Rumor: Switch Mini in 2019

[Rev]

http://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2017/04/15/nintendo-seen-releasing-minisize-switch-in-2019/

 

Rumor, or maybe wishful thinking.

 

Lets see if their prediction come true.

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

Nintendo revises hardware, not to much of a stretch to believe...........

[Flojomojo]

Pretty obvious. Based on what we have seen of Gameboy and DS machines, they'll either:

- make it bigger

- make it smaller

- make it cheaper

- stop making it altogether

[Atariboy]

I don't think they have much room to make it bigger, but I bet a smaller one is inevitable.

 

It's not such an obvious step now though as in the past. For example, what happens to the Joy-Cons? Does Nintendo also redesign those to better fit their sleeker and lighter design and force retailers to stock two different models, or work within the constraint of the existing Joy-Cons?

 

One obvious step I think is integrating the Tegra P1 in a mid-gen hardware refresh.

[Mord]

I don't know if I understand the logic of the people predicting a smaller version though.

 

The Switch is entirely based on being a hybrid machine that can be played on the big TV or as a handheld. But their predictions for a smaller unit is because "it's too big and heavy for young children to use comfortably as a handheld" and so they predict a "Nintendo will launch a lighter, dedicated handheld version of the Switch".

 

IE: They're expecting a handheld-only non-switchable Switch. If they release such a thing, I suspect they're going to make it available alongside the existing model, not replace it. To replace the Switchable Switch with a small handheld-only variant would essentially mean telling people to accept not being able to play on the big screen, and most definitely to accept a smaller screen on the system itself.

 

Granted Nintendo having two versions available at the same time wouldn't be new for them. They did release the 2DS while selling the 3DS, and it is kinda the same thing. The 2DS is a 3DS without the 3DS. The 'Switch Mini' would be a Switch without the ability to switch.

[Flojomojo]

Many mobile devices have small HDMI ports or wireless casting to play on the big screen. A little Switch wouldn't necessarily have to give up any features to get more pocketable.

 

I would appreciate such a thing, personally. I think the JoyCons are gimmicky and mostly stupid. Not that I'm typical, since I adore the much-derided PSP Go and think the AtGames Atari Flashback Portable is neato torpedo.

[godslabrat]

I'm said before that the Switch is being positioned to replace the 3ds as well as the Wii-U, and that when the time came to do the former, Nintendo would find a way to get the Switch into a 3ds-like price structure. This sounds like a good way to do that, and 2019 is a very believable end-of-the-road point for the 3ds.

 

So yeah, I believe this, but not because of the article, just because it's a reasonable projection of Nintendo's current strategy.

[Tanooki]

Yeah it's not so much a rumor than a logical guess going by years of Nintendo history of their handheld devices which Switch ultimately is, even if currently publicly they blow BS about it being a console due to the dock to try and erase the memory of the dead WiiU.

 

The only real way to effectively drop that price down to New3DSXL levels would be to combine the Switch tablet part alone with the pro controller guts which exclude all the extra parts the independent joycons each individually have plus the rail systems on console/joycons as well. Removing the added joycon parts, the 2 batteries between them, their attachments to the device, and going by logical price drop in part production to retail pricing 2 years is a fair guess to make a solid singular device without a large scale tampering with the make-up of the system itself.

 

Throw in the fact you'd lose the HDMI cable, the dock, the little attached kickstand from the equation, those are more price reductions as it is already. They're charging in 1mo time $60 for the dock+hdmi+ac adapter so it helps guess this out just a little of what they got going into things as the ac adapter alone they retail at $30.

[Austin]

If the eventual intention is to have the Switch replace the 3DS line completely (this has been my assumption all along), then a smaller version is necessary.

[Tickled_Pink]

I don't think they have much room to make it bigger, but I bet a smaller one is inevitable.

 

 

I don't know. I'm guessing they will make it smaller - 5" screen maybe? But TBH I don't know why they'd want to do it or how, unless they're going to permanently detach the controllers. The device is already smaller than I expected when it was announced. The controllers are tiny and would need some serious rework. Perhaps instead of detaching them completely, make them permanently part of the unit?

 

Whichever way they go, it's an engineering challenge for sure if they're going to make it smaller AND have usable controllers for portability.

[Austin]

 

I don't know. I'm guessing they will make it smaller - 5" screen maybe? But TBH I don't know why they'd want to do it or how, unless they're going to permanently detach the controllers. The device is already smaller than I expected when it was announced. The controllers are tiny and would need some serious rework. Perhaps instead of detaching them completely, make them permanently part of the unit?

 

Whichever way they go, it's an engineering challenge for sure if they're going to make it smaller AND have usable controllers for portability.

 

The 3DS already has the main circle pad and the second nub, with usable buttons and d-pad as well. If they go with permanently attached controllers, I could see them doing something along those lines. The point would be portability more along the lines of previous Nintendo handhelds.

 

I am still of the mindset that they eventually want the Switch to take over both the console and handheld markets as opposed to having two different devices with two separate game libraries. In order to work towards that theoretical goal, they need a smaller version that is more portable than the current version. The existing Switch works in the portability department for some people, but it's still not the ideal solution for everyone.

[Tanooki]

A few years ago now I think it was they already did that.

 

They shut down the independent console making and handheld making divisions and merged it into one. They saw the WiiU was killing them and the 3DS was their life boat, realized they were doing far better consistently over the years in making handheld games. To save money, resources, and manpower, they merged them into one working outfit and born from that was the Switch, the first thing to come out of that now joint effort. The WiiU was the failure that shut down the console division being stand alone. Console side, Wii was moderate at best, but they're really not had any good third party support since the Gamecube, yet on handhelds those who keep shunning their consoles put out consistent good quality franchise level stuff for Nintendo. Now with just the one machine, and a handheld at its core at that, there's just one place to draw in game makers now. They're no longer fragmented, no more budget choices on which NIntendo thing to make or not make games for, just the less costly handheld that docks. It would make perfect sense to make a slightly smaller unit, controls permanently attached, that without additional purchases of true choice, won't be attached to any TV. Switch works as a portable now, but not one you can pocket, they'd need to micronize what they have now down to a not much larger than the Vita frame to get away with it.

[Rev]

Mock up posted on Instagram.

 

[Punisher5.0]

That looks really cool. It would be an instant hit for sure.

[godslabrat]

Basically taking the best elements of the iPhone, GBA, PSP, and Game Gear. Nice!

[Tanooki]

That's basically what I was thinking design wise other than maybe the screen being a little bit larger so some of the finer details aren't lost in tiny handheld mode. A unit like that which could use the added parts, but needs none of them to still work for any game that tackles the pro controller functionality would be perfect. The loss of various accessories (like the dock, 2 joycon batteries, etc) would drop the price notably off $300 immediately.

[Flojomojo]

Yeah, I would have preferred that to what we actually got, despite the unoriginal Vita-ness of it. The way mobile SOCs are advancing, that should be totally feasible in a few years at that price.

 

It's feasible right now but the battery life would suck eggs.

[Tanooki]

That's probably why it didn't go that way, battery. The size of battery needed and heat generated as well, you'd have a 3 hour handheld people would perpetually bitch about. Given the R&D involved in the last year or two to get it where it is now, add another couple years into 2019 perhaps a March again or late year Christmas handheld would play out best. Get it up to a 5-6hour battery at least, run a bit cooler with a different dye, and the rest of it shrunk into one device seems very possible.

 

It's like the this sucks but... situations of GBC being so late, GBA going out dark into the SP and Brighter SP, even the tiny GB Micro when it arrived all versus when the first iteration popped up. Prices drop, parts can be shrunk to cost less, tech improves, battery improves, etc all allowing for more in less space at less cost.

[godslabrat]

Well, Nintendo needs us (the market) to perceive the Switch as being a console first and a handheld second, regardless of how true that might actually be. Making their first impression with a portable would have sent the wrong message. Instead of "Nintendo is merging their set-top consoles and handhelds", it would have said "Nintendo is losing their ass and is getting out of consoles entirely."

[Rick Dangerous]

Mock up posted on Instagram.

 

Screenshot_2017-04-17-18-31-10.png

 

I'd buy one! Super cool looking. Seems like it would be challenge though for games that utilize motion control, like 1-2 switch. They would probably have to make the Joy Con's detachable, even for a smaller unit?

[Flojomojo]

Well, Nintendo needs us (the market) to perceive the Switch as being a console first and a handheld second, regardless of how true that might actually be. Making their first impression with a portable would have sent the wrong message. Instead of "Nintendo is merging their set-top consoles and handhelds", it would have said "Nintendo is losing their ass and is getting out of consoles entirely."

 

Why? Handhelds have been their best selling hardware for decades.

 

[Tanooki]

It's about media and consumer perception. It's not news that the media loves to do gotcha games, doom and gloom, why are they not dead and this is why... type stories about Nintendo those immature tools don't do to Sony or Microsoft. It would just be feeding a huge troll a dinner at the Four Seasons type meal of bullshit to serve up if they just stopped selling a console as it would be proving them right with all their 10-20 years of bitching that they need to quit and go into games only. This way you sell a handheld with a TV dock so you can call it a console to keep the trolls and losers at bay. This helps consumer confidence in the brand so they don't fall suckers to the lies and manipulation which in turn would really actually then harm sales. People would just not invest in something going downhill, or they'd wait until a price drop or two hit before they'd buy into a dying brand to get in on it.

[Austin]

 

I'd buy one! Super cool looking. Seems like it would be challenge though for games that utilize motion control, like 1-2 switch. They would probably have to make the Joy Con's detachable, even for a smaller unit?

No, you would buy the normal sized joycons separately.

[godslabrat]

It's about media and consumer perception. It's not news that the media loves to do gotcha games, doom and gloom, why are they not dead and this is why... type stories about Nintendo those immature tools don't do to Sony or Microsoft. It would just be feeding a huge troll a dinner at the Four Seasons type meal of bullshit to serve up if they just stopped selling a console as it would be proving them right with all their 10-20 years of bitching that they need to quit and go into games only. This way you sell a handheld with a TV dock so you can call it a console to keep the trolls and losers at bay. This helps consumer confidence in the brand so they don't fall suckers to the lies and manipulation which in turn would really actually then harm sales. People would just not invest in something going downhill, or they'd wait until a price drop or two hit before they'd buy into a dying brand to get in on it.

What he said.

 

The media, in particular the gaming media, would love to do a story on how Nintendo is failing. That's been a go-to of theirs for decades. A story about how Nintendo got their ass kicked over the Wii-U so bad they stopped making set-top consoles would get lots of clicks and attention. That's what you'd have if Nintendo released a portable Switch first-- the impression would be that Nintendo "gave up", rather than that they re-styled their strategy. Then the ignorant consumers (which is a lot of them) would shy away from buying the portable, knowing that Nintendo "failed" at making a new set-top console.

 

Remember, the public at large has been told for years that Nintendo will inevitably pull a Sega and go software only. Because reasons.

 

By doing what Nintendo did, they're maintaining their presence as a force in the traditional console market, and that presence is strengthened by the handheld option, not compromised by it. As of now, it seems to be working as intended

[Tickled_Pink]

Well, Nintendo obviously feel there's still some life in the old warhorse yet. It seems there's a new 2DS XL coming out.

 

The thinking is probably twofold ...

 

1) Yeah, the Switch is portable but it's not really a kid-friendly portable. There will undoubtedly be parents who buy them for their four year old (hell, I have an aunt who bought two iPads for her granddaughters, one of which was 3 at the time) and then regret the decision. The DS-range is more rugged than a tablet or phone, especially if dropped. I've discussed buying a Switch for eldest daughter, her boyfriend and the little girl for Christmas but it would have to be on the understanding that they keep it well away from the little one. To be fair, she has her own Kindle Fire and hasn't broken it yet but the Switch is rather more expensive.

 

2) Bridging the price gap. So Nintendo and their competitors have consoles that cost £250+? The DS range fills a nice niche below that.