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Nintendo announces new product revisions in Europe with replaceable batteries

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Re: Nintendo announces new product revisions in Europe with replaceable batteries

#51

Post by endemic »

toyg wrote: post #38
mcphage wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Amazes me they don't just sell it like that everywhere because it sounds a lot like a product improvement... I'm not so sure. The first laptop I bought, a Titanium Powerbook, had replaceable batteries. And even better than that: you could hot-swap them while the laptop was running on battery power, and the laptop wouldn't even shut off. It felt leagues ahead of even modern replaceable battery functionality, and hon…

Compulsory Apple-defending post is compulsory. Non-replaceable batteries are worse for consumers and worse for the environment. The fact that you "do not miss" a better world, does not mean it is not better.

> Non-replaceable batteries

Most batteries are replaceable. The difference is the level of effort involved.

Re: Nintendo announces new product revisions in Europe with replaceable batteries

#52

Post by SpicyLemonZest »

Zambyte wrote: post #40
mdrzn wrote: post #22

"There is no difference in functionality between current products and revised products containing user-replaceable batteries." So there was nothing "limiting" them from making it already with user-replaceable batteries, they just didn't care enough until EU forced them (like all the smartphone brands). Love EU.

It's not that they didn't care, it's that they did care in the wrong way. A non-replacable battery means people will be more likely to buy a whole new device if (when) the battery fails.

I don't understand why battery failure is a "when". The only batteries I've ever had fail in rechargeable electronic devices were replaceable packs where water got into the compartment. Perhaps I've just gotten lucky?

Re: Nintendo announces new product revisions in Europe with replaceable batteries

#53

Post by square_usual »

endemic wrote: post #46
Zambyte wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not that they didn't care, it's that they did care in the wrong way. A non-replacable battery means people will be more likely to buy a whole new device if (when) the battery fails.

My take is they didn't optimize for something that a small percentage of users would have problems with.

It's not really a small percentage of users. All users will have trouble with the battery - eventually. My DS4s ran out of battery life in about three years of usage; I still have one of them that I use wired with my PC, but I absolutely cannot use it wireless. Likewise with my DS5s - one of them barely held a charge 2-3 years in. I'm sure with good battery management you can extend the lifespan to be closer to 5-6 years, like my M1 MBP from 2021 that still has a 9+h battery life (though down from 12 as I remember), but that only keeps them going for a little longer. It's just a fact of how Li-ion batteries work that they will lose their capacity eventually.

E: DS4 = DualShock 4, DS5 = DualSense; these are the standard PlayStation controllers for the PS4 and the PS5 respectively.

Re: Nintendo announces new product revisions in Europe with replaceable batteries

#54

Post by GuB-42 »

xd1936 wrote: post #30
mdrzn wrote: post #22

"There is no difference in functionality between current products and revised products containing user-replaceable batteries." So there was nothing "limiting" them from making it already with user-replaceable batteries, they just didn't care enough until EU forced them (like all the smartphone brands). Love EU.

Except for an up-to-16% reduction in capacity, and slightly increased weight, depending on the product.

You mean an up-to-5% increase in capacity, and slightly decreased weight, depending on the product?

The truth is that the product with the 16% reduced capacity (Switch 2 Pro controller) is 7g lighter and the one with the 5% increased capacity (Gamecube controller) is 5g heavier.

Besides those two, the general idea is that the capacity is the same with 2-3% extra weight.

Re: Nintendo announces new product revisions in Europe with replaceable batteries

#55

Post by parineum »

mdrzn wrote: post #22

"There is no difference in functionality between current products and revised products containing user-replaceable batteries." So there was nothing "limiting" them from making it already with user-replaceable batteries, they just didn't care enough until EU forced them (like all the smartphone brands). Love EU.

> So there was nothing "limiting" them from making it already with user-replaceable batteries, they just didn't care enough until EU forced them (like all the smartphone brands). Love EU.

At the very least, the design will be more complicated to accommodate replaceable batteries. That costs money. There's a lot more to "limiting" than functionality.

Re: Nintendo announces new product revisions in Europe with replaceable batteries

#56

Post by drstewart »

smashini wrote: post #2

Honestly, amazing stuff. For all the flak that the EU gets this is absolutely an essential regulation

This. The top problems facing the world are gaming consoles' charging sources. Everything else is thankfully solved.

Re: Nintendo announces new product revisions in Europe with replaceable batteries

#57

Post by ablob »

dcrazy wrote: post #44
vrganj wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 16% is for the Pro Controller though, to be fair. The Switch 2 itself loses 1% of battery capacity, most other products none at all. Your framing seems a bit selective to the point of being misleading.

16% less battery life in a controller is pretty significant!

I wonder if it will feel significant. I can't remember being limited by the controller battery. The runtime on a single charge is probably still going to be measured in weeks, and at that scale I feel like it doesn't really matter.

Re: Nintendo announces new product revisions in Europe with replaceable batteries

#58

Post by square_usual »

rickdeckard wrote: post #24
benoau wrote: post #3

Amazes me they don't just sell it like that everywhere because it sounds a lot like a product improvement... > The revised products will be available on a rolling basis in territories where Nintendo of Europe conducts business, either directly or through a distributor, namely: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy,…

According to their latest fiscal report [0], Europe sales-volume of Switch2 is ~24% of the total global sales volume. The change surely eats into their margin per device, so they prefer to keep the higher margin for the rest of the world and recalculate their margin for europe. However interesting: "The Americas" sells 34% of all Switch2 in the world [0]. I wouldn't expect the US to mandate the same changes, but if e…

The higher margin is mostly coming from assembly costs, right? I can't imagine it comes from the actual cost of the battery being so much higher. I hope that once they start pushing these out and retool factories for them they can sell them more broadly.

Re: Nintendo announces new product revisions in Europe with replaceable batteries

#59

Post by vrganj »

parineum wrote: post #55
mdrzn wrote: post #22

"There is no difference in functionality between current products and revised products containing user-replaceable batteries." So there was nothing "limiting" them from making it already with user-replaceable batteries, they just didn't care enough until EU forced them (like all the smartphone brands). Love EU.

> So there was nothing "limiting" them from making it already with user-replaceable batteries, they just didn't care enough until EU forced them (like all the smartphone brands). Love EU. At the very least, the design will be more complicated to accommodate replaceable batteries. That costs money. There's a lot more to "limiting" than functionality.

They could've just designed it that way to begin with.

Thanks to this regulation, they will the next time around.

Re: Nintendo announces new product revisions in Europe with replaceable batteries

#60

Post by rtkwe »

thih9 wrote: post #5
benoau wrote: post #3

Amazes me they don't just sell it like that everywhere because it sounds a lot like a product improvement... > The revised products will be available on a rolling basis in territories where Nintendo of Europe conducts business, either directly or through a distributor, namely: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy,…

Quite a few of these aren't EU members, some aren't even in Europe; do we know why they were added? e.g.: Switzerland or United Kingdom; but also Oman or United Arab Emirates.

It's easier for Nintendo of Europe to switch over everyone than to stock and supply 2 versions of every product. Also I'd bet most of their sales come from the EU countries where the replaceable battery requirement is forcing this new SKU deployment anyways.
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