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Nintendo Reportedly Plans Smaller and Cheaper Switch For This Year (engadget.com)
According to a report from Nikkei, Nintendo is developing a smaller and cheaper version of the Switch focused on portability, and without some of the features in the original console. "A rumor in October suggested Nintendo was developing a new Switch, but instead of improving on the existing model, it's just as likely the company is looking for ways to streamline the system," notes Engadget. From the report: As Ars Technica speculates, the console's plastic dock could be the first thing to go. It's available separately for $90, and there are also cheaper ways to get your Switch to output to a TV (it's relying on a USB-C connection, after all). Nintendo could conceivably move towards a smaller and cheaper screen, and potentially even make the controller a physical part of the console, instead of the removable Joy-Cons. It also wouldn't be out of character for Nintendo to break existing functionality with a console revamp -- the 2DS was a cheaper spin on the 3DS that was still very playable without 3D.
Looks like a way for Nintendo to actually increase profits :
The base "Switch Lite" will be cheaper, but :
- The whole raison d'être of the Nintendo Switch and its success is the ability to seamlessly switch from portable console on the move to big screen in your living room.
- So you'll buy a separate Nintendo-branded official dock (because their USB-C connector isn't 100% standard-compliant, and some of the cheap 3rd party accessory don't actually work perfectly).
- So you'll buy a separate controller for the big screen mode if the "Switch Lite" doesn't have detachable controller. (Other wise you'll have to use the whole console tethered to the big TV screen as a giant controller, in the style of SEGA Nomad). And you can bet that Nintendo will find a way to have you buy preferably Nintendo-branded joycons, instead of any random Bluetooth controller. (e.g.: the proprietary gyro and accelerometers and other extra that a joycon has in addition to any no-name asian bluetooth gamepad)
etc.
- Of course all of the above will come with an extra "Nintendo tax" in the price.
Because Shareholders/Profits/Why not.
(me ? sorry, but I'm already more than happy with my Pi).
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They owe us one where the batteries can be replaced. Things like video game consoles are precisely the sort of thing where the government should be outlawing planned obsolescence in the form of non-fixable batteries. "Send it in and we'll replace the battery or unit" should not be permissible on consumer electronics.
We now have silicon chips containing BILLIONS of switches. Having a switch that fits in your pocket doesn't sound like a big deal. Isn't that basically a valve?
Then Switch U. Followed in 20 years with Switch Classic Mini.
I like how the 'cheaper option' linked has 24% 1-star reviews on Amazon. Probably not something you'd want to buy (main complaint is that it doesn't work).
I find it unlikely they wouldn't pack in a dock. For one thing, it being a console that can also be used as a portable is the chief gimmick, and not including a dock means it wouldn't be convertible out-of-the-box. Second, those docks are a hunk of molded plastic with a few standard USB ports and wires in it, which probably costs a buck tops to manufacture.
They might release a smaller dock, or not pack in the joycon grip. Making the screen smaller is possible, since it is pretty large to hold, and they've released various sizes of their past few portables. Probably, the 'smaller size' just means the chips will be made with the 7nm process, which will lower energy usage and allow for a smaller battery, which would make it lighter if they went that way rather than improve battery life. I still think the refresh will have a 1080p screen and run at its docked speed while in portable mode, to evade the performance problems that tend to appear when undocked. The marketing rationale behind killing 3d on the 2ds was that it was designed for young children who shouldn't be using the 3d feature anyway, even if that wasn't the real reason for it.
Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
This new Switch-Mini, with it's focus on portability, being smaller and easier to carry around, having build-in controllers etc. will probably replace the DS line.
What would be the point if keeping the DS around? The Switch-Mini will be more powerfull, more capable. It's only missing a second screen, but then again, it probably has 3x the resolution of a DS.
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
They are small people
They owe us one where the batteries can be replaced.
They owe you nothing. They are offering a product for sale. If you like it, buy it. If you don't, don't. Either choice is fine. I like user replaceable batteries too but I'm under no illusion that companies are under any obligation to provide them. I have declined to purchase products where I felt that servicing them would be a problem in the future. Nothing Nintendo makes is a life necessity so don't buy it if it doesn't meet your quality and durability standards.
Things like video game consoles are precisely the sort of thing where the government should be outlawing planned obsolescence in the form of non-fixable batteries.
"Planned obsolescence"? They don't have to plan it. It's going to be obsolete in 2-4 years with no planning whatsoever. That's just how fast the market moves. Now if your argument was that by making devices that cannot be serviced they are making unnecessary landfill then I think you might have a reasonable argument. Having a device fail because the battery went dead and cannot be replaced (by user or by manufacturer) is something that is a real problem.
"Send it in and we'll replace the battery or unit" should not be permissible on consumer electronics.
If you don't like it don't buy it. I think your complaint is a perfectly legitimate reason to not buy it. But if you fork over the cash for it then obviously it wasn't really a deal breaker for you now was it? I agree that the battery should be replaceable in some fashion but insisting that it be user serviceable is unreasonable for some products. If they provide a means to have it replaced by the manufacturer for some appropriate length of time (similar to automobile service parts) then that is fine. I can think of several products where having the General Public poking around inside to replace a battery is not the best idea. User serviceable is obviously ideal when possible but don't let perfect be the enemy of good.
There are many games that rely on the joycons as a pointer, being able to shake or manipulate them independently, or some games where you can only play holding them sideways. It wouldn't work if you can't remove them. Games like Mario Party, 1-2 Switch, Snipperclips, Just Dance, and more.
Hopefully if it is a more portable Switch they will add things like StreetPass, like they did on 3DS, to make it a fun portable experience.
Twinstiq, game news
This is pretty sweet news! This will probably be in time for Xmas or birthdays.
I have most of the good Wii U games for my kiddos, all bought used for about $15/each avg. Why buy a Wii U you ask? Let me repeat...$15/game vs $60/game. Most of the games are fun but only a few hours at best for the little ones. Nice thing is that I know they will come back and play them again when they are a little older.
For those of you without kids, it is tricky to navigate spending too much, spoiling, and the sheer number of awe inspiring amount of cool toys out there for little kids right now! I'll take that one hook, line, and sinker!
It's to fix the Tegra vulnerability. This will disable the little hack people use.
The only reason why the Switch did so well is the screen, Breath of the Wild, and Mario Odyssey. In terms of pure design, the 3DS was a far superior device. The 3DS's user interface was charming and rich. StreetPass was genius, and inspired me to carry around my 3DS for years. It was compatible with the previous generation games - having access to the huge DS library meant I was never at a loss for games to play. Virtual console was great. The clamshell case felt solid, unlike the Switch where I constantly feel like the joycons are going to snap off. My wish for the Switch Mini would be basically a 3DS XL an improved screen that can play Switch, 3DS, and DS games.
Fix the design of the joy-cons. The buttons/thumbsticks on those things get messed up so easily.
In debates about Christianity, there are two groups: those looking for answers, and those looking to just ask questions.
Would finally realize, when looking at the SWITCH's success, how boneheaded it was to castrate the PS Vita by removing its ability to connect to a TV.
Its predecessor the PSP, for all its flaws as a disc-based portable console, could be connected to a TV.
You will never imagine how long I, incredulous, searched my VITA for the TV port and never found it.
Removing a basic feature so that they could force you to buy a second model of VITA, the VITA TV (but not portable).
Greed, greed and more greed.
Because I apparently never get tired of the same goddamn game.
I think if you look at the vast majority of people who play video games, nobody is throwing out games because they're four years old.
They might not throw them out but almost all of them sure as hell aren't playing them anymore. They are on to the next thing in most cases. Fortnite wasn't a thing 2 years ago and now every kid I know is playing it. Two years from now it will be something else. That's how it works and how is has worked for a long time. I was playing video games in the early 1980s and it was just as true then.
"Obsolete" doesn't mean "Can't run the latest stuff", it means "Is no longer useful".
Obsolete means many things and not being the current state of the art is definitely one of them. (that includes not running the latest stuff) The dictionary definition is "no longer produced or used; out of date." Plenty of things are useful that are also obsolete. Your Nintendo Wii is both useful and obsolete. The PC sitting 10 feet from me as I type this is both useful and obsolete.
What the GP is complaining about is the notion that you'll have to throw out existing hardware in 2 years because it'll stop working properly.
No he's complaining about having to send in the device for servicing because the battery went dead. I'm saying that he shouldn't buy that hardware if this is a deal breaker for him. I'm not saying his opinion of devices that are built like that is wrong, just that knowingly buying something like that and then pretending the company owes you something is absurd.
It's horrible, it's wrong, and it's not standard practice in the computer industry as a whole.
Ha! Have you seen a smartphone or a tablet in the last 10 years? It's absolutely standard practice. Lots of devices only last a few years and then have to be replaced. It's not wrong if the maker of the device and the buyer are both fine with it. You and I might not like it but our opinions are just opinions, not universal ethical standards.
I like the switch, but never use the JoyCon controllers. The buttons are about half the size that they were on the Wii U. I understand wanting portability, but some of us bigger folks might like it too. I'd pay for bigger buttons on the joy cons.
Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds.There upon the rainbow is the answer to a neverending story
We've had USB-C docks for laptops for at least the last three years (the ports appeared on 6th generation Intel CPU devices) , so it's not an unreasonable idea to let the Switch use any USB-C dock.
As for controllers, this seems like a no-brainer, but Nintendo kinda sucks at doing this. Just put an additional USB-A/USB-C port on the dock and allow gamecube/n64/snes/nes to usb adapters/hubs to exist. Problem solved with the virtual console. FPGA consoles have already realized there is a desire for this functionality with the original model controllers.
New one is less powerful than a midrange cell phone?
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.