Nikkei: Nintendo considering smaller, cheaper Switch focused on portable play

[Purist 134]

Makes sense. This will sell truckloads in Japan at least.

[jehurey 3,299]

I can only imagine that it still needs removable joy-cons. But having removable joy-cons means that the handheld still needs to be as long as the length of the joycons, so how much smaller can it get?

 

Unless they create a handheld with joy-cons that don't come off, but that may mean that its not going to work with certain games like Mario Party.

 

They must be doing this before the next Pokemon comes out. Family households that already have a switch are fixing to own a second switch.

[Playstation Tablet 1,746]

Expected, and makes sense. 

[Casual 743]

6 minutes ago, jehurey said:

I can only imagine that it still needs removable joy-cons. But having removable joy-cons means that the handheld still needs to be as long as the length of the joycons, so how much smaller can it get?

 

Unless they create a handheld with joy-cons that don't come off, but that may mean that its not going to work with certain games like Mario Party.

 

They must be doing this before the next Pokemon comes out. Family households that already have a switch are fixing to own a second switch.

 

I doubt they care about it working with Mario Party tbh. Weren't there a couple games that wouldn't work with 2DS? I think having built in joycons is the only real way to make it smaller/cheaper.  Keep in mind you could probably still use traditional joy cons with it if you were willing to purchase some. 

 

And yeah it's definitely gonna come out in time for portable AC and Pokemon. Makes perfect sence. 

Edited January 31, 2019 by Casual

[Purist 134]

I would be fine with built in joy cons, just include HDMI out for this portable Switch.

[Cooke 2,041]

well they could make the bezels smaller, but not having the joycons come off or connecting to a tv defeats the purpose of calling it a switch, 

[Purist 134]

3 hours ago, Cookester15 said:

well they could make the bezels smaller, but not having the joycons come off or connecting to a tv defeats the purpose of calling it a switch, 

I have never detached the joycons from my Switch anyway since I have the Pro controller and the SN30 Pro. Connecting to a TV via HDMI is a must for me though.

[madmaltese★ 2,617]

 As predicted. 

[McWicked 825]

10 hours ago, Cookester15 said:

well they could make the bezels smaller, but not having the joycons come off or connecting to a tv defeats the purpose of calling it a switch, 

If they're truly going for cheaper, I'm guessing we'll see a Switch with attached joycons, as that removes the need for the two extra batteries for the controllers, and a larger battery.  I wouldn't be surprised if they don't touch the bezels as that might increase the price.

 

Personally, I think removing the joycons will lead to a 2DS type of situation.  It has its niche, but it's not going to take off like a rocket.  Removing the joy cons kills local multiplayer completely.  Even if others can connect via bluetooth, you'd still have to hold the system in your hands, which prevents all other players from having a decent viewpoint.  It defeats the purpose of a Switch.

[jehurey 3,299]

3 hours ago, McWicked said:

If they're truly going for cheaper, I'm guessing we'll see a Switch with attached joycons, as that removes the need for the two extra batteries for the controllers, and a larger battery.  I wouldn't be surprised if they don't touch the bezels as that might increase the price.

 

Personally, I think removing the joycons will lead to a 2DS type of situation.  It has its niche, but it's not going to take off like a rocket.  Removing the joy cons kills local multiplayer completely.  Even if others can connect via bluetooth, you'd still have to hold the system in your hands, which prevents all other players from having a decent viewpoint.  It defeats the purpose of a Switch.

I think it would look like a badass looking GameBoy Advanced.

 

If they end up improving the battery life (still gonna need like a 4000mAh) that could be a enticing to alot of people.

Even better if they can move the controls to a more natural layout, with the bottom controls being closer towards the middle instead of being directly beneath the top controls. Then you might actually have adults who would prefer the all-handheld version.

[McWicked 825]

1 minute ago, jehurey said:

I think it would look like a badass looking GameBoy Advanced.

 

If they end up improving the battery life (still gonna need like a 4000mAh) that could be a enticing to alot of people.

Even better if they can move the controls to a more natural layout, with the bottom controls being closer towards the middle instead of being directly beneath the top controls. Then you might actually have adults who would prefer the all-handheld version.

I'm thinking that they're going to sacrifice functionality to hit that magical $200 price point where everyone and their mother wants to jump on board.  Sony did that and absolutely slaughtered November.  Imagine if they bundled SMO or BotW with this hand held next November?

 

I could be looking at this all wrong.  They know people use it in both TV and HH mode, but maybe they don't use Table Top mode at all?  If that's true, then it makes sense if they want to release a HH-only system with joycons attached.  

[jehurey 3,299]

12 minutes ago, McWicked said:

I'm thinking that they're going to sacrifice functionality to hit that magical $200 price point where everyone and their mother wants to jump on board.  Sony did that and absolutely slaughtered November.  Imagine if they bundled SMO or BotW with this hand held next November?

 

I could be looking at this all wrong.  They know people use it in both TV and HH mode, but maybe they don't use Table Top mode at all?  If that's true, then it makes sense if they want to release a HH-only system with joycons attached.  

Joycons had their own individual batteries, so they can remove that.

 

I imagine they will still keep the camera. They still need the acceleratoers, but maybe the joycons had a whole bunch of sensors so that it could be very accurate, so maybe they would lose some of those.

 

I think the joycons needed to communicate with the system via bluetooth, so they can remove the bluetooth radio since its going to be hardwired. 

 

They'll probably save money on manufacturing all the circuitry on one mainboard, instead of each joycon having its own little circuit board and being manufactured separately.

 

The handheld will never run in "TV mode" therefore it theoretically means that the GPU will never need to double its clockspeed, and that is the main reason why the system even has a fan to begin with, so that would get taken out. Hopefully the smaller screen will eat less battery.

 

No dock is going to be included. That should take it down to $200, right there.

Edited February 1, 2019 by jehurey

[Tears of the Cows 1,233]

I mean they could reduce the bezels I guess.. but they’d have to make the joy cons even smaller 

Edited February 1, 2019 by ghostz

[Ike★ 2,922]

Table top is garbage for the most part anyways. As long as it’s still compatible with the current Switch dock it’s fine.