Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch[b] is the seventh major video game console developed by Nintendo. Known in development by its codename NX, it was unveiled in October 2016 and was released worldwide on March 3, 2017.[a] Nintendo considers the Switch 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 tablet computer through its LCD touchscreen, or placed in a standalone tabletop mode visible to several players.

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Historia

Nintendo had seen record revenues and profits in 2009 as a result of the release of the Wii in 2006, but in its subsequent years, its revenues had declined. With the release of the Wii U in 2012, the company had posted an operating loss and continued to see declining revenues. Nintendo saw 2014 as one of its largest financial losses in its modern history, attributed to weak hardware sales against mobile gaming.[3] Previously, the company had been hesitant about this market, with then-president Satoru Iwata considering that they would "cease to be Nintendo" and lose their identity if they attempted to enter it.[4] About three years prior to the Switch's announcement, Iwata, Tatsumi Kimishima, Genyo Takeda, and Shigeru Miyamoto crafted a strategy for revitalizing Nintendo's business model, which included approaching the mobile market, creating new hardware, and "maximizing [their] intellectual property".[5] Prior to his death, Iwata was able to secure a business alliance with Japanese mobile provider DeNA to develop mobile titles based on Nintendo's first-party franchises, believing this approach would not compromise their integrity.[6][7] Following Iwata's death in July 2015, Kimishima was named as president of Nintendo, while Miyamoto was promoted to the title of "Creative Fellow".[5]