Nintendo Switch

[Schizophretard]

The widely-circulated idea that the slip-on connector used by USB is derived from the GameBoy connector, "field tested by children of all ages." Actually it's FireWire/iLink/IEEE1394, but you get the idea.

 

My point is that Nintendo knows how to make a durable thing, butterfingered children notwithstanding. More importantly, they stand behind their stuff with repairs and customer service, so I would think this stuff is built to be fixable.

 

I agree. There is no way that Nintendo is going to place all bets on a future hybrid console, include the gimmick in its yin yang controller logo, and even name the console after the gimmick then poorly design the gimmick to be the thing that destroys the entire console from a drop. Check out some of these pictures:

 

 

Look at the compartment that the controller slides in. That looks like thick metal surrounding a plastic lining, it is deep, it grips the controller instead of the other way around, it has some slots near the top that look like they could be the locking mechanism it clicks into, and the notch up top looks important for removing the controllers. The design looks like if anything snapping from a drop it wouldn't be the console but the controller which would suck but is much better than the console and not many of us could admit to never having to buy replacement controllers that have broke and/or got worn out for one reason or another.

 

 

This one shows the black piece of the controller that slides in and is gripped by the console. What is that piece made out of?

 

 

Based on how the thumbs are pressing it in it looks like rubber. So, probably how it works to keep it snugly in is that just like these thumbs the Switch presses against the rubber to make a tight fit.

 

And there is the rubber again but you can see another notch for locking it in place and the Joy-Con Grip looks metallic just like the console.

 

So if it were dropped which looks more likely, the thick ass metallic looking console breaking or the rubber on the controller? Or the rubber preventing breakage by it not being something that can crack or it just popping out with no damage to each or it is locked so well onto the console that gravity doesn't "know" it can break it?

 

Anyway, I bet Nintendo knows the exact pounds of pressure it would take to break because they likely tried it and came to the conclusion that the number is within a safe range that they can put this on the market without this becoming a big reason for this to become Nintendo's last console. Again, this is their main gimmick and likely their last chance to stay in the console market. They are not going to make it easily breakable. If anything, they have all these parts to make it more easily maintainable and repairable. And since they love selling accessories they probably have a whole line up of Joy-Cons already in the works and being tested for quality control. For an example, if this thing has a gyroscope in it then you know, I know, and everyone else knows that this screen will end up in the middle of the Mario Kart Joy-Wheel.

 

Concerning the screen, go back to the first image. Look in the top left corner where the black bezel meets the screen. It looks like a shadow there like there is some depth. Look at the edges where the screen is connected to the Switch. It looks thick. Now look at the Zelda picture. It has an appearance of some depth as if the image is slightly behind the screen instead of on it. The holes for the two speakers and mic(?) makes it seem thick too because if it were too thin then it could crack at the holes. The overall appearance looks almost like the removable screen for the Game Boy that you could customize.

 

Anyway, to me, it looks like it is built like a tank. It looks solid, heavy, and thick with well thought out mechanisms to make it all hold together. I bet if you were to hold one you wouldn't mistake it for a cheap tablet but instead would be wondering why people are complaining about the price as you feel the warmth coming out of the vent holes.

[Flojomojo]

TP, where did you find the guess about price?

[Gentlegamer]

I was right with what I said earlier. It's Nintendo so it won't be cheap. Apparently it's likely to cost $299 which will probably equate to £299. There will be a bundle costing £399. So it's more expensive than both current systems.

 

Having finally taken a look at the reveal video, I am warming slightly to it but it's still way too expensive if those prices are correct. It's not an ugly device but it is still just a tablet. Then again, part of the problem has to be NVIDIA and how much they must be charging Nintendo for their chipset. Their own Shield tablet costs in excess of £200 (or at least it did until recently - looks like the price has dropped to £180) and the Tegra in that is probably less powerful than what's in the Switch.

 

Unless Nintendo has a sweetheart deal with Nvidia, Switch will come out expensive and never drop in price.

 

There's speculation that since Nvidia pulled back Tegra 2, Nintendo may have such a deal in place.

[Schizophretard]

We haven't ever seen the dock in a way that that such a determination could be possible.

 

I agree that dual screen gameplay with the television is a possibility here if the Switch and the dock have the necessary hardware to stream video wirelessly like the Wii U gamepad. But even if there is, I really bet that there will still be a physical connection when docked between the Switch screen and the dock, that's passing through the video and audio signal.

 

But we also haven't ever seen the dock in a way to determine a physical connection. It has those two guide things in it to line it up but in the video they can wiggle it around some because they are only lining it up good enough to hold it in there, they don't have to carefully line it up because it sits loose, there is no resistance when pulling it up, the shot where the girl is taking it out of the dock to take to the roof top you can see the bottom of it with no sign of a connector sticking up, and it even makes a thud sound when they plop it in as if it is falling straight down without coming in contact with anything but the bottom. Also, in Nvidia's blog they claimed,"NVIDIA gaming technology is integrated into all aspects of the new Nintendo Switch home gaming system, which promises to deliver a great experience to gamers." Streaming wirelessly is one of those gaming technologies.

[Flojomojo]

I expect the Switch dock has pogo pins to make a physical connection for power, AV, and possibly data ...just like the several existing 3DS cradles. Possibly magnetized like Microsoft or Apple smart covers for tablets.

[Asaki]

Still people are not blind IF it has better capabilities why not show them.

Probably because the games aren't ready yet...which kind of has me worried. One of the biggest failures of the WiiU was that the launch lineup was pretty lame, and right now it looks like the Switch has a new Mario...and a bunch of WiiU ports...

 

The dock doesn't appear to have any connectors for the console and is therefore probably wirelessly streaming to the dock...

I don't know about that...having the WiiU stream to the Gamepad doesn't look too terrible, but I imagine having a tablet stream to an HDTV would magnify all of the video compression artifacts.

 

The widely-circulated idea that the slip-on connector used by USB is derived from the GameBoy connector, "field tested by children of all ages." Actually it's FireWire/iLink/IEEE1394, but you get the idea.

"Slip-on connector"? I don't know what that means, but I was guessing maybe you meant the Gameboy link cable, since that's the closest thing to USB.

 

USB should have copied a lot closer, though, as it really has to be one of the worst designs ever.

 

[+adamchevy]

For someone who has a real job that demands a lot of their time and focus a portable game system bigger than your phone cannot be hauled into the bathroom . I also can't sit it on my desk at work and use it during the workday like I can my phone because of the size of the console. Maybe during a lunch break, but even then Most people need to eat during there lunch break. I think it will be a great home console/ hipster-kid console . Marketing this to the 35 year old plus .married with kids crowd, doesn't look like there target market. And that's totally fine with me, it's just not for me.

Edited October 24, 2016 by adamchevy

[icemanxp300]

You guys are killing me. ITS CALLED WORK for a reason. I had no idea so many employers paid their employees to play games while they are suppose to be working. You guys are right this thing will fly off the shelves now I know 90% of people who get paid to work instead will be allowed to play their switch.

 

 

 

On a side note those slide controllers are so small how could anyone enjoy trying to fumble around buttons on that. It just reminds me of this:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYB3Fx0a8-4

[Punisher5.0]

Some fields have a lot of downtime. Sometimes I can sit around for hours with the the owner sitting right next to me.

[godslabrat]

It doesn't matter where you're playing it, when, or why. Fact is, portables have been popular for almost 30 years now. People like using them, so this will be appealing to at least some of that market. How big of a chunk remains to be seen, but history suggests that take-along consoles made by Nintendo have an audience.

[+Ransom]

Fact is, portables have been popular for almost 30 years now.

 

Exactly!

 

[Mord]

TP, where did you find the guess about price?

 

I don't know where he guessed his price, but I'd have to agree with him, or think his guesses are potentially 50 dollars too low. It's more complicated and larger than the 3DS, and trying to be a home console as well. So I'd plop it's potential price somewhere between that and the Wii U. But then Nintendo tends to price the new hardware above whatever's already out so...

 

So hope it'll be cheap, but don't expect them to sell it at a loss unless it doesn't catch on for a year or two. (Meaning expect to pony up the cash)

[Tickled_Pink]

TP, where did you find the guess about price?

 

Looks like the source has now added an update to the original article with the price at $250. That's based on what analysts seem to be guessing.

 

http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/gaming/723950/Nintendo-Switch-Price-Release-Date-Switch-Specs-games-Nintendo-NX

[Jinks]

I cant do anything but work. Been monitered by the minute for the last 21 years as a heavy truck tech now foreman. Playing this at work would be instant firing. Only desk people can play games on their phones. For us in coveralls if slow build something or fix something broken.

[godslabrat]

 

So hope it'll be cheap, but don't expect them to sell it at a loss unless it doesn't catch on for a year or two. (Meaning expect to pony up the cash)

 

Well, it might be time to revise the idea of "portables have to be really cheap", when we reconcile it with "mobile gaming is the future". Smartphones and tablets are usually in starting at the $300 range, and being north of $500 is very common. Yes, that's a lot to pay for a single-purpose device, but people are paying it for their phones, so it's not absurd. If the Switch has the games they want, it doesn't ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY HAVE to be $150 or less.

 

Remember when you could buy a brand-new, last-gen console for $99? That seems to have gone away. We might be seeing the same thing with the sub-$200 portable.

[+adamchevy]

I cant do anything but work. Been monitered by the minute for the last 21 years as a heavy truck tech now foreman. Playing this at work would be instant firing. Only desk people can play games on their phones. For us in coveralls if slow build something or fix something broken.

I haven't had a desk job in almost 10 years. If my 2 CNC machines are up and producing parts and running in unattended mode then my boss expects me to go draw more parts on solid works or help out somewhere else. The switch is not being marketed to kids...yet, and it appears most of the people in the announcement video are on the go. The only place I go on a regular basis is to work. Millennials might have cushy desk jobs where they can play most of the day, I'm not sure how they are affording those posh lifestyles showed in the Nintendo video. Realistically it's a 25-30 year old guy still living with mommy and daddy working on his advanced degree. It's hard to take more than 6-12 credit hours though, because he always has the switch with him wherever he goes.

[omegadot]

 

You guys are killing me. ITS CALLED WORK for a reason. I had no idea so many employers paid their employees to play games while they are suppose to be working. You guys are right this thing will fly off the shelves now I know 90% of people who get paid to work instead will be allowed to play their switch.

 

 

Our office actually has a few PS4s, a pool table and air hockey. It's mostly over lunch and gets people talking rather than staring at a phone over a sandwich. As long as you're output makes sense so one is worried about taking a break.

[+thanatos]

I'm just surprised nobody has compared that controller's size to the Jaguar's by now...

[Punisher5.0]

Looks like the source has now added an update to the original article with the price at $250. That's based on what analysts seem to be guessing.

 

http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/gaming/723950/Nintendo-Switch-Price-Release-Date-Switch-Specs-games-Nintendo-NX

$250 would be a good price for something like this and I feel would also guarantee success. Of course with good software support.

[icemanxp300]

I can't imagine Nintendo selling this for less than $399.99 launch at least for the 1st 6 months. Then all the fools who paid that can have an ambassador switch w/20 extra roms while everyone else saves about $150 on it.

[godslabrat]

Given that it's primarily replacing the Wii-U, I think it would make sense for it to have a $299 bundle and a $399 bundle, the latter of which will be the only one worth buying.

 

When the 3DS is being actively phased out, a $229 bundle will somehow emerge.

[Atariboy]

There's no way that this will be $400. Just look at the struggles the 3DS had early on at $250. Nintendo isn't going to go too crazy here and ask for such a premium price. Better to subsidize it and offer it at a more appealing price point.

 

At the very least, we'll have a basic option for $300 at the most, like Godslabrat suggested.

 

But we also haven't ever seen the dock in a way to determine a physical connection. It has those two guide things in it to line it up but in the video they can wiggle it around some because they are only lining it up good enough to hold it in there, they don't have to carefully line it up because it sits loose, there is no resistance when pulling it up, the shot where the girl is taking it out of the dock to take to the roof top you can see the bottom of it with no sign of a connector sticking up, and it even makes a thud sound when they plop it in as if it is falling straight down without coming in contact with anything but the bottom. Also, in Nvidia's blog they claimed,"NVIDIA gaming technology is integrated into all aspects of the new Nintendo Switch home gaming system, which promises to deliver a great experience to gamers." Streaming wirelessly is one of those gaming technologies.

 

The hardware in the trailer were just mockups, not the genuine article. So I wouldn't read too much into little details like you're talking about.

Edited October 24, 2016 by Atariboy

[Osgeld]

Our office actually has a few PS4s, a pool table and air hockey. It's mostly over lunch and gets people talking rather than staring at a phone over a sandwich. As long as you're output makes sense so one is worried about taking a break.

 

if you also have a water feature in your office dont get too settled lol

[omegadot]

 

if you also have a water feature in your office dont get too settled lol

That's always good advice but no, no water. We aren't the quick millennial startup my post might have hinted at.

[Flojomojo]

I can't imagine Nintendo selling this for less than $399.99 launch at least for the 1st 6 months. Then all the fools who paid that can have an ambassador switch w/20 extra roms while everyone else saves about $150 on it.

Your negativity is adding so much to this thread. Please write many more posts about how you do not intend to buy a Nintendo Switch!