How Many Controllers Does The Nintendo Switch Come With

I n typical Nintendo mode, the company's latest console – the Switch – is a rather eccentric device. A lot of people are nevertheless non entirely sure what to expect when it hits retailers worldwide on 3 March.

We've spent a couple of days with i and here'due south what we've learned and so far.

The basics

The Switch is launching on iii March, at the price of £280 – though some retailers may offer it for slightly less, or in bundles with selected launch titles. The panel features a built-in 6.2in brandish and 2 J-Con controllers, which attach either side. These tin be removed and fastened to a dedicated 'grip' device, creating a more traditional-looking controller. To play games on a Television receiver, the Switch tin exist placed in a dock which connects to the television set via an HDMI cablevision – the game then instantly appears on screen. While docked, the born Switch display is non visible.

Battery life

The Switch bombardment will terminal betwixt 2.5 and half dozen.5 hours on a single charge. According to Nintendo, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild can be played for around three hours before you'll demand to accuse once more. The Joy-Cons will last significantly longer, though, with an estimated 20-hour battery life.

In the box

The Switch comes with the console itself, the 2 Joycon controllers, ii Joycon wrist straps (which attach to the sides of each controller, and also provide larger side buttons), the dock, the grip, a ability adaptor and an HDMI cable. There is no game included, and the grip is not the more than advanced "charging grip", which lets you play and charge the Joy-Cons at the same time.

Out of the box

When you plow on a Switch, don't expect a rich experience immediately. Version ane of the system software makes it extremely clear that this is a machine for playing games only. As well as the app launcher, which shows all the games yous've played and installed, there are a few more icons down the bottom: a picture viewer, for all the images you've captured; a newsfeed, for Nintendo to send communicative updates to you; the eShop, which we couldn't utilise because it wasn't turned on yet; and arrangement settings, controller settings, and an off button.

The games

Switch is launching with the following xi titles:

1-2-Switch
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Skylanders Imaginators
But Dance 2017
Super Bomberman R
Bounden of Isaac Afterbirth+
I Am Setsuna
World of Goo
Little Inferno
Human Resource Machine
Snipperclips

Plus, the online eShop will exist bachelor on launch twenty-four hours, with three more than titles available, Fast RMX, Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment and Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove. Nintendo says at least lx more indie games volition exist available on the digital store this yr.

Other major releases due this year include Super Mario Odyssey, Splatoon ii, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Lego Metropolis Undercover, as well as original new titles Arms and SnipperClips.

The Joy-Cons

The Switch Joy-Cons, close up. — The Switch Joy-Cons, close upwardly. Photograph: Nintendo

The master controllers for the Switch are small marvels, packed total of features. Likewise equally the obvious buttons on the front and sides, they have gyroscopes for motion controls, an NFC chip for reading Amiibos, an IR sensor for gesture controls, and a genuinely impressive set of vibration motors which create the about finely-divers rumble furnishings on any console we've seen.

The Joy-Cons tin also exist split up and used equally individual controllers in their own right. Just while that's a overnice thought for the times when you suddenly take a lot of friends round, you won't want to practise significant amount of gaming with them: the right controller, in particular, is fairly uncomfortable.

Oh, and those straps? They're good for ensuring you don't throw the Joy-Cons at the screen, Wii-manner, and for making the shape slightly more ergonomic. But exist conscientious putting them on: if you lot accidentally clip one on upside-downward, it's surprisingly hard to remove it.

The accessories

Nintendo offers a range of add-ons, some more useful, some less:

New Joy-Cons, £69.99 for two or £39.99 each. You lot'll need these to play games with more than than two players, or to comfortably play games with more than ane.
A Pro Controller, £59.99. This lets you lot control the Switch in a more conventional manner, perfect for meaty singleplayer games similar Breath of the Wild.
Joy-Con Charging Grip, £24.99. This lets you play with the Joy-Cons while the Switch is docked, but all the same charge them. If you accept only 1 pair, you might non need it every bit much as you retrieve – it'south very easy to return the controllers to the Switch for charging.
Joy-Con Wheel Pair, £12.99. This is ii pieces of plastic yous put your Joy-Cons into, to play Mario Kart using the motion controls. Mario Kart isn't actually out until April.
Accessory Set, £xvi.99. A screen protector, which you probably don't demand, and a case, which you might. The Switch doesn't feel fragile, per se, but it's thin enough to make yous wary of chucking it loose into a pocketbook.

The rest

The console doesn't take support for bluetooth headphones, which is a shame given the ability to use it as a standalone display with the controllers undocked.

1-2 Switch is conspicuously meant to be played boozer, or with families (what are children, after all, but tiny drunk adults). Don't look a normal Nintendo party game, in other words. The dock, meanwhile, is incredibly smoothen It doesn't even click: simply identify the Switch within, and it smoothly and frictionlessly docks and undocks.