Lowyat.net Forum Nintendo Switch Official Discussion Thread

Introduction
Nintendo Switch is basically the latest hardware device from Nintendo, supposedly to be the third pillar alongside with 3DS and Wii U, but we all know it meant to replace both. Why? Because it's a hybrid device at its core.

General Information

Hardware SKU
There's 2 SKUs on launch, Grey & Neon. Other than the colours of the Joy-cons, there's no different between the two sets

Launch Price
-29,980+tax円
-US$299.99+tax
-CAD$399.99+tax
-£279.99
-AU$469.95
-HK$2,340
As for our region, we got a forced bundle (which includes The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild & 1-2 Switch) from our lovely distributor, Maxsoft that's priced from RM1,999 to RM2,399 depending on your preferable local store.

Stuff included in box
-Switch Console
-Switch Dock
-Joy‑Con (L)
-Joy‑Con ®
-Joy‑Con Wrist Straps
-Joy‑Con Grip
-High Speed HDMI Cable
-Switch AC Adapter (100-240V 50/60Hz)

Switch and Play
As it's a hybrid device, there's 3 main gameplay mode:
- TV mode
By putting the main switch unit on the dock and detaching the Joy-con, you can play it like any normal home console system
- Handheld mode
Featuring 6.2 inch IPS screen, you can easily play it without connecting to tv
- Table-top mode
Thanks to detachable Joy-con controller and a kickstand, you can just play it without restrained by tv or being stucked holding the console like a handheld. Just put the switch on some table and play it like a normal console

Joy-Con
- An evolution of Wiimote
- Features traditional input button like analog sticks, shoulder buttons, face buttons, directional buttons
- Each joy-con can be used as single controller, where you can SHARE THE JOY with someone else to play local co-op games
- Left joy-con features capture button that can capture compressed, lossy JPEG screenshot that can be shared to the social media. In future updates, you can record the gameplay
- Right joy-con have an IR Motion Camera, which is useful when playing jankenpon as it can detect the shape of your fist, whether you do rock, paper or scissor
- There's NFC reader directly above the analog stick on right joy-con, where it's used for the overpriced amiibo. Yeah, you need to tap amiibo on top of the analog stick
- Both joy-con features gyroscope, accelerometer and HD Rumble. HD Rumble is so high-def to the point where people can relate the vibration to an empty glass getting filled with ice cubes

Accessories
Too many, too expensive to list. It is recommended to ask in thread for suggested brand or accessories instead of waiting this post to be updated.

Region Free
Yup! Nintendo Switch is region free unlike 3DS or Wii U. You can freely play any switch game that you purchase. Buying digital games from different region eShop also much easier

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Technical Specs
Switch console

Size	Approximately 4 inches high, 9.4 inches long, and 0.55 inches deep (with Joy-Con attached) *The depth from the tip of the analog sticks to the tip of the ZL/ZR buttons is 1.12 inches
Weight	Approximately .66 lbs (Approximately .88 lbs when Joy-Con controllers are attached)
Screen	Multi-touch capacitive touch screen / 6.2-inch LCD Screen / 1280 x 720
CPU/GPU	NVIDIA Custom Tegra processor
Storage	32 GB of internal storage, a portion of which is reserved for use by the system. Users can easily expand storage space using microSDHC or microSDXC cards up to 2TB (sold separately).
Networking	Nintendo Switch can be connected to the Internet via a wireless (IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) and Bluetooth 4.1 (In TV mode, Nintendo Switch can be connected by using a wired LAN adapter - sold separately)
Video Output	Up to 1080p via HDMI in TV mode. Up to 720p via built-in screen in tabletop mode and handheld mode
Audio Output	Compatible with 5.1ch Linear PCM output. Output via HDMI connector in TV mode
Speakers	Stereo
Buttons	Power button / Volume button
Headphone/mic jack	3.5mm audio jack
Sound	Stereo speakers, microphone
Game card slot	Nintendo Switch game cards
microSD card slot	Compatible with microSD/microSDHC/microSDXC memory cards. *Once the microSDXC card is inserted, a system update will be necessary. An Internet connection is required to perform this system update.
Sensor	Accelerometer, gyroscope, and brightness sensor
Operating environment	41-95 degrees F / 20-80% humidity
Internal battery	Lithium-ion battery/4310mAh
Battery life	Approximately 2.5 - 6.5 hours
Chargin time	Approximately 3 hours

Switch dock

Size	Approximately 4.1 inches high, 6.8 inches long, and 2.12 inches deep
Weight	Approximately .72 lbs
Screen	Multi-touch capacitive touch screen / 6.2-inch LCD Screen / 1280 x 720
Output	USB Port (USB 2.0 compatible) x2 on the side, 1 on the back
	System connector
	AC adapter port
	HDMI port

Joy-Con Controllers

Size	Approximately 4.02 inches high, 1.41 inches long, and 1.12 inches deep
Weight	1.7 oz (left)	1.8 oz (right)
Buttons	Left Stick	Right Stick
	Up/down/left/right/L/ZL/SL/SR/- Buttons	A/B/X/Y/R/ZR/SL/SR/+ Buttons
	Capture Button	HOME Button
	Release Button	Release Button
	Sync Button	Sync Button
Wireless	Bluetooth 3.0	Bluetooth 3.0/NFC
Sensor	Accelorometer	Accelerometer
	Gyroscope	Gyroscope
		Motion IR Camera
Vibration	HD Rumble
Battery life	Approximately 20 hours
Chargin time	Approximately 3 hours 30 minutes

This post has been edited by kuroneko0509: May 18 2017, 11:00 AM

Upcoming Games and Demos
(LYN table format is hard to do fast enough. Will add later)

Questions & Answers
* Which region should we setup our Switch/Nintendo Account?
It is recommended to use US for both. Other suggested option is to make Japan account as well since there’ll be Japan exclusive games/demo

* Should I really make Japan account since I don’t understand Japanese?
Some games have Multilanguage even though it’s only available in JP eShop due to various reasons such as ported games with earlier JP release.

* Is there a list of those games with Multilanguage?
Will provide a list later (remind me please)

* Can I use my debit/credit card to buy games from eShop?
Now yes, because we don’t have official eShop region. If somehow later in the future there’s official Nintendo presence and there’s well-maintained eShop Malaysia, we won’t be able to do so. Of course, you need to check with your bank on how to enable foreign & online transaction first.

* For some reason, I can add funds directly to JP (or any other region) eShop for 3DS but not now on Switch. What happen?
It is probably related to the previous question. A solution is to combine eShop balance between 3DS & Switch, then add the funds via 3DS eShop.

* If I don’t want to use my debit/credit card to add funds, any suggestion on where can I get prepaid codes?
Amazon.com (for US eShop) and Amazon.co.jp (for JP eShop) are suggested as they’ll provide you with digital codes after purchase. You might need to temporarily change your address to their country first to checkout. There’s other websites that sell but first check if they’re selling at base price or markup price. There’s also some users that are selling here locally. Check our garage sales section for those. Do note that we don’t held responsible for any kind of transaction complications.

* I heard Nintendo will start charging for online play later. Any details on that?
Sadly, not much details of it for now. We don’t even have the pricing yet. Expect the details will be up during E3 2017 this June.

* Switch battery doesn’t last that long in my opinion. Any good powerbank to suggest?
Any powerbank that supports USB-PD “natively” is good for Switch. Our good fellow former stringfellow suggested to use XiaoMi QB820 as the power delivery almost as good as the supplied charger by Nintendo.

* Can we play multiplayer games with each other if our region games are different, both online & locally?
It is game dependent. Some games allow that while some don’t. Nintendo-published games generally allow different region multiplayers but some third party might not. According to some reports, Puyo Puyo Tetris don’t allow JP and non-JP version to play with each other. Always checks around before buying if you’re in particular care about this.

* Any suggested local gamestore for Switch related stuff purchase?
“Stealing this from kyo’s 3DS q&a”
* What is Nintendo Direct that I keep on seeing in the internet?
Nintendo Direct is some sort of Nintendo's method for delivering news & future updates for both software & hardware. The video will generally pre-recorded and will be aired live on youtube & other video sites in a set date. There's no regular intervals of which Direct will be aired. You can check the archive here
NA Direct and JP Direct

This post has been edited by kuroneko0509: May 18 2017, 11:09 AM

i'll wait and see first if non-jp can coop with jp copy or not

oh right I forgot

I mean the online coop. even if the game/system is region free, there's still low chance the online part is region locked especially when the game have different release date. low chance tho

oh still trying to get jp unit? good luck lol.
most big retailers are implementing lottery whenever they got their weekly restock for weeks already. granted that right now it's in new fiscal year so no idea how fast is the unit production now (have to wait until Thursday for financial briefing). past weeks restock was generally around 50k units, but considering mk8d release this week so probably higher unit restocks starting this week.
of course this might not applicable to small store outside hot spot, but from anecdotally, I've heard it's pretty much the same

as for online, good luck tracking whenever a site have new stocks

come to think of it, I never bothered with tax refund claim in the past when i went there. what was the requirement again? at least 10k yen in single receipt?

ahh that's better lol

assume the worst case possible; legacy edition. haven't heard anything whether frostbite engine supported on switch or not. doubt ea will go through trouble of creating a new engine just for fifa on switch.

should be yes considering it's a 1st party title. i'm surprised they still haven't enabled preload yet for switch

edit: here's direct link to the game store page if u want to just refresh @ 11pm instead of keep checking it on eshop
https://ec.nintendo.com/JP/ja/titles/70010000000186


This post has been edited by kuroneko0509: Apr 27 2017, 11:18 AM

their midnight = noon-evening here

wii u version is 59fps due to a stupid bug

oh didn't realize it. tbh i can't remember whether NoA use eastern or pacific time, but probably pacific since Redmond (where their office at) is in that timezone

This post has been edited by kuroneko0509: Apr 28 2017, 09:29 AM

1st month worldwide shipment numbers for those who're interested
-2.76m for Zelda botw switch
-2.74m switch
-almost 1m for 1-2 switch
-500k bomberman
-350k snipperclips

it's shipment numbers so it's the units from distributor to the store, not necessarily to the buyer. Zelda botw isn't sold out, but switch is mostly sold out. that explains why the game is higher than the console.
considering the 1-2 switch is only forced bundle in minor region, I doubt less than 1/2 is the one bought separately

just google tax free state zip code and use it

it's only for the hadou mode or whatever the name is

last time I check few hours after direct, already scalper price for standalone splatoon-themed pro controller lol

I can just say look around sites or twitter on when are they getting weekly shipment for bigger shops. or you can try your luck in smaller shop. actually both really need luck.
there might be bigger shipment than usual during arms launch week, so if you're there during that week, the chance getting it will a bit higher. I recall during mk8d launch week, stores that usually do lottery for switch didn't do so.

more like jumping to the conclusion. the Japanese text in the interview is just the typical "we're looking on it" comment and nothing more. there's no "usf2 sales" mentioned at all

yes it is ambiguous with respect to the jp text for the interview. I know some people which have better jpn understanding than me interpret the line as looking at switch while usf2 part is just a "hey we're touching about switch so don't forget we're releasing this game soon".the real intent? only tsujimoto knows I guess.
the initial outburst is because of the original gaf thread title is a bit misguided, which is why I said earlier "jumping to conclusion".

here's a good breakdown from adam evanko or more known as gaijinhunter on internet
https://twitter.com/aevanko/status/867732782474084352


This post has been edited by kuroneko0509: May 25 2017, 10:02 PM

nah. majority monhun fans migrate to whichever main platform the next monhun is and not loyally bounded to Nintendo, as long as it's portable consider the series popularity exploded when it comes to portable device

This post has been edited by kuroneko0509: May 25 2017, 10:18 PM

former... and behold mhxx switch
https://twitter.com/MHXX_CAPCOM/status/867910588331999232