Nintendo launched the Nintendo Switch, the Japanese firm's next-generation gaming console, as the company makes efforts to catch up with rivals Sony and Microsoft.
Nintendo Switch, the company’s first console since Wii U in 2012, is a hybrid device, doubling up as a traditional console as well as a handheld device.
The company, which plans to launch the console globally in March, did not reveal pricing details on Thursday.
The console’s success will be crucial to Nintendo as the firm still places console gaming at the centre of its business, even as casual gaming shifts from livingrooms to smartphones.
Sales of Nintendo’s Wii U have reached 13 million units since its launch. Its predecessor, the Wii, launched in 2006, has sold 101 million units to date.
The disappointing sales added impetus to shareholders and observers urging Nintendo to embrace smartphone gaming. The firm finally announced its entry into mobile last year and, earlier this year, brought some of its popular characters to mobile leading to the runaway success of its game Pokemon GO.
Game franchise
The company plans to debut its game franchise Super Mario Bros on Apple’s iPhone in December.
Analysts have said Nintendo’s family-oriented game titles compete with smartphone games more directly than titles from rival console makers Sony and Microsoft, which focus on high-end graphics targeting hardcore gamers.
Nintendo had said earlier it would release a short video about the announcement.
– (Reuters)
