Nintendo Switch

[Tanooki]

Earlier today I found an oddity kind of at goodwill for a few bucks, a 4000mah battery pack. Usb on one end, the other is a usb-c but has a cap over it intended to charge an iphone (twice on 1 charge of the box.)

 

I'm wondering anyone got any idea on the math behind this if I were to shove this into the Switch on the go as a supplemental battery source? if this would even pick it up mind you, I think the Switch has around a 4000mah battery inside, would this potentially double the battery?

 

 

Why it's odd is that it came inside a custom purse/clutch I figured out, something from a company called Butler that make something called mighty purse. It's in a gray suede stiched up pouch, a view port for the 4 blue LEDs, zipper on one end with the normal USB Jack, out the top on the opposite is the outgoing charge cord and it has two snaps on the USBside I guess to attach it inside. Got lucky googling what it was, shocking what women pay for stuff, the cheap looking clutch that came with it retails for $100. Switch or not this will be a boon for keeping my phone charged though.

[KWKBOX]

 

Look at my posts, I'm terrible! And you smell like a horse's ass!

Ah now I remember. Guess I better look into a stronger deodorant...

[cybercylon]

Maybe Nintendo rushed things a bit by releasing the console running an old version of WebKit?

 

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/03/13/nintendo-switch-hacking-webkit/

[Osgeld]

Maybe Nintendo rushed things a bit by releasing the console running an old version of WebKit?

 

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/03/13/nintendo-switch-hacking-webkit/

 

if recent history has proven anything, its that video game console makers have very little idea about what is current or not, outside of their own self feeding ego-sphere .. sometimes that's good (ie jailbreaking) and sometimes not (lots of credit card leaks)

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

 

It really is! I picked Zelda, Snippercuts, Fast, and Blaster Master, and I've enjoyed Blaster Master the most so far. Such a great version of one of my favorite games. One warning though in case you have one - currently, the Pro Controller is not supported in this game.

Why??? But the Dpad...

Okay, having downloaded and actually played Blaster Master on the Joycon, the directional buttons are just as intuitive and easy to use as a Dpad. Diagonals and cardinal directions are snappy and easy to hit. The bigger issue is the right analog stick getting in the way of my fat thumbs with an all too small button diamond. The action buttons need to be bigger and the right analog moved out of the way. I'm finding pressing B and Y together (jump and shoot) to be very difficult as the diamond is too small and too close to the analog stick below it. My fat man thumb is constantly grazing the right stick when trying to do these maneuvers. So the biggest hurdle wasn't the directional buttons at all but the smallish diamond and the too close right stick. I'm gonna go on a limb and say there's a reason why they are inset on PS and Xbox controllers.

 

 

I can understand the desire for discrete buttons. I can also understand the argument that the analog controls work reasonably well in place of a digital d-pad. For me, though, I just can't use the buttons as a d-pad replacement.

 

I guess one thing to consider is that since the Joy-Cons are meant to removed, in theory, Nintendo could release a whole series of custom Joy-Cons. For instance, it would be neat to have a left Joy-Con with exactly the type of configuration we're after, and maybe even one that prioritizes a d-pad. If the Switch proves successful enough, I suppose something like that is quite possible. I mean, it's another $50 (one Joy-con) - $80 (the set) for Nintendo, right? (and yes, I'm still bitter about the high cost of these accessories, but again, don't begrudge them because it's what the market will bare).

They actually work surprisingly well as a Dpad substitute due to their smaller size. Hitting any of the cardinal directions or diagonals feels precise and accurate. Because of the small size, they make poor action buttons however. Unfortunately I think the D-buttons would perform poorly at pivoting or circular motions however, often used in SHMUPs and fighters. For platforming or puzzlers, they are fine though.

 

Either way, I still vastly prefer the Pro controller over the joycon for docked gameplay. The Dpad and diamond, angles, and everything is nearly perfect. The feel in my hands surpasses any modern controller I've ever held, including my previous favorites, Wii-U Pro, Dual Shock, or Game Cube. It's perfection with an attractive and elegant design.

 

One critique I have of the Pro controller: The commonly used home and snapshot buttons should have swapped places with the plus and minus. Start and Select have always been positioned lower central on every modern contemporary controller, and having them up high, with the auxiliary functions placed in the optimal spot resulted in a number of accidental snapshots and unwanted popups to home menu.

 

= = = = = = = =

 

Any shield will reflect Octorock projectiles back at them, but it's still annoying when you don't feel like stopping to fight them.

 

 

Tentacle Talons??? o_O Either you're confused, or I'm not that far yet.

 

If you're talking about the Stalker Guardians, I'm not prepared to fight them yet.

Guardian Scouts, often found in Shrines and other places. They are the miniaturized versions of their larger brethren. There is a shield in the game made of ancient tech (blue color) that deflects lasers. Unfortunately I broke mine but not before I encountered a Shrine with four scouts waiting for me. Their smaller lasers got deflected back towards them and they quickly handed it to themselves. I attempted to use this shield on a large Guardian with the big laser and it broke instantly but I took no damage...

[Andromeda Stardust]

Earlier today I found an oddity kind of at goodwill for a few bucks, a 4000mah battery pack. Usb on one end, the other is a usb-c but has a cap over it intended to charge an iphone (twice on 1 charge of the box.)

 

I'm wondering anyone got any idea on the math behind this if I were to shove this into the Switch on the go as a supplemental battery source? if this would even pick it up mind you, I think the Switch has around a 4000mah battery inside, would this potentially double the battery?

 

 

Why it's odd is that it came inside a custom purse/clutch I figured out, something from a company called Butler that make something called mighty purse. It's in a gray suede stiched up pouch, a view port for the 4 blue LEDs, zipper on one end with the normal USB Jack, out the top on the opposite is the outgoing charge cord and it has two snaps on the USBside I guess to attach it inside. Got lucky googling what it was, shocking what women pay for stuff, the cheap looking clutch that came with it retails for $100. Switch or not this will be a boon for keeping my phone charged though.

The Switch uses USB-C up to 15V rated voltage profile. The nameplate reads 5V 1.5A; 15V 2.6A. The full 15V @ 2.6A rating yields a theoretical maximum power draw of 39W if using the 15V side, plus an additional 5V 1.5A (7.5W) for the HDMI dock and any 5V devices connected to it.

 

In principal, the Switch only pulls about half of the rated power in use, measuring at up to 18W docked while tested, and 11W undocked, which leaves a good bit of untapped headroom for the power supply. A typical 5V 2.1A USB-A wall wart will only provide a maximum of 10W, less than the nominal draw of the Switch console. In practice, using a 5V only power supply (such as a common USB-A wall charger with the USB-A to USB-C cable that comes with the Pro controller) will provide sufficient power to trickle charge the Switch tablet overnight, however in usage, the Switch tablet will indicate that the battery is charging, however it will draw more power from the battery than the supply can safely provide at 5V, thus the internal battery will deplete faster than it charges. So while it will extend the battery life somewhat or "top off" a depleted battery, it cannot provide a continuous output sufficient to charge the device while in use.

 

You need to study the nameplate on your portable battery supply closely. Chances are it can only output at the 5V meant for typical mobile devices such as iPhones and such, not high performance tablets, laptops, or game consoles. USB-C calls for several stepped power profiles from 5V, 9V, 15V, @ 3A max each, and a 20V profile @ 5A max for up to 100W. All devices support 5V profile by default, then perform a handshake to negotiate higher voltage profiles, provided both the device and the supply can safely handle it.

 

The vast majority of portable USB-C chargers with built in LION battery packs are meant to field charge bog standard 5V smart phones and likely cannot negotiate the higher voltage levels required to run the Switch. As a result, plugging the Switch into a mobile 5V only supply will only trickle charge the battery or marginally prolong the battery life when plugged in. Again, check the nameplate on the mobile supply, but if it doesn't support 15V profile, performance will be disappointing.

 

I just recently bought a second AC charger for the Switch for gaming around the house, as inserting and removing the adapter from the dock is a PITA. So one for docked gaming, one for undocked, if I'm playing on the couch/bed.

[Schizophretard]

I can understand the desire for discrete buttons. I can also understand the argument that the analog controls work reasonably well in place of a digital d-pad. For me, though, I just can't use the buttons as a d-pad replacement.

It has been a while since I played PlayStation but it was either on the PS2 and/or PS3 that I noticed that there were games that used the analog sticks for directions only while the split D-pad was used for buttons. I can't think of any specific examples because again it has been a while but what I do remember is that there were enough examples that the D-pad was starting to not feel like a D-pad anymore and just there for tradition because I was missing games not having digital movements anymore.

 

Anyway, if the PlayStation split D-pad can be used as separate buttons then it seems like the same could be used on the Switch. In other words, it seems like it would work if the Joy-Cons had two thumb sticks, two split D-pads, and no round buttons because the split D-pad could work for both direction controls and action buttons.

 

I guess one thing to consider is that since the Joy-Cons are meant to removed, in theory, Nintendo could release a whole series of custom Joy-Cons. For instance, it would be neat to have a left Joy-Con with exactly the type of configuration we're after, and maybe even one that prioritizes a d-pad. If the Switch proves successful enough, I suppose something like that is quite possible. I mean, it's another $50 (one Joy-con) - $80 (the set) for Nintendo, right? (and yes, I'm still bitter about the high cost of these accessories, but again, don't begrudge them because it's what the market will bare).

I hope they eventually make a set that is basically the Pro Controller split in two with even the same ergonomics.

[Tanooki]

You need to study the nameplate on your portable battery supply closely. Chances are it can only output at the 5V meant for typical mobile devices such as iPhones and such, not high performance tablets, laptops, or game consoles. USB-C calls for several stepped power profiles from 5V, 9V, 15V, @ 3A max each, and a 20V profile @ 5A max for up to 100W. All devices support 5V profile by default, then perform a handshake to negotiate higher voltage profiles, provided both the device and the supply can safely handle it.

 

The vast majority of portable USB-C chargers with built in LION battery packs are meant to field charge bog standard 5V smart phones and likely cannot negotiate the higher voltage levels required to run the Switch. As a result, plugging the Switch into a mobile 5V only supply will only trickle charge the battery or marginally prolong the battery life when plugged in. Again, check the nameplate on the mobile supply, but if it doesn't support 15V profile, performance will be disappointing.

 

I just recently bought a second AC charger for the Switch for gaming around the house, as inserting and removing the adapter from the dock is a PITA. So one for docked gaming, one for undocked, if I'm playing on the couch/bed.

 

Can't it's sealed up within the stitched up pouch and the only info I could find online from that butler purse company was the 4000mah rating on the size of the battery. Given what you're saying not going to bother, but it could be very useful with my shield tablet and my iphone though. I'm thinking recently like you have, it maybe a really slick idea to get a 2nd AC Adapter. It's not hard for me to remove the existing one, but it's annoying having to (being lazy) pick up the holder, open it up, unplug it, then follow the cable to the floor and do this every time I'd want to play it off TV for extended periods or in bed, or on the go. $30 sucks, but I mean AC adapters never really are cheap when you buy them off the shelf new which always has annoyed me.

[Gentlegamer]

Joy-Cons with "split" d-pad (re-steal Sony's design after Sony stole their patent) could be the "arcade" pads, made cheaper by not including the "HD rumble" or whatever motion control stuff that inflates the price.

[Asaki]

Guardian Scouts, often found in Shrines and other places.

Yeah, I was confused because you were asking about the Stone Talus (the big rock monsters), and then you replied to my reply asking "What about the tentacle ones?".

 

...and then I replied to that and accidentally called them "Talons" instead of "Talus" =)

 

Me, I'm going to hold off a bit. Ever since the Wii, I've played a wait and see what happens when it comes to Nintendo.

We've always been like that, I can't think of any console I've ever gotten at launch. Maybe the phat DS, I guess? And that was mostly because the GBA SP was cramping my hands.

 

The Switch is way more "I don't need it yet" for me than any other console ever, I think. There's no backwards compatibility, and most of the "killer apps" for it are ports of WiiU games.

 

I understand that Nintendo is really trying to target people who don't even know what the WiiU is, but I'm sure they'll work on winning over the rest of us sooner or later.

[BillLoguidice]

Joy-Cons with "split" d-pad (re-steal Sony's design after Sony stole their patent) could be the "arcade" pads, made cheaper by not including the "HD rumble" or whatever motion control stuff that inflates the price.

 

No reason to make it cheaper if the higher price point continues to sell.

[Punisher5.0]

The Switch uses USB-C up to 15V rated voltage profile. The nameplate reads 5V 1.5A; 15V 2.6A. The full 15V @ 2.6A rating yields a theoretical maximum power draw of 39W if using the 15V side, plus an additional 5V 1.5A (7.5W) for the HDMI dock and any 5V devices connected to it.

 

In principal, the Switch only pulls about half of the rated power in use, measuring at up to 18W docked while tested, and 11W undocked, which leaves a good bit of untapped headroom for the power supply. A typical 5V 2.1A USB-A wall wart will only provide a maximum of 10W, less than the nominal draw of the Switch console. In practice, using a 5V only power supply (such as a common USB-A wall charger with the USB-A to USB-C cable that comes with the Pro controller) will provide sufficient power to trickle charge the Switch tablet overnight, however in usage, the Switch tablet will indicate that the battery is charging, however it will draw more power from the battery than the supply can safely provide at 5V, thus the internal battery will deplete faster than it charges. So while it will extend the battery life somewhat or "top off" a depleted battery, it cannot provide a continuous output sufficient to charge the device while in use.

 

You need to study the nameplate on your portable battery supply closely. Chances are it can only output at the 5V meant for typical mobile devices such as iPhones and such, not high performance tablets, laptops, or game consoles. USB-C calls for several stepped power profiles from 5V, 9V, 15V, @ 3A max each, and a 20V profile @ 5A max for up to 100W. All devices support 5V profile by default, then perform a handshake to negotiate higher voltage profiles, provided both the device and the supply can safely handle it.

 

The vast majority of portable USB-C chargers with built in LION battery packs are meant to field charge bog standard 5V smart phones and likely cannot negotiate the higher voltage levels required to run the Switch. As a result, plugging the Switch into a mobile 5V only supply will only trickle charge the battery or marginally prolong the battery life when plugged in. Again, check the nameplate on the mobile supply, but if it doesn't support 15V profile, performance will be disappointing.

 

I just recently bought a second AC charger for the Switch for gaming around the house, as inserting and removing the adapter from the dock is a PITA. So one for docked gaming, one for undocked, if I'm playing on the couch/bed.

Reading this post reminded me of a problem that Alienware had about two years ago. They sold some laptops with too weak of a power supply and was causing power related throttling. The quick fix? A BIOS update to allow the battery to supply additional power. Not ideal but it made me think if this was a possibility on the Switch.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Reading this post reminded me of a problem that Alienware had about two years ago. They sold some laptops with too weak of a power supply and was causing power related throttling. The quick fix? A BIOS update to allow the battery to supply additional power. Not ideal but it made me think if this was a possibility on the Switch.

Alienware. I remember them. Overpriced gaming PCs with flashy cases which were twice as expensive as the sum of their parts. Do they still exist anymore?

[Tempest]

Alienware. I remember them. Overpriced gaming PCs with flashy cases which were twice as expensive as the sum of their parts. Do they still exist anymore?

Sure. I think Dell bought them.

[Punisher5.0]

Alienware. I remember them. Overpriced gaming PCs with flashy cases which were twice as expensive as the sum of their parts. Do they still exist anymore?

Yes they do. They are way better priced than what they used to be.

[Tanooki]

They were like the Apple of PC land...paying for the emblem, and paying to pay more just to have it, a lot more. And I think it was Dell that picked them off years ago so if they still have them that's no surprise as they can use the branding as their gaming wing of sales.

[bojay1997]

Yes they do. They are way better priced than what they used to be.

Yep. Both HP and Dell (which owns Alienware and uses it as branding for their more cutting edge PCs) have really stepped up their game on their higher end gaming PCs to the point of it almost not being cost effective to build your own anymore. I got one a year ago from HP that was literally $25 above what I could have gotten just the parts for had I bought them at their then cheapest prices from various vendors. I figured my time and a warranty were worth the extra $25 for getting something already assembled.

[Osgeld]

we use alienware laptops at my work cause they cost less than 2/3rd's the price of a dell precision mobile workstation

 

though I hate traveling with them (either the ailenware or the precision) cause of the size and weight, for that I take my 169$ off lease core2 quad off lease laptop, I bet the entire weight of that is just in the power brick of the alienware, and im not designing on the road

 

back on topic, yes there are "shady" ways to get around power issues, another one is my coworkers's couple gen old macbook pro, it will run off the power supply alone, but once the battery crapped itself it throws the entire system into low power mode

 

its not a new thing, and that macbook I mentioned above lasted him though 4 years of college and 3 years of post college as a home machine before the battery STARTED to get wonky (and even in a unibody metal mac took him one evening to replace with willpower and ifixit)

 

I come from an era where you would crap your pants and throw a party if a rechargeable battery lasted a couple years, and more often than not 5-6 months before getting weird if you didn't sacrifice small animals and do a voodoo ritual of charge cycles and swapping ... modern day's a li-ion being just about ignored other than dead and charged lasting years is actually pretty impressive

Edited March 15, 2017 by Osgeld

[Osgeld]

we use alienware laptops at my work cause they cost less than 2/3rd's the price of a dell precision mobile workstation

 

though I hate traveling with them (either the ailenware or the precision) cause of the size and weight, for that I take my 169$ off lease core2 quad off lease laptop, I bet the entire weight of that is just in the power brick of the alienware, and im not designing on the road

 

back on topic, yes there are "shady" ways to get around power issues, another one is my coworkers's couple gen old macbook pro, it will run off the power supply alone, but once the battery crapped itself it throws the entire system into low power mode

 

its not a new thing, and that macbook I mentioned above lasted him though 4 years of college and 3 years of post college as a home machine before the battery STARTED to get wonky (and even in a unibody metal mac took him one evening to replace with willpower and ifixit)

 

I come from an era where you would crap your pants and throw a party if a rechargeable battery lasted a couple years, and more often than not 5-6 months before getting weird if you didn't sacrifice small animals and do a voodoo ritual of charge cycles and swapping ... modern day's a li-ion being just about ignored other than dead and charged lasting years is actually pretty impressive

 

 

update, this trick is even older, zenith 8088 laptop I scored today, wont power up the hard drive without a battery ... even a toasted 30 year old one installed, rest of machine works fine, plug battery back in, boom MS DOS 3.30 plus

[Asaki]

NintendoLife says the Blaster Master Zero patch is live, but neglects to mention which region. (adds Pro Controller support)

[Andromeda Stardust]

That stuff you spoilered out, I finally got the last Tower tonight which is just west of the lost woods. I parked the game at the shrine where that sleeping item sits. Started the day going through and wiping out the Yiga fools to get a nice helmet so now I have 2 thundering beasts queued up to take a pot shot at them to do the dungeon. Also got the other pieces of cold gear from the Rito. I need to go get into the Goron area and get that hot gear still. YEsterday/today found quite a few shrines, mostly just unlocked them for warping though as I've not been in the mood to deal with them as of yet. I'm going to set some time aside and knockoff a mess of them as I want those 13 hearts for that special item. I'm currently at 6 hearts so I need to find 28 shrines (4x7 hearts.)

Spoilers ahead, not forcing anyone to read it.

 

 

LOL nice. I finally unlocked the final Tower in the Volcano/Goron region. Since I beat the bird I can now soar into the heavens making scaling Towers a breeze. I've also got climbing boots powered up by the Great Fairy, and my wall-scaling skills rival Spiderman. That last Tower has some super annoying Electro-wizards who will follow you up the tower and deal some unwanted shock therapy. I saved immediately when I reached the landing, and they harrassed me until I dropped all my weapons and expired. Fun fact, if you save in a dangerous location, enemies will not respawn if close to link. When I resumed after the game over screen, I was free to scale the tower free of harassment. Last Tower unlocked, entire Hyrule map extracted!

 

I seem to be following a similar path as you, although I made it into the Yuki hideout before my strategy guide arrived, I quickly gave uo and have yet to return to it. So far I got the Rito Bird granting me soaring abilities, and the Zora Elephant granting me healing if I fall in battle. That wind powerup was extremely useful in completing the towers. I've been upgrading my stamina evenly with heart containers, but my latest Shrine puzzles I have 32 Shrines beaten and two divine beasts, totalling ten upgrades. There is a statue nearby the Hatani village with the first tech lab. Behind the village there is a Statue that buys back upgrades allowing you to swap stats. I exchanged my Stamina upgrades for heart containers and gain 13 containers, enough to pull the master sword. Then I returned and exchanged four heart containers for four stamina refills, so I'm currently walking around with the master sword, 9 heart containers, and an 80% full second stamina wheel.

 

So I can't conquer the Volcano region without the flame retardant armor, and have no clue where to buy it (don't tell me yet), so next on the agenda is to infiltrate the Yiga clown hideout and steal back the lightning helmet. I bought the full stealth set from Kariko village (sorry I can't spell the place names) and even look like a Yiga now. That suit should be indespensible for slipping past the guards undetected. They have become very easy to defeat in the field as I gain strenth, but taking on six or seven at once is still a foll's errand.

 

As for the quill set, I only have the Rito pants so far. Combined with the warm tunic and ruby circlet (I have all the wearable jewelery from Gerudo town now), I would technically have +3 cold resistance, and so far I haven't found any map locations colder than -2. I will inevitably buy it but I am low on funds since I sold much of my precious stones to afford the stealth gear. And it has bitten me in the ass since I ned 20 luminuous stones (to trade the Zora for diamonds) or two diamonds to upgrade my diamond circlet (Guardian resistance up).

 

[Tanooki]

I won't tell you where to buy it, but I think it's fairly obvious which region you can find it in.

 

I fired it up for like 20min, took down that thunderblight ganon. That jerk is ANNOYING. Not so much the sparking, easily enough avoided, but he's just too fast to evade. I lost a few meals on that fight for the first time. I ultimately basically woudl swing around, let him hit me, get up fast and bum rush with the master sword and hack away until the shield shattered and beat him stupid. Second stage isn't anything like the first so another tactic I won't ruin, but third is like the first but more pissy, bum rushed it again. I got angry and just raged with the sword as dodges did no good. 3 down 1 to go, the one I started at with the Zora, so that'll get handled tonight I feel. After that I really don't know.

 

I mean sure I probably could just go for it if it's so easy we have psychos ruining the intention of a long game dropping it in 3hearts and 54~minutes time, so it can't be that taxing. Maybe I will do that, or i'll run around randomly and try and find garbage, I don't know.

 

Oh yeah found that 4th fairy in the game too, pain in the butt with the radar dropping out, but it has a shrine right at its doorstep (thankfully a non-'battle' type) so that'll get tinkered with first. That chick wants 10K to wake up, so that's just not happening for a very very long time. I've rarely had over 1500 so I can't even afford a house as it is without going around and doing a lot of mining.

[bojay1997]

Not sure if anyone else saw this today, but a comprehensive teardown of the Switch was just done and it appears that contrary to previous claims by Nintendo or NVIDIA, the Switch is just running a pretty stock Tegra X1. It's clearly powerful enough to play great games like BOTW, but it probably shoots down the theories that there is a lot of untapped potential to be unlocked down the road. Interestingly, this pretty much also confirms all the spec leaks from late last year.

 

http://techinsights.com/about-techinsights/overview/blog/nintendo-switch-teardown/

Edited March 15, 2017 by bojay1997

[BillLoguidice]

Not sure if anyone else saw this today, but a comprehensive teardown of the Switch was just done and it appears that contrary to previous claims by Nintendo or NVIDIA, the Switch is just running a pretty stock Tegra X1. It's clearly powerful enough to play great games like BOTW, but it probably shoots down the theories that there is a lot of untapped potential to be unlocked down the road. Interestingly, this pretty much also confirms all the spec leaks from late last year.

 

http://techinsights.com/about-techinsights/overview/blog/nintendo-switch-teardown/

 

Yeah, I was just about to post that as well. I think it was pretty obvious this was just a slightly more powerful Wii U spec-wise. It's obviously now up to Nintendo to continue to produce games like Zelda where the power gap is not that important and/or masked really well. What that means for "robust" third party support remains to be seen, however.

Edited March 15, 2017 by BillLoguidice

[Schizophretard]

It is odd that Nvidia said that it was a custom Tegra processor. Anyway, it is still the best consumer mobile chip.

 

Edit: This is one of the most recent games ported to the Shield. So, it can give an idea of what kind of graphics the Switch should be able to provide: