A little early to say that when not a single launch title has been announced yet.
(besides Zelda)
Nintendo: Switch dock only for charging and TV-out, Amiibo support, no commt on touch
- Thread starter hohoXD123
- Start date
A little early to say that when not a single launch title has been announced yet.
That's all I need, baby.
Fuck yes if true.
JoshuaJSlone
Member
That the portable screen is 720p is happenstance, and doesn't limit that it could output a variety of resolutions through HDMI. It could be a 360p screen and still output 1080p or 4K imagery. It's possible that if a game maker thinks their game will be used a lot portably they won't see as much reason to put in effort to make it run well at full TV resolutions. But we could also say the same thing for Wii U, since a big feature was streaming games to a 480p screen.maxcriden said:
That dock is HUGE. If it hasn't got anything more than USB and an HDMI then colour me surprised.
Augmenting dock or BUST!
That would be more like it!
And yes, can easily expect time to switch. They may need to reload higher res assets and obviously switch your TV over and all that shit
Augmenting dock or BUST!
That would be more like it!
And yes, can easily expect time to switch. They may need to reload higher res assets and obviously switch your TV over and all that shit
well the dock clearly has a couple USB slots on the left and at least an HDMI and power connector on the right/back. It also seems to be 6.75-7" wide and ~4" tall maybe 2" deep maybe at most. i would hope theres some storage solution on it and an ethernet port but we'll see. hope they drop specs next week and some photos of the backside of the dock, and the bottom of the screen.
OG_Original Gamer
Member
Or the dock is a supplemental computing device, just the one without any additional computing hardware, which is mentioned in the patent. Then the plan is to release another supplemental computing device with additional computing hardware, storage HDD, memory and GPU.
Suzushiiro
Banned
Most likely answer is that the GPU/CPU runs at a higher speed when plugged in than when on battery, which would make both that tweet and the OP comment true. Similar to how laptops can be set up to throttle the processor when unplugged to extend battery life. Devs will probably have the option to dynamically adjust the settings based on if it's plugged in or not, such as by running at a higher res on the TV or just making the effects prettier.
It makes a lot more sense from both a cost and an ease of transition standpoint than having a second processor in the dock or something like that.
Laura Kate has been the most accurate person on everything about the Switch thus far, and she's saying their might be extra processing in the dock. I think it's fair to at least speculate.
Like many have suggested, it can simply be doing what your laptop does when connected to a power source, increasing performance when connected, and underclocking when in mobile mode. That's not really something Nintendo would go out of their way to tout. It could also be that Nintendo simply isn't ready to talk about specific details like that atm.
kunonabi
Member
Well some of it anyway. I can't stand that they expect you to put your thumb on the screen to dock it. I mean if they're going have you put smudges on it then it better be a touch screen.
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
So just a fucking dock?? Why not make a simpler connection, like HDMI connection?
Wot this has no touch screen?
I kinda like this as it means there will be no reason for a quality disparity between tv and mobile usage.
A while back it was worrying when some developer interviewed mentioned "some form" of the game being portable.
With switch if the power and controllers are always the same regardless of location, then there is no reason the games can't be the same either, beyond perhaps font scaling.
A while back it was worrying when some developer interviewed mentioned "some form" of the game being portable.
With switch if the power and controllers are always the same regardless of location, then there is no reason the games can't be the same either, beyond perhaps font scaling.
baxter2231
Member
So basically the dock will not add any horsespower its all on the tablet thing, games wont have 2 modes, good.
It's hard to make games that require touch in any way when there's a 50% chance the person playing doesn't have access to the touch screen.
It's a nice sturdy place to store the tablet when you're not using it. I love the size of it.
lukeskymac
Member
That's too hard and too expensive to implement.
dreamer3kx
Member
Ugh disappointing for sure, not what I wanted, I thought dock was internal hardware for home gameplay, I love Nintendo and will get but just disappointing for me at least.
There might be more to it. One of the people that accurately leaked the system is saying the dock couldl contain some form of extra processing.
Touch would cost them very little to implement and would actually add value to the device in portable mode as it could be used as a tablet. It's completely standardized these days that tablet-shaped devices are controlled with your finger.
I mean, how are you going to have a proper internet browser without touch, or text input? I think the whole rumor is nonsense and the thing will definitely have touch support.
jungomitis
Member
Of course I have.
But we've seen nothing so far to suggest that you're meant to hold the screen like an iPad.
It won't be in your hands like the WiiU, it's not a second screen. They tried that and it failed.
If it can function without the joycons I can see the benefit of a full capacitive multitouch screen but I doubt most full fleshed software will be developed with that as the main control scheme. Web browsing on it could be nice but most phones and tablets would do better (plus there's no way the Switch would have 3G/4G) so its limited to wifi.
Adding a touch screen to make the menu navigation during undocked mode and keyboard contexts better would be nice, but I wonder what that means for cost.
I absolutely concede if they want this to be 3DS BC it's a necessity that could have made them fold it into the console.
In the article it says that the dock is there to make it easy to switch between tablet mode and full screen mode. HP makes similar docks for their laptops and they're quite useful. You can hook up a dock with a LAN cable, external monitors, mouse/keyboard, and power supply. All I have to do is put my laptop in the dock and it instantly becomes a "desktop" PC.
I wonder if that means (much like laptop models) Nintendo is considering selling "upgraded" tablets down the line.
Edit: Also the article says the "main" function is to provide output to the TV so I'm assuming there's other functionality there. Could be something, could be nothing.
Why don't they show the fucking functionally of the damn thing? It's a new type of hardware and you'd think a company who have been in the gaming industry for decades now would at least know something about marketing their product. Seriously, simply make a video and demonstrate the hardware. Not rocket science.
lukeskymac
Member
Yeah. I also imagine the dock might provide some extra heat dissipation, allowing for higher clock speeds than when out and about
There's no way it won't have touch. It's pretty much necessary in a tablet like this for when browsing and using the UI. They probably won't comment on it yet as they want to make a big deal about having capacitive touch sometime later
I would be shocked if there truly is no touch.
I'm more worried about the storage options. Does it use SD cards? It may be impossible to go 100% digital since you can't really use an external hard drive
I would be shocked if there truly is no touch.
I'm more worried about the storage options. Does it use SD cards? It may be impossible to go 100% digital since you can't really use an external hard drive
8-Bit Sunset
Banned
I wonder if the cart will be manufatured by Nintendo?
Kinda like Sony did with the Vita cards but instead having a large 128~256 gb capacity allowing you to download digital games.
Kinda like Sony did with the Vita cards but instead having a large 128~256 gb capacity allowing you to download digital games.
CrunchyFrog
Member
No way, we should at least get a release date, price, and sizzle reel for launch games by December. I'd be shocked if they didn't have preorders open by black Friday sales.
I'd almost think it would cost way more to NOT have a touch screen. And if you have a touch screen, touch support with the OS is almost a given.
Now the point about the games themselves needing to not be touch reliant is true. I wonder if you'll see some games that only work in the dock or only work as a tablet because of touch/lack of touch.
Why would you have to do that? Just hold it by the edges.
WiiU gamepad is larger, yet the dock is much smaller, not protecting the screen (even though they never sold the gamepads seperately) was not an issue there? If the dock is this massive, at least they could have inserted a fan (to boost GPU clock speed when docked), or multiple gamecard slots.
I wonder if the cart will be manufatured by Nintendo?
Kinda like Sony did with the Vita cards but instead having a large 128~256 gb capacity allowing you to download digital games.
Cool didn't know there were any shots of the back.
pinkurocket
Member
I hope the dock has a switchable HD drive. The handheld probably doesn't have much memory since it's flash, so if there's a way to easily switch games between the two drives it would make managing your digital library much easier.
Well, I hope it has the same power both stationary and detatched. If it were to have more power docked that would probably mean the framerate for a lot of games is going to be worse when it's used as a handheld. It would make it a pretty bad handheld in my eyes. Not something I would want to replace a dedicated handheld for.
You couldn't charge it over HDMI. You'd need multiple cables
CrunchyFrog
Member
I think people are misinterpreting the likely scenario. The computing hardware inside the tablet itself is all there is for game rendering, there's no additional resources in the dock. The switch probably downclocks when not docked to conserve energy, and when docked it returns to full operating clocks. The dock doesn't give MORE power, it just keeps your tablet from having to shift down from full performance to power saver mode.
Dacvak
No one shall be brought before our LORD David Bowie without the true and secret knowledge of the Photoshop. For in that time, so shall He appear.
Lol @ people who think the Switch will be $200. It'll, absolutely, be $399. I would be ridiculously surprised if it's any less. This is Nintendo we're talking about, and they do not lose money on consoles.
From the sounds of it, the Switch is more powerful than most/all tablets that exist right now, which puts it in that $600-$900 range. Since it's a game console, though, I'd expect it to launch at $399, or maybe $499.
From the sounds of it, the Switch is more powerful than most/all tablets that exist right now, which puts it in that $600-$900 range. Since it's a game console, though, I'd expect it to launch at $399, or maybe $499.
Vanillalite
Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Dock could be big cause it has the power brick built into the dock?
Though idk how you'd charge it on the go without a power brick.
Chie Satonaka
Member
I agree. Having access to delicious toast while playing Mario would have made this a killer app.
If it's $300+, don't bother.
human onion
Banned
I'm guessing it's akin to a laptop's power saver mode, so there will be a performance difference between home and docked. The potential lack of touchscreen is more concerning, it would feel like an abandonment of Nintendo's strongest feature.
Astral Dog
Member
The Difference at making a game like New 3D World at 1080p when main screen is 720p is pretty noticeable, i expects lots of 60 fps goodness but resolution folks will be a bit dissapointed with this device.
Trogdor1123
Member
As someone that really doesn't do mobile the additional screen does nothing but drive up costs for me. Definitely a knock against it for me.