Fate of the Nintendo Switch

[Taswell]

I'm curious, Does anyone else think the switch is going to take the place of the Nintendo 3DS as well as the Wii U.

[BleakMaker]

I'm gonna buy one for sure I miss the good old days of beating my parents at Mario kart I will spend as much as needed to bring those times back.

[Techicolors]

it's obviously a Wii U replacement. the 3DS, not so much. 

[Speakerator]

To be fair, I haven't really taken any notice of the hype train that preceded the launch, but from what I've read so far, this will could be a killer gaming experience while on the road (though I have not gathered much experience in mobile gaming lately either :D) - with the added benefit of a decent stationary console. I was especially surprised by the capability to charge via USB type C. With something like a 20 000 - 30 000mAh battery pack, this would be a nice combination for travelling.

[BingoFishy]

5 minutes ago, Speakerator said:

To be fair, I haven't really taken any notice of the hype train that preceded the launch, but from what I've read so far, this will could be a killer gaming experience while on the road (though I have not gathered much experience in mobile gaming lately either :D) - with the added benefit of a decent stationary console. I was especially surprised by the capability to charge via USB type C. With something like a 20 000 - 30 000mAh battery pack, this would be a nice combination for travelling.

Do we have a measure of the capacity of the battery yet?

[BleakMaker]

2 minutes ago, BingoFishy said:

Do we have a measure of the capacity of the battery yet?

2 to 6 hours on battery  so it's gonna depend if it's more towards the the six hours instead of the 2 .

[Speakerator]

2 minutes ago, BingoFishy said:

Do we have a measure of the capacity of the battery yet?

Nope, AFAIK we do not. But I'd simply compare it to the nvidia shield tablet, which has around ~20Wh battery and lasts around 5 hours during gaming (Does it have the K1 or X1 tegra though? Going by the size of the device, I kinda doubt that it is >15 Ah, which means you can at least  tripple it with a decently sized battery bank for ~20 - 30$

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, Speakerator said:

Nope, AFAIK we do not. But I'd simply compare it to the nvidia shield tablet, which has around ~20Wh battery and lasts around 5 hours during gaming (Does it have the K1 or X1 tegra though? Going by the size of the device, I kinda doubt that it is >15 Ah, which means you can at least  tripple it with a decently sized battery bank for ~20 - 30$

K1

[GoodBytes]

Moved to 'Console Gaming' section

 

Currently, it will not replace the 3DS. The biggest issue is battery life (not to mention size).

The day Nintendo can do, at an affordable level, a smaller form factor and has really good battery (same as 3DS), it will replace the 3DS.

[Mira Yurizaki]

1 hour ago, GoodBytes said:

Moved to 'Console Gaming' section

 

Currently, it will not replace the 3DS. The biggest issue is battery life (not to mention size).

The day Nintendo can do, at an affordable level, a smaller form factor and has really good battery (same as 3DS), it will replace the 3DS.

Makes me think they'll do something like make an iPod Touch-like device and another thingy to use the JoyCons and it'll plop in. If they even want to do that.

[Krytern]

1 hour ago, GoodBytes said:

Moved to 'Console Gaming' section

 

Currently, it will not replace the 3DS. The biggest issue is battery life (not to mention size).

The day Nintendo can do, at an affordable level, a smaller form factor and has really good battery (same as 3DS), it will replace the 3DS.

The battery on the 3ds is only about 3 or 4 hours. The battery on the Switch is 2.5 to 6 hours depending on the game you play. Really not that different.

[GoodBytes]

11 minutes ago, Krytern said:

The battery on the 3ds is only about 3 or 4 hours. The battery on the Switch is 2.5 to 6 hours depending on the game you play. Really not that different.

huh I thought it was more...

Well the console is definitely larger, and not something you put in your pocket. The ultimate question is if people still care about this.

Well I think it will depend on the success of the Switch, and if people are still interested in mobile device. I doubt Nintendo knows at all, to be honest. I think they'll still support the 3DS until the Switch sales are good, and people aren't buying 3DS games anymore, with re-enforcement of market research saying that people aren't interested in such console.

 

If Nintendo decides to kill the 3DS, expect a Switch 1.5 with a faster chip, longer battery life (thanks to technological advancements), of course that would 2-3 years from now.

[Mira Yurizaki]

1 hour ago, Krytern said:

The battery on the 3ds is only about 3 or 4 hours. The battery on the Switch is 2.5 to 6 hours depending on the game you play. Really not that different.

 

1 hour ago, GoodBytes said:

huh I thought it was more...

The original 3DS was 3-6 hours if you were playing 3DS games and cranked up the 3D. The 3DS XL and 2DS can get within 10 hours or so. If you're playing DS games or whatnot, then the battery life increases.

[skywake]

People saying it won't replace it are just parroting the PR stuff. Nintendo don't want you to think its replacing the 3DS because the 3DS is their biggest install base. In the same way that Nintendo didn't want you to think the DS was going to replace the GBA. They're ok with you thinking that you shouldn't get games on your Wii U anymore because most people think that already. They don't want you thinking that you shouldn't get games for your 3DS.

 

It'll be a 3DS successor because that's what Nintendo are doing here. The Switch is an attempt to unify Nintendo's development under one platform. So that they don't have to have the situation they usually find themselves in where their portable gets a Mario Kart and then their home console has to get a different Mario Kart. Or where their portable console has a year where it gets a whole pile of games while their home console is struggling.

 

Classic example was 2013. The Wii U was out and needed games because it was starting to struggle. It was getting Mario, Wind Waker HD and Pikmin but they were all for the second half of the year. What it needed was some of the big system sellers. Meanwhile the 3DS was having one of its best years. Animal Crossing, Pokemon and Luigi's Mansion were three of best selling games that year. It also had Mario, Zelda and Mario Kart travelling along nicely. And when the games on Wii U did start to come out? The ship had already sailed. 

 

Yes they managed to strike gold when they had the Wii and DS going both at once. But that was a one-off thing and in an era when they were still developing standard definition games. They can't spread themselves so thin anymore. The portable line will merge into the Switch.

[Krytern]

On 17/01/2017 at 0:58 AM, M.Yurizaki said:

 

The original 3DS was 3-6 hours if you were playing 3DS games and cranked up the 3D. The 3DS XL and 2DS can get within 10 hours or so. If you're playing DS games or whatnot, then the battery life increases.

I have a 2DS and the battery is only 3 to 4 hours.

[Mira Yurizaki]

4 minutes ago, Krytern said:

I have a 2DS and the battery is only 3 to 4 hours.

Ah, well I was going off an assumption. Guess that was wrong

[Krytern]

The main thing people have to remember is the Switch is NOT a hybrid and it IS replacing the 3DS. It is all marketing saying the opposite. The Switch is a handheld that plugs into the TV, nothing more, not a console. It is a direct replacement for the 3DS with Nintendo dropping consoles because they can't compete with the other two manufacturers so they simply make their handheld plug into the TV. Not saying it's a bad idea, people are just calling it something it isn't.