dartmonkey

Modest Tech: The NX Generation (Nintendo Switch)

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15 hours ago, Roderick said:

How would that work, exactly? I doubt the projector will be able to produce anything resembling a coherent, useable second screen. And the console mode will work only when the Switch is docked, rendering its screen unfit for use.

 

Anyway, nice to see that report on Eurogamer! 6.2" screen at 720p. That's a huge improvement in resolution over the 3DS, where you can basically count the pixel. This should render everything sharp as a whistle. I have a bit of a hard time imagining how large exactly a 6.2" screen is in real life, I have no comparable devices at hand. From the images I'm guessing it's a bit bigger than a Vita screen. Wait, my Kindle Paperwhite is about 6" I believe...

 

I thought you own a Wii U? Wait you definitely own a Wii U; I've played your Mario Maker levels. The Wii U gamepad is also 6.2"!

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I'm on board but the whole thing looks kind of big doesn't it? I think the WiiU gamepad is too huge to be a good portable system.

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The gamepad has a lot of plastic fat around its screen. Switch trims that down considerably to maybe 10mm of bezel? The side pads sit flush and imagining that with the gamepad in my hand, it feels like a good size. The gamepad's screen is 720, no?

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Yeah, I have a Wii U, I hadn't even considered how large that screen was. Thanks!

 

I don't think the Switch is meant to go in your pocket, it's just too big for that. It's a tablet-style device, so put it in book-like cover and take it along in your bag. I doubt my Switch would ever leave the house though. I like portable on my sofa or in my bed, but I'd get nervous with a device like that on the train. What if someone were to sneeze on it?

 

As regards plugging in storage in the dock, Nintendo will want to prevent any sort of split between the handheld experience and the console experience. The dock is really only there to channel the device to the television. Adding more storage specifically to it would mean you'd maybe have different games or savegames or features once plugged in, which would necessitate synching and would alter the experience.

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I'm hoping for microsdxc support, that supports more than the mentioned 128gb. There are already 1tb microsd cards also.

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They'd be smart to plan for future tech like this (if you can even call it future tech, let's just say cutting edge). Same goes for the account system, it's about time Nintendo tied your stuff to an online account instead of a stealable, detructible piece of hardware.

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Yes and have 2-step verification from the start for the account system.

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Report from Let's Play Video Games: the basic Switch SKU to cost 200 Britpounds (or 250 dollari and, I expect, 250 metaleuros). A bit more unconfirmed but nonetheless within the range of expectations is a premium SKU that'll cost 250 pounds, which comes with a packed-in game (not known which one just yet, hopefully Zelda) and apparently a trifle more in-game storage. Loose Joy-Cons will be 40 pounds each.

 

If this is true, it'll be a lot better a deal than the Wii U. The Switch will follow in the footsteps of the Wii as a relatively affordable console straight away, though every tenner they manage to slash off the price will increase its chances.

 

Source: http://letsplayvideo games.com/2016/11/report-uk-retailer-game-to-price-nintendo-switch-from-199-99/

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Wow, that's much cheaper than I expected, which also sets my expectations for power/battery life. This certainly won't be a premium device.

 

Strange to see a hard reboot on console design be priced halfway between a portable and console (tending towards the portable price). I wonder if they'll be doing the typical "Nintendo always makes a profit off of console sales from the get-go" or follow Sony and Microsoft this time around and take a loss.

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Holy shit. Wow, indeed. I never would've expected it to be this cheap.

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Nintendo boss Kimishima already confirmed that they would not be taking a loss on the hardware. That's basic policy for them and it's why they're still in business (and will likely remain so). The price is, in my eyes, very reasonable, also for a console. It's what the Wii cost. From the Switch we can expect the same qualities: a very soundly designed bit of hardware that is by no means technologically superior to others, but in many cases better designed.

 

For battery life, it'll be a minimum of 3,5 hours, the same as the 3DS. So far, that lifespan has worked out fine. Anything beyond this should be considered extra.

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Wow this really is cheaper than I'd have guessed. But it has the desired effect, I'm feeling way more inclined to just pick it up because it's like one category lower of expensive for me. I'd still be cagey about getting it day 1, but I don't feel like I'd need to save up for that price in any way.

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Hah, it'll be a maximum of 3.5 hours. That shit gonna drain so fast.

 

3DS battery life has been a huge hindrance to the way I play my handheld games. I'm going to have to get into a different habit for the switch. I'm still reeling from when I could leave the original DS in sleep mode for weeks and open it back up to very little change in battery power. Of course I know why that happens - street passes. And I willingly sacrifice battery power cause street passes are awesome.

 

I wonder if Switch will have those again. If not, maybe 3.5 mininum is more realistic. But I suspect it will have them.

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What I mean is that Nintendo wouldn't dare dip below 3.5 hours as the minimum advertized battery length. It hasn't made a huge difference over the DS for me, since I rarely travel for more than two hours anyway before I reach another electric socket. And I don't expect to be playing the Switch a whole lot outside the house anyway - I just look very much forward to playing it tucked onto my lap on the sofa. Handheld gaming is awesome, it offers the same intimacy as a book.

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Oh, I misunderstood it as you saying it's guaranteed to be above 3.5 hours, haha.

 

Yeah, that I can definitely agree with. :P

 

GOD I'M SO EXCITED. GIMME NOW.

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Two hundred quid sounds incredibly cheap for what they're offering, especially in a post-Brexit UK where the £ isn't doing too great and the prices of consumer electronics (and everything else) will be creeping upwards over the next year. I'll be astonished if they hit that - and if so, I'd expect it to cover only the most basic of basic packages. But it would be nice to be surprised!


Battery life is...reasonably concerning. I play a lot of 3DS out and about, and I value its lengthy sleep mode in particular. But I can't think of many cases where I'd be playing for more than 3/4 hours straight without any opportunity of charging.

 

Part of me would like to imagine Nintendo's approach to battery life being compromised by a moral objection, as if it were an enforced approach to taking a break now and again. But I also wonder if, given the widespread availability of external batteries, they might be planning a BYO approach to charging, as they have for storage on Wii U and 3DS.

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More rumours from so far dependable sources: the Mario we saw shots from in the trailer will be full on 3D affair (more like Sunshine and Galaxy than 3D World) and set for launch. The same goes for Skyrim, which was teased but not confirmed by Bethesda. I'm particularly happy about that, I've been meaning to replay the game in a solid way and the remastered edition on the Switch seems like the best fit right now.

 

Then there's a Ubisoft game in the make for launch day that's apparently a turn-based Mario RPG featuring... the Rabbids. If anything, this might indicate that Ubi at least is seeing this as a return to the halcyon Wii days. Don't know what to think of this yet.

 

The premium SKU for the Switch will feature Splatoon. This may be good for some people, but I'm not really interested in a multiplayer game. Was hoping for a Mario bundle at launch, or Breath of the Wild, but the latter's been pushed back.

 

Final bit of news: Gamefreak are making a third edition of Pokémon Sun and Moon, calls STARS, and it'll be on Switch. That's huge. The first main-game Pokémon title on a home console. I wasn't planning on getting the game at all, but if it's on Switch... Someone recently told me that Nintendo had better bring a couple of huge bestsellers to the Switch if it wants to make it a success. I don't think it gets any bigger than the first home Pokémon game.

 

(Only thing left is a new Animal Crossing, or at least an HD New Leaf port.)

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The newest Retronauts is a Virtual Console retrospective, and they speculate on how VC will work on the Switch, including the possibility of a subscription "Netflix for games" model.

 

There's some exciting potential for the Switch to reboot Virtual Console as a more modern service that finally consolidates everything into a single library that can be played on a portable or console. I've kind of ignored VC since the Wii, due to it being so fragmented and undersupported, but I could imagine a Switch version being pretty attractive.

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More Switch rumours! http://letsplayvideo games.com/2016/12/report-nintendo-switch-dock-increases-performance-not-via-extra-hardware/

 

So the USB-C dock allows the Switch to perform at a higher clock-rate by giving it more power, allowing it output at 1080p as opposed to the handheld screen which is 720p. Supposedly a fan in the dock cools the Switch while it is at the overclocked speeds. Also a separate rumour also reported by LPVG that Dark Souls 3 is running at an acceptable framerate on the Switch, and FromSoft is considering re-releasing the trilogy, across all platforms.

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That's neato! Hopefully that means that Nintendo releases a peripheral fan/battery unit that attaches to the handheld so you can run it at 1080 on the go. I'm imagining something horrific.

 

Am I living under a rock that I've never heard of the letsplayvideo games.com website? Everyone that I read/listen to seems to trust them as a source, but the Switch rumors are the first time they've ever entered my radar.

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Laura Dale is the source people trust, not the website. It just happens to be where she rights. As I understand it, she's on the same tier as Emily Rogers, as far as trustworthiness goes.

 

Whatever that means!

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I wonder what the implications of the additional power are going to be. So far the only thing that's reported is that the additional fan in the dock allows the technology within the Switch to safely overclock. Ergo, it's not that the dock offers 'additional power'. It allows for 1080p output, which might be superfluous in handheld mode considering that 720p on such a small screen is already super sharp. It wouldn't a case of devs having to create multiple versions of their game, if resolution is the only difference. (This is all conjecture on my part, by the way.)

 

Dark Souls on the Switch is an amazing prospect. Again, they're really hitting that nostalgia we already have for the best games of the last five years. It's pretty crazy how attractive it is just to say: 'Hey, want to replay those amazing games, but this time also on a smaller screen on your lap?' Yes. Yes please, I would.

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I blasted through an hour of DS1 just because I missed playing it last night. If the Switch meant I could do that comfortably on a couch then it'd be a real solid purchase, especially as I haven't gotten Dark Souls 3 at all.

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