Nintendo Switch: Gaming giant unveils its next console

Nintendo has lifted the lid on its much-anticipated new video games console, a hybrid portable and home device that the Japanese company hopes will revitalise its fortunes.

The Nintendo Switch, a new name that replaces the "NX" codename the company has been working under, is set to be released in March next year.

It is the first games console to fully bridge the divide between home consoles such as the PlayStation and Xbox, and portable devices like Nintendo's 3DS.

It is made up of a tablet-sized screen with detachable "Joy-Con" controllers on each side. These can be taken off the screen and held in each hand, or used by two people as individual control pads. Both Joy-Con controllers are identical button-wise, with an analogue stick and four buttons arranged in a diamond.

Nintendo Switch is made up of a tablet-sized screen with detachable "Joy-Con" controllers on each side.

For home gaming on a TV, the entire console can be placed in a dock and connected to a television. Gamers can use the Joy-Con controllers held together by a Joy-Con Grip accessory or use a different controller - known as the Switch Pro. All games will be playable whether on the go or at home.

The company said this would "enable gamers to play the same title wherever, whenever and with whomever they choose" and listed dozens of developers who would be supporting it.

The Switch also brings back game cartridges, or "cards", rather than discs for the first time on a home console since the Nintendo 64 two decades ago.

Multiple consoles can also link together - two can connect when four people want to play two-to-a-screen, or four can connect together with each player using their own.

For home gaming on a TV, the Nintendo Switch can be placed in a dock and connected to a television.

A promotional video (above) released by Nintendo showed the wildly-anticipated console in action, featuring a roster of games including Mario, The Legend of Zelda and Mario Kart, suggesting the Switch will have a strong lineup at launch.

Nintendo's latest console, the Wii U, suffered from a supposed lack of must-have titles when it was released in 2012. The games previewed in the video were: a new Mario title, Splatoon, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Skyrim, Mario Kart and NBA 2K17.

Nintendo said the console's flexibility would allow developers to bring a variety of game styles.