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So what's next for the Switch iteration?

I want a Switch Pro by 2020 which runs every Switch game (with better details and framerates) and exclusive 3rd party multiplatform games that wouldn't run on the regular Switch.
 

everyer

Member
My switch system crash last night and Amazon said they will not support contacting with Nintendo. As most of my games are digital I can't delete my account from the console now even if I have a new one.
I can't do system reset as Nintendo has no support.

Worst quality console with bad system, I don't even care the screen problem...

Will never buy any nintendo products in the future!
 

Skel1ingt0n

I can't *believe* these lazy developers keep making file sizes so damn large. Btw, how does technology work?
Remove the big bezels around the display, like this;


1080p display
Analog triggers
Better processor

Yep - this is what I predict.

Nintendo has been using "XL" for a decade+ now. They're gonna stick with it.

Going smaller means no dock... thus, no "switch"ing your play. JoyCons are not going anywhere - they're intrinsically linked to the hardware and software.

The Switch already supports 1080p on many games when docked. A new Switch XL is the clear refresh. Slightly bigger hardware, plus slimmer bezels, equal a much larger, 1080p display. Enhancements to the architecture that we KNOW to be coming out means it'll maintain the same battery life.
 

KtSlime

Member
I have such an easy answer, brace yourself.

Because the Tegra X1 isn't bleeding tech.

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.
 
Again, what would be the point of that?

So that people would stop expecting and/or demanding 3rd party games that won't be coming to Switch.

My only gripe with the Switch is that there aren't many games that I would play on it currently. I don't buy consoles only to play 3-5 games. But with better 3rd party support, that might change.
 

newbong95

Member
Nintendo should make a ds formfactor of switch ... say the joycons attached to the bottom portion of the clamshell design .
 
Either they figure out how to shrink all the chips or we see a giant break through in battery tech. Only way it happens.



We want better battery life, not worse.

Giant break through in battery life thanks to Tesla. China is manufacturing a ton of batteries for them as well. 18650's all set to go. Add in a die shrink and you've got that jump. So it's possible...
 

Hubble

Member
I think a Switch mini is a fantastic idea. The Switch is just too big and embarrassing for portable play in the U.S.
 

Josh5890

Member
Either they figure out how to shrink all the chips or we see a giant break through in battery tech. Only way it happens.



We want better battery life, not worse.

When someone figures that out, they will be set for life. Nerds around the world await the next generation of batteries
 
I don't own a Switch yet, so my opinion on this doesn't have the best basis, but wouldn't a Switch mini defeat the purpose of playing with friends on the go? I could barely make out some stuff when playing MK8 with my mate on portable mode, I can only imagine how hard that would be with an even smaller screen.

It's good to have options, anyway, but we all know how stingy Nintendo is with this kind of stuff.
 

ggx2ac

Member
Remember the nvidia shield portable .... somewhat like that could be achievable i guess

Makes the system become bulky though having to add depth to make space for the sticks.

People on here always ask for a Switch Mini because they want something that is portable and they equate portable to something that fits in their pocket and not just something that can be carried.

uZfUDcJ.png

The "Mini" shouldn't be using the Switch logo if there's no Joy-Cons.
 

KtSlime

Member
Do people who want a pocketable Switch not bring bags with them? I would feel strange going too far from home without a bag and it really is no inconvenience to put the Switch in my bag, it's really not that big.
 

UltimaKilo

Gold Member
Why does everyone assume that the next console will be a portable for Nintendo? They might release a home console.

What if, now with USB-C, the Switch gets an expandable dock which has a GPU for smooth 1080p?

What about VR?

Either way, its years too soon to really speculate.
 

Halfmunch

Member
Current Switch not even half a year old lol. I'd image they won't update until at least a year or so.
But when they do, more battery life would be awesome and a built in microphone.
 

z0m3le

Banned
Nintendo's partnership with Nvidia is key to the future of their hardware. Nvidia said the partnership could last 20 years, and if it does, there is little reason Nintendo can't catch up to an AMD powered console industry, unless somehow AMD catches up to Nvidia. I'll just say that Polaris a 14nm GPU caught up to Maxwell a 28nm part in terms of power consumption : performance. Vega is also disappointing because they can't raise their clocks high enough to compete directly with Pascal in overall performance : power consumption. This matters when we are talking about how limited handhelds and consoles really are.

Volta is a 12nm Tegra chip which could see the same power envelope that the switch has, but with 512ALUs vs the 256ALUs found in the current 20nm Switch. If Nintendo goes for A72/A73 they could easily exceed even XB1X's CPU with a simple 4 core at ~2ghz and still keep everything at the current power consumption. Moving even just to 6GB would also yield quite a bit of parity to the current consoles.

If I was Nintendo, I wouldn't shy away from an external GPU powered dock for 4k gaming, you could get a GTX 1060 or a Volta GPU of similar performance could match the XB1X and come in at $199. The GPU in the current switch can even be shut down to give the CPU more clockrate to keep up somewhat with the newer Switch I outlined above. Meanwhile this dock could be used for both iterations of the Switch, simplifying an otherwise messy hardware catalog.

Both could happen as early as next year, and with the low yield issues the Switch already has, as well as 20nm not really having a viable future, the chance of either or both of these pieces of hardware happening by holiday 2018, is fairly large, it would also give 3rd parties a parity case for their current projects, although I think the Switch's hardware performance is capable enough to receive current gen AAA games, they would need to drop in performance and quality to hit the current Switch.
 
Little Mons†er;243550185 said:
That Switch mini looks horrible

Goes completely against what the Switch is lol

Just like the 2DS?

Why not make portable only and console only variants of the platform? I'd buy a console only switch in heartbeat.


Also, I found the current version to have too much flex and awkward weight to be comfortable to use as a portable.
 

z0m3le

Banned
Just like the 2DS?

Why not make portable only and console only variants of the platform? I'd buy a console only switch in heartbeat.


Also, I found the current version to have too much flex and awkward weight to be comfortable to use as a portable.

You don't have to change the size or shape of the platform to offer what you want. An external dock could handle all the performance you'd want from a stand alone console and a shrink to the internals could add stability and balance to the shell.

Offering an extended battery that slide onto the side of the Switch like the joycons do now, and docks the joycons into that, could be sold for as little as $50 and offer a pocket size similar to the n3DS XL
 
You don't have to change the size or shape of the platform to offer what you want. An external dock could handle all the performance you'd want from a stand alone console and a shrink to the internals could add stability and balance to the shell.

Offering an extended battery that slide onto the side of the Switch like the joycons do now, and docks the joycons into that, could be sold for as little as $50 and offer a pocket size similar to the n3DS XL

A console only switch could have a much lower price and a smaller footprint.

The flex in portable mode is caused from the Joycon rail system.

Again, why not expand the ecosystem by offering a variety of form factors?
 

z0m3le

Banned
A console only switch could have a much lower price and a smaller footprint.
You'd be cutting out a screen and battery, this doesn't actually lower the price much, probably around $50 and loses it's key selling point.

The flex in portable mode is caused from the Joycon rail system.
Adding the clamshell would offer stability much like a laptop has along it's spine.

Again, why not expand the ecosystem by offering a variety of form factors?
I'm not saying they shouldn't do this, but they shouldn't do this soon, IE "next" they need to establish what the Switch is, and fill the market with a large user base before they can chase other segments of the market, basically they haven't met the demands of the current target, so you only create confusion by targeting people interested in other form factors already covered by the market.

Had the Switch launched as a separate Handheld and Console, people might have enjoyed that, but because they launched with the Hybrid, they changed the expectations of their customer, now they don't need 2 different devices to offer what the Switch offers, and instead offering these 2 separate additional add ons, is a different way of giving the smaller segments of Nintendo's potential reach with Switch, what it wants. (more portability clamshell addon and parity with current top end consoles External GPU dock)
 
The Switch will get an upgrade in its innards, with more power but keeping full compatibility with all add-ons, dock, and all that. Dock and Joy Cons have to be intercompatible, a standard among Switch versions.
 

Polygonal_Sprite

Gold Member
Digital Foundry has this speculation covered at informed length.

Switch v2 is likely to sport a Parker based SoC as it seems to be fully BC with the X1 SoC.

A next generation Switch maybe a Xavier based SoC.

A Switch Mini is unlikely as there is no "die-shrunk" X1 on the Nvidia roadmap among the litany of other reasons why that doesn't make any sense.

This is definitely the most likely roadmap going forward.

The current Switch is already the "mobile" version of the device with more powerful variations / docks aimed at people who want more power.

I wouldn't expect any new version of a Switch until Spring 2019 at the earliest though. Nintendo have no reason to rock the boat with the way Switch is currently selling and will continue to sell through until next Spring.
 

z0m3le

Banned
This is definitely the most likely roadmap going forward.

The current Switch is already the "mobile" version of the device with more powerful variations / docks aimed at people who want more power.

I wouldn't expect any new version of a Switch until Spring 2019 at the earliest though. Nintendo have no reason to rock the boat with the way Switch is currently selling and will continue to sell through until next Spring.

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.



Volta is a 12nm Tegra chip which could see the same power envelope that the switch has, but with 512ALUs vs the 256ALUs found in the current 20nm Switch. If Nintendo goes for A72/A73 they could easily exceed even XB1X's CPU with a simple 4 core at ~2ghz and still keep everything at the current power consumption. Moving even just to 6GB would also yield quite a bit of parity to the current consoles.

I really forgot to break down what the above quote means in raw performance numbers.

512ALUs at 12nm clocked at 800mhz undocked and 1.2ghz when docked (vs 256ALUs at 20nm) gives you 819Gflops when undocked or a little over twice the performance of the current switch when docked and 1228 Gflops docked, this is going to exceed the XB1S' 1400gflops thanks to architecture advantage and should perform similar to a GTX 750ti which can out perform the PS4 in some titles.

A72/A73 is faster per clock over jaguar by a noticeable amount, developers can utilize faster cores better than more cores, thus they will find this gives the Switch v2.0 an edge over current consoles in CPU terms.

6GB is likely enough to reach a level of parity with the original XB1/PS4 especially thanks to pascal's memory compression that volta should inherit if not improve upon.
 

Apathy

Member
An audio jack on one of the joycon controllers and on the pro controller. I think currently it does not support Bluetooth headsets so that would be nice.
 
Isn't a 12nm Xavier chip still going to be larger than the X1/X2?
Seems silly to go for a big power jump after only a year when you can go for a big efficiency jump instead.

The scd dock, I don't see being a worthwhile idea at the moment, it would be fairly expensive and your might as well just sell a home system with a hard drive at that point.
 

z0m3le

Banned
Isn't a 12nm Xavier chip still going to be larger than the X1/X2?
Seems silly to go for a big power jump after only a year when you can go for a big efficiency jump instead.

You can trade off power consumption in the GPU increase with a CPU decrease from moving on to the much more power efficient A72/A73 while also gaining performance.

Nintendo and Nvidia could have moved to A72 on the current 20nm chip and clocked the CPU much higher without increasing power consumption, doing the same thing on 12nm would drastically reduce power consumption so that you can increase it on the GPU side.
 

shanafan

Member
I'm still waiting on that Wii U revision that doesn't include a GamePad that GAF predicted 5 years ago when the Wii U came out.
 

newbong95

Member
Makes the system become bulky though having to add depth to make space for the sticks.

People on here always ask for a Switch Mini because they want something that is portable and they equate portable to something that fits in their pocket and not just something that can be carried

I meant only the recessed part of the analog stick design of nvidia shield , not the full form factor . 3ds xl is pocketable . Just remove the extra bezel on the upper 3ds screen , and in the bottom part attach the joycons like they attach to the grip controller . And voila a portable formfactor switch with detachable joycons .
 

z0m3le

Banned
I'm still waiting on that Wii U revision that doesn't include a GamePad that GAF predicted 5 years ago when the Wii U came out.

Switch is more likely to follow in the:
Gameboy, Gameboy pocket, Gameboy Color
Gameboy Advance, Gameboy Advance SP
DS, DSlite, DSi, DSi XL
3DS, 3DS XL, 2DS, n3DS, n3DS XL, n2DS XL (Nintendo has gotten absolutely crazy with it)

DS and 3DS both saw new iterations about 18 months after initial launch.
 

newbong95

Member
If I was Nintendo, I wouldn't shy away from an external GPU powered dock for 4k gaming, you could get a GTX 1060 or a Volta GPU of similar performance could match the XB1X and come in at $199. The GPU in the current switch can even be shut down to give the CPU more clockrate to keep up somewhat with the newer Switch I outlined above. Meanwhile this dock could be used for both iterations of the Switch, simplifying an otherwise messy hardware catalog.

And usb c to connect the cpu with the gpu in the external dock ? I think thunderbolt 3 has shown how much performance degration occurs through this method.
 

z0m3le

Banned
And usb c to connect the cpu with the gpu in the external dock ? I think thunderbolt 3 has shown how much performance degration occurs through this method.

You'd be using alternative mode, with a short connection (dock size) meaning that you can get enough bandwidth to handle the GTX 1060 that was part of that foxconn leak/rumor from last November.
 
You'd be using alternative mode, with a short connection (dock size) meaning that you can get enough bandwidth to handle the GTX 1060 that was part of that foxconn leak/rumor from last November.

Wasn't that just your/GAF speculation it was a 1060?
I think it was more likely to be an FPGA and not a GPU at all but idk
 

z0m3le

Banned
Wasn't that just your/GAF speculation it was a 1060?
I think it was more likely to be an FPGA and not a GPU at all but idk

Not mine, Thraktor's. The size and shape (The die was L shaped iirc) matched the GTX 1060. Why would they have an FPGA in it, what functionality would it bring?
 
Not mine, Thraktor's. The size and shape (The die was L shaped iirc) matched the GTX 1060. Why would they have an FPGA in it, what functionality would it bring?
Prototyping some secondary chip or other, I wouldn't know what.
I'm not talking about using one in a commercial system, the system described obviously wasn't one.
 

z0m3le

Banned
Prototyping some secondary chip or other, I wouldn't know what.
I'm not talking about using one in a commercial system, the system described obviously wasn't one.

Whatever it was, there was 2000 of them made. Just speculation here, but that sounds like devkits.
 

AdropOFvenom

Neo Member
I absolutely think the first 'iteration' will be a "Mini" concept. Simply put is it's to help ensure that the 3DS fanbase migrates over to the Switch when the time comes (Read: Pokemon is ready) and eliminates the "Well its not pocketable" criticisms.

I do think it will have joycons though, otherwise you run the risk of fracturing the userbase. Is something like 1-2 Switch even playable without joycons? Not that anyone would really miss that one game, but it's only a matter of time before there's a Switch take on Wii Sports or something. You don't want to start introducing compatibility issues into your game line.

Then come 2020 or so Nintendo can come back with a "Switch Pro" in the idea of the PS4 Pro or Xbox One X, still a handheld but one with beefed up specs, a full 1080 screen, etc.

I don't think you'll see a dock with an external GPU, even if you throw a 1060 in there you'd have a bottleneck over USB-C, and lack of CPU/RAM would still be an issue. And fixing all that really just means you're just selling an entirely new console at that point. And I don't really see that being a thing either because it sort of contradicts the Switch concept, or turns it into you need 2 $300 dollar toys to truly "Switch".
 
I think a Switch mini is a fantastic idea. The Switch is just too big and embarrassing for portable play in the U.S.

People taking videos and photos with their 7" smartphones is ok though right? or people who still use ipads to record video in public.
 
Whatever it was, there was 2000 of them made. Just speculation here, but that sounds like devkits.

Yeah and I've said the description of a board plugged into the back make it sound similar to the kit picture leaked ahead of the reveal.

It could be that it was a GPU, but even then would not necessarily mean it represents a future plug in hardware, it could be something to do with testing software scalability for future revisions in general.
 
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