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So what's next for the Switch iteration?


And then you have this problem:

Nintendo-Switch-Internals.jpg


There's really no way you can downsize these internals to allow for that kind of size.
 
And then you have this problem:

Nintendo-Switch-Internals.jpg


There's really no way you can downsize these internals to allow for that kind of size.

Switching to the Tegra X2 or equivalent means they can drop the battery size and remove the fan, at least for a handheld only version, I'm not sure if the TV mode boost would work without a fan.
 
Switch Mini is never happening. People need to stop with that. At best Nintendo spins off to a portable system that supports Switch Software. But I can't see that happening for 4 or so years.
 
Wouldn't that basically be the same as a Switch Mini?

No, it wouldn't be a Switch system at all. The branding wouldn't make any sense. It'd be like saying isn't the DS a Gameboy? And I don't think it'll happen anyway. The market is telling Nintendo you have a winner. They are not about to muddy a successful idea.

The Switch idea is all about modes of play. This Mini idea cuts that out. If you want Switch as a portable you have it already. You want it as a home console, you have it already. Nintendo is more likely to sell just the portable form on its own, no dock. That would be the first "new" version. That will happen when Nintendo wants to boost sales. That's probably 2 years away, depending on how this holiday goes.
 
Switching to the Tegra X2 or equivalent means they can drop the battery size and remove the fan, at least for a handheld only version, I'm not sure if the TV mode boost would work without a fan.

The concern with dropping battery size is not knowing how much more power the Tegra X2 can get. Theoretically, dropping the battery size means a marginal move where you can expect the same performance (2.5-6hours) as opposed to potentially increasing battery life.
 

Air

Banned
A switch mini could work if it's the same width as the regular switch so you can dock and undock. There's use for it for people who don't want to carry around the larger device
 
A switch mini could work if it's the same width as the regular switch so you can dock and undock. There's use for it for people who don't want to carry around the larger device

The identity of the system, the logo itself, is the Joycons. One clicks into place in the animated version. You are not seeing something called the Switch that doesn't have Joycons.
 

Air

Banned
The identity of the system, the logo itself, is the Joycons. One clicks into place in the animated version. You are not seeing something called the Switch that doesn't have Joycons.

You can still have mini joy con. I don't think it would be wise for Nintendo to lose out on a segment of their audience who want smaller handhelds. The identity can encompass other ideas after enough time has passed.
 

GaimeGuy

Volunteer Deputy Campaign Director, Obama for America '16
Pro tip to people who think the switch is too big for pockets: put joycons, wallet, phone in one pocket, switch in another.
 

foltzie1

Member
I think the low yields could force an iteration sooner than later, and next holiday would be 18 months, a similar time frame to the original DS Lite iirc.

I don't believe the X1 SoC is what is constrained for the Switch production. Nintendo certainly isn't fighting against Apple for stock.

I don't see what a quicker move to a Parker based SoC would buy Nintendo in terms of manufacturing ease.
 
It's supposed to be around twice the efficiency. Someone with the money and knowhow should be able to check ;)
https://www.siliconhighwaydirect.co.uk/product-p/945-82771-0005-000.htm

Perhaps we can see an X2 iteration competing with xbone and ps4 base consoles at 800TFLOPS with 8GB of LDDR4 RAM, denver cores, and twice the bandwidth of the current switch that gets activated in docked mode.. But is a bandwidth of 58.3 GB/sl enough? Xbone alone has 205GB/s + 32MB eSRAM. Bandwidth is by far Switch's weakest point and could hold it back from scaling demanding AAA 3rd party ports on switch..
 

ironmang

Member
I imagine they'll eventually introduce a reduced price, smaller, kid friendlier design. I really just can't see young kids taking around a Switch like I did a GBC or my friends siblings did with GBA/DS.

Pro tip to people who think the switch is too big for pockets: put joycons, wallet, phone in one pocket, switch in another.

lol
 

AEREC

Member
Me purchasing it.

Seriously. I want a switch, but I learned not buy the first iteration of portable Nintendo hardware a long time ago

I feel like all nintendo handhelds are gonna have little issues since they have so many moving parts compared to something like the Vita.

Ive never had a nintendo handheld without an annoying little quirk:

DS - Dead Pixels
3DS - Wobbly hinge
N3DS - Wobbly hinge, Loose Right trigger button, small dent in touch screen
Switch - Cracking backplate, wobbly right Joycon in handheld mode, slightly raised screen

Nintendo is no Apple or Sony when it comes to hardware.
 
Perhaps we can see an X2 iteration competing with xbone and ps4 base consoles at 800TFLOPS with 8GB of LDDR4 RAM, denver cores, and twice the bandwidth of the current switch that gets activated in docked mode.. But is a bandwidth of 58.3 GB/sl enough? Xbone alone has 205GB/s + 32MB eSRAM. Bandwidth is by far Switch's weakest point and could hold it back from scaling demanding AAA 3rd party ports on switch..

The more recent Xavier chip is probably a better contender for that, or whatever else they have suitable in 3 years or so, but we might be seeing other next gen systems by then so the bar will be raised...
 
Switch Mini is never happening. People need to stop with that. At best Nintendo spins off to a portable system that supports Switch Software. But I can't see that happening for 4 or so years.

Isn't that.....isn't that exactly what is being suggested here? A portable system that supports Switch software?

Also it's too bad Nintendo is prohibited from ever making revisions of their dock, otherwise a theoretical Switch Mini could still be docked and "switch" to be used as a console. It's just too, too bad.
 

Genio88

Member
I feel like all nintendo handhelds are gonna have little issues since they have so many moving parts compared to something like the Vita.

Ive never had a nintendo handheld without an annoying little quirk:

DS - Dead Pixels
3DS - Wobbly hinge
N3DS - Wobbly hinge, Loose Right trigger button, small dent in touch screen
Switch - Cracking backplate, wobbly right Joycon in handheld mode, slightly raised screen

Nintendo is no Apple or Sony when it comes to hardware.

Lol why Apple and Sony are perfect? I can tell you that i have a Switch since day one and i used it everyday with over one hundred hours of Zelda and lots of other games, not a single hardware issue. Those things happen to all the devices there always be a few "bad" units, just like there are faulty Playstation(like the PS3 blueray which always breaks) or iPhones( like iPhone 4 antenna gate)
 

I don't know why people keep thinking that this is something Nintendo would be interested in doing. The Switch is literally already a handheld. Making it smaller does nothing for Nintendo. The thing is already selling out at $300.

Also, making the joycons irreplaceable cuts into Nintendo's business plan to sell more joycons. There's no upside for Nintendo to do this. They can barely get the parts they need as it is.
 

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
I may have been mistaken, but I believe graphically the X1 is the most powerful SoC not made by Apple in the <7 inch market. Unless bleeding tech simply means most recently released and not necessarily most powerful.

You are mistaken, because the Tegra X2 exists.
 
No, it wouldn't be a Switch system at all. The branding wouldn't make any sense. It'd be like saying isn't the DS a Gameboy? And I don't think it'll happen anyway. The market is telling Nintendo you have a winner. They are not about to muddy a successful idea.

The Switch idea is all about modes of play. This Mini idea cuts that out. If you want Switch as a portable you have it already. You want it as a home console, you have it already. Nintendo is more likely to sell just the portable form on its own, no dock. That would be the first "new" version. That will happen when Nintendo wants to boost sales. That's probably 2 years away, depending on how this holiday goes.

That's all well and good, but portable Switch isn't as portable as prior handhelds.
 

matthewuk

Member
I think a new 3DS approach would be the most logical. Maybe for the most part using the 50% power efficiency for extended battery life and saving a small portion for slightly higher clocks and or cores to improve resolution and frame rate performance of existing titles. Especially in docked mode.
 

blu

Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
I may have been mistaken, but I believe graphically the X1 is the most powerful SoC not made by Apple in the <7 inch market. Unless bleeding tech simply means most recently released and not necessarily most powerful.

You are mistaken, because the Tegra X2 exists.
TX2 is not a mobile chip, let alone for the <7" market.
 

z0m3le

Banned
I don't believe the X1 SoC is what is constrained for the Switch production. Nintendo certainly isn't fighting against Apple for stock.

I don't see what a quicker move to a Parker based SoC would buy Nintendo in terms of manufacturing ease.

My point wasn't that moving to a newer Xavier Tegra would allow them to produce more Switch units, but simply that Nintendo might need to change other components to produce more, and could use it as an opportunity to use the newer Xavier Tegra chip as early as next holiday.

DS -> DSlite and 3DS -> 3DS XL both took about a year and a half, so saying Nintendo might move onto a Switch+ just a year and a half later, isn't such a radical idea IMO. Better battery life, more performance, and higher yield production can all be benefits of such a move.
 
I wonder if X2 would be able to use full CPU and gpu clock speeds without overheating and throttling at 80% unlike X1. Of course this would be for docked mode though. Didn't 20nm havr issues have an issue with that and could that have been the case vs 16nm nodes like parker/ Pascal x2?
 
So by that logic, tablets/laptops/notebooks aren't portable because you can't throw them in a pocket.

They're not as portable. At least with laptops there's a baseline expectation (foldable 11" x 7" minimum monolith) whose size is justified by the keyboard/trackpad inclusion.

No real need aside from power for handheld systems. I LIKED being able to pocket my handheld from GBC (skipped Pocket) to the 3DS family.
 
They're not as portable. At least with laptops there's a baseline expectation (foldable 11" x 7" minimum monolith) whose size is justified by the keyboard/trackpad inclusion.

No real need aside from power for handheld systems. I LIKED being able to pocket my handheld from GBC (skipped Pocket) to the 3DS family.

I don't get this separating portable devices because they're as, or not as portable as preceding devices. At the end of the day they're still portable. The only difference is whether it's convenient for the person (after all there are different situations for everyone), but that doesn't mean the Switch is de facto not as portable as preceding devices. That's why I mentioned pocketability =! portability, and I have no idea why people still think this way.

I've always used a messenger bag for work/school, so I have no problems taking my devices and laptop on the go. The last real pocketable system for me was the DS Lite/DSi as you could get away with pocketing them. 3DS (due to increased thickness and especially XL) was borderline pocketable to the point of being uncomfortable, and I had to resort to buying a case and putting it in the bag.
 

KtSlime

Member
I don't get this separating portable devices because they're as, or not as portable as preceding devices. At the end of the day they're still portable. The only difference is whether it's convenient for the person (after all there are different situations for everyone), but that doesn't mean the Switch is de facto not as portable as preceding devices. That's why I mentioned pocketability =! portability, and I have no idea why people still think this way.

I've always used a messenger bag for work/school, so I have no problems taking my devices and laptop on the go. The last real pocketable system for me was the DS Lite/DSi as you could get away with pocketing them. 3DS (due to increased thickness and especially XL) was borderline pocketable to the point of being uncomfortable, and I had to resort to buying a case and putting it in the bag.

He's separating them because he doesn't want to bring a bag. Which is unfathomable to me because if I go beyond a few blocks of my house without my bag I feel kind of naked, as if I don't have my phone or wallet or keys on me. But to each his own, I just don't understand not wanting the convenience having a bag brings.
 
He's separating them because he doesn't want to bring a bag. Which is unfathomable to me because if I go beyond a few blocks of my house without my bag I feel kind of naked, as if I don't have my phone or wallet or keys on me. But to each his own, I just don't understand not wanting the convenience having a bag brings.

Not having to bring a bag is its own convenience.

If I don't need a bag for anything else, there's little point. Even so, I find it more convenient to slip out of my pocket than bag.
 
This is what I'd say is more likely. I could see a Spring 2019 release for a Switch mini. I recall seeing a patent a long time ago for customizable control configurations where you could slide an analog stick, D-pad or A,B,X,Y attachment into the handheld. Perhaps they could do that for the Switch Mini. Then in Spring 2020 offer a console attachment that brings graphics closer to competition.
 

Caelus

Member
The Switch mini would probably need circle pads if it has to be less wide than the Switch but still fit into the dock.

I think the current size of the Switch is a worthwhile tradeoff for the super comfy screen and better control input. I guess if you're self conscious about the, well, size of the device, consider that you're playing video games in public either way, so get over it?
 
Based on some quick calculations (don't have on hand to measure), the Tablet including bezel is ~7.7" diagonally. It might be possible to hit 7" on the screen if the bezels are shrunk considerably, but that might be too optimistic considering the Joycons need to attach.

Even so, that would be nice for an XL revision that could still maintain full joycon and dock compatibility.
 
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