2017 · Nintendo · Japan · console
Nintendo Switch
The hybrid that rescued Nintendo and became one of history's best-sellers.
Mixed Some setup ▶ Watch on YouTube ↗
Nintendo's 2017 hybrid, a console that slots into a dock for the television and lifts out to play on the move — the idea that rescued the company after the Wii U and went on to become one of the biggest-selling machines in history.
It launched with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which reset how the open-world game is built and was itself shared with the dying Wii U.
Under the hood
- CPU
- NVIDIA Tegra X1 — quad-core ARM Cortex-A57 @ 1.02 GHz
- Graphics
- Maxwell-based GPU, 256 CUDA cores; 768 MHz docked (393 GFLOPS, up to 1080p), 307 MHz handheld (built-in 720p display)
- Memory
- 4 GB LPDDR4
- Media
- Proprietary game cards; 32 GB internal storage (64 GB on the OLED model), expandable via microSD
Hardware revisions
| Model | Years | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| HAC-001Nintendo Switch (original) | Mar 2017 | Original hardware revision; Known issue: Unpatched Tegra X1 bootROM vulnerable to the 'Fusee Gelee' USB RCM exploit — a permanent hardware flaw, unfixable via software update |
| HAC-001(-01)Nintendo Switch 'V2' | Aug/Sept 2019 | Battery life improved to 4.5-9 hours. Distinguished from the original HAC-001 by the '(-01)' suffix printed on the box and serial sticker.; Known issue: Fusee Gelee bootROM exploit patched at the hardware level |
| HDH-001Nintendo Switch Lite | Sept 2019 | Handheld-only, no dock/TV output, integrated non-detachable controls, 5.5in screen; Known issue: Battery life 3-7 hours |
| HEG-001Nintendo Switch OLED | Oct 2021 | 7in OLED screen (up from 6.2in LCD), 64GB storage (up from 32GB); Known issue: Joy-Con drift not fixed — Nintendo confirmed the OLED model uses functionally identical Joy-Con hardware |
What it cost
only about 7% of a month’s pay in 2017 · about $384 today
| US launch list price ($299.99 with Joy-Cons & TV Dock) |
$299.99 (2017)
Hybrid home console and portable design. |
|---|---|
| Typical street price | — No verified mass-market street price recorded yet. |
| Units sold | 143,420,000 Over 143.4 million units sold worldwide. |
Why it mattered
The Switch fused Nintendo's home and handheld lines into one machine and rescued the company after the Wii U — the console that decided its next decade and reshaped how people expect to play.
Emulating it today
| Emulators | Ryujinx, Yuzu, Suyu |
|---|---|
| Setup effort | Some setup (6 on this site's scale) |
| Controls | A standard modern controller covers the ordinary controls, though unusual accessories may need custom mapping. |
| Runs on a handheld | No — it needs a real machine |
The emulator names above are starting points, not a promise that every title or accessory behaves identically. Computer platforms usually add model selection, disk handling and keyboard setup even when CPU emulation itself is mature.
Nintendo Switch Keys (prod.keys) & System Firmware
Switch emulators like Ryujinx cannot decrypt, unpack, or run Nintendo Switch NSP/XCI games without dumped master encryption keys (prod.keys and title.keys). Games utilizing proprietary system fonts or newer OS services also require the unpacked system firmware archive.
How many files you need: 2. Two components: prod.keys (decryption keys) and the matching system firmware package directory.
Where it stands legally: Encryption keys and firmware packages are copyrighted by Nintendo and must be dumped from a modified Nintendo Switch console using Lockpick_RCM.
Firmware details checked 2026-08. Emulator requirements change — see Ryujinx Setup Guide for the current list.
Where the software is
Preservation catalogues describe verified dumps; they do not grant permission to download commercial software. A curated, correctly matched set is easier to use than an undifferentiated archive.
Copyright: Commercial software remains copyrighted unless its owner explicitly released or relicensed it. Homebrew, public-domain programs and current reissues should be treated separately from abandoned commercial titles.
This site names preservation projects and explains what they are. It does not link to ROM downloads.
Where to start
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2017 action adventure
The launch title that reset open-world design; playable on both Switch and Wii U.
- Super Mario Odyssey 2017 platformer
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom 2023 action adventure
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2020 life sim
The game the world played through lockdown.
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 2017 racing
The best-selling game on the platform by a wide margin.
- Metroid Dread 2021 action adventure
- Splatoon 3 2022 shooter
- Hades 2020 Action role-playing game
- Stardew Valley Farm life sim
The verdict
The current-era must-have; note that emulating a live console sits in a legal and ethical grey area.
It is still on sale, so emulation raises piracy questions the older machines here do not — tread carefully.
- Worth it if
- Players curious about nintendo, modern and oddball and willing to learn how the original machine worked.
- Not for
- Anyone who wants a large, instantly accessible library and no model, firmware or control decisions.
Scored 3/5 for fun today and 3/5 for historical importance. Those two scores decide the label at the top — a machine can matter enormously and still be no fun.
Read more & watch
This page is 50% complete against the facts we try to record for every system. Gaps are shown as gaps.