Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

This has a lot more positive traction out of the gate. If this isn't going to work for them, I don't know what will.

Im not sure the Switch will have a touchscreen now that i saw the trailer once more...

Having touchscreen would mean that some games would not be possible to play with the switch on the dock

So I read someone somewhere saying that the base console offers no power upgrade from the handheld part. In that they both just output the same thing at 720p sorta deal.
Haven't seen that confirmed officially though. It seems kinda unlikely to be true to me. What would all of that console box be for? You don't need that size to just have a charger and a TV-out socket.

@Faruko They could allow for smartphones to be used for a touchscreen while the Switch is docked.

@Faruko Having no touchscreen would be a step back, I feel. True, there would be no touchscreen acess when the system is docked, but then there are two options around that limitation:
1. Enable touchscreen controls when the system isn't docked.
2. Make games that center on the "on-the-go" functionality of the Switch... because let's face it, there will be games that will focus on the handheld part of the Switch.
I don't think there's any need to sacrifice a very beneficial feature because of a dock. Nintendo sees this device as something that'll be carried around like a smartphone, so they'd have to include a touchscreen for its convenience.

@Dezzy Power brick will take up most of the space. Now, it depends on how it's actually worded. I don't believe that the dock itself contains its own CPU and/or GPU that can work in tandem with the main unit when it's docked. However, I do believe that it's likely that the extra available power is able to raise the clock speed and improve the visuals. The rest of the dock would contain some extra cooling fans in that case. So, while the dock itself doesn't do much, it can allow the Switch to improve visuals on the big screen.

The dock might allow for better heat dissipation, so while not extra performance perse it might allow the chip to achieve its maximum threshold...

And if the screen is 720p, a downclock would not be a problem

Many people have been discussing the battery life, but my main concern is storage.

Picture the scene: You've been playing BotW for many hours at home. You decide to go for a walk. You jump up and grab the system from the dock. As the TV goes blank you remember you've been running the game from an external HDD connected to the dock, and you've just lost your progress...

@Monkey_Balls Maybe there's no HDD support? The 3DS doesn't have that either. Compromises have to be made for this system to function both as a ''home console'' and ''handheld console''.

Huge internal storage is not that expensive tho, so i guess 128/256gb would be quite achievable, it doesnt need to have the fastest too since read speed is far mor important for gaming...

Even u1 sd cards have the same read speeds as hdd

@Octane The dock has USB ports so I'm assuming external storage can be connected. If not, then how much storage will the main device have? Rumours are saying it's 32 GB, which surely won't be enough. I imagine some kind of storage management where we have to move games from an external HDD to the handheld when we want to play certain games on the go. In which case, it will be all too easy to forget, remove from dock and lose progress.

Plus, if we can't connect an external HDD to the dock then what is the point of the dock? It's just a glorified charging cradle - may as well forget it altogether and just plug the system directly into the TV with a cable.

@Monkey_Balls: If there is external storage, it would have connected to the console entirely, and not the dock, for that reason. I can't imagine Nintendo making it so easy to take it off of the cradle, yet essentially make it impossible for some users to do it without losing most of your game and save data. However, I don't see any ports that would be exposed on the system while its docked. Assuming this is the final version of the product, maybe they could sell external hard drives in the form of Joy-cons? Or maybe you just need to carry a few SD cards. Who knows?

@Nicolai Or maybe Nintendo is going backwards regarding digital. Maybe only VC and indie games will have digital versions hence possibly making 32GB enough. Games like BotW, MK8, Splatoon and Super Mario Switch being physical only.

@Nicolai I like your idea of the Joy-cons being used for external storage. It still makes the dock seem a little superfluous though.

Also, I hope there's a separate power lead for the tablet. It would be a bit daft to have a system capable of playing games on the go being tethered to a TV once the battery dies. And again, doing so would make the dock/charging cradle pointless.

@Moshugun, I think they will adopt a yearly or bi yearly upgrade path if it takes off and just like the iPad or iPhone for instance there will be minimum spec requirements for games and eventually the older devices will become obsolete.

If the USB ports are not used for an external HDD on the dock, the only use I can see for them is for games like Skylanders or Lego Dimensions where you need a portal for the characters.

@Farmboy74 USB ports will probably be for Smash. A Smash game is dead to the community if you can't use the GC controller hence why Wii U had the GC adapter.

You know, honestly I wouldn't mind that, and I bet a bunch of people on these forums wouldn't, but in this world people would freak out.

@SURubyFan It had directional buttons on the Joy-Cons for parity in local multiplayer, that wil be weird but usable (Think C-Buttons), and the Pro Controller has what many call a d-pad

@Grumblevolcano, good call about Smash Brothers do you think you could reuse the GC adapter they brought out for the Wii U?

@Monkey_Balls The point of the dock (and this is just speculation at this point, as Nintendo refuses to talk about the specifics) is probably there to supply more power and cooling to enhance the visuals on your TV screen. So instead of the 720p image that is rendered on the main units, the dock will aid the main unit in rendering a 1080p image on your TV screen, without containing much hardware itself, apart from a power brick and some cooling fans.

Nintendo is definitely encouraging everyone to buy physical media again, cause I don't see how you can go digital-only on this system easily.

As for what the USB ports do; Grumblevolcano mentioned a possible use; GameCube controller support, or at least the support for wired controllers for the competitive scene.

I'm also pretty sure that you can charge the main unit without the dock. Especially if the idea behind this system is taking it on the go, it's kinda a must that you can charge it on the go as well. In terms of functionality we really need to look at this system as a handheld. In terms of games or when you're not on the go? That's where this system tries to be a home console. The foundation is a handheld though.