Nintendo Switch Tech Speculation discussion

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Multiple SKUs? Perhaps the 200 pounder doesn't include everything?
 
Multiple SKUs? Perhaps the 200 pounder doesn't include everything?
I'm assuming it's the basic model with no game. Regardless, this is a really aggressive price. Nintendo has a ton of great games with widespread appeal, keeping the cost of entry down is key to success. Ironically, if Switch can prove to be successful without the western publishers, the more likely they are to come around. It's kind of like needing a loan, the less you really need one, the more likely the bank is to give you one.

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It did just occur to me that gsync would be awesome on this for portable mode. Probably not worth adding since it would be of no use for docked mode.
 
I most certainly hope that Nintendo has no plans for VR with this thing. They need to go one generation without any gimmicks.
Well the Switch is gimmicky, it sits in between an home and a handheld console, it splits into three pieces, etc.

Had Nintendo quit gimmick for good we would have a "psp" type of handheld (if they wanted to put the DS concept to rest) and a matching home console both running the same games at different resolutions and different max asset quality.
 
Well the Switch is gimmicky, it sits in between an home and a handheld console, it splits into three pieces, etc.

Had Nintendo quit gimmick for good we would have a "psp" type of handheld (if they wanted to put the DS concept to rest) and a matching home console both running the same games at different resolutions and different max asset quality.
Spending at least twice as much, since you'd need to purchase two consoles...
You would save on games though, but not sure it would be that interesting, more money spent on games instead, I would think they are more profitable than hardware.
 
Spending at least twice as much, since you'd need to purchase two consoles...
You would save on games though, but not sure it would be that interesting, more money spent on games instead, I would think they are more profitable than hardware.
You know the price of the system already? Or how much dedicated systems would have costed? Even trickier how well the switch will double down as a mobile system and home console?
I'm not sold on the double purpose thingy. Rumors are rumors I still think the switch will cost significantly more than DS line even-though gimmick aside it is clearly foremost a mobile platform. As an home console the Switch is to be held by many constrains: no HDD, low processing power (more akin the ps360 generation), low quality assets (either gamecard are to cost deerly).
Some other constrains will apply to both use aka different inputs from SP to MP mode.
 
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Well the Switch is gimmicky, it sits in between an home and a handheld console, it splits into three pieces, etc.

Had Nintendo quit gimmick for good we would have a "psp" type of handheld (if they wanted to put the DS concept to rest) and a matching home console both running the same games at different resolutions and different max asset quality.

The promotional video had some gimmicky scenarios...but I think the device itself is the designed the best way possible for what they are trying to pull off. Also it seems that normal traditional controls are back and no more motion/dual screens.
 
The entire promotional video was done with non-functional devices. There are scenes where it's very easy to tell they super-imposed graphics overlay of a game onto the device. I still have reservations as to how it'll function in reality, since they had to resort to tricks to even make the promo video this close to retail release.
 
The entire promotional video was done with non-functional devices. There are scenes where it's very easy to tell they super-imposed graphics overlay of a game onto the device. I still have reservations as to how it'll function in reality, since they had to resort to tricks to even make the promo video this close to retail release.
Screens are hard to properly capture live. Superinposing in post is standard practice even for functioning devices.
 
I had to look like 30 seconds to spot the screen is a little bit over the woman's shirt. Would anybody have really noticed with the trailer running instead of a still picture?

Its the same with movies where some people are going through it frame by frame and spot all kind of stuff like equipment or crew but 99,999% of the people watching don't notice a thing
 
I had to look like 30 seconds to spot the screen is a little bit over the woman's shirt. Would anybody have really noticed with the trailer running instead of a still picture?

Its the same with movies where some people are going through it frame by frame and spot all kind of stuff like equipment or crew but 99,999% of the people watching don't notice a thing
Since I know people in the movie CGI industry I can tell you they talk about "pixel fucking" when a few pixels are changed in still frames of the movie because some high up guy think it doesn't look good enough, even though in motion it would be hardly if at all, noticable...
 
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Laura K Dale is reporting that the dock does indeed increase performance of the system by increasing the clock speed, and has a built in fan to help force air through the system. She reports this is primarily so that the system can render 1080p visuals for playing on the TV. So nothing shocking here, but does suggest that the clock speeds are pretty high when docked. Dye shrinks lower the cost of processors, so there is no reason to believe a the process wont be FinFet 16nm. I know the Wii U didn't use the latest manufacturing techniques, but its likely that edram played a big role in that. So I am pretty optimistic that we could see 256 Pascal cores running at 1Ghz portable, and 1.5Ghz docked. Pretty darn good performance for a tablet like device that will retail for no more than $300.

In other news Dark Souls 3 is apparently up and running on Switch, and the developer is pleased with the performance thus far. They are apparently still cautious in their approach to Switch, waiting to see just how well the system sells, but they have their current benchmarks out of the way, and porting the Trilogy to Switch is not a matter if the hardware can support it, but if the sales potential makes it viable.

Prior to Wii U launching we heard grumblings from developers. Anonymous comments about the slow CPU causing issues and so forth. We aren't hearing any alarms so far. Developer comments have been positive. Nvidia must have an API that really makes it easy to sqeeze the juice from this little guy. Perhaps some of it comes from maximizing the FP16 ability? I am really looking forward to January 12th, and getting a definitive answer to just what the Switch is capable of.
 
As anticipated.

Nintendo has historically never been very good at providing documentation or good API.
And in recent history, Nintendo hardware has been lagging behind its competitors (althought it didn't seem to matter for handhelds).
From what was made available in press release, nVidia worked a lot on the device.

Honestly, Nintendo worked with Sony and Sony made the PlayStation, Sega worked with Microsoft and Microsoft released the XBox, now Nintendo works with nVidia... Doesn't sound like a good idea to me. Time will tell.

Not releasing a game that runs on the target already seems stupid, you can either help getting a new source of income or just do nothing but watch & prey to get it, guess which one is smarter ?
[And if it runs already there's likely not too much work for porting and so it should be profitable with few copies sold.]
 
Not releasing a game that runs on the target already seems stupid, you can either help getting a new source of income or just do nothing but watch & prey to get it, guess which one is smarter ?
[And if it runs already there's likely not too much work for porting and so it should be profitable with few copies sold.]
Even if this was that easy we would not need publishers. Even indies sign up with publishers nowadays.
 
So I am pretty optimistic that we could see 256 Pascal cores running at 1Ghz portable, and 1.5Ghz docked. Pretty darn good performance for a tablet like device that will retail for no more than $300.

I'm hoping for 3 or 4 SMs being put in there, even if it means lowering the clocks to ~800MHz undocked.
 
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