Nintendo Switch Previews are coming in

Obviously they have tested it and played around it, including the developers who have early access to the system and dev kits. And beta testing is more of a private and confidential thing given that it's a new hardware that they are keeping secret until the reveal. And those things are controlled environments. This however is uncontrolled. I'm not saying previews are beta testing the unit, what I'm saying is it is a way of using it at a consumer level with just about no restrictions other than what's on NDA. Issues do pop up on those cases and others don't, either because there's really no issue at all or it only triggers on specific scenarios. Otherwise, exploding Galaxy Note 7 and RRODs in 360 would have been seen way before it launched.

At the end of the day, it's better to see those things earlier before launch than when you experience it yourself when you already bought one.
 
I'm glad it's been picked up but can't see it affecting me as I'll have direct line of sight to the dock and don't plan on playing behind my back. The previews are just making the thing look fucking sexy. 1 week to go. Also seems like Snipperclips is a launch game so hype levels are now at maximum.
 
random25 said:
Obviously they have tested it and played around it, including the developers who have early access to the system and dev kits. And beta testing is more of a private and confidential thing given that it's a new hardware that they are keeping secret until the reveal. And those things are controlled environments. This however is uncontrolled. I'm not saying previews are beta testing the unit, what I'm saying is it is a way of using it at a consumer level with just about no restrictions other than what's on NDA. Issues do pop up on those cases and others don't, either because there's really no issue at all or it only triggers on specific scenarios. Otherwise, exploding Galaxy Note 7 and RRODs in 360 would have been seen way before it launched.

At the end of the day, it's better to see those things earlier before launch than when you experience it yourself when you already bought one.
Click to expand...

You're misunderstanding or misrepresenting the purpose of media preview units. Free preview units are part of the promotion phase of a new hardware launch, not the testing phase. No, the press are not intended or directed to discover flaws in the hardware, that is in no way what Nintendo or any hardware producer is hoping for.
 
I do see what random25 is saying here, and it is good they caught this issue now as opposed to launch day. GAF would be even more of a pain in the ass than it was this past day and everyone would be wanting to return their Switches to the stores they got it from.

At the same time this definitely should have been further tested in QA. It isn't a dealbreaker by any means, but the joycon controllers, half of the appeal of the Switch itself, de-syncing is just not a good look at all.
 
random25 said:
That's not how it works. This is why it's a preview. Media outlets get free units along with accessories to play with them and see how things go with their use. They didn't get one just to 100% promote the system to the masses, although that's part of it. You can go to any product reviews especially on gadgets and basically they are doing the same thing. Try the units in a not controlled environment, use it how like an ordinary consumer would, and give feedback if you found out something that will affect the overall experience.
Click to expand...

Lol. That's not at all how this works.

Journalists/YouTubers are not beta testers.
 
random25 said:
Obviously they have tested it and played around it, including the developers who have early access to the system and dev kits. And beta testing is more of a private and confidential thing given that it's a new hardware that they are keeping secret until the reveal. And those things are controlled environments. This however is uncontrolled. I'm not saying previews are beta testing the unit, what I'm saying is it is a way of using it at a consumer level with just about no restrictions other than what's on NDA. Issues do pop up on those cases and others don't, either because there's really no issue at all or it only triggers on specific scenarios. Otherwise, exploding Galaxy Note 7 and RRODs in 360 would have been seen way before it launched.

At the end of the day, it's better to see those things earlier before launch than when you experience it yourself when you already bought one.
Click to expand...

Dude. Stop. They have a testing facility and a group of QA and testers internally that hammer the hardware and software. At this point in the game, they're confident that it works as intended and isn't bug riddled. Nintendo 100% is upset that this got through their own QA and was revealed at this stage rather than being fixed before getting to the press.

It is good for the issue to be exposed, but it is not necessarily good for Nintendo unless they get in front of it.
 
watershed said:
You're misunderstanding or misrepresenting the purpose of media preview units. Free preview units are part of the promotion phase of a new hardware launch, not the testing phase. No, the press are not intended or directed to discover flaws in the hardware, that is in no way what Nintendo or any hardware producer is hoping for.
Click to expand...

I'm not saying that they are intentionally trying to find issues like a beta tester would. Some of the media outlets are already reporting it to the public either way. What I'm saying is the intention is to use it like how a consumer would and make impressions out of it. If they see issues, they'll most likely make an article about it, and even contact Nintendo for comment. And of course, that's a way for Nintendo to see what's going on and iron out things as soon as possible. That's basically the jist of it. Of course they want everything to be smooth as possible when they send out these things. But things like this happen sometimes.

It's analogous to game previews/reviews. Games are sent out for the media outlets to play. They make articles or videos of their impressions, and they report issues of what they find, assuming they don't hide it. Now game developers will either address those or not, but at least they are made aware of it. Does the game underwent beta testing or quality control? Most likely yes. Do the developers want it smooth sailing for reviews? Yes of course. Do they want these media outlets to hype their game? Sure. But sometimes issues do happen that only appear after being played by game reviewers. That's basically what I want to say.
 
Man, i'm still just really surprised by how thin the cases are in terms of the Z-axis. I'm gonna be able to fit a ton of them on one shelf.
 
weekev said:
I'm glad it's been picked up but can't see it affecting me as I'll have direct line of sight to the dock and don't plan on playing behind my back. The previews are just making the thing look fucking sexy. 1 week to go. Also seems like Snipperclips is a launch game so hype levels are now at maximum.
Click to expand...

Snipperclips is launch? Awesome! Really looking forward to that one.
 
marc^o^ said:
Good to know: http://stevivor.com/news/nintendo-switch-kickstand-designed-detached-doesnt-break/
Click to expand...

Regardless, Anxiety Safety Cat warns you not to:

oYGXi5u.png
 
Does Zelda come with language options? I can't seem to remember.

Basically, if I buy a physical JP copy, will I be able to switch the game language over to English?
 
random25 said:
That's not how it works. This is why it's a preview. Media outlets get free units along with accessories to play with them and see how things go with their use. They didn't get one just to 100% promote the system to the masses, although that's part of it. You can go to any product reviews especially on gadgets and basically they are doing the same thing. Try the units in a not controlled environment, use it how like an ordinary consumer would, and give feedback if you found out something that will affect the overall experience.



I don't think it's purely a hardware issue. Maybe I'm wrong. But really the point is to address stuff that has been detected by the previews, duplicate and analyze the issue, and provide necessary fixes, whether it's by firmware update or by giving launch buyers free gloves lol.
Click to expand...

It's amusing you think they are going to locate the issue and write and test a fix in a week, that's not how software development works, even more amusing you think Nintendo sent out press hardware for any other reason than promoting the Switch.
 
Bufbaf said:
How long until the preview embargo ends again?
Click to expand...

4 hours 30 minutes or something like that.

Platy said:
OOOOHHH no problem .. I would be totaly ok to increase the range till the battery is like half of it =P

20 hours is LOTS of time, specialy considering handheld mode AT BEST is what ? 4 hours with minimum brightness ?
Click to expand...

6 hours max

and yeah, I'd like the option for a battery save mode -> lower range for the joy-cons+20h battery life and a full on mode -> wider range for the joy-cons+ 10-15h battery life. I hope that will be nintendos fix. it would be ideal.
 
Sesuadra said:
6 hours max

and yeah, I'd like the option for a battery save mode -> lower range for the joy-cons+20h battery life and a full on mode -> wider range for the joy-cons+ 10-15h battery life. I hope that will be nintendos fix. it would be ideal.
Click to expand...

Nintendo gave us a volume bar for wiimotes ... they can do it
 
Platy said:
Nintendo gave us a volume bar for wiimotes ... they can do it
Click to expand...

quoting this amazing post from the joy-con thread

Enkidu said:
Since I have nothing better to do I tried to look into any FCC filings for the Joy-Cons. If HAC-015 (https://fccid.io/BKEHAC015) is the left Joy-Con, which seems likely, then we already have some information about the maximum output power.

HgW09v8.png


This suggests the output power is around 3-4 dBm, which is in-line with what you would expect from a Bluetooth Class2 device (maximum output power of 4dBm). While Bluetooth technically allows up to 20dBm output power for Class1 devices, most chips today will allow up to 10dBm output power. This is informally known as Class1.5 and is common since FCC does not require SAR testing for any devices with an output power below 10dBm.

The good news is then that Nintendo will most likely be able to increase the output power by around 6dB, which should in theory give around twice the current range. This will also not negatively affect the Battery life significantly, as the chip will dynamically change the output power as required. So the additional power will only be used when it otherwise would lose the connection.

The bad news is that the Joy-Cons will have to be re-certified, which means that Nintendo will likely not be able to have this done as a day-one firmware update unless they already caught this issue ahead of time and are in the process of fixing it already. (They will also likely have to measure SAR as well even if they are below the 10dBm limit, since Canada recently lowered the limit where you do not have to measure SAR to 6dBm).

The thing that surprises me however is that 4dBm should absolutely be enough power for the type of environments shown in the video above. Deliberately covering the entire device with both hands will probably always be a problem. The antenna is probably quite narrowband so doing that will likely detune it as well causing even more losses than what you get anyway from the absorption in the hands. But simply placing the device behind the back and breaking line-of-sight? When you are indoors and only a few meters away from the main console, this should absolutely not be a problem. So unless there is something really strange going on with their antennas (like if they didn't account for the detuning that might happen when you hold the device normally) then it might actually be possible that the real Joy-Cons are using lower power than they are certified for, either due to a firmware bug or because someone though it would increase battery life (it really shouldn't). In that case, it would be fairly simple to issue a new firmware to increase the power.
Click to expand...
 
Another day and I am super hyped for these Zelda previews! The only thing I saw from the leaked Polygon one was about the game being hard as hell. Can't wait!

Also: Snipperclips at launch is goddamn perfect. Really happy to have that so soon! I might have to grab that and Shovel Knight.
 
Burdmayn said:
Another day and I am super hyped for these Zelda previews! The only thing I saw from the leaked Polygon one was about the game being hard as hell. Can't wait!

Also: Snipperclips at launch is goddamn perfect. Really happy to have that so soon! I might have to grab that and Shovel Knight.
Click to expand...

Although they are all smaller titles, having Snipperclips, FAST RMX and Shovel Knight at launch are huge way to demonstrate the versatility of the Switch, especially regarding 2 player using detached Joy-Cons.
 
casey_contra said:
Although they are all smaller titles, having Snipperclips, FAST RMX and Shovel Knight at launch are huge way to demonstrate the versatility of the Switch, especially regarding 2 player using detached Joy-Cons.
Click to expand...

Most definitely! I think Switch will become an indie haven and I'm extremely happy about that. Especially when "indie" games are going places that big publishers won't.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Indiana Jones coming to Nintendo Switch 2 in 2026
News  2 3
133
2K
Mr Hyde replied
Dinasty Warriors is coming to Nintendo Switch 2, DLC Announced
News 
2
156
Gambit2483 replied
Corpse Party TETRALOGY PACK Coming to Nintendo Switch
27
951
Heimdall_Xtreme replied
Silksong is coming to both Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2
News 
29
2K
DelireMan7 replied
Hollow Cocoon Nintendo switch
5
169
Kataploom replied
Top Bottom