Nintendo Switch game console launched; to go on sale from March 3 in Europe, Japan and US

Nintendo, the Japanese gaming company, has launched the Nintendo Switch game console at an event in Tokyo. The new gaming platform can perform everything at once – from the fantasy of its flagship launch title, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, to playing party games face-to-face instead of in front of a screen.

Shinya Takahashi, Nintendo’s head of software development, said the Nintendo Switch game console “inherited all of Nintendo’s entertainment DNA” across the company’s broad line of products.

A surprise announcement was made at the end of the event. Nintendo said the long-delayed Breath of the Wild, originally planned as an exclusive to the Wii U platform, will hit sales with the new console.

The Switch is all set to hit sales on March 3 in Europe, Japan and the US. The Nintendo Switch will cost $299.99, but the European prices will be different, Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima said.