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Nintendo Switch | Hardware Review Thread

PSFan

Member
It's going to take me a while to get it that I can take the system away from the dock and still use it because I'm so used to the Wii U. The console is actually the controller, it's what Wii U should have been they just tried to make it four years too early.

No it's not. The console is the screen. The controllers attach to either side of it or the grip or you don't have to use them at all and go with a pro controller.
 
The switch is a hard sell if you don't plan on taking it on the go, which I feel many will leave it docked to the TV, like I will when get it with a steep price drop.

It's technologically compromised as a home console because it has to be portable and it's compromised as a portable because it's massive. I laughed at the Gamespot video review of it when the guy tried to sell its portability by barely stuffing part of it in his massive pant pockets, plus the weak battery life.
 
Also, can someone explain to me (it was either in IGN or The Verge's review) why when playing the Switch docked with battery at 100%, it will drain the battery down to as low as 88%? When the battery is already as weak as it is, losing 12% when you wanna take your game with you is a large amount of your short battery life. Why does it do this? When it's docked and fully charged, why is it using the battery for anything?

Batteries charge slower when they reach the last 20% or so, in this case maybe the switch is power drawing more then the slow charge can handle.

I don't really know.
 

MercuryLS3

Junior Member
The switch is a hard sell if you don't plan on taking it on the go, which I feel many will leave it docked to the TV, like I will when get it with a steep price drop.

It's technologically compromised as a home console because it has to be portable and it's compromised as a portable because it's massive. I laughed at the Gamespot video review of it when the guy tried to sell its portability by barely stuffing part of it in his massive pant pockets, plus the weak battery life.

If were to get a switch I would never take it on the go, but it would be so nice to play it in handheld mode in my bed. The versatility of the machine is really great IMO even if you're not a big mobile gamer.
 

Creamium

shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuup
The switch is a hard sell if you don't plan on taking it on the go, which I feel many will leave it docked to the TV, like I will when get it with a steep price drop.

It's technologically compromised as a home console because it has to be portable and it's compromised as a portable because it's massive. I laughed at the Gamespot video review of it when the guy tried to sell its portability by barely stuffing part of it in his massive pant pockets, plus the weak battery life.

Yeah definitely not ideal as a 'pure' portable. I will say it could shine as a 'in house' portable, for kids and parents. I just hope Nintendo made their message clear this time compared to WiiU.
 
If were to get a switch I would never take it on the go, but it would be so nice to play it in handheld mode in my bed. The versatility of the machine is really great IMO even if you're not a big mobile gamer.

So basically it's a Wii U again, justing keeping it in the house. Even that logic I don't get as I would always want to play it on the TV if I'm still home
 
If were to get a switch I would never take it on the go, but it would be so nice to play it in handheld mode in my bed. The versatility of the machine is really great IMO even if you're not a big mobile gamer.

This is the main reason for me. I play my 3DS all the time at home on the couch when watching TV with my roommates and things like that. So this is perfect for that reason.
 

spekkeh

Banned
The switch is a hard sell if you don't plan on taking it on the go, which I feel many will leave it docked to the TV, like I will when get it with a steep price drop.

It's technologically compromised as a home console because it has to be portable and it's compromised as a portable because it's massive. I laughed at the Gamespot video review of it when the guy tried to sell its portability by barely stuffing part of it in his massive pant pockets, plus the weak battery life.

Yes. Though that's a bit like saying a PS4 is a hard sell if you only plan to play it at a desk with the PlayStation keyboard and mouse.
 

Astral Dog

Member
The switch is a hard sell if you don't plan on taking it on the go, which I feel many will leave it docked to the TV, like I will when get it with a steep price drop.

It's technologically compromised as a home console because it has to be portable and it's compromised as a portable because it's massive. I laughed at the Gamespot video review of it when the guy tried to sell its portability by barely stuffing part of it in his massive pant pockets, plus the weak battery life.
The Switch is not massive come on.
smaller than the Gamepad,People should stop with that bullshit.


Battery life you have a point but most high end phones playing games will have shitty battery
 
The switch is a hard sell if you don't plan on taking it on the go, which I feel many will leave it docked to the TV, like I will when get it with a steep price drop.

It's technologically compromised as a home console because it has to be portable and it's compromised as a portable because it's massive. I laughed at the Gamespot video review of it when the guy tried to sell its portability by barely stuffing part of it in his massive pant pockets, plus the weak battery life.

Do you have a reason to believe that the switch will drop in price? The WiiU did not.
 

m00h

Banned
Nintendo should start selling Nintendo branded powerbanks and praise the full portability you'll get with that combo.
I remember that Sega "powerbank" they brought for the Nomad. I loved it.
 

pswii60

Member
If were to get a switch I would never take it on the go, but it would be so nice to play it in handheld mode in my bed. The versatility of the machine is really great IMO even if you're not a big mobile gamer.
I keep seeing this, but you could do this with Wii U, so I don't see how Switch offers an advantage there. In fact, with our bedroom being directly above the lounge, I didn't even need to make sure the Wii U console was in the bedroom, I could just leave it hooked up to the TV downstairs and play games in bed.
 

Donnie

Member
People still saying it's too big to be portable. It's like tablets, phablets or netbooks have never existed.

Yep, there are reviews out there that have said they were surprised at how small it seemed considering what they thought it would be like. Might be worth people waiting till they hold one to decide if its "massive" or not.
 

guek

Banned
Nintendo should start selling Nintendo branded powerbanks and praise the full portability you'll get with that combo.
I remember that Sega "powerbank" they brought for the Nomad. I loved it.
Too bad they'd be like $100 minimum 😣
 
Batteries charge slower when they reach the last 20% or so, in this case maybe the switch is power drawing more then the slow charge can handle.

I don't really know.

Man, if Nintendo didn't implement a battery bypass when you're playing docked, this is gonna suck badly. You'll be basically trickle charging the whole time the console is docked, and that means it will massively decrease battery life (i.e. the number os charge cycles before cell failure).
 

jts

...hate me...
Dear Nintendo. Everyone will shut up if you make these. PLEASE.

Disclaimer: THIS IS A MOCK UP


b33.png

You know, it's a commendable effort and all, but I think this will end up the same fate as this:

prototype-gamecube-controller.jpg


I personally don't see Nintendo releasing such specific Joy-cons (although I know about the patents/mockups), besides a left one with a dpad. Maybe.
 

leng jai

Member
So did they design the dock in a way that it won't scratch the screen over time? Sounds like common sense but with Nintendo you never know.
 

Minsc

Gold Member
I don't understand all this power bank confusion. We have a thread on the review from Digital Foundry where it clearly shows any cheap USB C power bank is good enough to charge the Switch while in use playing the most demanding games, like Zelda.

It takes about 2-3 hours to charge while off with said power bank at 3V / 5A, and charges around 8% / hour under heavy load.

You aren't going to get faster charge times or better charging with fancy 15V chargers, 3 hours is the best there is. Switch is not charging faster than that. That's the charge time from the official wall plug.

I feel like there's so much conflicting information about it, it's crazy. Any USB-C power bank is all you need, and even normal USB-A ones should also be fine, but now I'm a little confused. Either way, it'd very much extend the duration of the switch starting at 100%.
 
So did they design the dock in a way that it won't scratch the screen over time? Sounds like common sense but with Nintendo you never know.

That's pretty much my only concern with Switch at the moment and even Digital Foundry expressed some concerns over this but said they haven't noticed any scratching so far.
 

spekkeh

Banned
I keep seeing this, but you could do this with Wii U, so I don't see how Switch offers an advantage there. In fact, with our bedroom being directly above the lounge, I didn't even need to make sure the Wii U console was in the bedroom, I could just leave it hooked up to the TV downstairs and play games in bed.
My Wii U doesn't even reach the toilet 3 meters away, let alone my bedroom some 9 meters and an extra floor further. You must have some really paper thin walls.
 
Most reviews are what I expected. Great hardware but right now a lot of it is based on potential. Up to Nintendo to go balls out and capitalize.
 
I don't understand all this power bank confusion. We have a thread on the review from Digital Foundry where it clearly shows any cheap USB C power bank is good enough to charge the Switch while in use playing the most demanding games, like Zelda.

It takes about 2-3 hours to charge while off with said power bank at 3V / 5A, and charges around 8% / hour under heavy load.

You aren't going to get faster charge times or better charging with fancy 15V chargers, 3 hours is the best there is. Switch is not charging faster than that. That's the charge time from the official wall plug.

I feel like there's so much conflicting information about it, it's crazy. Any USB-C power bank is all you need, and even normal USB-A ones should also be fine, but now I'm a little confused. Either way, it'd very much extend the duration of the switch starting at 100%.

Yes, there is a ton of misinformation out there. People should probably hold off on purchasing any power banks before this is all cleared up. I'm guessing we'll be fine with standard power banks that have 2.1 amp output, with USB-C cables, but let's get some more real world tests done.
 

Shaanyboi

Banned
How can this thing be properly reviewed when basic functionality isn't even available? I don't mean this as a criticism of these outlets, but on Nintendo themselves. This is a real undercooked launch.
 

Donnie

Member

Nintendo can argue that it offers better, more fully crafted games than the bulk of the ones you can find for phones and tablets. But it's not proving that with its launch lineup, which is less than thrilling. ”Zelda," of course, is a joy and a major selling point for hardcore fans. The rest, however, are mostly revivals of older games or Switch versions of titles already out there such as ”Skylanders: Imaginators."

Zelda is obviously far better and more fully crafted than any game released ever on any phone or tablet. Even other lesser release games are better and more fully crafted than the bulk of phone games (the bulk of phone/tablet games are frankly terrible).
 

BiggNife

Member
I keep seeing this, but you could do this with Wii U, so I don't see how Switch offers an advantage there. In fact, with our bedroom being directly above the lounge, I didn't even need to make sure the Wii U console was in the bedroom, I could just leave it hooked up to the TV downstairs and play games in bed.
This entirely depends on your house setup. My bedroom is directly above my rec room where the Wii U was and I couldn't get a stable signal from the gamepad. The range on the Wii U gamepad honestly wasn't very good.
 

jon bones

hot hot hanuman-on-man action
I keep seeing this, but you could do this with Wii U, so I don't see how Switch offers an advantage there. In fact, with our bedroom being directly above the lounge, I didn't even need to make sure the Wii U console was in the bedroom, I could just leave it hooked up to the TV downstairs and play games in bed.

streaming to a 480p washed out screen that you cant be 2 rooms away from is not the same as native 720. if i'm playing a Zelda or a mainline Mario or Splatoon online, i don't want to be streaming it.
 

Skyzard

Banned
Zelda is obviously far better and more fully crafted than any game released ever on any phone or tablet. Even other lesser release games are better and more fully crafted than the bulk of phone games (the bulk of phone/tablet games are frankly terrible).

Yeah, the review isn't a great read but it gets a lot of viewers I'd imagine so I thought it was worth posting. Though about Zelda, I think she excluded it from that comment as she mentioned it separately. She was probably referring to Bomberman, 1,2 Switch and the lack of other big titles at launch, which seems fair.
 

//ARCANUM

Member
Batteries charge slower when they reach the last 20% or so, in this case maybe the switch is power drawing more then the slow charge can handle.

I don't really know.

They were saying they put it in the dock, it's at 100%, they play Zelda docked for a while, then it's at 88%. Doesn't go below, but it eats up 12% while docked.
 

//ARCANUM

Member
I don't understand all this power bank confusion. We have a thread on the review from Digital Foundry where it clearly shows any cheap USB C power bank is good enough to charge the Switch while in use playing the most demanding games, like Zelda.

It takes about 2-3 hours to charge while off with said power bank at 3V / 5A, and charges around 8% / hour under heavy load.

You aren't going to get faster charge times or better charging with fancy 15V chargers, 3 hours is the best there is. Switch is not charging faster than that. That's the charge time from the official wall plug.

I feel like there's so much conflicting information about it, it's crazy. Any USB-C power bank is all you need, and even normal USB-A ones should also be fine, but now I'm a little confused. Either way, it'd very much extend the duration of the switch starting at 100%.

The confusion came because the verge (I believe), said that they couldn't find a power bank that would "charge faster than the switch was draining"
 

Dystify

Member
Not the ideal topic to ask, but does anyone know when reviews are supposed to go up for the rest of the launch line-up?

The embargo for all reviews has ended at the same time as the Switch hardware today. Most reviewers did not get the games yet or just very recently, so those reviews will take a while. Zelda is coming tomorrow.
 
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