Nintendo Switch Not Just a Second Console Gaming Platform

The predictions on the success of Nintendo’s (TYO:7974) newest game platform, the Nintendo Switch, have varied over the last six months. According to interactive media and digital gaming research firm SuperData Research, Nintendo took a big hit on console sales of Wii U in 2012 when it sold only 15 million copies and reaped criticism from investors. Despite that, Takashi Mochizuki, a Wall Street Journal technology reporter stationed in Tokyo, tweeted in October that Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima expected two million units to be shipped within the first month of Nintendo Switch’s release in March 2017.

That prediction is more optimistic than a guest post published in early March by Forbes which said that the company would only sell 5 million units for the entire year of 2017. The writer argues that these low sales will be a result of the Switch being a second-console option for the 79 million gamers who already have a PS4 or Xbox One. As it stands now, the company has shipped 2 million of its units to stores and assures the public that there will not be a shortage as constant production has commenced. However, in the short time since its launch, retailers such as Amazon have sold out of the unit. New York Times reporter Nick Wingfield tweeted that Nintendo has broken its own record for first 2-day sales which was formerly held by the Nintendo Wii.

One interesting point noted by SuperData Research is that Nintendo is de-emphasizing cartridge sales and emphasizing digital distribution, or downloading games directly from an eShop, which is already available on Nintendo’s 3DS. This can be accomplished through a wireless connection within the console of the Nintendo Switch.

Unlike consoles such as the PS4 or Xbox One which don’t provide their own display screen, the Switch’s console is a 9.4-inch by 4-inch tablet which holds all the technology that makes the platform possible. The tablet can be plugged into a dock which is a recharge station and enables a wired connection with a television screen if a wireless connection isn’t possible.  When connected to a television, the Switch can achieve 1080p, 1920-pixels by 1080-pixels. As a mobile screen, its top resolution is 720p, 1280-pixels by 720-pixels. Against the resolution of other major consumer mobile devices, like an iPad Air 2 (2048-pixels by 1536-pixels), it doesn’t size up at all. However, the Switch also features touch screen capability and 32 gigabytes (GB) of internal storage, the same as the iPad Air 2.

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The controller is made up of two separate rectangular halves called Joy-Cons and can be attached to a Joy-Con Grip or the console itself. In some games, each half can act as an individual controller so two gamers can play head to head or cooperatively on the same console. These controllers are wireless through Bluetooth 3.0 and include an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a motion infrared (IR) camera which senses how far away and what shape objects are for games such as rock, paper, scissors. The camera can detect the distance of a user’s hand and also whether it is closed or open.

One Nintendo patent covering a technology utilized by the Switch, U.S. Patent No. 8409004, entitled System and Method for Using Accelerometer Outputs to Control an Object Rotating on a Display, describes a technology used in the Nintendo Switch’s Joy-Cons.

With this technology, the image on the screen can be controlled not only by buttons on the controller, but also by certain movements and orientations of the controller itself. This makes rotating the video image of a steering wheel turn right or left as easy as pointing the controller either to the left or right of the screen. Diagrams attached to the patent show that this system was first conceived for the Nintendo Wii, and was used in the popular game, Mario Kart.

U.S. Patent No. 8005892, titled Method and Apparatus for Distributing Data to a Plurality of Game Devices, describes a function growing increasingly valuable as game developers move away from physical cartridges and towards streaming games over the Internet. This patent protects a method in which a server sends out small packets of data to each of the game devices simultaneously, correctly syncing their devices so that game-play can resume smoothly.

With multi-player capable devices such as the Nintendo Switch the use of external servers ensures quality play-time as it reduces the processing burden on the device itself. However, even when using a server, data can bottleneck if the server has to send files to a large number of requesting devices. By sending pieces of the file requested in packets of data the problem is alleviated.

An improvement to online game shops is reflected in Nintendo’s U.S. Patent No. 9352233, entitled Recommendation Engine for Electronic Game Shopping Channel. This patent describes a process in which a profile is created for each shopper and uses that information to pick out games that they might want to play. While data collection technologies pose privacy concerns, this patent describes an ‘opt in’ option which allows players to keep certain data private. Other features such as parental control settings can also be taken into account before suggesting games for the gamer.

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6 comments so far.

  • [Avatar for Jeffrey Something]
    Jeffrey Something
    April 9, 2017 07:43 pm

    Caesar Salazar – What are you talking about? The whole point of the switch is that you can easily output a hand held gaming device to the TV screen and that the joycons detach from the screen for local multi player., it isn’t motion control or touch screen.

  • [Avatar for Shah]
    Shah
    April 9, 2017 04:39 pm

    The Switch runs the Vulkan game engine, making it more powerful than the PS4. You’re essentially getting a$1,000 PC that can play on the go for$299. The touch screen is the same 10 fingers touch screen on the Microsoft Surface, which is the most precise touch screen to date. You can play all the AAA 3rd party games, like Skyrim & Fifa & NBA 2K18 & Lego Wotlds & Disgaea 5 complete & etc. on the Nintendo Switch.

  • [Avatar for KP]
    KP
    April 9, 2017 05:25 am

    @Caesar Salazar, you clearly know nothing about the Switch. This is Nintendo’s RETURN to gaming and the least gimmicky platform they’ve had since the Gamecube. Yes they’ve incorporated touch and motion controls, but unlike the Wii and WiiU it doesn’t rely on them and so far barely any of the games require mandatory usage of any of them. In particular touch controls, I’ve never once even used it. I’m not a fan of the gimmicky directions Nintendo took after the Wii but this is a return to classic Nintendo.

    The Wii was fun for about 10 minutes. The WiiU was garbage. The Switch is Nintendo’s comeback.

  • [Avatar for jbee02]
    jbee02
    April 9, 2017 12:45 am

    @Ceasar Salazar you just dont understand the switch very well. Yes it has motion controls but its primary control setup is a standard and conservative controll setup. The motion controls exsist yes but they in no way hinder the controllers ability to operate as standard controllers like the ones that xbox one and ps4 use. Most games ive played on the switch dont even use motion controls.

  • [Avatar for bonny clide]
    bonny clide
    April 8, 2017 03:20 pm

    “…79 million gamers who already have a PS4 or Xbox One” You really think no one owns both systems? You have no idea about gamers! This very well likely replace the 3DS that users of the XBox/PS family use to play Nintendo games (likely at home too), who wouldn’t touch a Wii family of systems to save their lives.

  • [Avatar for Caesar Salazar]
    Caesar Salazar
    April 8, 2017 02:36 pm

    The switch, just like the wii and the wii u, is a gimmick. It will get an initial boost in sales because of novelty but then fade into the background. Gamers want real games, not gimmicky motion control or sub-par touch screens.