Topic: Some smartphones match the power of the Switch (and that's a good thing)

If we assume that ARM chips will provide better performance to cost than x86 chips when the next generation of consoles come out. Then, regardless if someone makes a home console, portable console or hybrid console, they'll all use ARM chips. x86 will probably still have better high end stuff, but no one wants to pay 800 dollars for a console.

Dropping the dock capabilities wouldn't save that much money, and it would get rid of a major selling point.

@Agriculture
I have one thing to say :
Spending $ 1000 for Iphone X are completely worthless and Wasting money , compared by spending $ 1000 for getting THREE Nintendo Switch that can be played for THREE Players (Assume One Nintendo Switch = $ 300 )

That's a whole other issue. There aren't that many people who are "core gamers" in the world, but most people want a great smartphone. So development happens in all technology related to smartphones. And the Iphone X only got that extreme price because Samsung are the only ones who can make the displays for it, and decided to increase the price a lot. They charged 45 dollars for the LCD screens in other Iphones, but decided to charge 120 dollars for the OLED in the Iphone X.

@Agriculture The money saving part, I don't know, I'm not well-versed in tech to say so, but this "and it would get rid of a major selling point." I'm pretty sure that isn't correct. It's selling off of console quality games on the go, as the comparisons when it comes to home-console games do not speak in it's favour. If someone buys it for home-console, they're taking less for more, which isn't exactly a smart consumer's choice.

@Agriculture Microsoft will never use ARM chips, or at least not within the next couple of generations. X86 is their instruction set after all (okay sort of, x86-64 wasn't developed by them but that's ANOTHER issue entirely.) There's not way they won't keep their console compatible with the same architecture as Windows PCs. If Windows becomes available on ARM, then we might see a change. Sony on the other hand? Yeah, it's likely they'll switch to ARM if it becomes significantly more efficient to use. Which will be interesting, since Sony and Microsoft have been on the same architecture the last two generations, which is why it's been so easy to port between them. If Sony goes ARM with Nintendo, Xbox might end up getting the short end of the stick, who knows?

@Anti-Matter That has absolutely nothing to do with what's being discussed though? The point is that there's an upgrade path for Nintendo to take while sticking with ARM architecture, after they've (finally) swapped from the dead end that is PowerPC

Windows 10 on ARM will come soon: https://www.anandtech.com/show/12119/microsoft-launches-windo...

Note that it has full x86 emulation. Obviously it's inefficient, but it's still more than enough to run all Office programs.

But no one would be able to have the Switch as their primary console if it didn't even work on the tv. And the reverse of your statement has also always been true, that people want to play their portable games on the tv. That was why the gameboy players were so successful.

@MFD I haven’t even unwrapped my dock, I play purely in handheld mode, because I have no time to be sitting in front of a TV. That’s why I got the Switch, and it’s my first console since PS3.

@kobashi100 power is t everything, but if Nintendo was more powerful, then they would get more games. The Switch doesn’t need to have more power this generation, it does well as a midrange system. But, the Switch 2, if it was a hybrid system just as powerful as the PS5 when Sony release their PS5 slim/pro mid generation, then the console war will be won by Nintendo. That should be the time Nintendo releases a new console. The Switch 2 should be just half a step behind Sony and Xbox, that’s what I meant. Simply so it can play current gen games without so many compromises. Not that I personally care, because I will always take the graphics hit for portability. In four or five years I think it’s possible the Switch can be a hybrid system and closely match the PS5 next gen... if they release mid generation.

@Agriculture And I doubt @DizzyDee81 is alone in that, far from it in fact. Plus, Nintendo did do their survey, sure, but that's only for those who bothered to respond to them. What of all the people that didn't? What if there's an uncovered majority who plays primarily only handheld in there that has gone under the radar?

Also that and exclusives would be a strong argument for it's docked mode, but since we aren't seeing that handheld now on TV emphasized by Nintendo nor being very evident yet, it might as well be hot-air. If you ask me, then I feel that Nintendo needs to put their backs into it to offer a incentive to buy third-party multiplat, beyond portability. They've got many ways to go about it, so chop chop.

This whole hybrid thing is something you really can't back track on. Sony did that a little bit when they removed the tv out from the PSP, and also never put any tv out on the Vita. That wasn't something that was appropriated. If Nintendo back tracked by removing the dock there would be a backlash.

@Agriculture they need to keep the hybrid concept going, it’s a winning formula, the best of both worlds. In fact they should keep the exact same design, just more power and better battery. I might never use my dock but others I’m sure do, that’s the beauty of it. The hybrid console is the future, Nintendo are game changers again, they were ahead of everyone again. I can’t see myself returning to a normal console tethered to a Tv ever again.

Yes, and have full backwards compatibility. Nintendo has always been known for that. Obviously with the Switch they couldn't do that since they moved over to memory cards and different ports. It's great that the Switch has USB-C also, since that is future proof.

I would also not buy another console unless it was hybrid. I will keep my PS4 for Death Stranding, but that's about it. I would re-buy any game I already own if it came to the Switch.

@DizzyDee81 Best of both worlds? I'd argue against that, as docked multiplat games suffer due to it's hybrid nature. The power this thing can have is severely limited by it being a handheld in form-factor. If it, by I don't care what means, could match other home-console performances, then sure, but we all know that's a pipe-dream as it will end up driving up the cost which Nintendo doesn't want.

Push comes to shove, people are getting objectively graphically and perfomance-wise weaker games for full price and they're alright with it. That's how much portability matters, since no other logic can explain paying more for less in case of the docked mode.

Which then ties into my argument of the docked mode not mattering in the grand scheme of things (Since it's literally cheaper for an objectively better version on other systems, unless portability matters that much for you, but that won't change the fact that people that buy games for the docked mode get the short end of the stick, hence why the hybrid concept is actually incredibly unfair if done how the Switch is done), unless people like throwing money away these days, at which point I don't even know what to think anymore.

Is the Hori Nintendo Switch stand good for in car

Or is it not a good idea?

True you will always be able to get more power out of larger form factor devices. Purely because of the physics of cooling and the power delivery restrictions that will always exist on battery vs plugged into the wall. But at the same time there's only so much power you actually need to deliver a decent experience.

I'm not saying we're there yet but it's increasingly becoming the case that more power means less. If you are a PC gamer and you asked me what card you should get for 1080p gaming? I'd strongly recommend against spending more than ~$250US on your GPU. Five years ago the recommendation would have instead have been to build a decent base and then spend as much of your budget as possible on the best GPU you can afford. For 4K that's still the case but it won't be long before even 4K will become easy for mid-range cards.

Yes we are now moving to 4K which is definitely a thing, VR is also something that will demand more power if/when it takes off. But once we've got to that point where to from there? In 10 years high spec machines will probably be able to do super advanced lighting techniques at 4K, 120fps. We should also be able to do higher resolutions like 8K. But will people care if you can carry around a machine that does a good enough job at 1440p 60hz in your bag? And by people I mean the mainstream consumer who actually spends money on this stuff.

I think it's inevitable, eventually every console is going to look like the Switch.

edit:
It should also be noted that 5 years ago there were some high end graphics cards that were over 30cm long and drew almost 400W from the wall. These days there are some of the highest end cards can be almost half the size drawing half as much power. So it's not just about mobile products catching up with high spec desktop components, desktop components are also getting smaller and more power efficient.

@skywake They are catching up, but it always takes a decent amount of time before the price comes to acceptable terms for Nintendo, if ever. My point, is that the Switch as a hybrid is too much of one thing to justify purchasing it for any other reason, and that's not good. I see people going haywire over how the Switch just compares so much worse when it comes to multiplats, and when they're told that they've condoned this by buying the darn thing, they get defensive and start insulting.

Nintendo chose a handheld with a fancier way to connect to your TV, but due to that fancier way, decided to dub it a home-console. As such, it does what the PS4/Xbox One do, and thus draws comparisons, which are never in it's favour. Now if they were to remove the dock, then these comparisons would end, and people could just endlessly gush about how awesome the Switch (most likely requiring a new name) is as a handheld, instead of beating themselves and others up on it's weakest, yet equally relevant part.

Keep in mind, Nintendo also tried to get a customized version of Android to be Switch’s OS. Can you imagine the number of mobile games that would’ve been ported over if that had come to fruition?

And yet those smartphones are shoved full of bloatware, unneeded apps from the service providers, and cost more than triple what a Switch does.

And don't even get me started on how much I hate the smart phone "free to play" model of game design.

Further, unless you buy a 3rd party device that only supports some of the "games" everything is pure touch screen controlled, which I hate, which factually you cannot develop as good of games for because of highly limited input and control options.