Refreshment.01
Member
People are overstating the importance of the dock to some people. That does not sound like a reasonable standpoint. Japan just does not have a large console market. The inherent concept of the design does not necessarily rely on the dock. The logo actually does not indicate the dock at all. The switching can refer to the switching control methods. The trailer shows it being used as a portable for more time than a console.
People overstate the importance of the dock with good reason, due to the setup Nintendo chose to realise the Switch hybrid concept:This, there's a lot of things that can be switched but people are forgetting how Iwata wanted to sell a device that can cover all their bases, something that is a hybrid because it can be used as a portable or a home console. This makes it cheaper to sell one device that can do both than to sell a home console and a handheld separately where as you see the home console was an embarrassment in sales -> Wii U.
- 1. The Joycons are the way they are in the first place because the driving force behind the concept was creating a device that blurs the line between portable and home console.
- 2. The fact that the world unveiling of the device opens up and closes with seamless transition from Home Console to portable, speaks enough how much a core part of the concept the Dock is.
- 3.Since it's a Hybrid the portable aspects of the Switch had to be compromised.
- 4. Since it's an Hybrid the Home console aspects of the Switch had to be compromised.
- 5. Motion gaming and split screen gaming are more suitable to the big screen TV environment.
- 6. You guys seem to be forgetting the market state of dedicated handheld devices.
If Nintendo was contemplating that curse of action, then a more pure handheld... that is, a device more focused in portabilty and with less compromises would have been the more sensible alternative to that market. However, you guys are also forgetting that the dedicated Handheld market is in decline everywhere, this is one of the main reasons why Nintendo is bringing a device with an unique hook. Leave the home console capability outside and they enter Japan with a powerful yet more standard looking handheld (more standard than a DS for sure) with a questionable battery life.
And ggx2ac, your last response seems to contradict your point about a Dock less SKU. What we know so far officially about the dock is that it allows connection to the TV, recharges the device (this also possibly accomodates an APU clock change) and has some extra ports for accesories or additional storage. This is not something as significantly expensive as a dock with additional processing elements as was speculated.
In this sense considering the relative low cot of the dock and the impact it has on the device functionality and selling/marketing points, then it's absence might not balance out the cost reduction.
i think that Rappy and ggx2ac rebutal boils down to: "Home consoles declined in Japan so it makes sense to downplay that aspect of the Switch." This fails to adress fundamental aspects of the Switch all the way to design considerations. But assuming this is the case, then come march, you can be sure Nintendo won't resist the alure of higher profit margins by not including the dock.
With this state of thinking i will propose an scenario Rappy and ggx2xac haven't considered yet: Let's say Nintendo is downpalying the seemless transition from TV to portable in Japan. With this in mind a good strategy would be to sell the Dock less SKU and put that cost savings into a larger capacity battery to strenghten the portable aspect of the device.
We have shown our reasons, not point in derailing the thread more since this is dedicated to the control aspects of Switch. The good thing is that will find out soon enough.
Hi MB, i might be wrong, but i remember some years ago the USB association revising USB 3 and making a standard for charging "higher end"devices.That would open the risk of consumers using a wrong charge adapter and blow their Switch.
Since it's pretty safe to say the Switch would have at least USB 3.1 or maybe C then maybe there wouldn't be any problems if users use the charging methods for USB 3 they have laying around.
Having this capabilty solves problems to everyone: Nintendo and the consumers.