Check out Syrenne McNulty (@Sycoraxic98): https://twitter.com/Sycoraxic98?s=09
https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/rfn/43976/episode-505-switchmas-presents
Timestamp is around 1:00h when she joins the podcast.
Syrenne is a registered Nintendo developer who's working on Monochrono for the Switch and Wii U.
She makes appearances on the RFN podcast sometimes and always gives some behind the scenes insight at Nintendo or the Japanese gaming industry.
While she's still under NDA and can't talk too much about technical specifications she did give some juicy tidbits that I thought were interesting.
I'm going to paraphrase for the people who just want a written version of what happened.
On Joy-con's
https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/rfn/43976/episode-505-switchmas-presents
Timestamp is around 1:00h when she joins the podcast.
Syrenne is a registered Nintendo developer who's working on Monochrono for the Switch and Wii U.
She makes appearances on the RFN podcast sometimes and always gives some behind the scenes insight at Nintendo or the Japanese gaming industry.
While she's still under NDA and can't talk too much about technical specifications she did give some juicy tidbits that I thought were interesting.
I'm going to paraphrase for the people who just want a written version of what happened.
On Joy-con's
-Lots of tech
-HD rumble is the real deal. The bottom of the joycon will vibrate if an ice cube hits the bottom of the glass. And a full glass of ice cubes will make the top of the joycon rumble. Like the joycon becomes the glass. Basically the rumble can vibrate at different intensities but also at different locations instead of being one giant motor.
-IR pointer is great. It would be difficult to make Wii BC games work with it but not impossible.
-Comfortable to hold while separated and joined together. It doesn't look ergonomic but they fit in hands naturally.
-Motion tech is on par with Oculus Touch and Vive controllers. Very accurate. Way better than Wii motion plus and PS Move controllers.
-it detects subtle movements.
Switch Pro Controller
-Has everything the Joycon have including HD rumble and motion controls.
-No IR pointer.
-D-pad is iconic Nintendo dpad.
-Very comfortable
-Analog triggers
-Battery life is great but not 80 hours like the Wii U pro. Happy with battery life.
Developing for Switch
-Very happy with it
-Easy to develop for
-Anything she wants to do she can. No limits. Toolset is great.
-Can't talk specs.
MyNintendo and Virtual Console
-MyNintendo tracks all your 3DS and Wii U purchases. Not your Wii ones.
-Her theory on VC is if you bought a VC game on 3DS or Wii U you'll pay an upgrade fee like you did ON Wii U. However, if you bought the same VC game on both Wii U and 3DS you'll get the Switch VC game for free. If you only bought it on Wii VC you're SOL.
Online subscription
-the free game a month is exactly like PS+. As long as you download within that free month it's yours to keep as long as you're subscribed.
-the free download a month is chosen by Nintendo because if they offered all VC games with online the player base would be split and you'd never find enough people for a match. Whereas with this method, everyone who's downloading the game is part of the same player pool.
Why VC sucks on Wii U
-Nintendo pays a license to put games on VC but Nintendo has to approach publishers and choose which games go on VC. So anytime you complain about a certain Sega or Konami game not on VC it's not Konami or Sega's fault, it's because Nintendo didn't pick that certain game to be on the platform.
Edit: I'm still listening to the podcast. Some more interesting tidbits.
Wii U never made money
-Every unit of Wii U sold was at a loss.
-Gamepad cost to build including Labour was $95.
-Wii U console itself costed $140-150. Add in shipping and retailer cut and there's no room for price drops.
-Switch price is setup for future price cuts that are still profitable. Ditto the expensive accessories.
Dock
-it's not just a passthrough. You won't see third party docks. It has proprietary technology. Not just an empty shell that charges and passthrough hdmi. That's why it's expensive.
-It has to read that the switch is docked, switch the signal to hdmi (since the switch doesn't have an hdmi port on the unit itself) and then hdmi to TV.