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Nintendo Switch Teardown

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Re: Nintendo Switch Teardown

#91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, the docked mode is grating at times. You've got these great mechanics and beautiful world but constant input lag. Very frustrating. I'd prefer to be able to sit down and play on a TV at a higher resolution, but it's a worse experience. It effectively makes it a mobile game. It's 2017! 1080p or 60fps should be the minimum. To be fair that's not doable at $300 on a mobile gpu, but as a console that's rough. re: sc…

> v2 should be nice Has there ever been a v2 of a nintendo console?

Depends how you define v2. If you define it as a revision to the original version then -

The DSi was an upgrade to the DS but not a whole new console generation.

The Wii Mini was a downgrade (seriously) to the Wii to make it cheaper/smaller.

The New 3DS was an upgrade to the 3DS similar to the DS->DSi upgrade.

Plus all of the Gameboy and Gameboy Advance models which you could argue were often more revisions with some new features but still compatible than a totally new product.

Such as the Gameboy SP and then Micro which were totally new designs for the Gameboy Advance with a better screen but otherwise the same console.

Re: Nintendo Switch Teardown

#92
post #26
post #3

The dock is pretty underwhelming from what I've seen. There is no protection for the screen, sliding in between two pieces of plastic. Pretty cheap, for a premium priced, and well engineered hybrid device, that will be taken in and out. Semi-relevant. Breath of Wild looks like such a fantastic game, but it's completely ridiculous that the performance is often times WORSE in the docked mode. I'm hoping this is just cr…

I don't know how they justify selling it at the same price as the current gen consoles. You also have to pay extra for a real controller.

You don't need to buy an extra screen or controller, and it is mobile. The price seems fair to me.

Re: Nintendo Switch Teardown

#93
post #89
post #87

Just a few quick comments on the Switch after a day of use. First, a quick digression, Nintendo seems to have gauged the launch demand pretty well. There are some other comments here regarding Target morning waits. I was 2nd on line at 6:40am in a northern NJ Target. The guy in front of me had slept in his car (!), but he seemed to be the only one that did. By 7:45 the line was 20ish people. Our Target had 25 console…

How is selling out by 9AM considered 'gauging the demand well'? What about all of the people who go at lunch of after work? I'm pretty sure they always like to sell out as a marketing ploy anyway

Yes, I hear you. I guess I say that because I assumed it would be much worse? It was understood that they would be hard to come by at launch. There were a set amount produced that had to go to a set number of stores. By scheduling the launch on a Friday (school and work day) I think they were trying to have enough for the die hards.

Re: Nintendo Switch Teardown

#94
post #90
post #87

Just a few quick comments on the Switch after a day of use. First, a quick digression, Nintendo seems to have gauged the launch demand pretty well. There are some other comments here regarding Target morning waits. I was 2nd on line at 6:40am in a northern NJ Target. The guy in front of me had slept in his car (!), but he seemed to be the only one that did. By 7:45 the line was 20ish people. Our Target had 25 console…

About the USB C, can you use a standard C to HDMI converter, or do you have to use the base ?

I was wondering this as well. I don't have such a cable, but I am thinking it might work. The USB C connector on the dock looks like it just feeds right into the hdmi cable.

There isn't much info online about this. Just old forum posts.

Re: Nintendo Switch Teardown

#95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has there ever been a game released within a year of the launch of a console that displayed the power of the console? It usually takes a few years to really get the full power of the console

Crash Bandicoot for PS1 was so revolutionary that most studios were never able to catch on. Naughty Dog improved even more with Crash Bandicoot 2 and Crash Bandicoot 3, but the first game was already at the top of what the PS1 could do.

Time to post this series on the development of CB again. I'm sure the LISP fans here will love it, even if most of them will have already read it:

http://all-things-andy-gavin.com/2011/02/02/making-crash-ban...

Re: Nintendo Switch Teardown

#97
post #51

The Nintendo Switch seems like a nice tablet form factor game console. I am a bit underwhelmed by their decision to compromise the usability of the right Joycon - moving the analog stick below the digital buttons is certainly bad for US/European bigger hands, bad for ergonomic reasons, an unreasonable trade off. I am underwhelmed by their decision to add no additional fan to the Dock. It's just s piece of very cheap…

> It could have cooled the Switch and get out more performance out of the GPU (now they have to underclock it).

It wouldn't really need this extra performance.

When docked, the Switch goes from 720 to 1080p. This is 2.25 times more pixels. When docked, clock rate goes from 302 to 768 Mhz. This is 2.5 times more ops. This design means that developers can write the game optimized for 1080 and 720 will perform more or less the same without any modifications.

Increasing the power envelope for docked mode would only work if developers had to put the effort of selectively toggling some effects in portable mode and actually profiling the game for both 720 and 1080 separately. That's a lot of extra development costs for what I can only imagine to be a modest perf gain with better cooling and clocking higher.

Re: Nintendo Switch Teardown

#98
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why isn't the screen glass?! Durability when handled roughly by children?

I dunno. My ~3 year old neice has her own aging, hand-me-down iPad that she mistreats like it was any other $5 toy and it's been going strong for maybe 2 years.

And yet somehow I see adults everywhere with cracked screens :p

It could be the stronger glass Apple is using is too expensive for the price point Nintendo is aiming at

Re: Nintendo Switch Teardown

#99
Just got mine. Charged and used. This thing is such a joy to use. I'll probably play with it more in mobile mode. It feels good to hold it. And yes it's underpowered on the spec sheet but at the same time, it works really well. And I'm having a lot of fun with it so for me that's the main thing really :D.

Re: Nintendo Switch Teardown

#100
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is Nintendo... in a year or two you can buy the Switch DS!!! Now with a charging port on top, 1080P, and more battery life! I mean... assuming by then it's not clearly another WiiU or worse.

Yes, let's just make one product every 10 years and never make any incremental updates for people who like them and can afford them.

His point is that all those changes could have been added to this version. No need to have a plastic screen, a 3 hour battery life or that stupid location for the charging port.
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