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[NimbusD]

tbh, 3 hours sounds okay.

We need quickcharge though. And a cable charger so you can play on the go easily if there's an outlet nearby. (let's be honest, half our smartphones need to be plugged in while we're at work anyway or they die. Batteries are awesome, but not magic).

 

[Spinluck]

Surface says hello.

I'm willing to bet this will be far more affordable than a Surface that can run Skyrim decently for a long time.

 

[Spieler Eins]

What people are suggesting i.e a non portable Switch would require a redesign of the console.

So? There also was a 3DS without 3D and without the clamshell.

 

[Steve Youngblood]

Pay extra? The only thing you're arguably paying more for is the dock.

The "guts" of the machine are located in the handheld. I doubt the dock is making up the majority share of the cost.

What people are suggesting i.e a non portable Switch would require a redesign of the console.

I think the main reason you don't launch with a TV box is that up 'til now not a single one has proven overly successful. I don't think a single Apple TV or Android box has gone over very well. Shield TV hasn't. Vita TV certainly didn't make any noise. The Switch may very well not go over well either, but I think there's enough data out there now to support that a low end console isn't going to fly on its own.

 

[Sword Of Doom]

tablets have way better battery life than 3 hrs, so I have a hard time believing this

Yes if you're browsing the web or doing nothing too taxing. This is going to be running games

 

[Tom Penny]

Why would it last long? It's a home gaming console first and foremost.

 

[Lakershead22]

That is fine with me. I don't game for more than 2hrs a day.

 

[Oersted]

3 hours is laughably bad.

For a devkit?

 

[ProtomanNeo]

I think it's about time for a comprehensive what we know about the NS so far thread.

 

[protomouse]

It just needs to charge using a standard USB port. Everything that can charge needs to charge using a standard USB port.

While I agree, I also hate the flimsiness of Micro-B connectors. I get that they're supposed to be more durable than Minis, but they certainly don't feel like it.

I'd still vastly prefer Micro-B to some proprietary monstrosity. The latter might have made sense 15 years ago (or if you're Apple and still can get away with it), but these days people gravitate towards the ubiquitous. Some of my power tools USB-charge, so it shouldn't be too big an ask of a 2017 high-tech electronics device to do the same.

 

[Wagram]

For a devkit?

Nah. That's fine, i'm assuming the final unit will be longer, but 3 hours is terrible.

 

[Jintor]

pls take this switch on a plane*

*only plane rides shorter than 3 hours plz



I really hope this info is wrong. way to kneecap your own selling point

 

[Ensirius]

I'm okay with that.
I would like it to be double that of course but I dont do many long gaming sessions anyway.

 

[Steve Youngblood]

For a devkit?

I will be happy for my pessimism to be proven wrong, but I think you really need to brace yourself for the fact that the retail unit might not fare much better. I get it. As a sanity check I absolutely do think it's worthwhile to note that this is based on dev units and that things may be changed before the retail hardware is finalized. But one Tweet you are citing right now flat out says that the Ubi dev doesn't expect much improvement in the retail unit.

 

[bobeth]

3 hours of battery time is not at all surprising if you look at the graphic quality they are targeting. It's not magic, that's where the technology's at.

 

[Chindogg]

Nah. That's fine, i'm assuming the final unit will be longer, but 3 hours is terrible.

I will be happy for my pessimism to be proven wrong, but I think you really need to brace yourself for the fact that the retail unit might not fare much better. I get it. As a sanity check I absolutely do think it's worthwhile to note that this is based on dev units and that things may be changed before the retail hardware is finalized. But one Tweet you are citing right now flat out says that the Ubi dev doesn't expect much improvement in the retail unit.

It's a devkit under max load. I doubt many games are gonna push the console to it's max capabilities constantly.

 

[Spieler Eins]

I think the main reason you don't launch with a TV box is that up 'til now not a single one has proven overly successful. I don't think a single Apple TV or Android box has gone over very well. Shield TV hasn't. Vita TV certainly didn't make any noise. The Switch may very well not go over well either, but I think there's enough data out there now to support that a low end console isn't going to fly on its own.

Something like Vita TV also wasn't treated like a main product from its publisher and it built upon an already failed product. It certainly can't hurt to provide options instead of solely doubling down on the dead handheld market and 3 hour Off TV play which no one ever wanted. In fact, the idea of multiple SKUs which support a hybrid software line was always much better than a literal hybrid. I can't believe they went with what people considered to be too ludicrous for a year in speculation.

 

[Blam]

I highly doubt devkit battery life is very indicative of retail unit battery life, but I'm guessing it will probably be around 4-6 hours. Expecting abysmal battery life like 3DS.

Yeah I don't know why people are trusting the devkit to be representative of the final build.

 

[Sword Of Doom]

I'm okay with that.
I would like it to be double that of course but I dont do many long gaming sessions anyway.

If it's 3hrs when new then it's get worse and worse as it ages. It should be around 5hours imo

 

[Bsigg12]

I'm curious to see if they'll have any sort of Fast Charge like some phones have. That would make a 4-6 hour charge on the retail unit at least tolerable.

 

[OCD Guy]

I think the main reason you don't launch with a TV box is that up 'til now not a single one has proven overly successful. I don't think a single Apple TV or Android box has gone over very well. Shield TV hasn't. Vita TV certainly didn't make any noise. The Switch may very well not go over well either, but I think there's enough data out there now to support that a low end console isn't going to fly on its own.

True, and like you alluded to earlier in one of your posts, Nintendo are trying to capture both handheld and console markets.

I personally think they're going to do well. But time will tell.

I might be in a minority (it's going to flop worse than the Wii U apparently) but I'm looking forward to being able to play a proper game at home and being able to play that exact same game wherever I want.

The Vita was pitched as a way to play full console games, but the games always felt compromised to me. Don't get me wrong it had some good games but generally bite sized versions of console games. Remote play has too many compromises for me too.

The Wii U had great games, and the gamepad was pretty cool but too many compromises, crappy low res screen, with fuzzy reds, low range, and obviously a drought of regular releases.

I'm not buying the image of third party support as we had that for the Wii U too, but by unifying handheld and console Nintendo themselves will have a larger output so that's positive.

 

[ZombiePlatypus]

Additional processing power when docked and multitouch for touch screen are awesome to hear. Gets me even more amped and hyped for this console.

Regarding battery life, 3 continuous hours of playtime is fine by me. I'm actually amazed people think it's horrendous given that it's not a phone, laptop, or some sort of critical piece of equipment that you'd need turned on while outdoors for a whole day. Hopefully it has some sort of a universal USB-in though. If so, just have one of those rechargeable battery banks with you. There, problem solved.

 

[Silvawuff]

The batteries, performance, and final specs will mean diddly squat if Nintendo doesn't bust out a robust library with a lot of quality games, especially out of the gate.

 

[AmyS]

edit: need to reword this question.

 

[Persona7]

3 hours


incredible

 

[opticalmace]

After thinking about it a bit more, as long as we can charge it reasonably quickly with a power bank (say 1.5-2A?) it probably won't be a big deal. Assuming the retail hardware gets maybe more in the range of 4+ hours I don't think I would hold many reservations. It has a ton of performance for a portable device.

 

[SinCityAssassin]

I see the implications of the context being a Dev kit's specs still don't deter these sort of comments.

(Vita Dev kit doesn't even have a battery.)

 

[PSOreo]

Are dev kits normally accurate in terms of battery life and the like? For instance when the dualshock 4 was leaked the look of changed, was the WiiU gamepad dev kit similar battery levels before it came out?

 

[IceDoesntHelp]

Can we please stop calling the Switch the NX now?

 

[Krowley]

The dev himself believes there won't be a big jump. But we won't know anything till Nintendo says anything.

You only read the OP not the modedited title, didn't you?

Anyway

https://mobile.twitter.com/LaurakBuzz/status/789491325532004352

Okay, yeah, I missed that stuff. Makes a little more sense now.

 

[BlackJace]

The people that make a breakthrough in battery technology will be oh so rich.

 

[Soroc]

pls take this switch on a plane*

*only plane rides shorter than 3 hours plz



I really hope this info is wrong. way to kneecap your own selling point

Most planes today have outlet or the very least usb port in almost every seat. In another year or 2 I imagine every plane will have it.

--evidence (I just flew this past week on 4 different planes from United and AA. Only one of them didn't have any way to charge your device)

 

[Spinluck]

Standby battery life is way more important to me.

I cannot remember the last time I've gamed on a portable outside of my house for more than 3hrs.

 

[ClearData]

3 hours is good for one extended play session and that's it. It doesn't sound like a device that I can bring around with me to play all day unless there is a quick charging feature and charging port on the portable. If not I struggle to see the difference between the Switch and the Wii U game pad in terms of battery life and portability.

 

[NOLA_Gaffer]

Nintendo is in a no-win situation.

Make the hardware powerful...folks complain about battery life.

Make the hardware battery efficient...folks complain about it's power.

 

[Aostia]

I will be happy for my pessimism to be proven wrong, but I think you really need to brace yourself for the fact that the retail unit might not fare much better. I get it. As a sanity check I absolutely do think it's worthwhile to note that this is based on dev units and that things may be changed before the retail hardware is finalized. But one Tweet you are citing right now flat out says that the Ubi dev doesn't expect much improvement in the retail unit.

Since when is it horrible in OG 3DS and Vita are pretty much the same in game mode?

 

[Neoxon]

Can we please stop calling the Switch the NX now?

It's been called the NX for well over a year. It's understandable that some people may have a hard time adjusting to the change.

 

[SinCityAssassin]

Standby battery life is way more important to me.

I cannot remember the last time I've gamed on a portable outside of my house for more than 3hrs.

Essentially.

 

[Steve Youngblood]

Since when is it horrible in OG 3DS and Vita are pretty much the same in game mode?

I don't understand this in response to my post.

 

[AmyS]

I care more about playing on an HDTV than portable mode. Playing on the go will be very nice, but it doesn't bother me one bit if the battery life is 3 hours or even less.

 

[Hypron]

3 hours is good for one extended play session and that's it. It doesn't sound like a device that I can bring around with me to play all day unless there is a quick charging feature and charging port on the portable. If not I struggle to see the difference between the Switch and the Wii U game pad in terms of battery life and portability.

Didn't they say it was first and foremost a home console? If that was their priority then it'd make sense they went for power over battery life. It's still a bit more portable than the Wii U gamepad since you don't need to stay around the dock.

 

[Spinluck]

Then why bother making it portable? Nobody here has been able to answer that.

Convenience, merging their in house developer efforts, less game droughts, people don't have to buy two consoles for the full Nintendo experience.

Why not make it portable?

 

[Rappy]

Since when is it horrible in OG 3DS and Vita are pretty much the same in game mode?

He's saying the "devkit" argument isn't much a good excuse. And to be realistic on the consumer version.

I don't understand this in response to my post.

It's in response to someone saying "laughably bad" battery. It really isn't horrible, it's just reality.

 

[poodaddy]

Maybe it'll have an energy saving mode in the options or a secondary battery for sale like the Wii U did? One can only hope, 3 is a bit low.

 

[SinCityAssassin]

I don't understand this in response to my post.

I think he means despite the chance that because the one Ubisoft dev doesn't believe the final product won't have much more improvement, why be pessimistic about the battery life as is anyways if the current gen handhelds have as much average battery length?

That said.

#TeamDevKitsArentIndicativeOfTheFinalBatterySpecsOfTheSwitch4Life

 

[Mory Dunz]

Nintendo is in a no-win situation.

Make the hardware powerful...folks complain about battery life.

Make the hardware battery efficient...folks complain about it's power.

Make games as 3rd party only.....folks profit?

Spoiler

/s

 

[Flo_Evans]

After thinking about it a bit more, as long as we can charge it reasonably quickly with a power bank (say 1.5-2A?) it probably won't be a big deal. Assuming the retail hardware gets maybe more in the range of 4+ hours I don't think I would hold many reservations. It has a ton of performance for a portable device.

I can't believe they would be dumb enough not to let you power it though your car (or battery pack) in some fashion but... its nintendo.

 

[Steve Youngblood]

Something like Vita TV also wasn't treated like a main product from its publisher and it built upon an already failed product. It certainly can't hurt to provide options instead of solely doubling down on the dead handheld market and 3 hour Off TV play which no one ever wanted. In fact, the idea of multiple SKUs which support a hybrid software line was always much better than a literal hybrid. I can't believe they went with what people considered to be too ludicrous for a year in speculation.

I don't think you can launch with multiple different lines and just wait and see. You have to decide which one is the flagship product and go with that. When the tech gets cheaper, other products can supplement it if there's demand. You also ignored that I mentioned other Android/iOS gaming-focused product lines that didn't amount to anything. I'm not saying that the hybrid tablet idea is definitely going to succeed, but I do not get the optimism at all for throwing a low-end console box out there as the better alternative.

 

[wwm0nkey]

Assuming this comment is coming from dev kits with games under high load, 3 hours is whatever. the 3DS already only last about 3-5 hours anyways and I've never run out of battery on the go (because I charge it at night)

 

[ozfunghi]

I will be happy for my pessimism to be proven wrong, but I think you really need to brace yourself for the fact that the retail unit might not fare much better. I get it. As a sanity check I absolutely do think it's worthwhile to note that this is based on dev units and that things may be changed before the retail hardware is finalized. But one Tweet you are citing right now flat out says that the Ubi dev doesn't expect much improvement in the retail unit.

If the info comes from a dev using a devkit running an X1, as Eurogamer reported, and if the final hardware will be running a Pascal based Tegra, as Nate Drake reported, at the same performance, then there should definitely be a significant boost.