Nintendo Switch - Happy Switchmas Everyone!

[Ronnie]

The Switch is looking and sounding incredible, it feels like they've thought of everything with it. The only thing that seems to be missing is a camera but knowing Nintendo I'm sure there'll be some optional attachment. March can't come soon enough...

[killthenet]

Correct me if I'm wrong Ronnie but I haven't seen any mention of a microphone in any of the patents, which is a feature that one member of NE in particular will be hoping for.

Edited December 17, 2016 by killthenet

[Clownferret]

Correct me if I'm wrong Ronnie but I haven't seen any mention of a microphone in any of the patents, which is a feature that one member of NE in particular will be hoping for.

 

You don't need a mic built into the system for voice chat. Mics are in the headsets that you purchase. We all know that Nintendo don't deliver the same party chat experience as Sony and Microsoft but let's not pretend that those systems come equipped with technology that Nintendon't

[markderoos]

Maybe it'll support Wii Speak even!

[MindFreak]

EuroGamer has information about the tech in Switch. It's (not surprisingly) weaker than Xbox One but is it enough to make a difference?

 

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-nintendo-switch-spec-analysis

 

To be honest, I don't understand that much from the article.

[Goron_3]

EuroGamer has information about the tech in Switch. It's (not surprisingly) weaker than Xbox One but is it enough to make a difference?

 

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-nintendo-switch-spec-analysis

 

To be honest, I don't understand that much from the article.

 

That suggests that it will be much closer to the Wii U than the XBO. I think most people were hoping for a custom X1 chip but this looks like it will be much weaker than the X1...

 

This does however suggest that it's going to be very cheap, which is a positive.

Edited December 19, 2016 by Goron_3

[liger05]

That suggests that it will be much closer to the Wii U than the XBO.

 

Yikes. For me a portable with with wii u graphics is fine but for those who want a console first and foremost it does sound disappointing.

 

No significant upgrade on Wii U when docked is a tough sell to people who didn't care for the the wii u.

[Hero-of-Time]

That suggests that it will be much closer to the Wii U than the XBO.

 

*waves goodbye to any hopes of significant 3rd party support*

[Falcon_BlizZACK]

Yikes. For me a portable with with wii u graphics is fine but for those who want a console first and foremost it does sound disappointing.

 

No significant upgrade on Wii U when docked is a tough sell to people who didn't care for the the wii u.

 

But the Wii U didn't sell badly because of its visual capabilities. We could argue the full potential of the console wasn't even tapped into. But looking at games like Paper Mario and even Pikmin 3, Im very content with this.

[Hero-of-Time]

But the Wii U didn't sell badly because of its visual capabilities. We could argue the full potential of the console wasn't even tapped into. But looking at games like Paper Mario and even Pikmin 3, Im very content with this.

 

It's not just about graphical capability but also things like AI and creating huge open world games. 3rd parties aren't going to bother if once again they have to gimp their games just to get a version running on Nintendo hardware.

[liger05]

But the Wii U didn't sell badly because of its visual capabilities. We could argue the full potential of the console wasn't even tapped into. But looking at games like Paper Mario and even Pikmin 3, Im very content with this.

 

Didn't it. Selling a console on the same level of the dated 360/PS3 didn't help.

 

Laura Kidale is saying games will run a lot less intense in handheld mode. Again not really happy about two distinct experiences. If handheld is severely gimped compared to docked that's a real downer.

 

For Nintendo I think pushing this as handheld should be the priority as by the sounds of it, it's too weak to push as home console.

Edited December 19, 2016 by liger05

[Falcon_BlizZACK]

It's not just about graphical capability but also things like AI and creating huge open world games. 3rd parties aren't going to bother if once again they have to gimp their games just to get a version running on Nintendo hardware.

 

I think BotW is proving otherwise. And I really didn't have an expectation that this slimline machine can ever match up to the power of a PS4/XBO. As for 3rd parties, personally I don't care that much if at all as Steam fulfills that area for me - Im mostly interested in the theorized onslaught of first party games.

 

Didn't it. Selling a console on the same level of the dated 360/PS3 didn't help.

 

 

Well the Wii still hit that 100 million without updated graphics.

[Hero-of-Time]

I think BotW is proving otherwise. And I really didn't have an expectation that this slimline machine can ever match up to the power of a PS4/XBO. As for 3rd parties, personally I don't care that much if at all as Steam fulfills that area for me - Im mostly interested in the theorized onslaught of first party games.

 

I have a PS4 and One to take care of my 3rd party stuff but I'm thinking of others, not just myself. Problem is that the console could potentially become less appealing to the masses if they can't get the games they want on it, which means less sales for Nintendo.

[khilafah]

Docked as a console I gotta say I am pretty disappointed with them specs.

 

Makes me wonder which version of DQXI the switch will get now. I was hoping the switch would be nearer to Xbox one rather than Wii U.

 

Genuinely interested to see how the switch handles BotW. Performance is gonna be key here.

 

As a handheld the specs are fine as it's a huge leap from the 3DS.

[Hero-of-Time]

 

Well the Wii still hit that 100 million without updated graphics.

 

The Wii was lightning in a bottle which relies on the casual market coming back. Seeing how these people won't even pay £8 for a Mario game, I wouldn't be banking on them.

[Ronnie]

I'm more surprised people expected this portable 6" screen to have XBO capabilities in there somewhere. If it were possible, the Xbox One S would be the size of a couple of Bluray cases.

[Falcon_BlizZACK]

I have a PS4 and One to take care of my 3rd party stuff but I'm thinking of others, not just myself. Problem is that the console could potentially become less appealing to the masses if they can't get the games they want on it, which means less sales for Nintendo.

 

I can only speak for myself because there are too many variables to deem how successful and appealing the Switch can be to others. Nintendo hasn't had 'significant' 3rd party support for decades now - there is currently no real indicator to state anything has changed that much to suggest otherwise. People would probably fare better if they go in expecting the expected; a console primarily furnished by Nintendo's first party.

 

Regardless, even with the amount of third party support the GC got, that didn't necessarily translate into more sales of the system.

 

The Wii was lightning in a bottle which relies on the casual market coming back. Seeing how these people won't even pay £8 for a Mario game, I wouldn't be banking on them.

 

The Switch - with its "3-in-1" hybrid 'gimmick' can easily have the same effect. In fact, that whole reveal trailer was all about imagining the possibilities of how to utilize this gimmick, as opposed to actually show-casing noticeable [third party] software.

[liger05]

I'm more surprised people expected this portable 6" screen to have XBO capabilities in there somewhere. If it were possible, the Xbox One S would be the size of a couple of Bluray cases.

 

Because the leaks that have come out said it would be closed to xb1 than Wii U.

[Rummy]

Wow. I can't follow all this right now but it certainly feels very similar to them Wii U cracks showing through already. Obvs I say/take it with a pinch of salt, will read up more before I determine this to be as terrible as it may appear. If it's just rumour/speculation I see no reason to put it above the X2 speculation, but then as I said I haven't read any of the articles yet.

[Goron_3]

I'm more surprised people expected this portable 6" screen to have XBO capabilities in there somewhere. If it were possible, the Xbox One S would be the size of a couple of Bluray cases.

 

No one was expecting the handheld form to be close to the XBO. In docked form though there was a hope that would be closer to the XBO using a beefed up X1 chip.

 

Anything above the Wii U in handheld form is awesome, the problem is the performance in docked mode.

[Hero-of-Time]

The Switch - with its "3-in-1" hybrid 'gimmick' can easily have the same effect. In fact, that whole reveal trailer was all about imagining the possibilities of how to utilize this gimmick, as opposed to actually show-casing noticeable [third party] software.

 

It could but the market is a very different place to what is was in 2006.

 

It's gonna be interesting to see just who this sells to. Before the Wii U launch Iwata said that it was a mistake to target the casual crowd as it wasnt sustainable due to them not purchasing many games. The Nintendo only gamers are dwindling in numbers between each generation, the Wii being the exception. If it's cheap enough I suppose they can market it as a second console for gamers.

[Sheikah]

The Wii was lightning in a bottle which relies on the casual market coming back. Seeing how these people won't even pay £8 for a Mario game, I wouldn't be banking on them.

 

I had my bingo card ready with my marker pen raised slightly above "lightning in a bottle", as soon as I saw King V's post about the Wii.

 

You are definitely right, and it's why comparisons to the Wii never really work. I mean, Wii U pretty much was trying to do the Wii thing again with the lower power spec but without dat gimmick it didn't stand a chance.

 

It's concerning that the Switch GPU runs at only 40% power when in handheld mode versus docked. I can see games being capped in terms of design and graphics to ensure smooth running on the handheld version, which translates over to the docked experience (even factoring in the 720p to 1080p jump when docking, I'm not sure that will cover it). Either that or have separate optimised versions for both docked and handheld.

 

This is basically shaping up to be a handheld experience as the home console one seems basically a little more than a Wii U again.

Edited December 19, 2016 by Sheikah

[Falcon_BlizZACK]

It could but the market is a very different place to what is was in 2006.

 

 

I think people and consumerism remains just as open and fickle for new quirky products. Gamers especially. Even members here who have had a strong stance of not wanting to buy into Nintendo anymore due to being 'burnt' as a Wii U owner are caving in by the thought of a new Wave Race or Excitetrucks.

[Grazza]

Good news that the screen is IPS. I love those.

 

My take on the power: it's disappointing that Switch will not use the latest version of Tegra. Sure, there are battery life considerations, but as I understand it, the whole point of Tegra is portability, so it wasn't unreasonable to hope for the latest.

 

The fact that Switch is not a rival for Xbox One or PS4, however... that I'm not disappointed by. I never expected a handheld to be capable of anything like that power. I'd even be pleasantly surprised if it's comfortably better than Wii U, which brings me to the next point.

 

Apparently the specs of the two machines are as follows:

 

Wii U

CPU - 1.24GHz

GPU - 550MHz

 

Switch

CPU - 1020MHz

GPU - 307.2MHz or up to 768MHz (let's assume games will eventually push it, even when it's docked)

 

Am I right in thinking 1.24GHz = 1240MHz, meaning the Switch has a slower CPU than Wii U? That's very disappointing. As I understood it, the biggest technical problem with Wii U was the slow CPU.

 

As a successor to 3DS, it's impressive. As a continuation of Nintendo's consoles, it's disappointing that it's a step backwards in one way.

[liger05]

I had my bingo card ready with my marker pen raised slightly above "lightning in a bottle", as soon as I saw King V's post about the Wii.

 

You are definitely right, and it's why comparisons to the Wii never really work. I mean, Wii U pretty much was trying to do the Wii thing again with the lower power spec but without dat gimmick it didn't stand a chance.

 

It's concerning that the Switch GPU runs at only 40% power when in handheld mode versus docked. I can see games being capped in terms of design and graphics to ensure smooth running on the handheld version, which translates over to the docked experience (even factoring in the 720p to 1080p jump when docking, I'm not sure that will cover it). Either that or have separate optimised versions for both docked and handheld.

 

This is basically shaping up to be a handheld experience as the home console one seems basically a little more than a Wii U again.

 

I guess the reduction in handheld mode is to ensure battery life but you're right such a difference between docked and undocked means something has to give.