It's been quite a day. The Nintendo Switch was revealed, and most of the internet has had its say on social media. There's been a lot of positivity, and naturally some people aren't fans; in any case we now know the core concept that will drive the next generation of Nintendo gaming.

We've covered a lot of angles and put together a guide of everything we now know about the Nintendo Switch, but we thought we'd also give some personal reactions. To do this we have editorial director Damien McFerran, editor Thomas Whitehead, operations director Darren Calvert, Managing Director Anthony Dickens, and our YouTube producer Alex Olney.

So, here's what we think, so far, about the Nintendo Switch.

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Damien

Nintendo has done a fantastic job on keeping the NX - I mean Switch - under wraps until now. The concept is in line with reports we'd published, but even so, the execution has delivered some neat surprises. The car bracket is something I can see getting a lot of use on family road trips, and the detachable "Joy-Cons" mean that parents only have to buy a single console if they have more than one child (although I would expect most kids will want their "own" system). I also like the way the system is shown working wirelessly with another console to allow multiplayer action. Connecting face-to-face with other players will always beat online play in my eyes, but then I'm quite old-school at heart.

My only question relates to the screen, which everyone assumed would be touch-based but this function wasn't shown off in the video. If Switch doesn't have a touch panel, then it will limit the appeal of the system to those who are looking for a gaming device that removes the need for a tablet; if you're going to take Switch out of the house with you, it would be nice to know that it can double as a web-browsing or social media platform as well as an entertainment device.

All in all, the Switch reveal went as well as it possibly could have done, although a few more games would have been nice. I guess we'll see those over the coming weeks and months as Nintendo builds up to the March 2017 release.

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Thomas

Every time Nintendo has a reveal as big as this one I feel anxious in the build-up, never sure whether it's going to be a positive moment or a baffling head-scratcher. My instant reaction after seeing the Switch trailer was delight and relief, though. The design looks slick and a little more 'cool' than normal Nintendo tech, for one thing - after all, as much as I love the Wii U I agree that the GamePad looks like a Fisher Price tablet toy.

What's key for me, though, is that I've seen a lot of excitement from a broad audience, and have heard positive things in brief impressions from developers. On a personal note, I was particularly intrigued to see how my family would react; encouragingly, they were blown away. My brother last bought a Nintendo system for himself in the N64 days, yet he was as excited as me and plans to be there day one. My mother is a keen 3DS gamer, meanwhile, and likes very different games to my brother; she was also thrilled by it. My father, an engineer, was undoubtedly impressed by the technology.

The key with the Switch is that it's a return to form on a conceptual level for Nintendo. It won't be a graphical powerhouse, but Nintendo is not in that PlayStation / Xbox arm wrestle. The big N is in its own bubble, targeting gamers from all walks of life and preferences through the power of its concept and unique content. Unlike the muddled Wii U and the iterative 3DS, the Switch is simple but innovative, both playful and flexible. It has a core goal of fusing home and portable gaming, and the collection of its parts achieves that. I know a concept works when it can communicate so much in three minutes, and when its potential can be so easily grasped and appreciated.

Switch won't be perfect, but no console is. All systems have cost efficiencies and limitations - in this case that may be in the lack of a touchscreen (though it's still not confirmed fully either way), or in the fact that Nvidia's custom Tegra chip probably won't be able to live with the most demanding of current-gen cross-platform games. It's a portable, after all.

Yet, based on what I've seen to date, the positives easily outweigh the negatives. As far as I'm concerned Nintendo's back in the game.

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Darren

I was beginning to get a bit nervous waiting for the NX reveal, which we now know will be called the Nintendo Switch. Thankfully any fears I had were swept aside with what looks to be a very solid offering from the big N. One of my favourite features with the Wii U is the ability to play on either the TV or simply on the Wii U GamePad. This has proved really useful when my daughter wants to continue playing Minecraft when the rest of the household wants to watch something else. Being able to take that home gaming experience to another room, or even outside the house, feels like a real game changer.

The detachable Joy-Con controllers look wonderful too, I love that there are so many options to play with friends. I am also glad to see a traditional Pro Controller option for solo gaming sessions on the big screen too. In terms of the games, it was reassuring to see favourites such as Mario Kart and Splatoon on show, but third party offerings such as Skyrim and the Basketball game seem really well suited to it also.

The Nintendo Switch feels like the best of the 3DS' portability combined with the new era of Nintendo HD gaming we have enjoyed on the Wii U for the past few years. I'm really glad Nintendo has taken this approach rather than try to take on PlayStation and Xbox directly; I can imagine it will appeal to a really broad range of gamers. I for one can't wait to make the switch (ed: groans) next year.

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Ant

Phew, much like you I'm glad the wait is finally over. It's been an increasingly frustrating period to be a Nintendo fan, but the cat is finally out of the bag and it's Nintendo Switch. I'm totally sold on the concept, multi-player portable gaming is bound to be a success. Congratulations Nintendo.

I'm also confident it will perform well as a portable unit, but we're yet to learn if the Switch Dock adds any extra horsepower to the system; driving a 50"+ TV screen on the portable device alone might prove extremely difficult to hit the desired 1080p60 - here's hoping some extra grunt is given when docked.

Unlike Damien I really don't mind if Switch doesn't have a touch screen, that would just be a distraction from its primary focus of being a video games machine. We've all got perfectly good web browsers on our phone - I'm sure it'll still support media services like Netflix which work just as well with traditional controls.

Overall I'm extremely positive for the future of Switch, the concept is good and the potential software lineup is promising. Yeah, the detachable controllers look a little fiddly, but I'll probably be playing most of the time with a Pro Controller. I can't wait to try the system out for the first time.

Alex


So those are our thoughts. Where do you stand on the Nintendo Switch right now?