Topic: The Nintendo Switch Thread

In Japan Nintendo has opened up a "My Nintendo Store" where you can buy Switch stuff from them directly. Which is kinda boring because it's the same stuff that you can get anywhere else. But there are two interesting things going on that are new:

1. Nintendo are letting people pick what colour Joycons they get
2. They're giving people 300 Gold My Nintendo coins with their purchase (do we also get that?)

source: http://www.perfectly-nintendo.com/japan-nintendo-store-opens-...

I've got three kids and spend 20 minutes every day trying to find lost lego pieces. Watch me become slightly less relaxed when that lego piece is a zelda cartridge for the simple reason that they "thought yoshi was cooler right now and the youngest one thought it could work with his little nexo knight shield" or something.

The micro sd storage is still somewhat expensive beyond the 128 range, and I'm already researching read speeds on the things.

Anyone know what the battery capacity is like (in Mah?). I'm looking to get a powerbank too.

Picking up on the discussion about 3rd parties, I agree that RE7 and Lego Worlds are missed opportunities. Capcom has always been a bit flaky about RE on Nintendo but Lego Worlds is really weird because usually you can safely assume a Lego game is coming. I'd say the biggest missed opportunities not on this list would be Overwatch and DOOM. Not a fan of the idea of Switch getting a bunch of ports of games already on other systems (evergreens like Minecraft and Skyrim being exceptions) but I do think those titles would do pretty well. Maybe DOOM will come if Skyrim does well enough.

It is quite strange like stuff like Skyrim and Minecraft couldn't make launch. For Skyrim, it was probably for the best since I was seeing too many "Well if Skyrim is at launch I'm going to have to pass/wait on it because Zelda" comments being made up until the presentation. But what's Minecraft's excuse? Did they start working on the port pretty late? I'm still holding out hope for Tekken to make launch but it's looking more unlikely it'll even make Spring with how long the announcement is taking.

But really, it's just nitpicks for me. I'm rather satisfied with what the year's line up is looking like so far. I've got a PS4 for RE7 and For Honor if it happens to convince me to give it a whirl.

@andrew20 I'll use it docked for most of the time, but when the family is relaxing with the TV on, not really doing anything in particular, it'll be nice to put it into handheld mode and play a game while not interrupting what everyone else in the room is doing.

4310mAh
Source: http://www.anandtech.com/show/11039/nintendo-switch-hardware-...

Plus something like 500mAh for each Joycon. Which from my understanding last for something like 20 hours but draw power directly from the Switch itself when connected. Either way, ~4000mAh? I've got an 8000mAh battery bank so, I could play for quite a while without needing mains power. More than I likely would.

I have some concerns regarding the online services. What exactly is a smartphone to do on the Switch? Voice chat? Or is even online matchmaking and adding friends dependent on a smartphone app?

Do you think its likely they'll make a Windows 10 app? I have a Windows Phone and I am not getting another phone just because of Nintendo.

I dunno. I keep forgetting that Windows phones exist...

@Samurai_Goroh If we're lucky Nintendo explained bugger all and they will reveal at a later date that you don't need a smartphone for voice chat. Paying for online is one thing, but not including voice chat? Can't see that happening. They're not going to require you to use your own phone for voice chat. Probably just an optional thing.

Patentely waiting for more info regarding the Virtual Console line-up. Since I missed the GameCube era (lost interest in games during that time) I'm really hyped about the potential arrival of those games on Switch VC.

I'm not sure. Well these are the possible ways of voice chat from other systems:

• Controller or console has a microphone built in (e.g. Wii U Gamepad)
• Controller or console has some kind of headset port (e.g. PS4 and XB1 controllers, old XB1 controllers did require a special adapter to use 3rd party headsets though)
• Console can connect to wireless headsets (e.g. XB1)

These are the things to look out for if there's any hope of voice chat not requiring the smartphone app. Feel free to add to the list if you can think of others.

@Grumblevolcano
From the patents which are not necessarily final there is no mic on the main unit. There's a chip in there for handling audio but it's only connected to a speaker and a headphone jack. But this is what they say about the 3.5mm headphone jack.

I'm pretty sure I saw during the presentation or treehouse that the Switch included a microphone on its top right corner. I may be wrong, though, I don't have the time to see the video again to confirm it.

I do think the voice chat will be though the console, though. They can't be that backward... I guess.

I don't know what source I have read this, but good news! For those who are eager to try out Super Mario Odyssey, it's confirmed that it's going to be playable at this year's E3.

@Azooooz Nice, but no surprise really. It's coming out this year, so it's a given that it will be their big E3 game.

So I decided to put off Switch, at least till Splatoon 2 comes out. I shall explain my reasoning through a list:
-No charging joycon grip included
-No 1 2 Switch as pack in
-Overall weak launch window lineup atm(Seriously, 2 years of planning and this is the best they get?)
-OS seems barebones, online network sounds unfinished.

@WebHead Joy-Con Grip is included.

I was thinking the same thing unless there's a grip and a charging grip which are two different things?

@Octane the one included doesnt have charging apparently. the charging version is being sold seperately for $30.

Where did you hear that?

For all those worrying about memory, other news outlers like Destructoid and Games Reactor are reporting that the Switch is compatible with external HDD - connected to the dock, obviously. However, the feature won't be available at launch, to not mess up the messaging of it being a console you can use as a portable. Supposedly, Nintendo fears backlash over gamers not being able to take on the go games they have on the drive connected to the Switch and having to do micromanagement.

So, we may see this feature down the road as an alternative to microSD cards.