Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

@NintyFan
I can tell you now that a device powering games of this caliber... the battery life isn't gonna be more than 3-4 hours. And that's nothing to get upset about... it's just the limits of technology at this price point.

The most we can hope for is that they sell an extended capacity battery on the side, so that those willing to pay the extra cost of a high end battery can do so. If they don't sell one on the side I'm not gonna be happy about it.

@BLP_Software
No, Dualshock 4 in all honestly gets about 10-12 hrs. Enough for a full day binge. I've been hammering away at Final Fantasy XV all day, since 4:30am today, and haven't had to charge yet (that was 8 hrs ago, and still counting).

10 hrs seems standard. The Wiimote with rapid charge base and battery pack got about 11 hrs. And in truth the Gamepad with extended battery gets around 6, maybe 7 hrs (full brightness mind you, the gamepad is far too dim as is, even full brightness looks dim compared to the TV).

But that's still good for powering a screen. Once you hit the 10 hr mark though that's plenty. I haven't gamed for more than 10 hrs straight since I was a teenager.

I think it's pretty clearly going to be used by many (most) as a handheld but the word 'handheld' has a lot of assumed connotations. 'Handhelds are for kids', ''handhelds are cheap toys' etc.

Marketing it as something new makes a lot of sense in that light.

That's before we consider that the 3DS is a mature and profitable ongoing concern.

@BLP_Software My DS4 lasts about 8-10 hours. You can dim the light bar if you want to save some battery, but I haven't touched the settings of mine.

The JoyCons themselves? I expect around 5 hours. Batteries are expensive and big that those little things are filled with all kinds of stuff, from motion controls to gyro control, analog triggers and more. I don't expect something like the Wii U Pro controller, they're way too small for that, and I'm sure they're cuttings costs wherever is possible.

@JaxonH @Octane What the hell am I doing wrong with my DS4 then? Both of them don't last 10 hours. Closer to 6. Huh, weird. Maybe they aren't getting full charge due to how the cable comes out when they sit, iunno.

5 hours for Joy-Con while ungripped? I can see that. At least match the Switch battery life when undocked. As for when gripped, well, that Grip is just one biiiig battery really as we now know, so Wii U Pro Controller is really the limit there. Unless something surpasses it.

@BLP_Software
Idk... did you buy them used? I'd mess with the power and light settings. Maybe you have it to where it doesn't hibernate after 10 minutes without a button press so it stays on even when you're not using it. That and if you have the light at full brightness that probably affects it too.

I keep mine at 10 minutes, and brightness on dim. Only time it needs to be bright is for VR or certain games that need to track it.

Wii U Pro controller got insane battery life at like 80 hrs. But it was limited in features. No accelerometer, no gyroscope, none of that stuff. I imagine the JoyCons will be somewhere around 8-10 hrs battery life each (same as a Wiimote). Enough that you could use them for a full binge while undocked for sure.

@JaxonH 8-10? Maybe. The Wii Remote had two big AA batteries though. The JoyCons are a lot smaller, and therefore the batteries will have to be a lot smaller too. 8-10 hours would be nice though..

@JaxonH Nope, both brand new. But as I said, the charging port is at an angle on the DS4, which means when put down, it slides out (Because that's smart).

@Octane
upload pictures free

They are definitely smaller, but... batteries have also gotten better over the last 10 years. And a stock internal rechargeable will take up less room than is needed for all purpose batteries. Who's to say there wasn't plenty of extra room in the Wiimotes anyways, so a similar caliber battery would still fit in the Joycons?

I mean, it's all speculation at this point. But I would definitely put it in the realm of possibility, perhaps even likely.

@JaxonH Fair point, I hope you're right then!

I've never once had a problem with controller battery life. Surely the joy-cons only need to last as long as the console itself does (with a little leeway)? I'm a lot more concerned about the console itself, but even then, if it can charge by USB I'll probably find a way to charge wherever I am.

I've never had my USB leads come out of my DS4s. I also get at least 10+ hours without even thinking about having to recharge. They also hold their charge really well as I often don't use my PS4 for weeks on end and the DS4 is still good to go. I have turned all settings down to minimum.

@zitpig
I literally just swapped out controllers 10 minutes ago due to low battery. I started playing at 4:30am and have been binging on FFXV ever since. It's 4:30pm now.

So ya, that's 12 hours. It wasn't completely dead yet, but I know when it gives a warning not to push your luck, especially seeing as I was in the middle of fighting a Level 42 Red Giant. Not exactly the best time to risk it.

@JaxonH It just "pops" out. Like the cable doesn't properly sit in the connector because the angle of the connector is on a slightly downward facing part of the controller. So the cable is sort of lfited out by the surface its placed on. It's weird. Probably a problem with the surfaces.

Anyhow, with regards to the endless power arguments and Nintendoom stuff lately, I found someone who has explained it, in a /very/ ASMR way (Though I am also going on 72 hours no sleep, thanks university), and I think he is hit the nail on the head.

I doubt many people would even play 3 to 4 hours unplugged.

As long as the charger is compact enough, you'll just carry around the darn thing.

I'm pretty sure that some 3rd party accessory company is going to make an external battery for this thing to improve the battery life similar to the Nyko UBoost. To be honest, I'm willing to spend some more money on it even if the external battery may be bulky. Also because the Switch may support USB C, the charging is going to be quick

@BLP_Software: About the video, I didn't agree with his opinion quite as much. As much of a fanboy as I am, I've got to play devil's advocate sometimes.

I don't think he did a very good job of trying to understand the Wii U backlash. He says that people don't have a good answer for why the Wii U sucks, but I can think of quite a few good reasons people have come up with. He says that all the negativity can be explained by a psychological need for tribalism and a fear of trying something different, but I don't think peoples misgivings about hardware are misguided, if that's what they care about. The idea of buying a completely different machine just for games probably already feels redundant for most people anyway. I don't blame people for being wary of buying a low-powered console at a not-exactly-budget price, just for a tablet they don't intend on using. Plus, the Wii U Gamepad is bulky and toy-like, low res, and has poor battery. Nintendo was banking on the Gamepad being the selling point, but it didn't cut it. It was like buying two clunky devices, yet you couldn't separate them.

I feel like the tribalism aspect applies to a minority aspect, where the majority has the mentality of making sure you get the most out of your money. People want to pay a certain amount for a TV, and as a result, they expect it to be a size, resolution, and picture quality that matches the money they put down. To us fans, it's about fun and fanboyism, but for the mainstream, its just like buying a TV, computer, or tablet.

P.S. None of this is my own opinion! (I feel like I shouldn't have to repeat this, but you know how the internet is) I just feel like this opinion better explains the backlash than the video I was refering to.

@Nicolai That's about what I thought, too. Most people do at least a little research on the pros and cons of different consoles before they buy them. They don't usually just go by "it sucks". Even if they don't understand the merits of the Gamepad, which is pretty common, the terrible 3rd party support would be a legitimate enough reason not to buy one, not to mention the fact that even the first party support was nothing amazing. (It wasn't bad, but there weren't many first party games that were seen as system sellers to the mainstream)

There's a kind of project management saying that goes along the lines of:
Cheap, Timely, Quality. Pick two.

You can hire a dude who's quick and cheap but he will inevitably do a crap job. You can go for someone who's quick and does a good job but they won't be cheap. And if you go for someone who's cheap and good quality? Don't expect it to be finished on time. All things being equal you pay for what you get one way or the other.

A similar thing applies to gadgets:
Cheap, Powerful, Good Battery/Quality. Pick two.

What I hope is that the Switch is affordable and has good battery life. So the panic about how many GFLOPS it has doesn't worry me. It just says to me that they're releasing the device that I want.

To be fair there's not much in a Wii Remote that's not in the Wii U Pro Controller. The Pro Controller has a 5Wh battery and lasts for ages. It's also a pretty damn small battery. So I don't imagine battery life will be much of an issue at all. Especially if you're constantly plugging it into the Grip or the Switch itself.

As for how it could work? Well there's not really much to the Wii Remote. It wasn't doing anything super crazy. It was literally just a collection of buttons, motion sensors and rumble. Things which most modern controllers all have these days. The unique part was the pointer and that's literally just an IR camera paired with two IR LEDs under the TV. The right Joycon has an IR camera so put a couple of IR LEDs under your TV. Boom, Wii Remote.

@TomJ: I don't see why not. The Wii remote isn't so ornately dependant on its current design. All a controller needs is an IR sensor and gyroscope, and you can fit that into any size and shape. Heck, the Gamepad had its own sensor bar. You can stick this stuff anywhere.
@Skywake: That "you pick two" reminds me of the triangle of college life. Sleep, Social Life, Grades. You pick two.