Nintendo Switch

[atarian63]

ifixit switch teardown

https://www.engadget.com/2017/03/04/nintendo-switch-ifixit-teardown-joy-con/?sr_source=Facebook

Edited March 4, 2017 by atarian63

[adamchevy]

ifixit switch teardown

https://www.engadget.com/2017/03/04/nintendo-switch-ifixit-teardown-joy-con/?sr_source=Facebook

I'm curious to know what Generation of CPU it has.

[Amstari]

 

I could not for the life of me figure out how to kill this big rock guy for those who know what I speak of. I had some bomb arrows and they did decent hurt but only 5, and then I got killed and my arrows were gone and he was restored (grr) Regular arrows would probably take 200 to kill it which I don't have, and you can't seemingly jump on its back or jump swing a weapon, or throw a weapon to hit the weak spot. I wonder what the deal is with that thing.

 

You can climb up its back and stand on top of it. Then take a few swings at the weak spot before it throws you off.

[cybercylon]

I am curious to know how the WII U version of the new Zelda game plays. I've read some reports that the Switch has a bit of a struggle keeping up with it's own version when there is a lot going on. Can anyone confirm?

[Zap!]

Yeah, we got our own forum! You're welcome!

Edited March 4, 2017 by Zap!

[Hyper_Eye]

I am curious to know how the WII U version of the new Zelda game plays. I've read some reports that the Switch has a bit of a struggle keeping up with it's own version when there is a lot going on. Can anyone confirm?

 

Digital Foundry's initial analysis is out:

 

 

Essentially they say the increased resolution is the main benefit to playing on Switch. Otherwise the games have matching graphical settings including effects, texture detail, and draw distance. Both games are vsync double buffered locked to 30fps but they both experience drops to 20fps. The locations where these drops occur are different for the two systems and they speculate that it has to do with how the world is segmented for loads between the two systems. I have the Wii U version. It looks fantastic and plays great. I'm continually being blown away by things I'm discovering in the game and all the detail. I will say that I'm a little irked by them gimping the Wii U gamepad. When I pull up the map I can see it clearly belongs on the gamepad. Instead the gamepad just flashes the text "Tap to switch to gamepad mode" the whole time. It's distracting and annoying. I'm playing with the pro controller instead. There are puzzles in the game that will require the gamepad for the motion controls though.

 

tldr: The experience is almost identical with the main difference being 900p for Switch in docked mode and 720p for Wii U. Both games suffer similar framerate drops but in different areas.

[Flojomojo]

ifixit switch teardown

https://www.engadget.com/2017/03/04/nintendo-switch-ifixit-teardown-joy-con/?sr_source=Facebook

8 out of 10 for repairability

Tri-wing screws, but no clips or glue

Digitizer separate from LCD

Everything is modular and easy to remove

 

Pretty amazing for a 2017 device, and possibly why it costs a little more than similar tablet tech out there.

 

I like the simple, elegant design inside, it's reminiscent of the GameCube or GBA in that regard.

[Punisher5.0]

Yeah Zelda looks good but I feel that there is still a lot left in the tank for the hardware. Nintendo is very good at pushing their own hardware so it will be exciting to see what they can do in the future. Mario Kart already looks fantastic.

[Tanooki]

that's what I was saying they won't ever allow themselves or others to blow out the hardware day one, not even close because then you run into having hearing years of whining how nothing matched 'that launch game' because they took it too far. You get the real topping out stuff usually 3-4years into a 5 year cycle system when you never know when things will drop out from under for best profitability.

[Keatah]

That's right. It's like a job, you never ever want to do your best right away, because that then becomes the baseline benchmark. Drop below it in the slightest and you get chastised and yelled at. Besides, the programmers have to learn the system.

Edited March 4, 2017 by Keatah

[Tanooki]

Yup I learned that one early in my job. I know it's a shitty practice, but I follow Mr Scotts Guide ot Engineering in star trek. Perform a solid A level job goes at all time, but don't stress yourself on amounts of work, do a B-C level of it, just average. If you need to pull something off, you know you can squeeze that added hour or two (or so) of the day out now and again and come off looking like a miracle worker to the boss. That's how I do it. When they thought they had me and when I was on production tried to raise it, I gave an inch, then they tried to take a foot, so then I started skipping lunch and barely getting stuff finished so they'd inch it back and were overly pleased ever since that rate.

 

Same thing in games. Do a B level job on a product early on, leave the best assets on the table knowing you need that room to really wow people later on so you don't cause an over expectation in the future.

[Rick Dangerous]

Yeah Zelda looks good but I feel that there is still a lot left in the tank for the hardware. Nintendo is very good at pushing their own hardware so it will be exciting to see what they can do in the future. Mario Kart already looks fantastic.

 

It makes sense given the game also has to work on the Wii U. I have to say the two Switch games I have (Zelda, Bomberman) didn't seem like anything that couldn't be done on a Wii U, but as people say first gen games never are. I'm sure a year or two in i'll say "okay this probably couldn't be done on the Wii U."

 

Honestly I have a hard time differentiating beyond modern consoles graphics quality. Anything HD has looked pretty good to me since the Xbox 360 came out (never owned one) but my Wii U and PS3 still look amazing to me. I see the Xbox one and PS4 graphics and they really don't look noticeably better to me than the previous gen... so to me i'm not sure what the point of new consoles are at this point other than to sell new consoles. I don't buy that most new games are really pushing the hardware. This is where I give credit to Nintendo for at least trying with the innovative hardware and gameplay concepts; at least they are trying to progress gaming on some level beyond infinitesimal improvements in polygon counts. But i guess thats what people still care about, the horsepower wars....yawn.

[Punisher5.0]

I haven't tried it out yet but I just picked up a Pro Controller at my local Walmart. They had plenty of them there. While staring at them I came to the realization that I'm going to have to eventually buy another set of joy cons for my kids when we get Mario Kart.

[BillLoguidice]

Putting more time into the console, man is it confusing when the Joy-Cons are off the unit and you're trying to play multiplayer. And they really are way too small to be comfortable when used like that and the horizontal versus vertical orientation, and whether to use the right or left, is not clear. We were frustrated with the Snipperclips demo, and frustrated when playing local multiplayer Bomberman. I guess until I get a Pro Controller at some point, I'll leave the multiplayer to my kids. That also means I won't be using it on the TV much, although I have yet to try the snap-in shell, which should alleviate the single player issue.

Finally, I can appreciate Zelda, but it's not really the type of game I like. However, I'll definitely be putting more time into it and I at least see the potential for me enjoying it.

[omegadot]

I bought a pro controller but my 5 year old and wife are adoring Snipperclips and Bomberman with the joycons. I personally found it confusing but they did not.

 

I think the pro controller is a fantastic controller. Reminds me of an Xbox One with Nintendo precision. For what that's worth. I do own the stock and S controllers for the Xbone.

 

BotW will probably be my most payed Zelda. I mostly just played LttP, Links's Awakening DX(My favorite iteration), and Wind Waker. So far the switch iteration has really just aligned for me. I love the feeling that I can climb, scavenge, throw, fight, move, or whatever anything. I've had trouble putting it down at all.

[bojay1997]

That's right. It's like a job, you never ever want to do your best right away, because that then becomes the baseline benchmark. Drop below it in the slightest and you get chastised and yelled at. Besides, the programmers have to learn the system.

While it's certainly true that developers and middleware providers find techniques to make certain things easier as time goes on, I'm not aware of any developer or manufacturer ever intentionally holding back on the performance of launch titles simply so they could set the bar lower. I'm also not so sure that there is much additional performance to be squeezed out of the hardware. Sure, we might see slightly better optimization of graphics and play engines over time, but just like the WiiU, I don't think we're going to see major strides between system initial release and the end of the cycle.

[NE146]

Just checked out the order status:

Scheduled Delivery: Tuesday, 03/07/2017, By End of Day

.... Switch is a-comin'!

[Keatah]

While it's certainly true that developers and middleware providers find techniques to make certain things easier as time goes on, I'm not aware of any developer or manufacturer ever intentionally holding back on the performance of launch titles simply so they could set the bar lower. I'm also not so sure that there is much additional performance to be squeezed out of the hardware. Sure, we might see slightly better optimization of graphics and play engines over time, but just like the WiiU, I don't think we're going to see major strides between system initial release and the end of the cycle.

 

Maybe. Maybe not. We're still seeing incredible things being done on the VCS. It's exceeded mfg. expectations 10x over, and more.

 

Some hardware lends itself to eeking out more performance, and some not. Typically the more complex the development kit the less overall EOL performance gains.

 

The VCS essentially had a reference manual and that was it. Go figure.

 

[0078265317]

I found the answer. No Virtual Console with launch.

 

http://bgr.com/2017/02/23/nintendo-switch-virtual-console-release-date/

 

And also interesting read.

 

http://www.polygon.com/2017/2/28/14726580/nintendo-switch-launch-not-finished

[CPUWIZ]

http://kotaku.com/nintendo-confirms-switch-save-data-cant-be-transferred-1792972788

[adamchevy]

 

Maybe. Maybe not. We're still seeing incredible things being done on the VCS. It's exceeded mfg. expectations 10x over, and more.

 

Some hardware lends itself to eeking out more performance, and some not. Typically the more complex the development kit the less overall EOL performance gains.

 

The VCS essentially had a reference manual and that was it. Go figure.

 

I was thinking about this and mobile technology and if their is a comparison of some kind. Mostly I wonder what the power of these smaller arm based cpus are and smaller gpus in comparison to the full size ones. Not power consumption, but computational power and ability. Edited March 5, 2017 by adamchevy

[Osgeld]

a ras pi 3 get's out benchmarked by a P3 windows 98 era box

 

now to be fair, that chipset isnt set out to be a monster powerhouse, its meant to be a cheap media device unlike the NVIDIA setup, but there is still downsides to portability

 

I would point out some switch specific examples, but that would just start a turd tornado

 

what you need to know is no, the switch is not going to keep up with the current lineup in terms of technical abilities, but an xbone isnt going to fit in your day bag and run 2-3 hours off a battery the size of a small stack of business cards

Edited March 6, 2017 by Osgeld

[Punisher5.0]

It's fast! If you played the Wii U game, this is more of the same, which is excellent. Sumo Digital does good racing games. I would have preferred Wipeout or F-Zero but this is quite nice and it's way better than AG Drive on mobile, even though it looks similar.

I just downloaded and played about 10 races and wow I'm impressed! Very good looking game and silky smooth. Wipeout on the Vita was the benchmark racing game for me on handhelds for its beautiful graphics and fast pace. I have to say that this game completely dethrones it! By far the best looking handheld racer. Especially on the excellent Switch screen.

 

This game made me realize that the Switch is what I've always wanted. Sony got close with the Vita and PSTV but a couple of issues hindered the experience. I like having that flexibility with playing wherever I want or hook it up to the TV for even better graphics. Simply put the Switch is perfect for me

[Punisher5.0]

8 out of 10 for repairability

Tri-wing screws, but no clips or glue

Digitizer separate from LCD

Everything is modular and easy to remove

Pretty amazing for a 2017 device, and possibly why it costs a little more than similar tablet tech out there.

I like the simple, elegant design inside, it's reminiscent of the GameCube or GBA in that regard.

I absolutely love that the system is put together with screws and not glue or welded. It leaves the system completely open for mods in the future.

[Punisher5.0]

After being out at the pinball arcade expo for hours with a friend yesterday I got into the Zelda game from like 11-2. I got the magnetism, took down multiple bokoblin spots, and got the bombs too. It's a little quirky on certain things which will annoy but get used to like trying to re-sheath a weapon isntead of firing it, and the clunkiness of having to pull out another weapon specifically going between bow/arrows and swords. I walked most the map until I hit that spot where you have the freezing water and the busted bridge. I kept dying and got pissed around 1:45ish and stopped. The magnetism thing is clunky. I eventually figured out the metal plate was there and would move it, but you can't seem to pivot/rotate it, just push and pull and it kept going into the damned water. And on top of that I'd freeze to death, and after a few of those I was done.

 

I could not for the life of me figure out how to kill this big rock guy for those who know what I speak of. I had some bomb arrows and they did decent hurt but only 5, and then I got killed and my arrows were gone and he was restored (grr) Regular arrows would probably take 200 to kill it which I don't have, and you can't seemingly jump on its back or jump swing a weapon, or throw a weapon to hit the weak spot. I wonder what the deal is with that thing.

 

The system itself is more comfy than I thought it would be. Sleek, compact, robust, it's not flimsy. Feels like that premium look like iphone5s has where it's just smooth and tough yet they went thankfully with matte so it's not a wiiu fingerprint magnet. Popping off the joycons they feel alright, but I"m used to the GB Micro, but on that supplied controller grip I was at it that entire time and it never felt weird, wrong, or uncomfortable verifying my comment the pro controller is fairly pointless if you're gaming alone or minimally with friends using the joycons.

 

Presentation wise the Zelda game is a launch title and vs art style the quality of the package to me sits on the back end of the PS3 generation while the PS4 was just inching out, so it's got potential to grow over the years as people push it further as no one blows out a system day one as that just sets a bar for years of whining and failure comparisons. The system itself the menu is awesome, minimalist like a tablet/phone so easy to get there and quick, as was the eshop to my surprise. No stupid friend codes yet unless I think you setup parental controls which I won't touch, and no phone stuff yet multiplayer works so that's a non-issue for now too.

 

I should fire up Bomberman here today, but I kind of want to take another swing at Zelda. I'm annoyed at where it was left. Hardest Zelda in my memory since the NES period, yet they don't seem to punish death either other than a red X on the map for the latest corpse.

When the rock guy is hanging down you want to jump and climb on top of him and hit that black part sticking up with the arrow above it. Then slash it with a sword. I still haven't beat him yet but i've come close several times.