Nintendo Switch

[Tarvis]

Thoughts/Opinions?

Guess it's what I thought it was going to be, I wish the dock was bigger, as the size it is now means its not adding that much more power to the system if it is at all. Nice to see cartridges returning.

Is this replacing the 3ds? It has to be right?

How about that new mario though?

 

[Tarvis]

Leaked specs:

CPU:

• Four ARM Cortex-A57 cores, maximum 2 GHz
• L2 cache, 2 MB
• 64-bit ARMv8
• Crypto extension enabled

GPU:

• NVIDIA second-generation Maxwell architecture
• 256 CUDA cores, maximum 1 GHz
• 1024 FLOPS/cycle
• Texture: 16 pixels/cycle
• Fill: 14.4 pixels/cycle

Main memory:

• Capacity of 4 GB
• Bandwidth: 25.6 GB/s
• VRAM: shared

System Memory:

• Capacity: 32 GB, Maximum transfer rate: 400 MB/s
• USB
• USB 2.0 and 3.0

Video Output

• 60 fps, at a maximum of 1920—1080 pixels
• Or 30 fps at 3840—2160 pixels

The screen:

• 6.2" IPS LCD, 1280—720 pixels
• Capacitance method, 10-point multi-touch

 

[SuperAfroBoy]

Day one baybeeeeee

 

[Tarvis]

Gonna predict right now there will be a flux or reports/conspiracies that the dock scratches up the screen.

I also think that battery life may make or break this machine.

Please God, let this be the system that Nintendo finally figures out accounts and online systems.

 

[Logan]

I'm worried about the controller things on the side. It's exactly like the prototype we saw a couple of months ago. Those contact connectors like that are identical to the guitar hero 3 guitar. The complaints with poor connection on that were so widespread the only solution was to physically tear it open and hard wire the connections.

 

[Tarvis]

I've read they are supposed to release more information on it sometime next week, so hopefully it will answer some questions. I imagine the pre-order will go up after that if they announce the pricing and release date.

 

[Dave]

They need this to be a hit or they could be relegated to just software by 2019. Who, exactly, are they targeting with this system? People who are still walking around catching Pokemon?

I mean, in theory it's a good idea and will probably sell well for parents who have kids who want a better, more robust Nintendo DS. However, I think the price point will determine how successful this product does. If it's more than $300, I would assume most parents and gamers will just stick with the DS.

It's good to have Nintendo out there making hardware because they're willing to try things. Take the 64 controller for example; it was kind of nonsensical and not particularly user friendly ("how do I hold this thing?", "what are these yellow buttons?"), but the good parts changed the game. In that respect, keep trying and failing so a few innovations can be had. But from a health of the company/popularity standpoint, they're dying on the vine.

They'd run shit in software sales if they put the whole suite of Mario, DK, Metroid, Pokémon, Zelda, and Smash Brothers on the two main platforms, even just by making old games available, let alone developing new games for better/more powerful systems.

 

[Dave]

Here's a sampling of the Nintendo Switch partners. This a huge deal because this is one of the several factors that ultimately failed the Wii U. You have to have decent titles from the beginning. Not months and months after launch.

 

[SuperAfroBoy]

Personally I will probably rarely take the Switch out of it's dock, maybe only if I want to play something and the TV is already being used. I think Nintendo did the right thing here by unifying their customer base. Think back to the software drought that the Wii U had, and imagine if the games being released on 3DS were also playable on the Wii U. Definitely need to wait and hear what the price will be, but unless it's something crazy I'm on board day one.

 

[Tarvis]

This thing is ridiculously tiny. The screen is supposedly the same size as the Wii U gamepad, but the whole console is way thinner than the gamepad. The dock thing is the same width as the screen and a 6.2 screen is 5.4 inches wide by 3.0 inches tall.

I'm just guesstimating here but add another inch or so for the bezel, and the dock is like 6.5 inches wide, probably ~2 inches deep, and roughly 6 inches tall. By comparison, the previous smallest console, the Wii, was 1.73 inches wide, 8.48 inches deep and 6.18 inches tall.

Current speculation puts the graphics chip on about the same power level as the Xbox One, maybe better, but most likely will be well below the PS4. I'm going to assume there is nothing in the dock that actually increases the graphic power, which is disappointing, as plug in graphics cards are becoming fairly common. I'm going to assume the dock is only for charging and HDMI output.

I wonder if it going to come with a separate charging cable for travel. Would be a pain if they expect you to take the dock with you.

Tegra's generally tend to run hot, and you can see that there is a vent on the top of the console for hot air to escape which probably means there is likely has a fan too. Based on past Tegra tablets, I'm going to say battery life is probably similar to the Wii U gamepad at 3-5 hours. The Nvidia Shield K1 8" tablet gets about 5 hours battery life.

Backward compatibility is also gone. Maybe can do the VC up to the Wii games, but no way the ARM CPU can run WIi U's architecture and not nearly powerful enough to emulate it even if it did have a disc slot.

I want to see the software, the system menu. Nintendo has to get that right. I hope they expand on the Miiverse platform. But software wise, they need to get into the 21st century. Every console they get a little closer, but they really need to have a dedicated experienced team that can bring all the online functionality together. Please oh please, let there be achievements and an API I can use for the site.

 

[Tarvis]

Thinking about it some more, I'm going to say there isn't a touch screen (and the stats up above are false). Why would there be? You can't use the Switch like you can the Wii U pad. If you want to play it on the TV, it has to be docked. So you can't add touchscreen controls unless there is some way for the Switch to activate and deactivate the touch screen depending on if its portable or docked. But would it be worth it, and would companies even program touchscreen features if it's something that is not activated all the time? Although I guess they can add both controls at the same time, but I'm not sure.

I hope I'm wrong because I really liked the Miiverse drawings.

 

[Dave]

• NS is not the successor of Wii U
• NS is not backward compatible with Wii U and 3DS
• NS will be packaged with Joy-Con(L) and Joy-Con(R)
• The packaging of other accessories will be announced separately for different regions before launch
• Cartridge is called “Game Card” internally
• Specifications of cartridge will be announced before launch
• Battery life will be announced later. The development team aims at allowing players to play NS conveniently at places without electricity connection.
• At this moment, no information on compatibility of smartphone apps can be provided

 

[SuperAfroBoy]

I think touchscreen is an absolute must have feature, but not necessarily for games. If Nintendo wants to cut into the tablet market (maybe this is a wrong assumption?) then it really needs touch controls for non-gaming features like chatting/drawing in Miiverse and web / menu navigation, and on screen keyboard. I would be perfectly content if touch is only available outside of "games", and only available for the OS and "apps" like Miiverse, FB, web browser, netflix, etc. I also expect them to make their mobile apps available here, possibly even with some kind of curated google play store?

And like you said trav, I also think the dock is only for charging and video out to your TV, but I'm thinking the swtich itself will upscale/upclock when its docked (maybe with extra cooling in the dock as well) since battery will not be an issue in that state. Then when you pull it out of the dock, it will downscale/downclock to increase battery life.

I'm also hoping they go with USB-C for charging and not something proprietary, as that will make charging on the go much, much easier.

 

[Tarvis]

http://www.theverge.com/2016/10/21/13356760/nintendo-switch-dock-functionality-tv-output-power

Nintendo wouldn't even confirm to The Verge whether the system has a touchscreen.

That part makes me think it doesn't.

 

[SuperAfroBoy]

Hopefully they are just holding out until they are ready to show the OS and related features. Touch screen is critical if there were hoping anyone was going to use this in place of their ipad (or similar tablet).

 

[Tarvis]

Well they said BoTW would be the same experience on both the NX and Wii U, so I'm not sure how it could be without the touchscreen controls, but we'll see.

I've read they aren't planning on showing any new games or releasing any more specs for it until next year. :|

 

[SuperAfroBoy]

Yeah, as much as that sucks it kinda makes sense for them. During the holidays MS and Sony marketing will be in full gear, so why not wait until January when there isn't much else going on and you can more easily grab everyone's attention.

 

[Tarvis]

I want more switch news now!

 

[Tarvis]

Live stream with more information and pricing on Jan 12th. Such a long time.

 

[Dave]

• Nintendo confirms that the Switch trailer didn’t show gameplay footage in real time.

• REPORT: Nintendo Switch to sport a 6.2" 720p multi-touch display according to a Eurogamer source.

LOL at 720p. It's probably to preserve resources and battery life. 1080p is ridiculous for a six-inch screen anyway.