Nintendo Switch

[ShiraNoMai]

I wonder if this will be an E3-timed announcement or they'll announce it sooner because they intend to have it out by summer. Could also be one of those "And you can buy them today!" announcements, too. I'm really interested in seeing how they approach a cheaper and "luxury" model for this console. They're already using pretty cheap parts for the base Switch so I'm unsure how you can dumb it down even more

[Moonface]

They're already using pretty cheap parts for the base Switch so I'm unsure how you can dumb it down even more

Ditch the dock and make it purely handheld. Taking out the dock and the components inside the Switch that have it hook up to it would probably shave off enough the price to be noticeable. You could even have it with the Joy-Cons non-detachable so it's just like half an original 2DS (no top screen) but let it still work with regular Joy-Cons so multiplayer still works for it.

[Frank]

I've heard there's rumors of two new iterations being released. A pro and a mini.

A mini makes total sense! The Nintendo 3DS is on it's last legs, and Nintendo needs to have a cheap successor that parents would be more willing to buy for their younger child. Make it a smaller sized unibody, handheld only, and cost $200 or less, and you have a great alternative.

A pro I would hope has some increased abilities, similar to a PS4 vs PS4 Pro. This would hopefully be sold alongside the current Switch, but be offered as a their premium tiered device. Offering better frame rate, increased graphic fidelity, bigger battery life, improved dock, and higher resolution display would be great. If it's simply a Switch with a bigger screen, I'm out. I rarely play my Switch undocked (I'm in the minority)

[Moonface]

Nintendo Switch Lite Announced
Nintendo has announced the Nintendo Switch Lite, a system designed specifically for handheld play; as such, it can not connect to a TV. The Joy-Con controllers are now built into the unit, and therefore do not feature HD rumble or an IR camera, which means you will need to purchase separate Joy-Cons for motion sensor based games like 1-2-Switch.

Nintendo Switch Lite is available in three colours—yellow, grey, and turquoise—but will also have a special Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield edition, featuring a light grey colour scheme with blue and red buttons on the left and right controllers respectively, with Zamazenta and Zacian decals on the back of the system. Nintendo Switch Lite in its standard colours will be released on September 20 at a price of $199, while the Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield edition will launch at the same time as the respective games (not included with the system) for $199.

[Dragon Lord]

Honestly, this is completely pointless. The whole gimmick of the Switch is to, you know, switch between TV and handheld. They may as well have just made a new 3DS model if they were just going to remove nearly every feature of the Switch. Add the fact that there's a lot of Switch games that play extremely horribly in handheld mode. I feel bad for anyone who takes this bait.

The price should be $149.99 at most for this thing.

[Moonface]

My main criticism is that the Lite doesn't really offer anything better than a standard Switch. It doesn't have a better screen, the size is barely different, and the battery life isn't notably improved either. I'm surprised the battery isn't worse considering the system now has to power the controllers and the system together, whereas a standard Switch has independent controller batteries.

I guess it's good for people who want a cheaper Switch and something to replace their 3DS/2DS, but other than those points it has no worthwhile improvements of a normal Switch. You're even unable to play a game with two people without buying another controller because you can't detach the Joy-Cons and use each one as a separate controller, so taking it on the go doesn't let you play a game with friends using just the system itself like you can with the standard version. If you need to buy another controller so you can play with a friend at $60 you may as well shell over another $40 on top of it and get the regular Switch.

[Kazan X. Lemuris]

I'm struggling to see any point in this. One of the things Nintendo has always tried pushing for its home consoles is the party aspect; playing dumb minigames with family and friends, local co-op, that kind of thing. This is one hell of a step backwards. Granted I'm biased because using the Switch as a handheld hurts my head, but still.

Really just spend the extra hundred bucks, the amount of features you lose by going cheap on this really don't make sense to me.

[queenzelda]

Due to my wanting to trade to myself I'm considering getting the Pokemon Swd/Sld SwitchL variant. Though... My mind may change. Atmo, I'm kind of wondering if there's going to be a Pro variant revealed.. xp

[Mr EliteL]

If I had for some reason not got a Switch yet and was waiting around for a cheaper version and saw this, I would say "screw it, I'll buy the full version". I agree with everyone, Lite lost lots of features, but gained nothing in return. Those who wanted only a handheld from the Switch are pretty much the only people who'll get this I suppose. Perhaps being a spare Switch, trading with oneself like Queen suggested, and some other reason too.

[Moonface]

Well, looks like the slightly better battery of the Lite is no longer a plus over the standard Switch, since Nintendo have announced that newly produced Switch models will now have a 4.5 - 9 hour battery, compared to the current 2.5 - 6 hour battery life. (Source)

[Dragon Lord]

Nintendo should also offer free exchanges for Switch owners to upgrade to the new model, seeing as they ripped everyone off with the pathetic battery life of the Switch.

[Moonface]

Nintendo should also offer free exchanges for Switch owners to upgrade to the new model, seeing as they ripped everyone off with the pathetic battery life of the Switch.

I might be wrong here, but hasn't any handheld style system by either Nintendo or Sony had revisions as time went on that may have improved features? For example, did newer Vita's or DS's have better batteries than earlier models?

[Dragon Lord]

The newer Vita model supposedly had a longer battery life, but I haven't really noticed much a difference after purchasing one to replace my dying original model. At best it's maybe an hour tops. Not as significant as this newer Switch model being able to go several hours longer than the normal Switch.

It'd be nice to have a Switch that can last longer than five minutes on-the-go, but not when it requires you to completely re-purchase a version of the Switch that has absolutely no other differences. Which is another point. At least the different models of the 3DS had more differences, as well as multiple differences between the OG Vita and the newer model Vita. This is the same in every way expect you can unplug it for more than a few minutes*.

*Slight exaggeration but not really.

[Moonface]

It probably doesn't help that there isn't a vast amount of changes that can be made to a current Switch that doesn't result in a brand new model. Power can't be touched, nor can screen size, as both would make it an entirely different type of Switch to the regular one, so battery is one of the few changes that can happen. You can't even improve the buttons on it because they're detachable, so you'd only be changing the controllers, not the system itself, if you were to tweak those at all, unlike a handheld that has those built in like the Lite does.

[ShiraNoMai]

Yeah, really at some point, you'd make a "Pro" model by upgrading the hardware significantly, such as the graphics chip, the screen resolution, and the materials used to construct the console to make it more "fancy", for lack of a better term.

If Nintendo lets retailers discount the Lite for Black Friday, I'd be tempted to pick one up as a back-up Switch/to-go model.