Nintendo's last roll of the dice, the Switch, will cost £280 and be in shops in March

Launch sees pricing for Nintendo's do-or-die device way above expectations

Nintendo, the iconic Japanese games console company currently floundering behind Sony and Microsoft, has confounded expectations for its new Switch console by revealing a launch price of $299 in the US and £279.99 in the UK.

The price makes the console the company's most expensive to date and is 50 per cent higher than expectation.

Rumours had suggested that the Nintendo Switch would cost £200 at launch. One retailer even started taking pre-orders for the console at the price of £198.50, foolishly promising that those who ordered early were guaranteed this price.

Nintendo announced the official price this morning, confirming that £280 will get you the console, left and right Joy-Con controllers, wrist-straps, the Joy-Con Grip, the Switch Dock, HDMI cable and AC adapter. The Nintendo Switch Pro controller will be sold separately.

Full details of the hybrid console were also revealed, with Nintendo revealing that the Switch will charge via USB-C, will offer 32GB built-in storage expandable via microSD and won't come with region-lock.

The Switch itself, a 6.2in tablet-like device that works both as a TV-connected dock and mobile handheld, will offer between 2.5 and 6.5 hours of battery life and comes with a 1080p capacitive touch-screen display.

The Joy-Con controllers join up to become a traditional gamepad, similar to the N64 controller, they can be used as individual motion controllers. Unlike the Wii remotes, Nintendo boasts that the Joy-Con controllers' advanced motion-sensing system is able to differentiate among rock, paper and scissors hand motions.

They also come with an HD Rumble system that Nintendo says enables users to, "feel the vibration of individual ice cubes colliding inside a glass".

Nintendo also announced that it will launch a paid-for subscription service for online gaming similar to Xbox Live or PlayStation Plus alongside the Switch, which will start with a free trial before charging starts in the autumn. Nintendo said the service would enable users to chat online or set appointments for games, while up to eight consoles can connect together locally for multiplayer games.

Games available at launch include The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and 1-2 Switch, a mini-game designed to show off the new Joy-Con controllers, that involves players facing each other rather that gawking at the TV. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, a DLC-loaded port of the Wii U game, will follow in April, Splatoon 2 in summer, and a new Mario title called Super Mario Odyssey (below) will land on shelves in time for Christmas.

The company also announced that other popular titles, including FIFA, The Elder Scrolls, NBA 2K, Minecraft and more, will also be coming to the Switch.

Nintendo's stock price, which had inflated in the run-up to the launch, promptly deflated afterwards.

"The pricing and game titles were as expected; the stock was bought up on hopes and sold on the fact," Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Research Institute, told Bloomberg. "The first two weeks of sales will be critical for Nintendo, and they will have to sell the two million units they forecast for the quarter. The Switch"s success will be determined at the start."

Pre-orders for the console have already kicked off in the UK on Amazon and at Game.