Later this week, Nintendo will reveal more details on its new Switch console, which it originally announced in October. Among the key questions to which many are eagerly awaiting the answers are those of how much the device will cost, along with exactly when and where it will be available.
Nintendo has said that the device will be released sometime in March 2017, but it hasn't yet announced a precise date, or the first markets in which it will launch, nor has it revealed details of the console's specs, or a comprehensive list of all of its features and capabilities. Nonetheless, the excitement surrounding its launch continues to build, and comments from Nvidia's CEO will no doubt add to the anticipation.
Of course, the Switch has been built with Nvidia technology, so the company's chief executive has a vested interest in saying nice things about it. In an interview with VentureBeat, Jen Hsun Huang was asked about the potential overlap between the Nintendo machine and Nvidia's own Shield platform. He said:
Nintendo Switch is a game console. It’s very Nintendo. That entire experience is going to be very Nintendo. The beauty of that company, the craft of that company, the philosophy of that company—they’re myopically, singularly focused on making sure that the gaming experience is amazing, surprising, and safe for young people, for children. Their dedication to their craft, that singular dedication, is quite admirable.
When you guys all see Switch, I believe people are going to be blown away, quite frankly. It’s really delightful. But it has nothing to do with AI.
Later in the interview, he elaborated further on how artificial intelligence is such an important differentiator between Nvidia's involvement with Switch and the development of its own ecosystem, which it had discussed at the launch of its new Shield device at CES:
We worked on Shield because we felt that the home computer market, the home computing platform, could be revolutionized.
[...]
Yesterday we talked about AI, so that it can control a smart home. It can communicate and engage with you very naturally. We’ve always felt that computer needed to be built.
The question is, in what way would it be built? I thought that Android and being connected to the cloud was a perfect way of doing that. The computing model was great. In the long term, the AI component is so important that I thought the Shield was a good way to do that. That was essentially the idea behind Shield. It’s becoming more and more true than anything.
Nvidia's CEO isn't the only one to speak enthusiastically about the new Nintendo console. Ubisoft's chief exec said in November that "the [Switch] platform is great", offering "true innovation".
Source: VentureBeat
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