcs bandai super vision 8000 arcadia rx78 playdia apple bandai pippin casio pv1000 casio loopy commodore commodore 64 games system commodore cdtv amiga cd32 mattel intellivision hyperscan microsoft xbox xbox 360 xbox one nec turbografx16 pcfx nintendo nes snes n64 gamecube wii wii u switch philips magnavox odyssey odyssey videopac g7400 philips cdi sega sg1000 master system sega genesis sega saturn dreamcast snk neo geo neo geo cd sony playstation playstation 2 psx playstation 3 playstation 4 vtech vtech creativision socrates vsmile vflash others1970s apfmp1000 bally astrocade fairchild channel f rca studio ii interton vc 40001292 advanced programmable video system 1980s action max arcadia 2001 colecovision epoch cassette vision super cassette vision rdi halcyon vectrex viewmaster interactive vision 1990s 3do interactive multiplayer amstrad gx4000 cps changer fm towns marty laseractive super acan 2000s discover evo smart console game wave nuon xavix zeebo list vtehandheld game consolesbandai lcd solarpower design master senshi wonderswan game parkholdings gp32 gp2x xgp gp2x wiz caanoo nintendocomparison game boy family game boy color game boy advance family advance advance sp micro virtual boy pokmon pikachu pokmon mini nintendo ds family nintendo ds lite dsi nintendo 3ds family nintendo 3ds 2ds new 3ds new 2ds xl switch nokia ngage ngage qd sega game gear nomad snk neo geo pocket neo geo pocket color neo geo x sony playstation portable xperia play playstation vita tiger rzone gamecom other handhelds1970s microvision 1980s selectagame entex adventure vision palmtex portable videogame system super micro nelsonic industries electronika epoch game pocket computer atari lynx 1990s turboexpress game master gamate barcode battler watara supervision mega duck 2000s tapwave zodiac gameking gpang service didj leapster gizmondo coleco sonic dingoo vsmile pocket 2010s jxd devices pandora dragonbox pyra shield portable leapster explorer gcw zero gpd xd gpd win gpd win 2 early units list comparison 2010s portalvideo games portalnintendo portal 