Nintendo Switch release date and price finally revealed, as company looks to revive its fortunes

The system is the first home console made by Nintendo since the Wii U

Nintendo will start selling its new Switch console from 3 March, it has revealed.

The new system – Nintendo’s first since the Wii U, which was widely seen as a failure – was revealed at the end of last year. Its primary selling point is that it can

alternate between being used at home with a TV and being used anywhere else, with the “Switch” in its name referring to the fact that it can be disconnected and used on its own.

The console will be released with games featuring a range of well-known characters from Nintendo’s universe, as well as third-party games like Fifa and Minecraft. The next instalment in the popular Legend Of Zelda series, Breath Of The Wild was also revealed as a launch title for the system, as was Super Mario Odyssey and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

The console will cost £279.99 in the UK and a similar price across the world. That price is higher than expected, echoing some of the criticism of the company’s Super Mario Run game, which sent its shares plunging.

The Switch works by combining a portable screen that sits in the main hub with “Joy-Con” controllers. It can either be used with the hub plugged into the TV and the controllers working wirelessly, or those controllers can be slotted into the screen and the console can be carried away.Nintendo president said Tatsumi Kimishima: “Nintendo Switch is a brand-new kind of home gaming system that offers a wide variety of play modes.

“We will introduce the world to new experiences made possible by the unique characteristics of the Nintendo Switch hardware and the Joy-Con.”

The controllers also include other developments, like an infrared motion camera that can be used to detect real life objects in certain games. That might be used to detect what a player’s hand is doing in a virtual game of rock, paper, scissors, for instance.