• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Official Nintendo Switch hardware overview

Maybe it's because the Wii U had far more RAM than its competitors at the time and the Switch won't? I don't see any reason they HAVE to release the RAM specs.
Does it make sense to you that a console that is 40-50% as powerful as xbone has half the RAM? It doesn't to me.
 

maruchan

Member
If

Watched from about 2:40 to 3:50 and didn't see what you were talking about. But assuming you're right: that's both cool and sliiiightly unfortunate for customizing purposes. I did things like combine parts of different wiimotes to get some custom color setups and was planning on doing the same with Switch. I could have a gray/blue it considers gray and a blue/gray it considers blue.
.
I took a screen that shows the uindisplaying the colors of the neon joy cons..
fEH5ot7.jpg
 
Has anyone heard/know if the Switch supporting Bluetooth 4.1 means we will be able to pair wireless bluetooth headphones with it (like the Jaybird X3, Apple Earpods or BeatsX)?
 

Neoxon

Junior Member
Has anyone heard/know if the Switch supporting Bluetooth 4.1 means we will be able to pair wireless bluetooth headphones with it (like the Jaybird X3, Apple Earpods or BeatsX)?
No word on if it'll support Bluetooth headsets. But since the Switch has the hardware for it, wireless headset support can always be added later if it's not there at launch.
 
No word on if it'll support Bluetooth headsets. But since the Switch has the hardware for it, wireless headset support can always be added later if it's not there at launch.

Gotcha, thanks. Would be awesome to have it, especially when your taking the Switch on the go. But I'm not holding my breath for support from Nintendo...
 
You just pulled that out of your ass, didn't you? Not a single rumor has pegged it as a little over 50%

If the rumor of the Switch having 3 GB for games is true then the PS4 has about 64% more available RAM (5.5 GB). I believe that it is what he was getting at considering the post he was quoting.
 
Trying to figure out if I should grab myself a screen protector for the Switch. I feel like I'll most likely be using it in TV mode so it won't be as important to me as but it could be useful for those times I do take it on the road with me

Yeah, I'll have to decide on this too eventually, though I expect I'll be using it mostly at home too.
 
Huh? Seems to make sense to me... And as for RAM usable by games, its apparently rumored to be a little above 50%.

The power scaling doesn't make sense to me, considering how close the Switch is to the Xbone and PS4. Especially if its really 4-5x as powerful the Switch. Sure the Switch could have 3X as much RAM available to games. but I don't thin if just having 1GB of RAM dedicated for switch is a good idea, considering it was pretty slow for the Wii U. It's a good thing Sony changed from 4GB to 8GB in the last minute.

Obviously its out of our hands here. Nintendo is known to be pretty good for packing RAM for most of their console, but I feel like the RAM and bandwidth is gonna be the major bottleneck for the Switch for ports.

What do you mean a little above 50% btw?

edit: NVM you're referring to how much RAM PS4 has for games compared to Switch's 3-3.2GB of RAM? .8GB sounds even worse for OS. I hope its better in the sense its faster and more efficient than Wii U's OS.
 
If the rumor of the Switch having 3 GB for games is true then the PS4 has about 64% more available RAM (5.5 GB). I believe that it is what he was getting at considering the post he was quoting.

My point is what rumor? The only rumor the commented on the RAM allocation for games said 3.2GB was usable (80%). I want a link to whatever rumor has it only slightly above 50%
 
Alternatively, Nintendo could judo flip the messaging around. They could say the Switch is a handheld the size of a VHS tape, with 50% of the power (docked) of a XB1, which the size of a VCR, and 1/3 the power of a base PS4. So they could say those consoles are weak for their form factor.

It won't hold up to scrutiny, but it only needs to work on casual consumers on a surface level.

Would the VHS and VCR comparisons be an extension of their marketing to people in their 20s and older?
 

tenchir

Member
Has anyone heard/know if the Switch supporting Bluetooth 4.1 means we will be able to pair wireless bluetooth headphones with it (like the Jaybird X3, Apple Earpods or BeatsX)?

It already has the hardware for it. Most wireless chipset in mobile features both wireless and Bluetooth function. The JoyCon controller will be using Bluetooth. It's only up to Nintendo to implement the Bluetooth headset functionality and they haven't done it for both the Wii and WiiU, so don't count on it.
 

japtor

Member
So... do we have any idea watt kind of power is required to charge the Switch in portable mode? The last I saw, the back of the unit suggest 39W which is really damn high. I'm looking at a 24W power brick right now but I don't want to pull the trigger until I know.
The official car adapter is 5V/3A, or 15W. The spec on the system itself (and in the FCC filing) is 5-15V/2.6A, so 13-39W. I'd hope the car adapter is sufficient enough for portable play.

I think most regular USB chargers are 2.4A at most, and they're usually 5V, i.e. 12W (and if that 24W one happens to have two ports it's probably 12W/port btw). 12W is pretty close so who knows.

You can get to 3A with USB-C power delivery stuff...which is where you start worrying about shoddy power bricks/batteries/cables being a hazard.

(With how much of a mess USB-C power is I'm really curious if the Nintendo adapter is even fully compliant, like I think even the Apple ones are safe but don't follow spec completely)
Do we know yet if the screen is made out of glass or some kind of polycarbonate?

I put screen protectors on my 3DS and Wii U because the screens seem so soft and I'm constantly rubbing the stylus on them, but with no stylus, I may not bother with a screen protector on the Switch.
Most likely glass, and all the hands on impressions seem to confirm it.
 

Peltz

Member
Nintendo Minute hosts are so annoying. Remember the show that used to be on the 3DS eShop for the first year or two of the 3DS?

That host/show was way better. They should never have ended that one.
 

keakster

Member
question to those who have used the joy cons and switch pro controller, are the analogs sticks the same and are they the same as the wiiu pro analog sticks?

The sticks are not the same. On the Joycons they are shorter and have smaller nubs. They also felt like they had less travel on them, but that may just have been an illusion because they are shorter.

The Switch Pro controller ones are similar to the Wii U Pro sticks.
 
You just pulled that out of your ass, didn't you? Not a single rumor has pegged it as a little over 50%

I think I phrased it incredibly poorly (and also forgot what the actual numbers were). I was working from that 3.2GB usable by games rumor, and I had completely forgotten how much RAM XB1 and PS4 have usable by games. So "over 50%" meant that you have more than half the usable RAM as PS4 does, when in reality it's actually 64% as much usable RAM. As opposed to 4GB being 50% flat of 8GB, which are the total RAM numbers.

Sorry for the confusion.
 
Something I noticed: neither the joy-con or the pro controller have a power button on them. If we're keeping the Switch docked, will we have to manually walk over and turn it on, or will the home button double as a power/wake from sleep button?

The sticks are not the same. On the Joycons they are shorter and have smaller nubs. They also felt like they had less travel on them, but that may just have been an illusion because they are shorter.

The Switch Pro controller ones are similar to the Wii U Pro sticks.

On the pro controller, I see they have raised edges on the sticks for extra grippyness, but I can't tell if the stick itself is concave (like an Xbox One stick) or convex (like a Dualshock 4 stick), do you know which it is?
 

Dystify

Member
Something I noticed: neither the joy-con or the pro controller have a power button on them. If we're keeping the Switch docked, will we have to manually walk over and turn it on, or will the home button double as a power/wake from sleep button?

Well you can enter sleep mode right from the OS. Maybe there's also an option to turn the system off.

94362UQ.gif


(Got this GIF from AceBandage)

Edit: I just realized you said "turn it on". I misread it. Well I got no idea how that will work.
 
Well you can enter sleep mode right from the OS. Maybe there's also an option to turn the system off.

94362UQ.gif


(Got this GIF from AceBandage)

Edit: I just realized you said "turn it on". I misread it. Well I got no idea how that will work.

Maybe home button works as power button also.

Edit: It was already suggested. Sorry about that.
 

efyu_lemonardo

May I have a cookie?
So it seems like Joy Con R contains significantly more hardware than Joy Con L: IR camera, NFC read/writer. Is there anything Joy Con L has that R doesn't?

Also, any news on how one would emulate a wiimote pointer with Joy Con R?
 
So it seems like Joy Con R contains significantly more hardware than Joy Con L: IR camera, NFC read/writer. Is there anything Joy Con L has that R doesn't?

Also, any news on how one would emulate a wiimote pointer with Joy Con R?

No left joycon has nothing extra

I cant see the camera being used for pointing, any pointing will likely be gyro based
 
So it seems like Joy Con R contains significantly more hardware than Joy Con L: IR camera, NFC read/writer. Is there anything Joy Con L has that R doesn't?

Also, any news on how one would emulate a wiimote pointer with Joy Con R?

An analog stick that isn't in the fucking center of the controller when played on it's side. :p
 

ika

Member
Something I noticed: neither the joy-con or the pro controller have a power button on them. If we're keeping the Switch docked, will we have to manually walk over and turn it on, or will the home button double as a power/wake from sleep button?
My idea is that the Switch will be a little bit like an iPad/3DS that it's always on, but enters on sleep mode quickly. You would only need to press any button from the Joy-Cons or Pro controller to wake up the system. The Power button on the system would be used only to turn it off for a good amount of time/restart it when necessary but otherwise will be always on, again like the iPad or the 3DS, not sure if that makes sense...
 
So it seems like Joy Con R contains significantly more hardware than Joy Con L: IR camera, NFC read/writer. Is there anything Joy Con L has that R doesn't?

Also, any news on how one would emulate a wiimote pointer with Joy Con R?

No news at all, so it seems unlikely. I'm convinced we'll get Wii Virtual Console games at some point, but my bet is that they're require an optional Joy Con. Either that or they can allow Wii-mote use via bluetooth. If that they the latter approach, there's no way they'll do it near launch. They don't want to cloud up their messaging on how the system works.
 
The Wii U one though.. is that one from E3 or post Jan 12 reveal?
Yeah, I think so. But I don't imagine the Wii U version got both a performance and texture upgrade since then.
So it seems like Joy Con R contains significantly more hardware than Joy Con L: IR camera, NFC read/writer. Is there anything Joy Con L has that R doesn't?

Also, any news on how one would emulate a wiimote pointer with Joy Con R?
It has...the share button
 

Charadis

Member
I might have missed, but...

Since I didn't see any metal contacts of either of the joycon rails, it seems these joycons will be on constant wireless connection to the tablet portion, even when docked/attached. Correct? :/

I'm assuming battery life is impacted by this as well...
 
I might have missed, but...

Since I didn't see any metal contacts of either of the joycon rails, it seems these joycons will be on constant wireless connection to the tablet portion, even when docked/attached. Correct? :/

I'm assuming battery life is impacted by this as well...

Some hi-res photos have been able to catch the very tiny metal contacts on the Joycons. The tablet itself charges the Joycons by default, so they must have contacts.
 

guek

Banned
I might have missed, but...

Since I didn't see any metal contacts of either of the joycon rails, it seems these joycons will be on constant wireless connection to the tablet portion, even when docked/attached. Correct? :/

I'm assuming battery life is impacted by this as well...

20hrs dude
 

jmizzal

Member
Any chance we get a Nintendo Direct Thursday

We will be 1 month from launch, time for more info

Usually by this time you know about everything about an upcoming console.
 
Will the switch take advantage of read speeds of sdxc cards? I don't want to spend the money if I don't have to. If the difference between sdxc and whatever card comes below it is just a few seconds of loading in game, don't know I will give a fudge

On that note, any good deals out there on high storage cards?
 
Will the switch take advantage of read speeds of sdxc cards? I don't want to spend the money if I don't have to. If the difference between sdxc and whatever card comes below it is just a few seconds of loading in game, don't know I will give a fudge

On that note, any good deals out there on high storage cards?

There's no point buying anything less than an sdxc card as it'd be too small
 
Top Bottom