TOKYO: The Nintendo Switch video game console will sell for 29,980 yen (about $260) in Japan, starting March 3, the same date as its global rollout in the US and Europe. The Japanese company promises the device will be packed with fun features of all its past machines and more.
The Kyoto-based maker of Super Mario and Pokemon games announced details of the Switch’s release Friday at the Tokyo Big Sight events hall. It said the console will sell for $299.99 in the US Customers in Europe would need to ask retailers there for prices.
Anticipation has been mounting. In teaser videos, Nintendo Co. has shown players using a handheld whose remote controller section detaches from the left and right sides of the main part of the device’s display. Players can use the Switch as a regular handheld, put the display on a table, or use a TV screen as a monitor.
“Nintendo Switch is a brand-new kind of home gaming system that offers a wide variety of play modes,” Nintendo’s president Tatsumi Kimishima told reporters.
Nintendo needs the Switch to help it recover from disappointing sales from the Wii U and the 3DS handheld. Nintendo has been playing catch-up after consumers dumped older machines in favor of using smartphones and personal computers to play games. The company also faces powerful rival game machine offerings from Microsoft Corp. and Sony Corp.
The Switch needs to win over new, younger players, who may not be hard-core game fans and might be daunted by its hefty price tag. Many had hoped it might sell for closer to $200.
Nintendo is promising a more immersive, interactive experience with the Switch, including online playing and using the remote controller in games that don’t require players to be constantly staring at a display.
Nintendo officials demonstrated features such as using the detachable remote controllers, called “Joy-Con,” to play a gun-duel game. Motion sensors enable players to feel virtual water being poured into a virtual cup.
In another game, characters’ arms swirled out during combat when players punched the air while holding the controllers.
“It’s a totally new kind of game,” said Kouichi Kawamoto, who oversaw “1-2-Switch,” a gun-duel game that requires players to look each other in the eye. “It’s about having fun with communication.”
Nintendo said 50 software makers, including Electronic Arts and Sega, are preparing 80 games for the Switch. It also promised in-house games such as a Legend of Zelda game, which will go on sale the same date as the Switch.
The company planned a similar presentation in the US later Friday. It’s also setting up places where people can try the device ahead of its launch, including cities in Europe, to woo buyers.
Nintendo Switch game console to launch in March
Nintendo Switch game console to launch in March
Apple to update EU browser options, make more apps deletable
- iPhone maker came under pressure from regulators to make changes after the EU’s sweeping Digital Markets Act took effect on March 7
- Apple users will be able to select a default browser directly from the choice screen after going through a mandatory list of options
STOCKHOLM: Apple will change how users choose browser options in the European Union, add a dedicated section for changing default apps, and make more apps deletable, the company said on Thursday.
The iPhone maker came under pressure from regulators to make changes after the EU’s sweeping Digital Markets Act took effect on March 7, forcing big tech companies to offer mobile users the ability to select from a list of available web browsers on a “choice screen.”
The new rules require mobile software makers to show the choice screen where users can select a browser, search engine and virtual assistant as they set up their phones, which earlier came with preferred options from Apple and Google.
In an update later this year, Apple users will be able to select a default browser directly from the choice screen after going through a mandatory list of options.
A randomly ordered list of 12 browsers per EU country will be shown to the user with short descriptions, and the chosen one will be automatically downloaded, Apple said. The choice screen will also be available on iPads through an update later this year.
Apple released a previous update in response to the new rules in March, but browser companies criticized the design of its choice screen, and the Commission opened an investigation on March 25 saying it suspected that the measures fell short of effective compliance.
The company said it has been in dialogue with the European Commission and believes the new changes will address regulators’ concerns.
It also plans to introduce a dedicated area for default apps where a user will be able to set defaults for messaging, phone calls, spam filters, password managers and keyboards.
Users will also be able to delete certain Apple-made apps such as App Store, Messages, Camera, Photos and Safari. Only Settings and Phone apps would not be deletable.
