Nintendo Switch - Happy Switchmas Everyone!

[Nolan]

"Take this as a rumor...

 

100% Confirmed!"

 

Mkay Ms. Rogers.

[Falcon_BlizZACK]

I don’t expect many things to dramatically change between the prototype and the final product. Furthermore, I believe NX will hit its March launch without any delays because it is ahead of schedule.

 

Disclaimer: Everything in this blog post is rumor until proven otherwise. Please take everything with a grain of salt.

 

Here is what you can expect from the final retail product:

 

Custom Nvidia GPU chip

Region Free (No region lock) <– Confirmed this.

Six inch (6.2 inch?) multi-touch screen (Heard nothing about a stylus)

The touchscreen has 720p resolution. <— 100% Confirmed.

32GB of built-in internal storage

SD card support

Supports USB 2.0 and 3.0

The dock has two 2.0 usb ports and one 3.0 usb port.

The device is around 14 – 15 mm in thickness.

The right analogue stick will be below the face buttons.

Camera and microphone are not built into the NX portable device.

Cooling is still a little noisy

Detachable controllers (motion controls and next-gen vibration technology) <– Everything Laura Kate Dale said in her article was correct.

Share / Social button that Laura Kate Dale posted is true.

There are at least two shoulder buttons. I haven’t heard anything yet about triggers.

Battery Life — Ehhh not great. I haven’t heard an exact number of hours, but it doesn’t sound great.

Below PS4 and XB1 in raw power.

Supports Unreal Engine 4 and Unity Engine.

I’ve heard that this is close to the final retail product. Take with a grain of salt because this is just a rumor.

 

 

Sounds like a bit of a hot mess if you ask me.

 

32gb storage? Surely it comes bundled with 64gig SD card or something? Not really a fan of the annoying little extra expenses.

[bob]

Seems a bit stingy in this day and age doesn't it?

[Ronnie]

Going on iPhone prices, an extra 32GB would likely be an extra £50-100, obviously that's just Apple tax, but it'd be an extra expense of some kind and this thing sounds expensive enough as is.

[Falcon_BlizZACK]

I'd say a decent and future-proofed memory size is worth the expense - or else its going to feel like buying old PSX memory cards all over again.

[Ronnie]

I'd say a decent and future-proofed memory size is worth the expense - or else its going to feel like buying old PSX memory cards all over again.

 

I disagree. Better to keep the case cost down and allow for expandable memory than hike the price up for something that will only be needed by those who download games, IMO.

 

Maybe it'll come with an SD card who knows.

[killthenet]

It would definitely be disappointing if the NX's internal storage is as little as 32gb. I wasn't expecting them to give us 500gb but I thought they'd at least expand it to a 128gb SSD. They seem to really be encouraging digital purchases with the My Nintendo system, so it's odd that they wouldn't give consumers enough space to store more than a few full games.

 

If it is only 32gb, hopefully the NX does allow games and apps to be run from SD cards otherwise it's going to be a real pain.

[Serebii]

Don't forget that if the reports are true, the NX is a hybrid and thus portable. As such, having moving parts for a hard drive would not be feasible as one knock and it could break, same with why it's cartridge over optical drive.

 

SSDs are still quite expensive over flash memory too which is why it may not be feasible

[killthenet]

I did mean flash memory rather than an SSD, just using SSD as a shorthand for non mechanical memory. As I said, I never expected a full on hard drive because Nintendo clearly see mechanical hard drives as an archaic technology, preferring to implement flash memory on the Wii and Wii U despite it offering paltry capacity in comparison to other consoles in their respective generations. Costs are always dropping for flash memory though so that's why it would be a huge disappointment if they were only offering 32gb out of the box.

[Nolan]

SSD is not shorthand for non mechanical memory. SSDs are quite simply Flash memory. Literally the same stuff as in USBs and SD cards. SSDs are expensive for their size and speed and that the memory is meant to be longer lasting than typical removable media.

[killthenet]

I don't make the distinction between the two (just between SD cards and internal memory) but Serebii was making a distinction between the two so I was just clarifying my position.

[bob]

SSD is not shorthand for non mechanical memory.

 

Well...they are Solid State, i.e. they don't move mechanically? I always thought that's what it meant.

[Nolan]

Well...they are Solid State, i.e. they don't move mechanically? I always thought that's what it meant.

 

Following that, then we could refer to all forms of read/write memory as SSDs. SD cards, USB sticks, Memory Pro Duo, etc. they're not mechanics and they're flash memory.

 

The D part of SSD is Disk or Drive, which is what separates it from the other forms of flash memory.

 

Just minor semantics, but I like semantics.

[bob]

Ah, i'm happy to be corrected!

[killthenet]

Following that, then we could refer to all forms of read/write memory as SSDs. SD cards, USB sticks, Memory Pro Duo, etc. they're not mechanics and they're flash memory.

 

The D part of SSD is Disk or Drive, which is what separates it from the other forms of flash memory.

 

Just minor semantics, but I like semantics.

 

I did say it was my shorthand not the shorthand. I appreciate there is a difference, but when we're talking about console storage SSD and HDD should suffice. Don't let semantics take away from the point that 32gb will still be hugely disappointing.

Edited September 2, 2016 by killthenet

[Blade]

If correct, 32gb is a bit crap considering a bog standard PS4 gives 500gb

[Ronnie]

If correct, 32gb is a bit crap considering a bog standard PS4 gives 500gb

 

You can't really compare the two, a PS4 uses far cheaper (and slower) hard disk drives, the NX would use an SSD/Flash storage.

[Nolan]

I did say it was my shorthand not the shorthand. I appreciate there is a difference, but when we're talking about console storage SSD and HDD should suffice. Don't let semantics take away from the point that 32gb will still be hugely disappointing.

 

I read and almost replied to your comment but didn't because I realized what you meant. I was just replying to Dr. bob.

 

But yes, 32GB would be more than hugely disappointing. Considering for a consumer 64GB can be had around $20 (high speed designed to even record and playback 4K video). There's no excuse for at least 128, which given how games are on the PS4/Xbone still isn't enough and won't last long at all.

 

You can't really compare the two, a PS4 uses far cheaper (and slower) hard disk drives, the NX would use an SSD/Flash storage.

 

You really can compare the two though, ignoring memory types and looking at capacity, anyone making digital purchases will quickly see that they need to expand their memory in someway. That's true even for the 500GB PS4, hence why larger models are now offered.

 

Let's look at 9-10 years ago, PS3 and 360 both had less than 60GB. Before the generation was even near over both were offering well over 4 times their original models. The Wii had 512MB, which was suitable but with lots of VC or WiiWare purchases wouldn't be enough either.

 

More needs to be offered, regardless of memory type. The only saving grace is that if they don't use discs for games then it's likely the games won't need to be installed from disc like PS4/Xbone.

[liger05]

I read and almost replied to your comment but didn't because I realized what you meant. I was just replying to Dr. bob.

 

But yes, 32GB would be more than hugely disappointing. Considering for a consumer 64GB can be had around $20 (high speed designed to even record and playback 4K video). There's no excuse for at least 128, which given how games are on the PS4/Xbone still isn't enough and won't last long at all.

 

 

 

You really can compare the two though, ignoring memory types and looking at capacity, anyone making digital purchases will quickly see that they need to expand their memory in someway. That's true even for the 500GB PS4, hence why larger models are now offered.

 

Let's look at 9-10 years ago, PS3 and 360 both had less than 60GB. Before the generation was even near over both were offering well over 4 times their original models. The Wii had 512MB, which was suitable but with lots of VC or WiiWare purchases wouldn't be enough either.

 

More needs to be offered, regardless of memory type. The only saving grace is that if they don't use discs for games then it's likely the games won't need to be installed from disc like PS4/Xbone.

 

Why are you comparing console storage with a handheld? Shouldn't you be coming apples with apples? No handheld has ever had 32gb on board storage.

 

The most powerful handheld is vita and that has no memory.

 

Forgot about the shield portable which again has 16gb memory.

 

I'm not understanding why anyone would think a handheld would come with 128gb onboard storage?

Edited September 2, 2016 by liger05

[Ronnie]

You really can compare the two though, ignoring memory types and looking at capacity, anyone making digital purchases will quickly see that they need to expand their memory in someway. That's true even for the 500GB PS4, hence why larger models are now offered.

 

No you can't, you're comparing a handheld console with a home console. Unless you think it's viable to carry around a big chunky handheld and hold it perfectly still and flat at all time while the HDD motors away inside. A more apt comparison would be with the Vita, which has a grand total of 1GB.

Edited September 2, 2016 by Ronnie

[Goafer]

An even more apt* comparison would be the iPhone, which can come with up to 128gb of memory. I'd argue that the NX needs more though, because it's games will hopefully be more fleshed out than mobile games. I guess it depends how important downloadable games will be for the NX. If it's relying heavily on cartridges, I guess it doesn't need as much.

 

*Apt because mobile gaming is the main thing stealing away from Nintendo's handhelds, so is the main competitor right now.

 

Also, isn't the NX also a home console, so comparing it to the PS4/XBone is still pretty valid if they want to compete in the home market too. Not saying they do, but if they do, I'd say the comparison is valid.

 

I think it all depends on how it's marketed and how much it will rely on physical or downloadable/installed games.

[liger05]

An even more apt* comparison would be the iPhone, which can come with up to 128gb of memory. I'd argue that the NX needs more though, because it's games will hopefully be more fleshed out than mobile games. I guess it depends how important downloadable games will be for the NX. If it's relying heavily on cartridges, I guess it doesn't need as much.

 

*Apt because mobile gaming is the main thing stealing away from Nintendo's handhelds, so is the main competitor right now.

 

Also, isn't the NX also a home console, so comparing it to the PS4/XBone is still pretty valid if they want to compete in the home market too. Not saying they do, but if they do, I'd say the comparison is valid.

 

I think it all depends on how it's marketed and how much it will rely on physical or downloadable/installed games.

 

 

For a premium price yes you can get a 128gb iPhone but right now the basic is 16gb. With new high end androids its 32gb.

 

32gb with the option to stick in SD cards is perfectly fine for a handheld.

[killthenet]

Goafer makes a good point, but those types of smart phones are far more expensive on average than handheld consoles. I think it's a bit false to look at the amount of storage handhelds have had on board because there hasn't been a brand new dedicated handheld for several years now, so the 1gb on the Vita would probably be at least 32gb if it had been released a year or so ago. It's well within the realms of possibility to expect a handheld released in 2016 to have more than 32gb of onboard memory.

 

Ronnie, I think Nolan was talking more about consumer expectation than anything else. If you walk into a shop and see that one console says '500gb' and the other says '32gb' you're going to think the 500gb one is better. It's just another selling point for potential customers.

 

On another note, the proposed home dock could include extra built in flash storage, which would make the 32gb on the handheld a little more manageable if you could easily drag and drop games between the two drives.

Edited September 2, 2016 by killthenet

[Ashley]

I understand why you shouldn't compare the PS4 with 32gb storage from an intellectual point of view, but let's face it people don't. They look at numbers. The storage may be slower and may be unsuitable for a handheld, but I can see people comparing them.

 

For what it's worth, my mobile has 64GB (but cost more than the NX is rumoured obviously). I think we're at this weird point where 32gb is considered low in tech circles but remains mid-range to many simply because it is for Apple and they define the market generally.

[Goafer]

I guess the main thing to consider is that games will come on cartridges/discs*, so storage isn't as important. It all depends on how much of a role digital content will play. 32gb will be fine if it's just used for saves and a few downloadable retro games. If the console is digital only or they really push digital games, 32gb is nowhere near enough.

 

*I assume. Correct me if I'm wrong.