What we now know about the Nintendo Switch

Somehow, after watching yesterday's three-minute teaser trailer for the newly renamed Nintend Switch, we've been left with even more questions than we had when the system was still the completely mysterious "Project NX." The biggest of those questions—price, tech specs, battery life, specific launch date and titles, whether it has a touchscreen, etc.—will likely remain unanswered for quite a while (maybe even until next year).

That said, in the day since the Switch's coming-out party, a few tidbits of concrete information have dribbled out. Here's a quick round-up of what we now know:

(And while we wait for the system's official dimensions to be announced, don't forget to check out our visual analysis on the Switch's physical size)

"The dock is not the main console unit of Nintendo Switch": Nintendo confirmed to IGN that "the main unit of Nintendo Switch is the unit that has the LCD screen." The dock's main functions are TV output and power/charging, Nintendo said, which suggests the dock won't actually have much in the way of additional hardware to enable higher-fidelity play on an HDTV.

The Switch can't play physical 3DS or Wii U games: This Destructoid translation of a Japanese Famitsu story confirms that the Switch will not play physical games from Nintendo's most recent consoles. We're not holding our breath that downloadable 3DS or Wii U titles will be supported, either, due to the internal architecture changes to the system's processor. Older, downloadable Virtual Console titles aren't out of the question, though.

Switch comes with two Joy-Con controllers (left and right) to snap onto that LCD screen, according to that Famitsu translation. Nintendo wouldn't comment on whether the TV dock or Joy-Con "grip" handles come in the standard package, which strongly suggests that there could be lower-priced bundles that don't include these "optional" accessories.

Skyrim and NBA 2K are not actually confirmed for the system: Despite being the only third-party titles to feature heavily in the Switch trailer, Bethesda and 2K Games both told Polygon they couldn't confirm whether either title was actually in development for the Switch. That's especially odd, since developers like Ubisoft and Square Enix have already announced their intentions to make specific games for the system.

Switch will support Unreal Engine 4: This isn't a huge surprise, since Epic Games was listed as a partner in yesterday's trailer, but it's still nice to get direct confirmation via tweet. While we're at it, the system has Unity game engine support as well (much like pretty much every other device with a microprocessor).

Switch will support Nintendo Amiibo figures: Nintendo tells IGN that your figures will be recognized by compatible games on the new console.