Nintendo reveals launch date and price for new console

Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima after his speech during the presentation of the new Switch console. Picture: Koji Sasahara/AP

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Nintendo's new Switch console, which alternates between a home and mobile gaming system, will go on sale in the UK on 3 March priced at Â£279.99, the gaming giant said today.

Revealed at the end of 2016, the Switch is Nintendo’s first home video games console since the Wii U.

A small portable screen can be removed from the main hub and connected to the device’s modular Joy-Con controllers to create a mobile, handheld gaming device.

Nintendo takes on Sony and Microsoft with new console

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.

Nintendo also said third-party games including EA Sports’ Fifa and world-builder Minecraft, developed by Scottish studio 4J, would also be available on the system.

President Tatsumi Kimishima said: “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 modular controller has the ability to split into two and each be used by one player to create a local multi-player set-up, with the mobile screen used by both players.

The Joy-Con controllers will also include a touchpoint for Amiibo figures, which can be added to games when triggered, while it will also house an infrared motion camera that can be used to detect objects in certain games.

For example, Nintendo said it can be used to detect a player’s hand for a virtual game of rock, paper, scissors.

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