I hope Nintendo actually makes this a huge step up from the Switch we’ve had since 2017. The OLED switch was nice, but it’s what the switch should’ve been from day one.
Oh and dear lord PLEASE let them fix the joycon issues. I would love to play my switch more in handheld mode but because both of my joycons have drift, it’s impossible to play in anything but docked mode with a pro controller.
I wish for all controller manufactures to use that magnetic joystick instead
Hall Effect Joysticks!
I think the copyright for that technology is, well…copyrighted. So Nintendo would need to pay a licensing fee to use it in their Joycons (as would any gaming company for their joysticks). That would add significant cost to the controllers.
Same reason we haven’t seen back buttons adopted into controllers as a standard yet despite being the next logical evolution in controller design.
@StarServal, you mean patents (not copyright), since it is about inventions.
And there is at least one hall effect controller patent that already expired. It is from 1988, so hall effect joysticks are not a new thing at all.
Thanks for doing the googling and bringing it up here.
Apparently the dreamcast controller had hall effect sensors, so it’s not really new tech. With the volume that Nintendo produces stuff with, the extra price per joystick would most likely be quite small.
I think it would need to be a patent, not a copyright. Also, Hall effect sensors were in use before someone decided to put them into a joystick. I would hope that “use the thing for which it was designed” isn’t patentable but, knowing the USPTO when it comes to technology…
The OLED switch was nice, but it’s what the switch should’ve been from day one.
The processor was long in the tooth and the joycons were unacceptably flawed on day one. The OLED switch changed none of these things and it still frustrates me a lot that people weren’t more critical of it tbh.
Yeah they’d fill should’ve upgraded the processor for the OLED switch, and I totally agree about the joycon situation. I was more talking about the screen, Nintendo easily could’ve made the first Gen switch OLED but they didn’t.
I feel the price was already a little high at launch (since they are adamant about making a profit on hardware as opposed to Sony/Microsoft who sell at a loss) so the addition of a more expensive screen would’ve probably pushed the price too high tbh. It was 2017, OLED’s were still pretty new and very expensive.
LCD was fine. Locked 60 Hz refresh rate made no sense whatsoever. Even shitty laptops can dip down to 40 Hz, and that’d make dodgy framerates less stuttery. But the Switch is Nvidia hardware. There’s no excuse to not at least support 120 Hz polling to flip framebuffers.
Nintendo would have solidified the design and specs of the SoC and committed to a bulk contract for them just before we saw some big leaps in hardware; specifically in GPU and ARM SoCs, memory bandwidth and PCIe bus performance, and chip die resolution.
Think about where mobile processors were in 2014; it’s been almost 9 years. Think about where Apple silicon is now (also an ARM SoC platform). We’re truly “living in the future”.
Since the products were already in consumer hands as these innovations where happening, it was too late to change anything. It’s a rock and a hard place; especially for Nintendo who caters to so many casual enjoyers - if you upgrade the hardware, you’re gonna need to do another launch. The alternative would be that people with older switches wouldn’t be able to run newer games. You also don’t want to anger your customers by saying “remember that $400 you spent 3 years ago? Yeah you’re gonna need to go ahead and give us another $400”. Additionally, if they had done that, we’d probably be complaining about THAT machine being underpowered now. The Switch was selling like hotcakes regardless, they weren’t going to disrupt that revenue. Money talks and the world told Nintendo what they wanted, whether they meant to or not.
Now that even 1st party titles are struggling on the system, the writing is on the wall, the tech has improved massively, and consumers are warming to the idea of a new console, it makes sense that Nintendo would have been doing the legwork to be at the point when suppliers are leaking info, when investor calls subtly reveal dates when at a minimum we’ll get our first official info, etc. I bet they’ll start shipping dev kits in the fall (if they haven’t already) if all this info is accurate.
Ehhhhh I get that but my main gripes are 1) the joy cons and 2) literally no changes for the OLED
Just put in a modern chip to start with if the hardware will be the same for 7-8 years
But then if becomes the price of a Rog Ally or similar. Nintendo need to hit the cost/power ratio for a mas audience.
Or they eat some costs for the first two years like adults🙂
Ironically my joycons that I’ve had since launch day have been fine (regarding drift, anyway), but my pro controller got drift last year, and I just had to replace it.
That’s wild. My release day joycons drift like a bitch, but I have never once had an issue with my pro controller. I didn’t even know the pro controller could have drifting issues tbh
I’m probably the very edge of the bell curve on those joycons. Unfortunately, the wireless connection on the left joycon is basically unusable.
And, not surprised I got drift on my pro controller. I probably have close to 1000 hours on it in smash alone.
If they don’t fix the joycon issues Nintendo is going to lose more lawsuits and be on the hook for fixing people’s joycons for free forever. I just sent 4 of mine in in the US.
If you are in the European Economic Area (EEA), UK and Switzerland Nintendo will fix your joycons for free. If you are anywhere else, just buy some new sticks and replace them.
The US too. Not explicitly mentioned, but Ive repaired several for free
They do in the US too.
I’ve submitted several joycons for repair over the years, always sent back without any charge. The most recent batch also had broken housing, but still repaired for free.
Give it a shot!
There’s some great tutorials on how to fix it yourself, though that doesn’t excuse Nintendo from the shit design
Tried em, they don’t fix the issue long term. Eventually it’ll creep back and I’m stuck with the same issue again.
Replace the sticks with hall sensor sticks off amazon. They will never drift. Takes about 10 mins.
Note that I’m not excusing nintendo here. If anything it shows how pathetic it is that nintendo isn’t using hall effect sticks.
I seriously doubt Nintendo would get into a situation where they are less than a year away from a new console without even soft announcing it’s coming in an investor meeting or anything. They announced Switch (as the upcoming NX) in April 2016 for a March 2017 launch. WiiU was announced April 2011, for a November~Dec 2012 launch. The Wii was hyped 2 years in a row in 2004 and 2005 before releasing in 2006, and the Gamecube was announced August 2000 before a Sept~Nov 2001 release. Nintendo may very well be launching new hardware early next year, but history points more to a Switch Pro unless they announce VERY soon and the release window is more late summer~fall 2024.
My thought too. My guess is the early 2024 date is for an announcement for a late/holiday 2024 release, if there is anything actually going on soon. Announcing late this year for an early-year launch makes little sense from a marketing and timing standpoint. You’re both cutting the pre-launch buildup awfully close for the comfort of publishers, consumers and retailers, and also potentially screwing up your holiday sales window for this year since people will likely want to hold out for the new console rather than invest in the late-year releases, which then also screws with third parties’ bottom line at a critical sales point in the year. If there really is a planned early 2024 release date for this thing, the earlier the announcement, the better at this point.
The WiiU was announced in April 2011 for a November Nov 2001 release?
Sorry, must have had a typo, announced April 2011, released Nov 2012
I guess one of these posts has to eventually be right, same post with the date nine months away for years
This again?
I do think there is some substance in this. What we will get, who knows…
Would like a new animal crossing please and thanks ;)
What? No dude, I’m pretty sure its coming out tomorrow
It definitely is. My uncle, who works at Nintendo, told me so.
I REALLY hope this doesn’t lead to the original Switch’s eShop closing anytime soon. The industry as a whole has been terrible at historical preservation lately.
Considering the wii and 3DS eshops were kept alive several years into the switch’s lifetime, how “soon” are you worried about?
There are two prerequisites to me being ok with the eShop closing.
- The entire catalogue (or the most historically valuable portions) must be in the hands of historians and/or game preservation organizations
(option A). The games humanity collectively cares about would have to all be remade, and remade well, for later audiences. (option B). All titles the public want to remain available would have to be made permanently available by some other means, such as legalized emulation infrastructure (such as the Virtual Console on previous systems, but much more permanent). 3. (an alternative to the other options/prerequisites, I’d rather this one not happen). If other prerequisite options can’t be met, after so much time has passed that functioning Switches no longer exist.
My point is, I’ll be ok with the eShop closing when as little information would be lost as possible.
Whatever the Switch 2 end up as, I think people may be disappointed. Without some huge leap in battery and power efficiency, it’s going to be hard to keep something slim and relatively small while also making it much more powerful and having decent battery life. Just look at the handheld PC market. You can make something more powerful, but other things will suffer (size of you’re the Steam Deck, battery life and thermals if you’re the Ally). You could certainly make a more powerful Switch, but if keeping it small and somewhat battery efficient is important, the improvements to power wouldn’t be earth shattering unless Nintendo is sitting on some battery tech no one else has.
The thing is that the people that buy Nintendo they don’t care about the performance of the console, they care about the games, and those you can only get on Nintendo consoles (yes, you can emulate games but emulation is a very niche thing that most people won’t bother doing)
Chip design, especially ARM, has come a long way in 7 years. Nintendo will have to try really hard to find a chip that isn’t significantly more powerful than the garbage they put in the Switch.
Phones are more powerful than the Switch these days, it doesn’t need to be the most powerful handheld, just more modern performance with an affordable price tag. It’s won’t be trying to run Steam games, it will be running Switch games which are specifically optimised for it.
If they don’t embrace G-Sync, they’re fools. It’s such an obvious advantage for power-constrained rendering where they provide the screen.
Also yeah obviously fix the damn drift. Joysticks are not unexplored technology. At some point you’re begging for a lawsuit over basic consumer protection. If you can’t be arsed to fix a problem everyone complains about, when it’d cost 0.01% of MSRP to address, you’re doing capitalism wrong. Grease your squeaky wheel already.
Beyond that… I’m not expecting any huge leaps. Look at the DS line and how it printed money. Those occasional upgrades, not quite generational, balanced ongoing software compatibility with eager hardware adoption. Consider how they still own the entire handheld console space, somehow. There’s no overwhelming motivation to reach for immense power or gobs more memory. If they get Unreal 5 looking good at a whopping 1080p40, they’re golden for another five years.
I’d like to see a dock with proper 4k output and scaling. Some of the older switch titles kinda looking strange on larger format TVs. But I guess the main point of the switch is the portability aspect.
What are the chances it’s backwards compatible with Switch games? Digital and physical?
50%
Either it is.
Or it isn’t.
Think of it like a dice roll: You either roll or 6, or you don’t, so basically it’s 50/50.
Let’s look at the track record.
Backwards compatible handhelds:
- GameBoy Colour (to GB)
- Gameboy Advance (to GBC)
- Nintendo DS (to GBA)
- Nintendo 3DS (to DS)
Home consoles:
- Wii (to GC)
- Wii U (to Wii)
Not backwards compatible:
- SNES
- VirtualBoy
- Nintendo 64
- GameCube
- Switch
Lack of backwards compatibility to the previous generation has usually followed from a change in media format, and even then there has been a willingness to make an effort (the DS with its two slots being the prime example). Backwards compatibility seems to be a good way to ensure a wide selection of games at launch, and the negative aspect (not being able to sell the re-releases of the same games yet again to those desperate enough) seems to be outweighed by the positive (availability of games at launch; maintained interest in games from previous generation).
There’s no real reason for Switch cartridges to grow any smaller, and I doubt they’ll go back to discs. So I would say there’s a pretty good chance of backward compatibility.
@WestyFlyer With how long first party games are taking to bring to market these days, it almost has to be backwards compatible, just for the sake of having a playable library at launch.
The Switch will be my last Nintendo console for a long while if they don’t make at least the digital library backwards compatible. I’ll save my money for Valve’s Steam Deck 2 (when it comes) in that case. I mostly play portable anyway.
It’s Nintendo so they will probably try to get you to pay for Mario Cart again
Assuming it’s built on the same Tegra line of chips, there could be issues with back compat according to MVG. But there are ways around that that Nintendo could take, and they have a lot of incentive to make it backwards compatibile
I’m guessing it will be backwards compatible. The Wii, Wii U, DS, and 3DS all had backwards compatibility, and the only reason the Switch didn’t is because it has a vastly different architecture from the Wii U (and no space for a disk drive). I can’t imagine that the Switch 2’s architecture will be vastly different from the Switch, and they’ll both presumably use cartridges, so I’d say there’s a very good chance of backwards compatibility.
100.0%. There is just no benefit whatsoever to rocking that boat. The Switch is a converted Android gizmo, ARM is still the only sane answer for high-performance mobile platforms, and their video hardware is from the company that bought ARM. To say nothing of the PR shitstorm it would be to slice their market in half.
That said, you’ll still have to buy Virtual Console games separately, because Nintendo.
Nvidia didn’t buy ARM
Nvidia’s acquisition of ARM never actually went through.
Couldn’t it also be the rumoured PS5 pro?
My uncle works at Nintendo, and he confirms it’s real.
After Nintendo’s choice to kill mods and emulation you’d be a fool to buy from them.
That choice that happened in, like, the 90s?
This might be applicable to the handful of people that care about this. To the general populace? They don’t care and will keep buying the consoles and games.
