With Skyrim, FIFA and the return of Travis Touchdown, among others, being promised for the system, Nintendo seems to have convinced some big third party names to give their system a chance after years of frosty relationships, or indeed some who have never had any formal relationship with the Japanase gaming giant, to develop for their new system. 

A large chunk of the presentation was dedicated to showing some of this software, and while we didn't see much of FIFA in action, or any of SUDA51's new game, the landscape certainly looks a little more promising that what we saw at the launch of the Wii U.

Wii U fans will however be pleased to see that Monolith Soft are back with Xenoblade 2, which has adopted a more anime influenced art-style for its RPG-based gameplay. Rumours had circulated that a port of the Wii U version was on the way, but no doubt many fans of the original will be delighted that the Switch game is an entirely new experience. Xenoblade 2 is slated for a "2017" release.

Koei Tecmo is also back with its smash-hit "Warriors" series. This time the game will be based in the world of Fire Emblem, a move that is sure to raise a few eyebrows, particularly on this website's forum, as many members were eager to see such a game. On the back of Koei Tecmo's excellent "Hyrule Warriors" series, which paid wondeful homage to the Legend of Zelda series, fans will undoubtedly be hoping the developers will be able to do similar justice to another one of Nintendo's stand out franchises. The game was not shown in action, but is believed to be dropping in "Holiday 2017".

Square Enix are bringing Dragon Quest X and XI to the Nintendo Switch as well Dragon Quest Heroes I and II, though nothing was shown of these games. Instead, we were treated to a trailer for the strangely named "Project Octopath Traveler", a game developed using the Unreal 4 engine. The game mixes a retro inspired 2D / 3D hybrid style and makes use of shadow and lighting effects which wouldn't look out of place in modern gaming to provide a truly unique and inspiring visual style. Deifnitely one to watch for the future. No mention was made of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which many had hoped was coming to the Switch.

Sega were up next, talking up the Switch's potential, but had nothing to show, prefering to state that games were "in development."

Skyrim was finally confirmed by Todd Howard, with viewers being treated to a short video demonstarting the game and Howard praising Nintendo's system as something "classicly Nintendo, yet something all new". Skyrim on the go is certainly something which many gamers had been interested after it was shown in the orginal reveal video, despite being left unconfirmed by Bethesda. It is still unclear when the game will be launching.

Next up was industry odd-ball, but creative genius, SUDA51. He promised Travis Touchdown would be making his return on the Switch, but the title of the game and indeed any footage of the game was not revealed. Instead, he talked about how he had learned of the Swtich a year ago and how it was developer friendly, particularly for the indies. He promised his game would heavily involve "death matches" and "pro-wrestling". Make of that what you will, this is SUDA51, after all.

EA were up last, with Bill Trinin demonstarting his impeccable Japanese skills as he translated for Executive Vice President of EA, Patrick Söderlund. Söderlund praised Nintendo, emphaising their skills and creativity in the field, and their influence on him personally (he even chose the middle name Luigi for his son). EA's vice president promised "the full FIFA experience" for Switch gamers, at home or on the go, but one that would be made for Switch. Whether this means it will be different from the Xbox One and PS4 releases remains to be seen. Once again, a release date was not forthcoming, but it would probably be a safe bet to assume that Switch will get FIFA 18, hopefully alongside other major platform releases, in its traditional release period of Autumn 2017. FIFA was the only game EA confirmed for the the presentaton, maybe waiting to see how sales go before they commit themselves further, a worrying sign perhaps, paticularly when EA's representative was visuably less enthusiatic than the other third party representatives who preceded him...

Finally, a "blink and you'll miss it" sizzle real was shown of other third party games in development for the Switch. Luckily, thanks to the wonders of modern technology, I have been able to pause the video and compiled a list of confirmed games for your reading pleasure. Once again, the release dates for these games is still unknown and where my Japanese is insufficent (everywhere), I have simply made up a tentative title using basic deduction. Please to enjoy:

-Minecraft Story Mode (Telltale)
-Skylanders Imaginations (Activision)
-Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition (Ubisoft)
-Lego City Undercover (TT Games)
-"Something in Japanese" (Bandai Namco)
-"Farming Simulator" (Giants Software)
-"Something in Japanese" (Nippon Ichi Software)
-Has Been Heroes (Frozenbyte)
-Project Sonic 2017 (Sega)
-Just Dance 2017 (Ubisoft)
-Syberia 3 (Anuman Interactive S.A)
-Street Fighter II (Capcom)
-Super Bomberman R (Konami...... Yes, Konami, they're not dead)
-Puyo Puyo Tetris (Sega)
-Minecraft (Mojang)
-Rime (Teqila Works)
-Steep (Ubisoft)
-FAST RMX (Shin'en)
-NBA 2K18 (2K Games)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBZ6lXI0fIA

Nothing was heard of "From Software"- many had been eager to learn what they had in development for the system, with Dark Souls being the top of many gamers' list. In actual fact, a number of developers who have thus far been confirmed to be developing games for the system, were not mentioned, though with time severly limited for the presentation, information could still come out over the following days.

What do you make of the Switch's third party support thus far? Have Nintendo made positive strides, shown signs of change, or are we in for a repeat of the Wii U? As always, let us know what you think in the comments below or on the forums.