
Nintendo Switch Lite: a smaller, cheaper Switch built for handheld play - Tomte
https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2019/7/10/20687801/nintendo-switch-lite-price-release-date-size-battery-life-motion-control-games
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wDcBKgt66V8WDs
As an avid Splatoon player, something I've come to learn is that there are
players in the highest rank who play mobile and even can't/don't/won't play on
a TV. This boggles my mind and should give you an idea that this isn't just
for people trying to play simple 2d RPGs that the 3DS already offers. At the
same time, it is quite the ploy to push people over from 3DS to Switch via
Pokemon.

Since I don't see the Switch on here often, I'd love to bring some other
points up about the original Switch that the HN community might find
interesting:

* If I play over wifi and someone else is streaming Netflix/Hulu, I experience lag and disconnects. As soon as I plug in to ethernet, no problems at all. Seems bufferbloat and wireless noise are a real problem even on an up-to-date OpenWRT router with ~5 year old hardware.

* Joycons require only a few feet of signal travel and as few wireless devices in the area as possible as well. Also large surfaces like the TV can mess them up. I've found keeping the console in a drawer under the TV that slides out another foot really helps, and putting devices into airplane mode is sometimes necessary, but usually pushing them a couple feet away from the line of sight between devices is sufficient.

I've never experienced such obvious and impactful wireless problems before. I
guess latency has never been something I cared so much about either though!

edit: and I should be clear, I'm not super salty about these issues. Maybe I
should be, but I play this thing for fun and the engineer in me finds it
interesting. Would love to see joycons made for adult hands with wireless
signal that isn't awful, but I'm not holding my breath.

~~~
alias_neo
Nice points here. The real issues are the Joy-Con, because the Wireless can be
solved with an ethernet adapter, but the Joy-Con get crazy drift on the left
stick (3-for-3-pairs of them in my case) and the signal is horrific. I used to
have the switch docked behind my TV on the stand, but the signal to the left
one particularly was impossibly bad, in the end I ended up having to move the
switch to line-of-sight which is slightly annoying when you have a nice tidy
setup and the switch dock just randomly sitting off to the side, but the
disconnects become really, really infuriating when you're 10 feet from the
switch it the connection drops constantly.

I haven't noticed such issues with the Pro controller.

What I'd love to see are a more portable dock (I play almost always in TV
mode) and a re-work of the Joy-Con that fixes the drift and signal issues.

~~~
neuronic
My colleague doesn't use the dock anymore because it is nothing but a
glorified USB-C power adapter combined with an input for the HDMI signal.

However, due to Nintendo messing up the USB-C standard, this is dangerous and
can brick the system! Otherwise, what would work is a USB-C dongle that
transmits enough juice to the Switch (but not too much!), has an HDMI input to
get the signal to the TV and voila, portability solved.

But no, Nintendo basically ensured that this is Russian roulette which can end
up bricking your system.

~~~
alias_neo
Absolutely, I've considered a bunch of adapters, I even own one for my laptop
that _should_ work with the switch, but I don't dare use it having read about
issues of the third-party HDMI adapters bricking consoles. If I recall,
they're blowing the power fuse because Nintendo is incorrectly negotiating PD.

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izzydata
Kind of the opposite of what I would want. I only use mine while docked to a
TV. If you cut off the controllers and the screen you could probably make a
black box version for $150. Or make it more powerful and keep it at $200.

For a mobile only Switch to make sense for me it would need to be small enough
to fit in a pocket.

~~~
Qwertystop
There's games that only work handheld (because of the touchscreen), though.
Removing the ability to dock (without removing the ability to connect more
controllers) doesn't split the library the same way removing the non-docked
mode would.

~~~
jersully72
I can live with that. Sacrifices were made for the Switch Lite, too.

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eugeniub
I'm confused by this. They took the Switch and removed everything that made it
uniquely successful to make the Switch Lite. The naming doesn't even make
sense anymore. The point is that you can "switch" between TV mode and portable
mode, as well as "switch" between one player with two joycons and two players
with a joycon each. And it's not particularly portable either for a device
that has no TV connectivity. It's bigger than the 3DS XL, which itself is
pretty big, and it won't fit comfortably in a pocket, due to the bulging
joysticks on one side and the bulging trigger buttons on the other.

~~~
BanazirGalbasi
Although they keep denying it, Nintendo has made it pretty clear that the
Switch is the replacement for both the Wii U and 3DS console lines. For people
who want a portable experience, there's no reason to go for a full-size Switch
when they won't use half of its functionality. That's who this is marketed
toward, and the special edition for Pokemon Sword and Shield only seems to
confirm that idea. This isn't for the people who want a family console but
would rather have a personal one instead, so the lack of ability to switch to
two players doesn't make as much of a difference.

I agree that it's not as portable as the 3DS. However, there's size
comparisons that show that it's at least small enough to be pretty portable as
long as you have a bag of some sort with you. This will still sell well
especially if all the new titles shift from 3DS to Switch.

~~~
jamesgeck0
Has Nintendo ever denied that the Switch is the WiiU successor?

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neuronic
So the Switch cannot... switch anymore?

Not criticizing this system but that got really nonsensical with the naming
pretty fast.

~~~
thiht
That's def not an issue. Who cares, really?

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kbrackbill
Aw, I wish this had come out a launch. I haven't ever connected my switch to a
TV. I guess I can sell mine and buy one of these. I wonder how they'll handle
the motion controls and gestures that you can't do in handheld mode. I
remember in Mario Odyssey in particular there being a couple of moons you
could only get by detaching the joycons to do certain motions (the one I
remember is that you could make the frog jump higher by using the joycons than
by any other method).

~~~
jamesgeck0
You can still pair joycons with the unit, just can't plug it into a dock.

~~~
robrtsql
You can pair joycons with the unit, but they got rid of the kickstand? I guess
you can lay the unit on its back, but that seems like an oversight...

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olah_1
Battery life is the number one reason I haven't gotten a regular Switch. But
this doesn't allow for connecting to a TV at all...

I want a Switch that is juuuuust right :/

Perhaps they'll fix the firmware of the regular Switch and upgrade the battery
at the same time?

~~~
wjnc
I'm in your boat. Give me a download only small form factor Switch for use
with a TV only. It'll save me countless discussions with the minions.

~~~
olah_1
Since they're making a portable-only model, it would make sense to have a
stationary-only model as well.

We'll see!

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yardie
This doesn't compete with the 3DS, according to Nintendo, in the same way the
Macbook doesn't compete with the Air.

* 3DS XL MSRP: $199

* Switch Lite MSRP: $199

Except for the 3DS' deep bench of games how exactly don't they compete.

~~~
fiblye
Nintendo also said the DS didn't compete with the GBA and the Game Boy line
would remain a third pillar.

The GBA was abandoned the day the DS launched. 3DS game releases have also
almost entirely died with the Switch's success.

~~~
mcphage
> The GBA was abandoned the day the DS launched.

Well, I think the GBA wasn't abandoned until the day it became clear that the
DS was a mega-hit. They hedged their bets up until then.

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frou_dh
Alternate name, the "Nintendo Switch ^W" since it can't Switch any more
(handheld only, can't dock with TV).

There's probably a term for the phenomenon of retaining a name past the point
it actually applies. Vestigial product naming?

~~~
emmp
You can see this phenomenon in human family names too. Not too many folks
named Baker are actually bakers anymore. Something about proper nouns makes
them easy to drift away from their etymology I guess.

~~~
dasKrokodil
This reminds me of a joke a friend of mine made, saying that in a few decades
'Sysadmin' would be a valid last name.

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di_ry
This looks a perfect 2nd Switch in the family.

Especially if it can be used just as a controller, that would be perfect.
Splits creen gaming on screens that are actually split.

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wodenokoto
> the built-in controls and their lack of detachable controllers, HD rumble,
> and IR sensors creates some small compatibility issues.

No HD rumble ... does that mean no rumble at all?

Is there any use for IR when the controller is connected? Seems to me like you
don't lose out, in this case [1]

I'm guessing it still has a USB-C at the bottom, so why not let it do video-
out from a dock? Are there any savings in gutting that feature?

[1] All examples here, have the joycon detached [https://kotaku.com/the-
switch-joy-con-s-infrared-sensor-is-c...](https://kotaku.com/the-switch-joy-
con-s-infrared-sensor-is-cooler-than-we-1822669059)

~~~
menacingly
I assume the lack of video out is a deliberate crippling to differentiate the
offerings and their purposes

~~~
SmellyGeekBoy
Agreed. I also assume it will be modded back in within days of people getting
their hands on these.

~~~
opencl
I will be surprised if the signals are even physically routed to the USB port,
no reason to do that and then disable it in software unless removing the
feature was a last minute decision.

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lostphilosopher
When the Switch was announced I thought it was trying to be too many things
and wouldn't be able to do any of them well. I was right. However, what I
underestimated is the Switch's ability to do each of those things _well
enough_. My PS4 is a better console. My GBA was a better handheld. The Wii was
a better party system. But the Switch is pretty good at all of those things,
and since the "better" systems could only do one thing - the Switch has turned
out to be pretty awesome!

If you're considering one, definitely think about a buying a second used dock,
being able to pop it in a TV in another room with ease is pretty neat.

My biggest complaint is that in hand held mode I can only do turn-based games
because otherwise it hurts my hands. (The joy cons cramp my thumbs.)

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m-p-3
It's also be okay with the opposite, a non-portable switch that act as a
living room console, without the need to include a display, etc to make it
even cheaper.

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lordleft
A pretty logical iteration on the switch. I'm surprised its not a little
smaller though, I'd like to compare it its dimensions to the vanilla switch.

~~~
purephase
Looks like it's a touch smaller, maybe to make it more portable?

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sleepysysadmin
Basically what I want. Sweet.

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PuffinBlue
Finally. Something that removes the TV tax and I can give to the kids to play.
I don't want something that takes over a TV, ever. So this is great. Seems
like the Switch will be around for folks who want the TV stuff.

Maybe there are loads of people like me. Maybe a few. Sales will tell I guess.

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finitemachine
I recently picked up a PlayStation Vita which I think has just the right form
factor for portability when playing on the bus. The Vita is a 5 inch display,
and this makes a 5.5 inch display Switch very tempting.

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shareIdeas
I don't see what value Nintendo is providing this generation of gaming. Access
to exclusive IP?

Between my laptop and cellphone, I have unlimited gaming for nearly free.

It really makes me wonder what the point of consoles are, they are inferior
computers but heavily marketed.

~~~
Zenbit_UX
I'll give you the laptop point but as for mobile, if you truly think that
offers a comparable gaming experience you're not a gamer, and certainly not
the type of gamer being marketed to here.

Nintendo holds some of the most valuable gaming IP in the world and their
games sell consoles. It doesn't matter what crazy format they make, people
will buy it if they make a smash and Mario game on it.

I unfortunately don't see them ever releasing Mario Cart 74 on steam or any
other pc platform, it just goes against everything they believe in (gaming is
a social and family activity). But Tbh, I probably wouldn't want them too
either.

~~~
SmellyGeekBoy
Part of the appeal of Nintendo are their unique control schemes that just
don't translate very well to other systems.

