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So what's next for the Switch iteration?

120v

Member
not really one for adopting the "cell phone model" with consoles but i could get behind it with switch... just minor improvements like battery life, memory, ect every year or so
 

robochimp

Member
I think the additional dock hardware power is the next iteration.

With incremental upgrades to the handheld as battery tech improves / other components shrink to allow for a bigger battery. How much more do we need out of a handheld?
 
Why would a mini be that much cheaper? Where are they saving money?
EDIT: I guess no dock + joycon dock but still...

Also, I'm pretty sure the Switch only costs about $257 total to manufacture. That price will only go down. Not to mention smaller packaging would save a good chunk for them when shipping millions and millions of units.
 

KtSlime

Member
Ever since Nintendo released the DSi LL in 2009, their best selling handhelds have been the LL version (XL), they even stopped production of the normal New 3DS and didn't bother making a non LL sized New 2DS.

Does it really make sense to bet on them making a Switch mini when all signs point to their customers wanting bigger handhelds?
 
Higher res screen, newer Tegra chip and better battery life, if they can nail those three things down I'll definitely upgrade. Higher res screens exist, Tegra X2 chip exists and higher capacity batteries exist, just comes down to when they can get the price down for those components.
 

qko

Member
I already have a Switch so here's my input....IMPROVE THE BATTERY LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IMPROVE!!!

THE!!!!!!!

BATTERY!!!!!!!!!!

LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I used to think this until I pulled out my New 3DS, and geez the Switch has such a good battery.
 
Higher res screen, newer Tegra chip and better battery life, if they can nail those three things down I'll definitely upgrade. Higher res screens exist, Tegra X2 chip exists and higher capacity batteries exist, just comes down to when they can get the price down for those components.

Pretty much this. A Pascal based Switch with a higher-res screen would do wonders for the system, plus give better battery life to boot.

I hope they also bring out a white version, like they did with the Wii/Wii U and New 3DS.
 

UCBooties

Member
uZfUDcJ.png

This is all I want.
 
Switch Pro:

- Fast Charging (40% in 30 min)
- 5G GSM model ($50 more)
- Non-removable joy cons (return of the Dpad)
- Nvidia Tegra X2 (Developers have the option to use power how they see fit, older games have increased battery life)
 
There is no way Nintendo makes a system without removable joycons and still calls it the Switch. Maybe near the end of the system life they release some form of that to get a few more sales, but it's too integral to the Switch concept to abandon anytime soon.
 

Polari

Member
Switch mini makes sense when 3DS has finally run its course so they can hit the low end. 5.5" 720p screen, built-in joycons with a dock as a $50 optional accessory for $199 would be pretty reasonable for the end of 2018.

I'd also like an upgraded mainline Switch with 1080p screen and a bigger battery (considering it's not exactly slim at the moment I'm guessing they should be able to easily fit something bigger than 4,310 mAh in there. My phone has a battery that size and is 1/3 of the thickness and only has a 5.5" screen.
 

lucius

Member
I don't think Switch mini would work, it makes it harder to do local multiplayer, confuses the market. A more powerful dock upgrade like pro I could see down the line maybe, and I am sure they will have some different versions like 3DS, we are still at least a year away from them even talking about it though.
 

DESTROYA

Member
This is more for the joy-cons than actual switch but I would love to see them make more versions of them, I'm not talking different colors but with a real d-pad and for the other side a reverse of the sticks and buttons ( analog stick over the buttons )I think it would be more ergonomically to hold.
My hands aren't huge but it can get a bit uncomfortable to use, I've learned aiming arrows on BOTW is a little tricky especially once the action really gets going.
 

Quasar

Member
GAF knows nothing. It's almost always wrong in regard to predictions. You should get a Switch. It's a wonderful device and platform.

also new versions of things always come out. if you wait till the 'right' time you'll never buy any tech.
 

atbigelow

Member
It shouldn't. This thread is just filled with people who magically think the detachable controllers are contributing significantly to the cost and simply want a smaller version.

I wouldn't worry at all

Well the detaching controllers do add cost and complexity. It isn't like they'd cut a single feature and all of a sudden it drops $100 in price. It's gonna be a lot of small things that add up. And there's a LOT going on for the joycons; permanently attaching them would reduce their complexity.

This thread is giving me anxiety about potentially getting a Switch this fall. Goddammit

Don't be anxious. It's a great system and Nintendo keeps supporting even their dead systems. Switch line-up in a single year is topping years of their previous console.
 

kraspkibble

Permabanned.
I bought a switch and was quite impressed by it. If they just refined it a little and gave it improved internals to be more powerful/efficient then I'd be happy. The joycons sometimes felt loose when attached and of course there was the whole desync thing but I think that's fixed. Also there were reports of cracks and warping so perhaps improved structure design. The dock could also do with some changes such as better cooling/airflow and protection/cushioning so it doesn't scratch the screens.

I returned my Switch because of an issue with the battery. It wasn't going past 93% after 4 hours of charging. It would stay on 1% for about 20-30 minutes. Sometimes it would say 93% charge then when I turn it back on after 5 minutes I suddenly only have 67% charge. Nothing I could do to fix it and wasn't prepared to send it in to Nintendo and wait another 2 weeks for them to return it and maybe fix it. This was after I had gone 2 weeks unable to play because I sent in the left joycon because it was desyncing.

I decided I would rather just get my money back and wait for an updated model to come out. Hopefully we get one next year as I think the DS got one a year or so after launch.
 

Ratros

Member
Switch to Tegra X2 (Xavier seems a little too heavy with its 20-30W TDP for NS, but..).

Switch to passive cooling.

Switch to a larger battery since passive cooling is adopted.

Switch to QuickCharge 3.0 since we have a larger battery.

Switch to a better wireless chip.

Switch to 128GB storage.

Sadly, 128GB storage is the easiest option for Nintendo to implement, but also the least possible option for Nintendo to implement.
 
D-Pad + more powerful dock/console is all it needs.

It already looks glorious in handheld mode, any bump would hopefully bring some bigger games to the system much easier.
 
The switch is on 20nm chips and next year we are looking at 7nm becoming a thing. We should be able to see a revision with better battery life come soon.

Honestly i would just expect a new new2ds with the the internals of a Switch, better battery life and Doc compadability.

I can't see a 7nm anytime soon on handheld for nvidia.Maybe 2019/2020. While its confirmed they're skipping 10nm to go to 7nm, going from 16 to 7 is pretty huge. I personally think the next switch iteration is 16nm X2 parker/pascal, or nvidia volta at 12nm which is planning to be released in early 2018 release. At this point, nvidia might as well skip to 12nm switch iteration for the end of 2018, since volta release is around the corner, though no confirmations of handheld like specs.

I think an X2 Switch with a 1080p screen and a VR dock is a possibility. Budget VR with a flagship Nintendo title would be very attractive to lots of folks by then, I would think. The device could also offer a Pro-like boost for the device when used normally, provided developers supported that.

2020.

I personally think a 1080p screen is a waste atm for this generation. I'd sacrifice it for a 720p screen for better battery life. It takes a lot of processing power to do 1080p, and on a handheld, its gonna eat away at the battery

<i>Why would a mini be that much cheaper? Where are they saving money?
EDIT: I guess no dock + joycon dock but still...</i>
smaller screen, built in controls/instead of detachable would save a lot of money. Nintendo could not include some features also that are present in the current joycons, like HD rumble. Other than that, switch price will go down along with nvidia x1 tegra series.
 

ksamedi

Member
Switch XL with a bigger screen and bigger joycons, more batery life and a 1080p screen would be nice.

A dockless Switch SKU makes sense as well. A Switch mini seems logical at first sight, but thinking about it makes it seem not likely at all. The joycons are already small enough and non detachable joycons just goes against the Switch design.

A power dock seems likely to me as well further down the road.
 

FinalAres

Member
Min brightness which is honestly fine as long as you aren't outside and the battery life is honesty pretty fucking good. Comparable or better than tablets if all you did was game on them even at higher brightness. What do you want? A 13000mah battery? Then get a portable battery charger and call it a day. If you want that from Nintendo the device would be twice as thick and cost at least $50 more. No thanks.
I don't understand why you're being so defensive in this. It's not a criticism of precious Nintendo to say that they want a better battery life. It's the best that could have been achieved at the time for a fair price point, but for a revision it should definitely be a focus. Comparing to tablets is bizarre, tablets aren't dedicated games machines. Ultimately the battery on Switch is kind of annoying.
 
Switch XL with a bigger screen and bigger joycons, more batery life and a 1080p screen would be nice.

A dockless Switch SKU makes sense as well. A Switch mini seems logical at first sight, but thinking about it makes it seem not likely at all. The joycons are already small enough and non detachable joycons just goes against the Switch design.

A power dock seems likely to me as well further down the road.

Yeah, I think it makes a lot of sense that they're selling the Switch with a dock initially because they're trying to get the idea of what the Switch is off the ground, but once everyone understands that it's a "hybrid console" I think they should start selling the system and dock separately.

As it stands, they're forcing customers to buy what is essentially an accessory they may never use, and thereby increase the price of entry. Once there's a general understanding of what the Switch is, forcing customers to buy a dock with the system will just be bad business.

It would be like selling the Gamecube with a $90 GBA link-cable while providing no way to get the system by itself if someone doesn't intend on hooking a GBA up to it.
 

kraspkibble

Permabanned.
i just don't think a switch mini would work at all.

if the joy cons are attached then that kind defeats the whole purpose of being able to play with a friend or using it in tabletop mode. they'd need to include a controller and not just a plastic grip which is going to add more cost. plus the joy cons are already small as it is. any smaller and they will be straight up uncomfortable. and if they don't include a dock...then you can't even play it on your TV. at that point you might as well stop calling it a Switch because you won't be able to switch between portable/docked.

it just doesn't make any sense.
 

Newline

Member
i just don't think a switch mini would work at all.

if the joy cons are attached then that kind defeats the whole purpose of being able to play with a friend or using it in tabletop mode. they'd need to include a controller and not just a plastic grip which is going to add more cost. plus if the joy cons are already small as it is. any smaller and they will be straight up uncomfortable. and if they don't include a dock...then you can't even play it on your TV. at that point you might as well stop calling it a Switch because you won't be able to switch between portable/docked.

it just doesn't make any sense.
Nintendo can go after two different markets. Some people are not interested in tabletop mode at all and just want a dedicated handheld device. The two versions can exist side by side. That's the beauty of what Nintendo has done, they have one single game ecosystem but they can release it on multiple different hardware systems. Theres no reason why in 5 years time we wont have the regular switch, a mini handheld switch and a beefed up home console only pro switch all existing together.
 

Protome

Member
Nintendo can go after two different markets. Some people are not interested in tabletop mode at all and just want a dedicated handheld device. The two versions can exist side by side. That's the beauty of what Nintendo has done, they have one single game ecosystem but they can release it on multiple different hardware systems. Theres no reason why in 5 years time we wont have the regular switch, a mini handheld switch and a beefed up home console only pro switch all existing together.

They're already going after two different markets by having a device that does both. Ditching your main selling point only makes sense if that main selling point isn't working. The Switch is clearly still selling very well and so people like the idea of it. This isn't like the 3DS where nobody bought it to start with because nobody gives a shit about 3D so they knew that down the line they could remove that and nobody would care.

Also it amazes me that people feel the need to make this exact same topic every week.
 

NotLiquid

Member
Yeah the internals and general purpose of the console would make a "mini version" with no docking capability a lot more complicated on paper. I'm not expecting a revision anytime soon; for once it feels like they did the best they could in their first iteration.
 

Newline

Member
They're already going after two different markets by having a device that does both. Ditching your main selling point only makes sense if that main selling point isn't working. The Switch is clearly still selling very well and so people like the idea of it. This isn't like the 3DS where nobody bought it to start with because nobody gives a shit about 3D so they knew that down the line they could remove that and nobody would care.

Also it amazes me that people feel the need to make this exact same topic every week.
It's not just hardware that sells systems though, games sell systems too. There will be people down the line that want to tap into Nintendos new library of games but don't want to own a hybrid system. It'll make sense to release different SKU's at that point. Someone in this thread brought up Pokemon and it's a great example, not having a dedicated handheld available for this game will leave huge untapped potential.
 

blu

Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
TSMC's 12FFC would allow for some nice upgrades - A72@2GHz, which would make per-thread performance better than the 4K iterations of the twins. Which would allow some of the more CPU-intensive multiplats to be perfectly switch-able.
 

Protome

Member
It's not just hardware that sells systems though, games sell systems too. There will be people down the line that want to tap into Nintendos new library of games but don't want to own a hybrid system. It'll make sense to release different SKU's at that point. Someone in this thread brought up Pokemon and it's a great example, not having a dedicated handheld available for this game will leave huge untapped potential.

Only if the Switch were a bad handheld which it isn't. It's not like removing the dock and joy con rails would decrease the price dramatically. Removing the Switch part of the Switch doesn't have any net benefit beyond being able to say "Hey, it has less functionality, isn't that awesome?"

Nobody in the mainstream cares about a "Dedicated handheld" if a hybrid handheld has Pokemon on it, they'll buy it for Pokemon.
 
Without comprimising the vision for the Switch - which is more useful and compelling than either the WiiU or the 3DS' unique features:

  • Die shrink to lower power consumption
  • If they can pull it off, passive cooling instead of a fan without compromising performance
  • With other components being lighter and lower volume, they could in principle simply increase the size of the battery, too
  • Screen size increased / bezel decrease while maintaining the same overall form factor
  • Fucking DRAMATICALLY improve the weak-ass kickstand. I don't care if they have to get down on their knees and beg for table scraps from Panos Panay, what they included in the Switch was very poor and there are a lot of better designs out there in the wild they could "take inspiration" from.

Making it thinner is questionable. The tablet could certainly be made thinner, but the joycons can't without causing compatibility issues. Without shrinking the Joycons to match, this would mean that a future revision would be slim in the middle, while the joycon attachment points suddenly bulged out in an unseemly manor. I find it unlikely they would choose to do something like that.

Other than the bezel being a bit unseemly and the poor kickstand, the device is actually already very well designed and aesthetically solid.
 

Protome

Member
Without comprimising the vision for the Switch - which is more useful and compelling than either the WiiU or the 3DS' unique features:

  • Die shrink to lower power consumption
  • If they can pull it off, passive cooling instead of a fan without compromising performance
  • With other components being lighter and lower volume, they could in principle simply increase the size of the battery, too
  • Screen size increased / bezel decrease while maintaining the same overall form factor
  • Fucking DRAMATICALLY improve the weak-ass kickstand. I don't care if they have to get down on their knees and beg for table scraps from Panos Panay, what they included in the Switch was very poor and there are a lot of better designs out there in the wild they could "take inspiration" from.

Making it thinner is questionable. The tablet could certainly be made thinner, but the joycons can't without causing compatibility issues. Without shrinking the Joycons to match, this would mean that a future revision would be slim in the middle, while the joycon attachment points suddenly bulged out in an unseemly manor. I find it unlikely they would choose to do something like that.

Other than the bezel being a bit unseemly and the poor kickstand, the device is actually already very well designed and aesthetically solid.

I didn't actually think I would care about the kickstand before the Switch came out but how terrible it is is definitely a bummer. Nintendo's own cases having a little stand in them seems like them acknowledging that issue too (and using the case as a stand is a much much better experience.)
 

Newline

Member
Only if the Switch were a bad handheld which it isn't. It's not like removing the dock and joy con rails would decrease the price dramatically. Removing the Switch part of the Switch doesn't have any net benefit beyond being able to say "Hey, it has less functionality, isn't that awesome?"

Nobody in the mainstream cares about a "Dedicated handheld" if a hybrid handheld has Pokemon on it, they'll buy it for Pokemon.
We're talking about a company that went from a Gameboy Advance to a GBA Micro (and all the SKU's inbetween). They also removed the 3DS's unique selling point in two separate iterations (clamshell/flat 2DS). The removal of 3D wasn't just one of price either, it was a decision made partly to target a younger demographic of gamer.

I find it hard to imagine Nintendo just leaving their hardware lineup with just the Switch in it's current form, seeing as after the 3DS dies this will be their one and only ecosystem.
 

Protome

Member
We're talking about a company that went from a Gameboy Advance to a GBA Micro (and all the SKU's inbetween). They also removed the 3DS's unique selling point in two separate iterations (clamshell/flat 2DS). The removal of 3D wasn't just one of price either, it was a decision made partly to target a younger demographic of gamer.

I find it hard to imagine Nintendo just leaving their hardware lineup with just the Switch in it's current form, seeing as after the 3DS dies this will be their one and only ecosystem.

I'm not sure what your point is with the GBA example, those were iterations that improved on the previous version of the system and then the micro which was smaller and cheaper. Not really comparable to a Switch Mini at all.

The removal of the clamshell and 3D screen in the 2DS was definitely almost entirely a price thing, making it a bit bulkier to target a younger audience was a benefit too, sure but if it hadn't reduced the price do you really think Nintendo would have release a 2DS at all?

I don't doubt there'll be some kind of Switch revision down the line even if it's just different colours of base unit or a more powerful "New Switch" in 3-4 years. I'm just saying a dedicated portable makes no sense. The tech just isn't there to make the Switch smaller or one combined unit at a reduced price. It's pretty much as cheap as it can be.

The actual "2DS" equivalent solution to appeal to younger audiences (or really, lets be honest, parents of younger gamers) is the same on tablets have used. Cases.
 
I expect:

Firstly, maybe as early as next Christmas, a mini version, handheld only, with a separate dock you can buy for it, fully compatible with joycons etc. you can obviously buy separately.

Second, just before next gen begins, so 2020 maybe, a New Switch with more powerful internals and a few exclussive games to get the less complicated cross gen third parties still releasing (primarily Japanese) games for the system.

A year or two after the PS5, and Xbox Two of that gets made, so 2022 or so, Switch 2 gets released.
 
The logo of the Switch is the Joycons. And the animation of it shows one clicking into place.

You will not a see a system called "Nintendo Switch" that has permanently attached controllers.

At best, Nintendo will release a "new" console 4 years from now called something else, that has giant words on the box that say "Compatible with Nintendo Switch software".
 

Protome

Member
I expect:

Firstly, maybe as early as next Christmas, a mini version, handheld only, with a separate dock you can buy for it, fully compatible with joycons etc. you can obviously buy separately.

Seems like a great idea. "Here's our new handheld only Switch, it costs basically the same as the regular one, with less functionality and you can add the functionality back in by buying add ons!"
 

Amneisac

Member
I think the additional dock hardware power is the next iteration.

With incremental upgrades to the handheld as battery tech improves / other components shrink to allow for a bigger battery. How much more do we need out of a handheld?

How would that work, though? Wouldn't the Switch have to be redesigned to leverage the dock as extra "horsepower". You couldn't do anything useful over the USB connection.
 
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