Misplaced Pages

#2997

165-530: The Nintendo Switch is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the eighth generation of home consoles , the Switch succeeded the Wii U and competed with Microsoft 's Xbox One and Sony 's PlayStation 4 ; it also competes with the ninth generation consoles , Microsoft's Xbox Series X/S and Sony's PlayStation 5 . The Switch

330-509: A mouse and keyboard devices. Some older consoles such as 1988 Sega Genesis aka Mega Drive and 1993 3DO Interactive Multiplayer , supported optional mice, both with special mice made for them, but the 3DO mouse like that console was a flop, and the mouse for the Sega had very limited game support. The Sega also supported the optional Menacer , a wireless infrared light gun, and such were at one point popular for games. It also support BatterUP ,

495-435: A wireless ad hoc network for local multiplayer games, and multiple players can play on each of the connected Switch consoles. In the case of at least one game, Splatoon 2 , ten Switch consoles can connect in the ad hoc network, though only eight can play directly while the other two can watch as spectators. The Switch uses Bluetooth 4.1 for wireless communication between the console and its controllers. Users can purchase

660-467: A "make or break product" for Nintendo. The design of the Switch was aimed to bridge the polarization of the gaming market at the time, creating a device that could play "leisurely" video games along with games that are aimed to be played "deeply", according to Shinya Takahashi and Yoshiaki Koizumi , general manager and deputy general manager of Nintendo's Entertainment Planning & Development Division (EPD) respectively. This approach also would apply to

825-640: A "support network", alongside Miyamoto. Takeda was given the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 21st Annual D.I.C.E. Awards in February 2018 for his contributions and leadership in Nintendo's hardware development. Takeda was one of the lead developers on the Wii console. He was known for disagreement with the contemporary model of adding every technical and graphical improvements to create new console generations. He claims that such

990-408: A 3.5 mm audio jack , stereo speakers on the bottom face of the unit below the screen, a USB-C port for charging, and a kickstand on the back side. The unit also includes slots for a game card (cartridge-based media) and a microSD card slot located under the kickstand. The Switch console itself includes three buttons, all on the top of the device, Volume +/- and Power. The console has rails on

1155-465: A baseball bat-shaped controller. A controller may be attached through a wired connection onto the console itself, or in some unique cases like the Famicom hardwired to the console, or with a wireless connection. Controllers require power, either provided by the console via the wired connection, or from batteries or a rechargeable battery pack for wireless connections. Controllers are nominally built into

1320-468: A fee to Microsoft to register one intent to do so. Since the release of the Nintendo Famicom / Nintendo Entertainment System, most video game console manufacturers employ a strict licensing scheme that limit what games can be developed for it. Developers and their publishers must pay a fee, typically based on royalty per unit sold, back to the manufacturer. The cost varies by manufacturer but

1485-501: A few exceptions such as the PlayStation TV and OnLive Game System , are Android -based digital media players that are bundled with gamepads and marketed as gaming devices. Such microconsoles can be connected to the television to play video games downloaded from an application store such as Google Play . Handheld game consoles are devices that typically include a built-in screen and game controller in their case, and contain

1650-421: A five–seven year cycle called a generation, with consoles made with similar technical capabilities or made around the same time period grouped into one generation. The industry has developed a razor and blades model : manufacturers often sell consoles at low prices, sometimes at a loss, while primarily making a profit from the licensing fees for each game sold. Planned obsolescence then draws consumers into buying

1815-450: A grip accessory to provide the form of a separated gamepad , or be used unattached. The Switch's software supports online gaming through internet connectivity, as well as local wireless ad hoc connectivity with other consoles. Switch games and software are available on both physical flash -based ROM cartridges and digital distribution via Nintendo eShop ; the system has no region lockout . Two hardware revisions have been released:

SECTION 10

#1732764690003

1980-479: A handheld unit, though some newer ones allow for separate wireless controllers to also be used. While the first game consoles were dedicated game systems, with the games programmed into the console's hardware, the Fairchild Channel F introduced the ability to store games in a form separate from the console's internal circuitry, thus allowing the consumer to purchase new games to play on the system. Since

2145-455: A home console that the player could take with them anywhere. Around five different prototypes were developed for the Switch before they finalized on the released design. This included developing different methods of how the Joy-Con controllers would physically connect to the console, including using magnets to hold them in place. In addition to the form-factor design, Nintendo needed to balance

2310-485: A level of about 10 million Switch units. Prior to launch, Nintendo anticipated shipping two million Nintendo Switch units by the end of the console's first month, and assured that its supply chain would be able to meet demand following the launch period to avoid the shortage situation with the NES Classic Edition in late 2016. Kimishima anticipated that the Switch will have lifetime sales numbers similar to

2475-402: A licensing agreement to gain access to the console's proprietary storage format for the media as well as to use the console and manufacturer's logos and branding for the game's packaging, paid back through royalties on sales. In the transition to digital distribution, where now the console manufacturer runs digital storefronts for games, license fees apply to registering a game for distribution on

2640-487: A model is subject to diminishing returns. He has been quoted as saying that “If [Nintendo] had followed existing roadmaps we would have aimed to make [the Wii] faster and flashier. We'd have tried to improve the speed at which it displays stunning graphics. But we could not help but ask, 'How big an impact would that really have on our customers?' In development, we came to realize the sheer inefficiency of this path when we compared

2805-652: A part of it. About three years prior to the Switch's announcement, Iwata, Tatsumi Kimishima , Genyo Takeda , and Shigeru Miyamoto crafted a strategy for revitalizing Nintendo's business model, which included approaching the mobile market, creating new hardware, and "maximizing [their] intellectual property". Iwata was able to secure a business alliance with Japanese mobile provider DeNA before his death. The deal developed mobile titles based on Nintendo's first-party franchises, believing this approach would not compromise their integrity. Following Iwata's death in July 2015, Kimishima

2970-508: A power adapter and HDMI cable. Third parties also support the Switch with additional accessories, such as carrying cases and screen protectors. The 4.0.0 system update enabled support for GameCube controllers connected via USB with the GameCube adapter that was available for the Wii U as well as a new adapter produced for the Switch; GameCube controllers can be used with most games compatible with

3135-583: A rechargeable battery or battery compartment. This allows the unit to be carried around and played anywhere, in contrast to a home game console. Examples include the Game Boy , the PlayStation Portable , and the Nintendo 3DS . Hybrid video game consoles are devices that can be used either as a handheld or as a home console. They have either a wired connection or docking station that connects

3300-525: A rotating basis. Examples of such services include the Xbox network , PlayStation Network , and Nintendo Switch Online . Certain consoles saw various add-ons or accessories that were designed to attach to the existing console to extend its functionality. The best example of this was through the various CD-ROM add-ons for consoles of the fourth generation such as the TurboGrafx CD, Atari Jaguar CD , and

3465-481: A separate game controller, or handheld consoles , which include their own display unit and controller functions built into the unit and which can be played anywhere. Hybrid consoles combine elements of both home and handheld consoles. Video game consoles are a specialized form of a home computer geared towards video game playing, designed with affordability and accessibility to the general public in mind, but lacking in raw computing power and customization. Simplicity

SECTION 20

#1732764690003

3630-503: A single chip, otherwise known as a system on a chip (SoC), which is a further reduction in size and cost. In addition, consoles tend to focus on components that give the unit high game performance, such as the CPU and GPU, and as a tradeoff to keep their prices in expected ranges, use less memory and storage space compared to typical personal computers. In comparison to the early years of the industry, where most consoles were made directly by

3795-478: A sought-after feature across many consoles that followed. Backward compatibility functionality has included direct support for previous console games on the newer consoles such as within the Xbox console family, the distribution of emulated games such as Nintendo 's Virtual Console , or using cloud gaming services for these older games as with the PlayStation Now service. Consoles may be shipped in

3960-435: A special incentive for its fans. Pack-in games are typically first-party games, often featuring the console's primary mascot characters . The more recent console generations have also seen multiple versions of the same base console system either offered at launch or presented as a mid-generation refresh. In some cases, these simply replace some parts of the hardware with cheaper or more efficient parts, or otherwise streamline

4125-469: A third-party USB LAN adapter for wired connectivity when the console is docked for TV mode. Nintendo's Wii LAN adapter accessory is also compatible with the Switch via USB ports on the Switch dock. The Switch is primarily powered in Handheld mode by a non-removable 4,310  mAh , 3.7  V Lithium-ion rechargeable battery. The battery life is estimated to be between 2.5 and 6.5 hours, depending on

4290-551: A tradition in Japan, and this had already proven successful in arcade games like Pac-Man . Mario was used to serve as an identity for the NES as a humor-filled, playful console. Mario caught on quickly when the NES released in the West, and when the next generation of consoles arrived, other manufacturers pushed their own mascots to the forefront of their marketing, most notably Sega with

4455-481: A variation of buttons to perform other in-game actions such as jumping or interacting with the game world. Though controllers have become more featured over the years, they still provide less control over a game compared to personal computers or mobile gaming. The type of controller available to a game can fundamentally change the style of how a console game will or can be played. However, this has also inspired changes in game design to create games that accommodate for

4620-454: A variety of configurations, but typically will include one base configuration that include the console, one controller, and sometimes a pack-in game . Manufacturers may offer alternate stock keeping unit (SKUs) options that include additional controllers and accessories or different pack-in games. Special console editions may feature unique cases or faceplates with art dedicated to a specific video game or series and are bundled with that game as

4785-475: A video game company in 2012 prior to the Wii U 's introduction that year and had similar losses in the following years due to the console's poor reception. The New York Times attributed Nintendo lowering financial forecasts in 2014 to weak hardware sales against mobile gaming . Previously, the company was hesitant about this market, with then-president Satoru Iwata considering that they would "cease to be Nintendo" and lose their identity if they attempted to be

4950-436: Is a tablet that can either be docked for home console use or used as a portable device , making it a hybrid console . Its wireless Joy-Con controllers function as two halves of a standard controller and alternatively as individual controllers, featuring buttons, directional analog sticks for user input, motion sensing, and tactile feedback. A pair can attach to the sides of the console for handheld-style play, attach to

5115-400: Is a hybrid video game console, consisting of a console unit, a dock, and two Joy-Con controllers. Although it is a hybrid console, Nintendo classifies it as "a home console that you can take with you on the go". In addition the company says that the Switch and the Nintendo 3DS are meant to co-exist, considering the 3DS as an entry-level product for younger players. The main unit of the Switch

Nintendo Switch - Misplaced Pages Continue

5280-584: Is achieved in part through the use of game cartridges or other simplified methods of distribution, easing the effort of launching a game. However, this leads to ubiquitous proprietary formats that create competition for market share. More recent consoles have shown further confluence with home computers, making it easy for developers to release games on multiple platforms. Further, modern consoles can serve as replacements for media players with capabilities to play films and music from optical media or streaming media services. Video game consoles are usually sold on

5445-458: Is in the middle of its life cycle". In July 2024, the Switch became Nintendo's longest-running console without a replacement system, surpassing the seven-year period for the NES. The Switch Lite launched on September 20, 2019, in three colors: yellow, grey, and turquoise. The system was promoted alongside The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening , a remake of the 1993 Game Boy game . A special Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield branded version of

5610-512: Is legal, Nintendo is recognized to be highly protective of any attempts to emulate its systems and has taken early legal actions to shut down such projects. To help support older games and console transitions, manufacturers started to support backward compatibility on consoles in the same family. Sony was the first to do this on a home console with the PlayStation 2 which was able to play original PlayStation content, and subsequently became

5775-527: Is the console, a battery-powered tablet -like monitor that consists of an LCD screen measuring 6.2 inches (160 mm) on its diagonal, the same as the Wii U GamePad. The unit measures 173 by 102 by 13.9 millimetres (6.81 in × 4.02 in × 0.55 in) and weighs 297 grams (10.5 oz). The screen supports ten-point multi-touch capacitive sensing and includes haptic technology from Immersion Corporation . The LCD screen supports resolutions up to 720p (1280×720 px ). The console includes

5940-458: Is universally accepted, one breakdown of generations, showing representative consoles, of each is shown below. Home video game consoles are meant to be connected to a television or other type of monitor, with power supplied through an outlet. This requires the unit to be used in a fixed location, typically at home in one's living room. Separate game controllers, connected through wired or wireless connections, are used to provide input to

6105-747: The Balkans since 2016, announced after opening their new offices in Istanbul , that Nintendo's products will officially be distributed in Turkey later in the year. Nintendo abruptly withdrew from the Turkish market back in June 2012 when then-distributor Nortec Eurasia closed. CD Media released the Nintendo Switch in Turkey in July 2018. Nintendo's Singapore -based distributor, Maxsoft, officially launched

6270-575: The Bally Astrocade and APF-M1000 using tape drives, as well as the Disk System for the Nintendo Famicom, and the Nintendo 64DD for the Nintendo 64, but these had limited applications, as magnetic media was more fragile and volatile than game cartridges. In addition to built-in internal storage, newer consoles often give the consumer the ability to use external storage media to save game date, downloaded games, or other media files from

6435-662: The Expansion Pack , wireless Nintendo 64 Controllers and Sega Genesis Control Pads were released for use with their respective services. Nintendo released Ring Fit Adventure in October 2019, which includes a Leg Strap to mount a Joy-Con to a leg, and the Ring-Con, a flexible hard plastic ring with Joy-Con mounting. The player interacts with the game, fashioned after a console role-playing game , by doing various exercises, such as running in place, squatting, and squeezing

6600-469: The Magnavox Odyssey and the home console version of Pong , and more recently have been used for retro style consoles such as the NES Classic Edition and Sega Genesis Mini . Dedicated consoles were very popular in the first generation until they were gradually replaced by second generation that use ROM cartridges . The fourth generation gradually merged with optical media . During

6765-548: The Microvision in 1979 and Game & Watch in 1980, and the concept was fully realized by the Game Boy in 1989. Both home and handheld consoles have become more advanced following global changes in technology. These technological shifts include improved electronic and computer chip manufacturing to increase computational power at lower costs and size, the introduction of 3D graphics and hardware-based graphic processors for real-time rendering, digital communications such as

Nintendo Switch - Misplaced Pages Continue

6930-514: The NES Classic Edition , Sega Genesis Mini and also handheld retro consoles such as the Nintendo Game & Watch color screen series. Early console hardware was designed as customized printed circuit boards (PCB)s, selecting existing integrated circuit chips that performed known functions, or programmable chips like erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) chips that could perform certain functions. Persistent computer memory

7095-646: The Sega CD . Other examples of add-ons include the 32X for the Sega Genesis intended to allow owners of the aging console to play newer games but has several technical faults, and the Game Boy Player for the GameCube to allow it to play Game Boy games. Consumers can often purchase a range of accessories for consoles outside of the above categories. These can include: Console or game development kits are specialized hardware units that typically include

7260-486: The Wii Classic Controller Pro and Wii U Pro Controller . The Pro Controller connects to the Switch via wireless Bluetooth communication, and is charged through a standard USB-C port on the controller. The Nintendo Switch supports a wide array of additional accessories, according to Kimishima. Kimishima suggested that the Switch is part of a large ecosystem of devices, though the Switch unit remains

7425-533: The Xbox One family, Microsoft released the mid-generation Xbox One X as a higher performance console, the Xbox One S as the lower-cost base console, and a special Xbox One S All-Digital Edition revision that removed the optical drive on the basis that users could download all games digitally, offered at even a lower cost than the Xbox One S. In these cases, developers can often optimize games to work better on

7590-474: The "Joy-Con (L)" and "Joy-Con (R)". The controllers attach to the Switch console via side rails using a locking mechanism, with a small release button on their rear face to allow them to be detached. When detached, they can be used as a pair by a single player, attached to a grip that emulates a gamepad form factor, or used as separate controllers by two individual players. A single Switch console can support up to eight Joy-Con connections. Straps can be attached to

7755-614: The 1970s and 1980s were about US$ 200−300 , and with the introduction of the ROM cartridge, each game averaged about US$ 30−40 . Over time the launch price of base consoles units has generally risen to about US$ 400−500 , with the average game costing US$ 60 . Exceptionally, the period of transition from ROM cartridges to optical media in the early 1990s saw several consoles with high price points exceeding US$ 400 and going as high as US$ 700 . Resultingly, sales of these first optical media consoles were generally poor. When adjusted for inflation,

7920-579: The 2018 Black Friday shopping day, Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Fortnite . The Japan-exclusive "2nd Unit Set" released in May 2018 on the My Nintendo Store at a reduced price of ¥24,980 , was positioned towards households which already owned a Switch. It did not include a dock, AC adapter, HDMI cable, and charging grip. By February 2021, about four years from the console's release, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said that "The Switch

8085-561: The 8.0.0 firmware update released in April 2019 allows the CPU to clock up to 1785 MHz in certain games during loading to improve load times. While the SoC features 8 CPU cores, the Switch only uses the 4 64-bit Cortex-A57 cores, of which 1 is reserved to the operating system. The GPU cores are clocked at 768 MHz when the device is docked, and in Handheld mode, fluctuating between the following speeds: 307.2 MHz , 384 MHz , and 460 MHz . This gives

8250-583: The Analog controller for the Nintendo 64 system, a style which has since been copied by Microsoft and Sony for their respective systems. Takeda's R&D3 team was renamed Integrated Research and Development in 2000. In that same year, they worked with Conexant to create broadband and modem peripherals for the Nintendo GameCube. Takeda was promoted in 2002 to senior management director, while still maintaining his position as general manager. Following

8415-485: The Channel F, nearly all game consoles have featured the ability to purchase and swap games through some form, through those forms have changes with improvements in technology. While magnetic storage , such as tape drives and floppy disks , had been popular for software distribution with early personal computers in the 1980s and 1990s, this format did not see much use in console system. There were some attempts, such as

SECTION 50

#1732764690003

8580-484: The Coleco Telstar , which led other third-party manufacturers, using inexpensive General Instruments processor chips, to make their own home consoles which flooded the market by 1977. The video game crash of 1983 was fueled by multiple factors including competition from lower-cost personal computers, but unregulated competition was also a factor, as numerous third-party game developers, attempting to follow on

8745-817: The European market varying. The set includes a Switch console, a dock; left and right Joy-Con controllers and accompanying straps; a Joy-Con grip, an AC power adapter and an HDMI cable. There were two Switch bundles available at launch, one with grey Joy-Con and one with neon red and blue Joy-Con. Nintendo feared that a higher price would harm sales, which prompted them to not include any additional hardware or games. The Switch continued to be officially released in particular markets like Argentina on August 15, 2017, and in South Korea and Taiwan on December 1. In April 2018, CD Media, Nintendo's official distributor in Greece and

8910-466: The Internet, wireless networking and Bluetooth, and larger and denser media formats as well as digital distribution. Following the same type of Moore's law progression, home consoles are grouped into generations; each lasting approximately five years. Consoles within each generation share similar specifications and features, such as processor word size . While no one grouping of consoles by generation

9075-424: The Joy-Con batteries while they are connected to this grip. The Switch includes 32  GB of internal storage, 25.9 GB of which is user-accessible. This can be expanded up to 2 TB using a microSD , a microSDHC or a microSDXC card. A microSD card slot is located under the Switch's kickstand, where a microSD card can be inserted. If the microSD card is used, the Switch will only store game save data on

9240-465: The NX. At a Nintendo shareholders' meeting following the conference, Miyamoto stated that the company had concerns that competitors could copy ideas from the NX if they revealed it too soon. The following month, rumors began to surface surrounding the nature of the console, including its use of Nvidia Tegra hardware, being a "hybrid" device intended for both home and mobile use, controllers that can detach from

9405-969: The Nintendo Switch Online service within the country, integrating its offerings with the WeChat payment systems. Nintendo had exited the Brazilian market in 2015 due to high tariffs, but independent resellers have been trading the console in Brazil since March 2017. Nintendo had since assigned NC Games as their local game distributor in May 2017, and the local company had committed to sell some officially imported Nintendo Switch units in small quantities. NC Games silently went defunct in c. 2019. In August 2020, Nintendo affirmed that it would restart imports directly into Brazil, for release on September 18, 2020. Numerous special-edition models and bundles have been released, including those for Splatoon 2 ,

9570-496: The Nintendo Switch has shipped over 146 million units worldwide. It is Nintendo's best-selling home console and the third-best-selling game console of all time , behind the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS . While Nintendo had record revenues, net sales, and profits in 2009 as a result of the release of the Nintendo DS and Wii in 2004 and 2006 respectively, its revenues soon declined. The company posted its first loss as

9735-748: The Nintendo Switch in Oman on September 27, 2019. The company had previously broken street date for the Emirati release of the console, with retailers in the region distributing it as early as February 28, 2017. Although the Nintendo Switch had not officially been released in China prior to December 2019, it is still widely available in the country due to grey market imports from Hong Kong and other regions, such as Japan . In January 2018, former Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima said in an interview with Chinese news website QQ that Nintendo has tried to release

9900-679: The Nintendo Switch in the Philippines on November 30, 2018, in Thailand on March 29, 2019, and in Malaysia on January 17, 2020. In early-2019, Nintendo of Europe signed a partnership with Tel Aviv -based distributor TorGaming Ltd., making them Nintendo's official distributor in Israel, and launched their products in the market, including the Nintendo Switch, on March 1, 2019. Nintendo's Dubai -based distributor, Active Gulf, officially launched

10065-602: The R&;D departments at Nintendo with about 20 employees, R&D3's primary responsibilities were technical hardware design and development software for both arcade systems and later home consoles. The team also helped create bank switching and the MMC chipsets in cartridges. R&D3 also made forays into video game software development, producing famous titles such as the Punch-Out!! and StarTropics series of games. R&D3

SECTION 60

#1732764690003

10230-485: The Switch Lite is a single unit, integrating the Joy-Con as part of the main unit's hardware, and uses a smaller screen measuring 5.5 inches (14 cm) diagonally. Additionally, a regular directional pad replaces the four directional buttons on the integrated left Joy-Con. While using a smaller battery than the original Switch, the Switch Lite uses a more power-efficient chipset, the 16-nanometer Tegra X1+, to extend

10395-536: The Switch Lite, themed around the Pokémon Zacian and Zamazenta , launched on November 8, 2019, a week before the game's release. A coral color was released on March 20, 2020, in Japan, and on April 3 in the rest of the world. A blue color released on May 7, 2021, in Europe, and on May 21 in the rest of the world. A special Pokémon Dialga and Palkia limited edition was released on November 5, 2021, 14 days before

10560-418: The Switch could be hampered by bottlenecks in individual components. DigiTimes reported in October 2017 that Nintendo had further shifted the production rate for the Switch up to 2 million per month, with plans to ship 20 million units by the end of the year; the newspaper also stated that the production rate was limited by component availability, and not by other factors of Nintendo's production process. On

10725-581: The Switch did not support Bluetooth wireless headphones, though they can also be connected if a Bluetooth adapter is connected to the headphone jack. A system update in October 2017 partially resolved this issue by enabling support for wireless USB headphones when the receiver is connected to the USB port on the console when docked. This was later fully resolved in a system update in September 2021 when it enabled support for Bluetooth Wireless headphone devices without

10890-585: The Switch in China, but has been unable to do so. Nintendo partnered with Tencent in April 2019 to gain the necessary approvals to release the Switch in China, along with a test version of New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe ; it was released on December 10, 2019, at a base price of CN¥ 2,099 or about US$ 298 . Tencent continues to help Nintendo bring other Switch games through China's approval process via National Radio and Television Administration . In addition, Tencent helped localize various titles, and help implement

11055-427: The Switch outside of China and into Southeast Asia to limit the impact of new United States tariffs on electronics made in China. In November 2020, Bloomberg reported that Nintendo asked its assembly partners to boost production of the Switch by 20% and raised its target goal of Switch sales for the 2020 fiscal year from 25 million units sold to 30 million units, having previously reportedly raised their target for

11220-408: The Switch was designed to provide a "new way to play" that would "have a larger impact than the Wii U". Nintendo of America president and COO Reggie Fils-Aimé emphasized the console's appeal as a device that would provide gamers the option to play at home or on the go and noted that it would enable developers to create new types of games. This approach continued Nintendo's blue ocean strategy for

11385-487: The Switch's GPU a theoretical peak performance of 393 GFLOPS in TV mode and 236 GFLOPS in Handheld mode. A later iFixit teardown of the final product confirmed 4 GB of LPDDR4 . It's clocked at 1600 MHz in TV mode, while at a reduced 1331.2 MHz in Handheld mode. The Switch offers Wi-Fi 5 (dual-band 802.11ac wireless connectivity compliant with 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac modes). Up to eight Switch consoles can be connected in

11550-654: The Switch's Pro Controller, such as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate . USB computer keyboards are supported for certain tasks, such as text entry. In January 2018, Nintendo announced Nintendo Labo , a child-oriented platform that combines games coupled with do-it-yourself cardboard projects that attach or wrap around the Switch Console and Joy-Con, effectively creating toys around the Switch hardware to interact with games. These cardboard units, which may also include string, rubber bands, and other pieces, are referred to as Toy-Con. The game software provides instructions for

11715-454: The Switch's development principally around the cost of implementing new features that would make the Switch stand out. For Miyamoto, his limited involvement allowed him to spend more time on Nintendo's software titles being developed at the time, such as Super Mario Run . The first public news about the Switch's hardware happened alongside the announcement of Nintendo and DeNA's partnership on March 17, 2015. At this stage, Nintendo referred to

11880-415: The Switch's development. Early sales of the Wii U were weak compared to the Wii, and major third-party studios like Electronic Arts and Ubisoft announced they would not support the console near the end of the Wii U's first year, further hampering its sales. According to Fils-Aimé, when it became apparent that the Wii U's life cycle performance would underperform the company's expectations, the Switch became

12045-568: The Switch's form and design was from feedback players had given Nintendo on the Wii Remote , according to Shinya Takahashi. With the release of games like Wii Sports and Wii Fit , players had asked Nintendo if they could make the Wii Remote in a smaller form factor, potentially strapped to a part of their body. This led to Nintendo envisioning what a smaller form-factor controller could provide in both hardware and gameplay, and it led to

12210-463: The Switch. Pre-release reports, unconfirmed by either Nintendo or Nvidia, stated that the SoC would be a standard Nvidia Tegra X1 instead, composed of four ARM Cortex-A57 and four ARM Cortex-A53 CPU cores along with 256 Maxwell -based CUDA GPU cores. This was later corroborated by an analysis on the console done by Tech Insights in March 2017. The CPU cores are normally clocked at 1020 MHz , but

12375-454: The Toy-Con construction and provides the interface to control the Toy-Con. Such examples given include a remote-controlled "car", where the two Joy-Con attach to the car and their vibration feedback provide the motion for the car, controlled from the Switch, a fishing rod where the Joy-Con are part of the reel and handle of the rod and their motion controls used to simulate the act of fishing in

12540-527: The Wii, which sold 101 million units by 2016. Following the initial sales report numbers in April 2017, the Financial Times reported that the company was seeking to produce 18 million Switch units in its 2017 financial year as to avoid "customer tantrums" with poor supply levels, particularly near the 2017 holiday season and the release of Super Mario Odyssey on October 27, 2017. Fils-Aimé said in September 2017 that their 2017 production target for

12705-592: The Wild runs at a maximum 900p and 30 frames per second while the Switch is docked. The dock measures 173 by 104 by 54 millimetres (6.8 in × 4.1 in × 2.1 in) and weighs 327 grams (11.5 oz). The dock included with the updated OLED consoles features a slightly redesigned housing, as well as replacing the rear USB port with a built-in Ethernet port . The Nintendo Switch comes with two controllers , collectively called Joy-Con and individually called

12870-402: The ability for the unit to play either on a television screen or as a portable and the use of detachable controllers. The "Switch" name was selected not only to refer to the console's ability to switch from handheld to home console modes, but to present "the idea of being a 'switch' that will flip and change the way people experience entertainment in their daily lives". Part of the inspiration of

13035-405: The company itself. Microsoft and Nintendo both use this approach to their consoles, while Sony maintains all production in-house with the exception of their component suppliers. Some of the commons elements that can be found within console hardware include: All game consoles require player input through a game controller to provide a method to move the player character in a specific direction and

13200-421: The company saw the console as a key earnings driver for 2017 and beyond. Fomalhaut Techno Solutions, a Japanese product teardown firm, estimated that the Switch cost $ 257 to make compared to its $ 299 MSRP , with the console and dock at $ 167 while each Joy-Con costs $ 45. Kimishima said that they may be able to see further profitability on the Switch when they can achieve volume discounts on components once they reach

13365-447: The company selling the console, many consoles of today are generally constructed through a value chain that includes component suppliers, such as AMD and NVidia for CPU and GPU functions, and contract manufacturers including electronics manufacturing services , factories which assemble those components into the final consoles such as Foxconn and Flextronics . Completed consoles are then usually tested, distributed, and repaired by

13530-552: The comparatively limited controls available on consoles. Controllers have come in a variety of styles over the history of consoles. Some common types include: Numerous other controller types exist, including those that support motion controls , touchscreen support on handhelds and some consoles, and specialized controllers for specific types of games, such as racing wheels for racing games , light guns for shooting games , and musical instrument controllers for rhythm games . Some newer consoles also include optional support for

13695-433: The competitive console marketplace, as rather than compete feature for feature with the other consoles, they would establish unique and difficult-to-copy devices. Miyamoto said that some broad concepts of the Switch extend from the "lateral thinking with seasoned technology" design philosophy of Gunpei Yokoi that Nintendo has used over the last couple of decades. The commercial failure of the Wii U also pressured Nintendo in

13860-494: The console by using an SOC to which developers could easily port games. Nintendo was not focused on raw processing power but was instead looking to balance the overall features of the system, including battery life and size, as well as keeping in mind their limited development resources and timeline. Koizumi said, "The most difficult part was on how to take an overall balance while we were getting entangled with all of those in complexity." To achieve this balance, they did not opt to use

14025-543: The console placed on a table or other flat surface using its kickstand for shared gaming away from a dedicated screen, or in "Handheld mode" as a standard portable tablet device. Users can switch between these modes simply by placing the console in the dock or removing it, extending or retracting the kickstand, and detaching or connecting the Joy-Con. Games may be designed to play only in specific modes; for example, Voez initially could not be played in TV mode and relied on touchscreen controls. Support for controllers and TV mode

14190-406: The console to a power supply to charge its battery, and to a television via an HDMI connection for video/audio output. The dock also includes two USB 2.0 ports and one USB 3.0 port. While docked, the unit can support resolutions up to 1080p and a maximum frame rate of 60 frames per second , though the maximum resolution varies depending on the game. As an example, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of

14355-473: The console to install additional functionality, voiding the manufacturer's warranty. Plug-and-play consoles usually come with the console unit itself, one or more controllers, and the required components for power and video hookup. Many recent plug-and-play releases have been for distributing a number of retro games for a specific console platform. Examples of these include the Atari Flashback series ,

14520-410: The console under the codename "NX" and described it as a "brand new concept". At an investor's meeting in April 2016, Nintendo announced that it planned to release the NX worldwide in March 2017. While Nintendo did not unveil the NX's hardware at E3 2016 in June, it did announce that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild , which was originally announced as a Wii U-exclusive, would also be released for

14685-551: The console unit to a television screen and fixed power source, and the potential to use a separate controller. However, they can also be used as a handheld. While prior handhelds like the Sega Nomad and PlayStation Portable , or home consoles such as the Wii U , have had these features, some consider the Nintendo Switch to be the first true hybrid console. Most consoles are considered programmable consoles and have

14850-399: The console's design for production going forward; the PlayStation 3 underwent several such hardware refreshes during its lifetime due to technological improvements such as significant reduction of the process node size for the CPU and GPU. In these cases, the hardware revision model will be marked on packaging so that consumers can verify which version they are acquiring. In other cases,

15015-427: The console's design, and will be sold at a high cost to the developer as part of keeping this confidentiality. Newer consoles that share features in common with personal computers may no longer use specialized dev kits, though developers are still expected to register and purchase access to software development kits from the manufacturer. For example, any consumer Xbox One can be used for game development after paying

15180-407: The console, with an estimated twenty-hour lifespan. These batteries are automatically charged if they are attached to the console while it is charging itself. Additional accessories have other means to charge the Joy-Con. While the basic Joy-Con grip that ships with the Switch does not offer charging capabilities, a separate premium Joy-Con grip includes a USB-C connector port that can be used to charge

15345-537: The console. Early iterations of external storage were achieved through the use of flash-based memory cards , first used by the Neo Geo but popularized with the PlayStation. Nintendo continues to support this approach with extending the storage capabilities of the 3DS and Switch, standardizing on the current SD card format. As consoles began incorporating the use of USB ports, support for USB external hard drives

15510-455: The consumer, all related to Moore's law of technological improvements. For the consoles of the 1980s to 1990s, these improvements were evident in the marketing in the late 1980s to 1990s during the "bit wars", where console manufacturers had focused on their console's processor's word size as a selling point. Consoles since the 2000s are more similar to personal computers, building in memory, storage features, and networking capabilities to avoid

15675-438: The core console element. Takahashi suggested the possibility of other units besides the Joy-Con that could attach and/or connect to the console to serve as alternate input devices and change how the Switch can be used. Nintendo offers a Joy-Con Wheel, a small steering wheel -like unit that a Joy-Con can slot into, allowing it to be used for racing games such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe . Standalone docks are available, which include

15840-489: The cultural lifestyle and gaming differences between Japanese and Western players; Japanese players tend to play on the go and with social groups, while Western players tend to play at home by themselves. The design of the Switch would meet both cultures, and certain games, like 1-2-Switch , could potentially make social gaming more acceptable in Western culture. Two key elements that were set to address this mixed market were

16005-432: The death of Nintendo president Satoru Iwata on July 11, 2015, Takeda was appointed as acting Representative Director of Nintendo alongside Shigeru Miyamoto , effective on July 13. He was relieved of this position on September 16, when Tatsumi Kimishima assumed the role of the company's president. He was also appointed the position of "Technology Fellow" at that time, providing expert advice to Kimishima as

16170-428: The display device. Even with more advanced integrated circuits (IC)s of the time, designers were limited to what could be done through the electrical process rather than through programming as normally associated with video game development . Improvements in console hardware followed with improvements in microprocessor technology and semiconductor device fabrication . Manufacturing processes have been able to reduce

16335-467: The early 1970s. Ralph H. Baer devised the concept of playing simple, spot-based games on a television screen in 1966, which later became the basis of the Magnavox Odyssey in 1972. Inspired by the table tennis game on the Odyssey, Nolan Bushnell , Ted Dabney , and Allan Alcorn at Atari, Inc. developed the first successful arcade game , Pong , and looked to develop that into a home version, which

16500-429: The estimated use time from 2.5 to 6.5 hours to 3–7 hours on a single battery charge. Video game console A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller . These may be home consoles , which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to a television or other display devices and controlled with

16665-606: The exploit. An updated version of the Nintendo Switch under model number "HAC-001(-01)" was announced on July 17, 2019, and was released in Japan and North America in mid-August 2019, and in the United Kingdom in September 2019. This revision uses the Tegra X1 + SoC , a more efficient chipset compared to the Tegra X1 used in the original model. Thus, the time-on-battery was effectively extended to 4.5–9 hours, depending on

16830-444: The feature size on chips (typically measured in nanometers ), allowing more transistors and other components to fit on a chip, and at the same time increasing the circuit speeds and the potential frequency the chip can run at, as well as reducing thermal dissipation . Chips were able to be made on larger dies , further increasing the number of features and effective processing power. Random-access memory became more practical with

16995-529: The fiscal year from 22 million units sold to 25 million units in August 2020. These boosts in production have been attributed to more demand mainly due to the success of Animal Crossing: New Horizons during the COVID-19 pandemic . The Nintendo Switch Lite is a revision of the Switch designed for handheld play released worldwide on September 20, 2019, with an MSRP of US$ 199.99 . First announced in July 2019,

17160-615: The following day to reveal the full launch lineup and upcoming games for the Switch. The Switch was officially released on March 3, 2017, worldwide in Japan, most English-speaking and Western markets and in the United Arab Emirates. It was released with an MSRP of ¥ 29,980 in Japan, US$ 299.99 in the United States, £ 279.99 in the United Kingdom, and A$ 469.95 in Australia; with standardized pricing for

17325-479: The game played. No other system component was updated in this revision. The Nintendo Switch is produced between Taiwan-based Foxconn and Japan-based Hosiden , with Foxconn accounting for the largest volume. Nintendo did not plan to sell the Switch below manufacturing cost at launch, as they had done for both the 3DS and Wii U at their respective launches; Nintendo affirmed that the Switch would be profitable from launch during its 2016 fiscal year earnings report, as

17490-607: The game. Early examples include the Atari 2600 , the Nintendo Entertainment System , and the Sega Genesis ; newer examples include the Wii U , the PlayStation 5 , and the Xbox Series X . A microconsole is a home video game console that is typically powered by low-cost computing hardware, making the console lower-priced compared to other home consoles on the market. The majority of microconsoles, with

17655-461: The handheld-only Switch Lite, released on September 20, 2019; and a higher-end version featuring an OLED screen, released on October 8, 2021. The Switch was unveiled on October 20, 2016; the concept came about as Nintendo's reaction to financial losses attributed to poor sales of the Wii U and market competition from mobile games . Nintendo's then-president Satoru Iwata pushed the company towards mobile gaming and novel hardware. The Switch's design

17820-437: The hardships and costs of development against the new experiences customers might have.” Takeda began to have doubts about following this model as early as 2002. He claims to have figured out that consumers will not be satisfied with graphics at any point, that the new improvement effects will eventually wear off, and that “there is no end to the desire of those who just want more. Give them one, they ask for two. Give them two and

17985-405: The hardware changes create multiple lines within the same console family. The base console unit in all revisions share fundamental hardware, but options like internal storage space and RAM size may be different. Those systems with more storage and RAM would be marked as a higher performance variant available at a higher cost, while the original unit would remain as a budget option. For example, within

18150-423: The hardware lockout chips and sell without paying any royalties to Nintendo, such as by Atari in its subsidiary company Tengen . This licensing approach was similarly used by most other cartridge-based console manufacturers using lockout chip technology. With optical media, where the console manufacturer may not have direct control on the production of the media, the developer or publisher typically must establish

18315-460: The hardware of older consoles that allow games from that console to be run. The development of software emulators of console hardware is established to be legal, but there are unanswered legal questions surrounding copyrights , including acquiring a console's firmware and copies of a game's ROM image , which laws such as the United States' Digital Millennium Copyright Act make illegal save for certain archival purposes. Even though emulation itself

18480-409: The hardware, either by being programmed via the circuitry or set in the read-only flash memory of the console. Thus, the console's game library cannot be added to or changed directly by the user. The user can typically switch between games on dedicated consoles using hardware switches on the console, or through in-game menus. Dedicated consoles were common in the first generation of home consoles, such as

18645-402: The higher density of transistors per chip, but to address the correct blocks of memory , processors needed to be updated to use larger word sizes and allot for larger bandwidth in chip communications. All these improvements did increase the cost of manufacturing, but at a rate far less than the gains in overall processing power, which helped to make home computers and consoles inexpensive for

18810-479: The higher-performance console with patches to the retail version of the game. In the case of the Nintendo 3DS , the New Nintendo 3DS , featured upgraded memory and processors, with new games that could only be run on the upgraded units and cannot be run on an older base unit. There have also been a number of "slimmed-down" console options with significantly reduced hardware components that significantly reduced

18975-438: The idea of a console that was small enough with these new controllers to also be portable. Other concepts came out of critical consumer feedback of the Wii U. Fils-Aimé said that one common criticism they had for the Wii U was that while players did enjoy using the Wii U GamePad and would want to play games on it anywhere, it became functionless if they moved a distance away from the main console. This served for Nintendo to design

19140-435: The internal memory and a microSD card. MicroSD and microSDHC were supported initially, and microSDXC card support was later added to the Switch's software via a system update. SD cards and miniSD cards do not fit the Switch. The Switch did not support external storage units at launch, but Nintendo stated that they were looking into adding this feature in the future. The Switch console has a 3.5 mm headphone jack. At launch,

19305-559: The internal memory, leaving data that can be re-acquired on the microSD card. Save data will always be stored on the console, regardless if the source is a physical game card or a digital download copy. At launch, there was no way to transfer save files to another Switch console. Save game and profile transfers between Switch consoles were added in the 4.0.0 system update in October 2017, while the 10.0.0 system update in April 2020 allowed most update data, digital games (i.e., downloaded from eShop), and other downloaded content to be swapped between

19470-442: The later part of video game history, there have been specialized consoles using computing components to offer multiple games to players. Most of these plug directly into one's television, and thus are often called plug-and-play consoles. Most of them are also considered dedicated consoles since it is generally impossible to access the computing components by an average consumer, though tech-savvy consumers often have found ways to hack

19635-479: The limitations of the device's own kickstand for tabletop play, including an official "Adjustable Charging Stand" that can be connected to the device's AC adapter. Original Switch models were released with model number "HAC-001". The Switch uses a system-on-chip from the Tegra family of products, developed in partnership with Nvidia . No specific details were revealed beyond that it is a "custom" Tegra chip "based on

19800-464: The limitations of the past. The confluence with personal computers eased software development for both computer and console games, allowing developers to target both platforms. However, consoles differ from computers as most of the hardware components are preselected and customized between the console manufacturer and hardware component provider to assure a consistent performance target for developers. Whereas personal computer motherboards are designed with

19965-403: The main device and be played separately, and that Nintendo would distribute games on the console via cartridges and digital downloads. On October 20, 2016, Nintendo officially announced the console under the name Nintendo Switch, alongside a trailer that demonstrated the hardware's nature as a hybrid device. At the time of the trailer's release, Nintendo did not provide many details on features of

20130-419: The means for the player to switch between different games. Traditionally, this has been done by switching a physical game cartridge or game card or by using optical media . It is now common to download games through digital distribution and store them on internal or external digital storage devices. Some consoles are considered dedicated consoles , in which games available for the console are "baked" onto

20295-639: The median household income, based on the United States Census data for the console's launch year. Since the Nintendo Entertainment System, console pricing has stabilized on the razorblade model , where the consoles are sold at little to no profit for the manufacturer, but they gain revenue from each game sold due to console licensing fees and other value-added services around the console (such as Xbox Live ). Console manufacturers have even been known to take losses on

20460-417: The mini-game, and a small toy piano. In September 2018, with the release of Nintendo Switch Online , Nintendo introduced NES Controller style Joy-Con controllers alongside its classic games service. In September 2019, when SNES games were added to the service, wireless SNES Controllers were released. In September 2021, when Nintendo 64 games and Sega Genesis titles were added to the service alongside

20625-412: The more powerful hardware they could have used, instead using a middle-ground approach to achieve their vision of the Switch. Koizumi served as the general producer of the Switch during its development. According to Miyamoto, the Switch's development within Nintendo was headed by younger employees, with him saying "it's really been them that have put this forward and designed this system". Miyamoto said of

20790-452: The need for a USB adapter. Around July 2018, Nintendo quietly released Switch units with minor hardware changes and updated firmware to block exploits in the original Switch models that led to the ability to extract ROM images from game cards and software. Nintendo claimed in its case against Team Xecuter and Gary Bowser in February that this hardware change was specifically the result of Team Xecuter's sales of modified Switch chips that used

20955-571: The needed tools for free after validating the small development size and needs of the team. Similar licensing concepts apply for third-party accessory manufacturers. Consoles, like most consumer electronic devices, have limited lifespans. There is great interest in preservation of older console hardware for archival and historical purposes, as games from older consoles, as well as arcade and personal computers, remain of interest. Computer programmers and hackers have developed emulators that can be run on personal computers or other consoles that simulate

21120-417: The needs for allowing consumers to add their desired selection of hardware components, the fixed set of hardware for consoles enables console manufacturers to optimize the size and design of the motherboard and hardware, often integrating key hardware components into the motherboard circuitry itself. Often, multiple components, such as the central processing unit and graphics processing unit, can be combined into

21285-562: The next console generation. While numerous manufacturers have come and gone in the history of the console market, there have always been two or three dominant leaders in the market, with the current market led by Sony (with their PlayStation brand), Microsoft (with their Xbox brand), and Nintendo (currently producing the Switch console). Previous console developers include Sega , Atari , Coleco , Mattel , NEC , SNK , Fujitsu , and 3DO . The first video game consoles were produced in

21450-483: The next time they will ask for five instead of three, their desire growing exponentially.” He has famously compared the console industry to the automobile industry. Noticing that not all cars are built to compete at the highest level of racing, he points out that there are lucrative markets for the most fuel-efficient, family-friendly vehicles as well. Takeda meant for the Wii to parallel this model, and has mentioned in an interview that one of his major technical goals on

21615-488: The platform, though they planned to have events in 2017 to provide more details about the console. The company stated that there are additional features that were not presented in the introductory trailer. Miyamoto and Fils-Aimé presented the Switch to host Jimmy Fallon on a broadcast of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in December 2016. In addition to showing more of the console's hardware and functionality, Fallon

21780-436: The power and speed of the console's central processing unit with battery life and the unit's size, coupled with limited development resources and deadlines set by Nintendo's management. One choice made by the development team was to use an existing system on a chip (SOC) rather than creating their own as they had done on previous consoles. Koizumi said that this break from tradition was done to gain more third-party support for

21945-523: The power is turned off. Takeda is credited for his team’s development of the battery back-up memory, which was first used in the North American and European versions of Shigeru Miyamoto 's The Legend of Zelda . It supplies a long-life power source to the RAM chip, maintaining the saved data even when the main power supply is cut or the cartridge is removed. Takeda is also credited with the invention of

22110-414: The presentation of the 2017 fiscal year results to investors, Nintendo's newly named president Shuntaro Furukawa stated that they anticipate producing 20 million Switch consoles over the 2018 fiscal year keeping the momentum of its sales in that year. In June 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported that Nintendo was starting to move some of its production of the Switch and two hardware revisions of

22275-436: The price of consoles has generally followed a downward trend, from US$ 800−1,000 from the early generations down to US$ 500−600 for current consoles. This is typical for any computer technology, with the improvements in computing performance and capabilities outpacing the additional costs to achieve those gains. Further, within the United States, the price of consoles has generally remained consistent, being within 0.8% to 1% of

22440-559: The price they could sell the console to the consumer, but either leaving certain features off the console, such as the Wii Mini that lacked any online components compared to the Wii , or that required the consumer to purchase additional accessories and wiring if they did not already own it, such as the New-Style NES that was not bundled with the required RF hardware to connect to a television. Consoles when originally launched in

22605-470: The production of game cartridges with its lockout chips and optical media for its systems, and thus charges the developer or publisher for each copy it makes as an upfront fee. This also allows Nintendo to review the game's content prior to release and veto games it does not believe appropriate to include on its system. This had led to over 700 unlicensed games for the NES, and numerous others on other Nintendo cartridge-based systems that had found ways to bypass

22770-559: The release of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl . This special edition pays homage to the Nintendo DS Lite Dialga and Palkia edition. On September 26, 2024, a special gold colored edition of the Switch Lite based on The Legend of Zelda was released on September 26 to coincide with the release of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom . These units also came bundled with a 12-month membership to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack . The Nintendo Switch

22935-402: The ring, to perform in-game actions of running, jumping, and attacking and defending, respectively. Such features are part of Nintendo's "quality of life" goals to incorporate physical activity alongside the Switch, similar to past titles like Wii Fit . In February 2017, Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima stated that it had been "studying" virtual reality solutions, but felt that comfort

23100-498: The sale of consoles at the start of a console's launch with expectation to recover with revenue sharing and later price recovery on the console as they switch to less expensive components and manufacturing processes without changing the retail price. Consoles have been generally designed to have a five-year product lifetime , though manufacturers have considered their entries in the more recent generations to have longer lifetimes of seven to potentially ten years. The competition within

23265-514: The same architecture as the world's top-performing GeForce gaming graphics cards " that are common in personal computers, and has a custom API known as "NVN", which is designed to "bring lightweight, fast gaming to the masses". Takeda described the Nvidia chipset as being critical for delivering gamers a level of performance similar to that which they experience on personal computers, helping to achieve "high performance but low power consumption" for

23430-480: The same components as the console and additional chips and components to allow the unit to be connected to a computer or other monitoring device for debugging purposes. A console manufacturer will make the console's dev kit available to registered developers months ahead of the console's planned launch to give developers time to prepare their games for the new system. These initial kits will usually be offered under special confidentiality clauses to protect trade secrets of

23595-451: The same game on a different console for a period of two years. This served as one of the first means of securing console exclusivity for games that existed beyond technical limitation of console development. The Nintendo Entertainment System also brought the concept of a video game mascot as the representation of a console system as a means to sell and promote the unit, and for the NES was Mario . The use of mascots in businesses had been

23760-419: The side, into which the Joy-Con controllers can be slid to attach them to the Switch unit. An ambient light sensor on the front of the console adjusts the screen's brightness automatically. The model number of the original Switch model is "HAC-001". There are three gameplay modes that can be used with the Switch; "TV mode" with the console slid into the dock to support play on a television, "Tabletop mode" with

23925-435: The sides of Joy-Con when they are detached. A charging grip is available for the Joy-Con, which provides a means to attach a USB-C cable for power. Alongside that, Nintendo released a charging strap that allows players to charge an individual Joy-Con via embedded AA batteries on June 16, 2017. The Switch also supports a wireless controller, called Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, which has a more traditional design reminiscent of

24090-515: The software being used. Nintendo gives the example of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild supporting approximately three hours of battery life. The battery can be charged either while in the dock, or through a standard USB-C connector on the console. The estimated recharge time while the unit is in sleep mode is about 3 hours. Nintendo offers the means for replacing batteries through its customer support. Each Joy-Con has its own non-removable 525 mAh, 3.7 V Lithium-ion battery separate from

24255-617: The storefront – again gaining access to the console's branding and logo – with the manufacturer taking its cut of each sale as its royalty. In both cases, this still gives console manufacturers the ability to review and reject games it believes unsuitable for the system and deny licensing rights. With the rise of indie game development , the major console manufacturers have all developed entry level routes for these smaller developers to be able to publish onto consoles at far lower costs and reduced royalty rates. Programs like Microsoft's ID@Xbox give developers most of

24420-629: The success of Activision in developing third-party games for the Atari 2600 and Intellivision, flooded the market with poor quality games, and made it difficult for even quality games to sell. Nintendo implemented a lockout chip, the Checking Integrated Circuit , on releasing the Nintendo Entertainment System in Western territories, as a means to control which games were published for the console. As part of their licensing agreements, Nintendo further prevented developers from releasing

24585-503: The use of Sonic the Hedgehog . The Nintendo and Sega rivalry that involved their mascot's flagship games served as part of the fourth console generation's "console wars". Since then, manufacturers have typically positioned their mascot and other first-party games as key titles in console bundles used to drive sales of consoles at launch or at key sales periods such as near Christmas. Genyo Takeda He joined Nintendo in 1972, and

24750-522: The video game console market as subset of the video game industry is an area of interest to economics with its relatively modern history, its rapid growth to rival that of the film industry, and frequent changes compared to other sectors. Effects of unregulated competition on the market were twice seen early in the industry. The industry had its first crash in 1977 following the release of the Magnavox Odyssey, Atari's home versions of Pong and

24915-470: The younger employees: "I always look for designers who aren't super-passionate game fans. I make it a point to ensure they're not just a gamer, but that they have a lot of different interests and skill sets." Junior developers were also used to help brainstorm ideas of how to make sure the Switch had a longer lifecycle beyond the typical five-to-six years as most other consoles had. Miyamoto, Takeda, and Iwata were less involved, but provided necessary oversight on

25080-407: Was a main concern. Nintendo of America president and COO Reggie Fils-Aimé also cited that existing VR solutions were not "fun" or "social". Nintendo ultimately unveiled a new Labo VR kit in March 2019, using a cardboard headset and viewer placed in front of the console's screen, in combination with attached accessories. Stands and alternate docks have also been created for the Switch to overcome

25245-508: Was aimed at a wide demographic of players through multiple modes of use. Nintendo preemptively sought the support of many third-party developers and publishers , as well as independent studios, to help build the Switch's game library alongside its first-party games, while standard electronic components, such as a chipset based on Nvidia 's Tegra line, were chosen to make development for the console easier for programmers and more compatible with existing game engines . As of September 2024,

25410-541: Was also added, such as with the Xbox 360. With Internet-enabled consoles, console manufacturers offer both free and paid-subscription services that provide value-added services atop the basic functions of the console. Free services generally offer user identity services and access to a digital storefront, while paid services allow players to play online games, interact with other uses through social networking, use cloud saves for supported games, and gain access to free titles on

25575-478: Was also responsible for releasing a series of sports games for Nintendo, including Pro Wrestling , NES Play Action Football , and Ice Hockey . These titles were aimed primarily at the American market, where they sold well. A major limitation with the NES cartridges was the inability to save directly on the cartridge. The cartridges contain RAM, which are easily writable but lose all stored memory as soon as

25740-434: Was estimated to be about US$ 3−10 per unit in 2012. With additional fees, such as branding rights, this has generally worked out to be an industry-wide 30% royalty rate paid to the console manufacturer for every game sold. This is in addition to the cost of acquiring the dev kit to develop for the system. The licensing fee may be collected in a few different ways. In the case of Nintendo, the company generally has controlled

25905-403: Was expensive, so dedicated consoles were generally limited to the use of processor registers for storage of the state of a game, thus limiting the complexities of such titles. Pong in both its arcade and home format, had a handful of logic and calculation chips that used the current input of the players' paddles and resisters storing the ball's position to update the game's state and send it to

26070-486: Was given the opportunity to play part of Breath of the Wild live. Nintendo revealed technical details of the Switch, including its worldwide launch date and price, at a press event in Tokyo on January 13, 2017. The event was livestreamed , with an English voiceover provided by Nintendo of America through their broadcast and regional Twitter accounts relaying details in other languages. A Nintendo Treehouse event occurred

26235-406: Was hired by Nintendo after Takeda responded to a newspaper ad. He was interviewed and subsequently hired by Gunpei Yokoi . Takeda worked alongside Masayuki Uemura in Nintendo's R&D2 team developing what they termed 'an electronic shooting range'. After a year at R&D2, Takeda was assigned control as the general manager over Nintendo's fledgling R&D3 department. By far the smallest of

26400-480: Was later added to Voez in January 2018 via an update for the game. Another example is Super Mario Party , which does not support Handheld mode. Nintendo stated that the Switch is a "single-screen experience", in that the player either sees the content on the console when it is out of the dock, or on the screen attached to the dock when the console is docked. The Switch cannot feature dual-screen functionality that

26565-491: Was named as president of Nintendo, while Miyamoto was promoted to the title of "Creative Fellow". The initial conception for the Switch started shortly after the release of the Wii U in 2012. Kimishima stated that when Nintendo was evaluating what new hardware they wanted to produce, they "didn't just want a successor" to either the Nintendo 3DS or Wii U, but instead asked "what kind of new experience can we create?" In an interview with The Asahi Shimbun , Kimishima said that

26730-518: Was offered through the Wii U via its GamePad . Nintendo patented a means of using multiple Switch consoles to create a multi-monitor configuration by arranging them on a flat surface and spanning a single gameplay environment across their screens. This technology was first seen in Super Mario Party . The console, with or without Joy-Con attached, can be placed into the Switch dock, a docking station with electrical connectors to connect

26895-570: Was promoted to co-representative director and given the title of "Technology Fellow" during the company wide executive shuffle following the death of former company president Satoru Iwata . Genyo Takeda was born in Osaka, Japan . As a child, Takeda enjoyed working with his hands, building small items such as miniature trains and airplanes. He attended Shizuoka Government University in Honshū, where he studied semiconductors. After his graduation in 1971, he

27060-511: Was promoted to his best-known position when the Integrated Research & Development (IRD) division was founded in 1981. At IRD, he mostly worked on improving hardware for home consoles and handhelds, but sometimes developed video games. In software development, he is notable for creating the Punch-Out!! and StarTropics franchises. He also designed Nintendo's first arcade game, EVR Race , in 1975. In September 2015, Takeda

27225-600: Was released in 1975. The first consoles were capable of playing only a very limited number of games built into the hardware. Programmable consoles using swappable ROM cartridges were introduced with the Fairchild Channel F in 1976, though popularized with the Atari 2600 released in 1977. Handheld consoles emerged from technology improvements in handheld electronic games as these shifted from mechanical to electronic/digital logic, and away from light-emitting diode (LED) indicators to liquid-crystal displays (LCD) that resembled video screens more closely. Early examples include

#2997