this post was submitted on 28 Jul 2023
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[–] Yondu_the_Ravager 62 points 1 year ago (8 children)

I hope Nintendo actually makes this a huge step up from the Switch we’ve had since 2017. The OLED switch was nice, but it’s what the switch should’ve been from day one.

Oh and dear lord PLEASE let them fix the joycon issues. I would love to play my switch more in handheld mode but because both of my joycons have drift, it’s impossible to play in anything but docked mode with a pro controller.

[–] Birchoff 31 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I wish for all controller manufactures to use that magnetic joystick instead

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Hall Effect Joysticks!

I think the copyright for that technology is, well…copyrighted. So Nintendo would need to pay a licensing fee to use it in their Joycons (as would any gaming company for their joysticks). That would add significant cost to the controllers.

Same reason we haven’t seen back buttons adopted into controllers as a standard yet despite being the next logical evolution in controller design.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)

@StarServal, you mean patents (not copyright), since it is about inventions.

And there is at least one hall effect controller patent that already expired. It is from 1988, so hall effect joysticks are not a new thing at all.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US4825157A/

@anarchyrabbit @Yondu_the_Ravager @Birchoff

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Thanks for doing the googling and bringing it up here.

Apparently the dreamcast controller had hall effect sensors, so it's not really new tech. With the volume that Nintendo produces stuff with, the extra price per joystick would most likely be quite small.

[–] 4am -1 points 1 year ago

I think it would need to be a patent, not a copyright. Also, Hall effect sensors were in use before someone decided to put them into a joystick. I would hope that “use the thing for which it was designed” isn’t patentable but, knowing the USPTO when it comes to technology…

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

The OLED switch was nice, but it’s what the switch should’ve been from day one.

The processor was long in the tooth and the joycons were unacceptably flawed on day one. The OLED switch changed none of these things and it still frustrates me a lot that people weren’t more critical of it tbh.

[–] Yondu_the_Ravager 5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Yeah they’d fill should’ve upgraded the processor for the OLED switch, and I totally agree about the joycon situation. I was more talking about the screen, Nintendo easily could’ve made the first Gen switch OLED but they didn’t.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I feel the price was already a little high at launch (since they are adamant about making a profit on hardware as opposed to Sony/Microsoft who sell at a loss) so the addition of a more expensive screen would’ve probably pushed the price too high tbh. It was 2017, OLED’s were still pretty new and very expensive.

[–] mindbleach 1 points 1 year ago

LCD was fine. Locked 60 Hz refresh rate made no sense whatsoever. Even shitty laptops can dip down to 40 Hz, and that'd make dodgy framerates less stuttery. But the Switch is Nvidia hardware. There's no excuse to not at least support 120 Hz polling to flip framebuffers.

[–] 4am -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Nintendo would have solidified the design and specs of the SoC and committed to a bulk contract for them just before we saw some big leaps in hardware; specifically in GPU and ARM SoCs, memory bandwidth and PCIe bus performance, and chip die resolution.

Think about where mobile processors were in 2014; it’s been almost 9 years. Think about where Apple silicon is now (also an ARM SoC platform). We’re truly “living in the future”.

Since the products were already in consumer hands as these innovations where happening, it was too late to change anything. It’s a rock and a hard place; especially for Nintendo who caters to so many casual enjoyers - if you upgrade the hardware, you’re gonna need to do another launch. The alternative would be that people with older switches wouldn’t be able to run newer games. You also don’t want to anger your customers by saying “remember that $400 you spent 3 years ago? Yeah you’re gonna need to go ahead and give us another $400”. Additionally, if they had done that, we’d probably be complaining about THAT machine being underpowered now. The Switch was selling like hotcakes regardless, they weren’t going to disrupt that revenue. Money talks and the world told Nintendo what they wanted, whether they meant to or not.

Now that even 1st party titles are struggling on the system, the writing is on the wall, the tech has improved massively, and consumers are warming to the idea of a new console, it makes sense that Nintendo would have been doing the legwork to be at the point when suppliers are leaking info, when investor calls subtly reveal dates when at a minimum we’ll get our first official info, etc. I bet they’ll start shipping dev kits in the fall (if they haven’t already) if all this info is accurate.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Ehhhhh I get that but my main gripes are 1) the joy cons and 2) literally no changes for the OLED

[–] vmachiel 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Just put in a modern chip to start with if the hardware will be the same for 7-8 years

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

But then if becomes the price of a Rog Ally or similar. Nintendo need to hit the cost/power ratio for a mas audience.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (3 children)

If you are in the European Economic Area (EEA), UK and Switzerland Nintendo will fix your joycons for free. If you are anywhere else, just buy some new sticks and replace them.

[–] macintosh 7 points 1 year ago

They do in the US too.

[–] TheFonz 4 points 1 year ago

Am in Italy. Sent mine in yesterday actually. Thanks EU!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

The US too. Not explicitly mentioned, but Ive repaired several for free

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ironically my joycons that I've had since launch day have been fine (regarding drift, anyway), but my pro controller got drift last year, and I just had to replace it.

[–] Yondu_the_Ravager 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That’s wild. My release day joycons drift like a bitch, but I have never once had an issue with my pro controller. I didn’t even know the pro controller could have drifting issues tbh

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I'm probably the very edge of the bell curve on those joycons. Unfortunately, the wireless connection on the left joycon is basically unusable.

And, not surprised I got drift on my pro controller. I probably have close to 1000 hours on it in smash alone.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

If they don't fix the joycon issues Nintendo is going to lose more lawsuits and be on the hook for fixing people's joycons for free forever. I just sent 4 of mine in in the US.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I’ve submitted several joycons for repair over the years, always sent back without any charge. The most recent batch also had broken housing, but still repaired for free.

Give it a shot!