TBH, I don't care about a smaller Switch. I'd prefer a faster one.
This would've been what I preferred too. There were two rumors circulating for the past year or so; a Switch Lite and a Switch Pro. Maybe since the former became reality then the latter will as well?
 
For me, the only compete success for ds two is nesds. But it still had compatibility issues, like castlevania 3.

Every other emulator has serious issues.

CAT SFC is too slow to play anything I like on the SNES except ff2 and secret of mana, and has random crashes.

JenisisDS is fast and stable, but because it uses native hardware acceleration, you're stuck with the worst video scaling of any emulator on the paltform, which sucks for playing rpgs. It also breaks music playback when you load state.

Every sms emulator I've tried has been unstable and has rendering issues with games like ys.

DS2x86: only powerful enough for me to play Star Control ONE on, at half-speed. It's hard to play anythign text-based, because of the lower-then-native resolution.

MAME on DS Two: extremely slow, and extremely picky about what will actually load (ROM versions wise). They've also had to partition it out into multiple different game OEMs, which kinda defeats the purpose of MULTIPLE ARCADE MACHINE EMULATOR. Of the games I waned to play, I only got Black Tiger working reliably (again, af half-speed).

So no, I don't believe that "If you hack it wide-open, the emulator porters will come." Most of these projects are distractions for one author, and are quickly abandoned. Most players don't want to dedicate a $200 device purely to emulation (most console rooters are just looking to pirate games), so if you want to play online, or buy games form the Nintendo store, it becomes a tapdance game every time Nintendo releases a firmware update.

I;m hoping the folks who created the PocketGo have ported all the emulators themselves, because that's all the system does. I expect better experience, as a result. The only thing holding me back from one of these dedicated systems before was price and quality of screen/controls, and this looks to be a winner.

And even if it isn't, I'm only out $40. That's half what I paid for my DS Two cart.

i was thinking about getting a 2ds xl to play all the ds/3ds library i missed. Are you saying emulation sucks for snes/nes... bummer if true
 
i was thinking about getting a 2ds xl to play all the ds/3ds library i missed. Are you saying emulation sucks for snes/nes... bummer if true

For virtual console, it works fine. I'm just bothered by how it's not full-screen for NES emulation, but otherwise it's smooth. I just hate the fact that Nintendo wants to charge me 5 bucks for a game I already bought 30 years ago, which is why I run homebrew emulation.

For homebrew:


I can''t comment on whether there's native home brew for a hacked New 2ds, or how well it works. I'm not bothering with that, after my experience with the DS.

But yeah, for emulation on the DS TWO cart, it's pretty limited. Only the SNES, MAME and dos emulator have native ports - everything else runs on the old DS hardware, which is only fast enough for the NES and Genesis (with terrible scaling and sound playback)

The DS TWO card is 400 mhz processor, so most SNES games only run at half speed with sound on. MAME is very picky about ROM versions, and is still very slow when it works. x86 emulation is slow, and too low resolution to be usable.

They never released a faster version of the DS TWO, or one that could access the native resolution of the 3DS (Even with the DS TWO plus, all emulation is upscaled).

I've always assumed that the 3ds homebrew wasn't worth the bother. The original processor speed was slower than the DS TWO, and it took people around 3 years to finally hack the platform. The New 3ds 800 mhz quad core suddenly makes it a more interesting platform for emulation, but I'm not sure if there are as many developers as the DS had, given the long wait for a hack.
 
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This would've been what I preferred too. There were two rumors circulating for the past year or so; a Switch Lite and a Switch Pro. Maybe since the former became reality then the latter will as well?

If it does it probably won’t be this year. It would make sense to release a Switch Pro sometime next year though.
 
Source?

Wii-u got no refreshes at all
Wii updates REMOVED features(gamecube first, then internet for canada only, not sure this considered hw refresh)
Gamecube got no changes right?
Did n64 get one? they had the memory expansion


Have they done a hw refresh for a home console since SNES?
They removed the digital A/V output on later revisions of the Gamecube. Only the original purple version has it, as far as I'm aware. The black and silver ones don't. Little known fact is that all early Gamecube games supported 480p output using component cables over the digital A/V output (Resident Evil 4, unfortunately, did not properly change to widescreen in this mode, keeping the letterboxed format). There was also an expansion port on the bottom of the console that was removed. It was supposed to be used for a hardware addon to enable internet connection, if I'm not mistaken.
 
For virtual console, it works fine. I'm just bothered by how it's not full-screen for NES emulation, but otherwise it's smooth. I just hate the fact that Nintendo wants to charge me 5 bucks for a game I already bought 30 years ago, which is why I run homebrew emulation.

For homebrew:


I can''t comment on whether there's native home brew for a hacked New 2ds, or how well it works. I'm not bothering with that, after my experience with the DS.

But yeah, for emulation on the DS TWO cart, it's pretty limited. Only the SNES, MAME and dos emulator have native ports - everything else runs on the old DS hardware, which is only fast enough for the NES and Genesis (with terrible scaling and sound playback)

The DS TWO card is 400 mhz processor, so most SNES games only run at half speed with sound on. MAME is very picky about ROM versions, and is still very slow when it works. x86 emulation is slow, and too low resolution to be usable.

They never released a faster version of the DS TWO, or one that could access the native resolution of the 3DS (Even with the DS TWO plus, all emulation is upscaled).

I've always assumed that the 3ds homebrew wasn't worth the bother. The original processor speed was slower than the DS TWO, and it took people around 3 years to finally hack the platform. The New 3ds 800 mhz quad core suddenly makes it a more interesting platform for emulation, but I'm not sure if there are as many developers as the DS had, given the long wait for a hack.

New 2ds xl has same resolution and Same processor as new 3ds xl
 
New 2ds xl has same resolution and Same processor as new 3ds xl


Well yes, I know that. I'm just commenting on how I don't know the state of the native emulators. Can't be bothered to hack my console.

I'm sure it has more than enough processing power, but are they stable/compatible/usable GUIs?

And I only own an original 3ds (not enough horsepower, so I never bothered), so buying one for emulation would cost me $150, as well as waiting for an unpatched vulnerability to hack it (I assume new systems will have new firmware).

I'll let you know how my PocketGo performs, and how easy it is to use. It should be there when I get home tonight.
 
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Switch lite is a garbage fire of an upgrade no reason it needed to lose the tv connection feature removable joycon sure that feature ok remove that but they should have designed it so it could fit in the dock sure if you wanted to play you would need to buy a set of joycons or pro controller and you would also need to buy a dock... But that would have been fine.
 
Switch lite is a garbage fire of an upgrade no reason it needed to lose the tv connection feature removable joycon sure that feature ok remove that but they should have designed it so it could fit in the dock sure if you wanted to play you would need to buy a set of joycons or pro controller and you would also need to buy a dock... But that would have been fine.

Pretty sure if they allowed the Lite to dock for TV support, it would cannibalize a lot more standard Switch sales, so I understand the artificial limitation. Else pretty much the only reason to get the standard Switch would be for the superfluous features like rumble, IR, and playing with detached Joycons portably.
 
Yeah, not a big fan of stripping the HDMI docking function of the Switch Lite (why even call it a Switch at this point?). Sure, you could argue that it would cannibalize normal Switch sales, but would it? Users would still require to buy the expensive dock adapter, would lose out on the tablet/joycon functionality - I still think the regular Switch would be an appealing choice to consumers.

Really hoping they release an official Joycon that uses that traditional d-pad. I know there's cheap 3rd party alternatives on the market, but I'd prefer that official brand quality.
 
Sure, you could argue that it would cannibalize normal Switch sales, but would it? Users would still require to buy the expensive dock adapter

With how many decent 3rd party dock adapters there are out there for a fraction of the price of the official one, I'm sure most will continue buying those over the official dock, so they wouldn't make up the additional sales through that either. Nintendo would be wise to cut the price on those, as I don't see how they're selling at all at $80 (I always see the store shelves fully stocked with them at least, as opposed to controllers and other licensed accessories sold out or partially stocked), but with the Switch selling like hotcakes anyways, they probably don't care about lowering the price at all on any of their hardware.
 
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i was thinking about getting a 2ds xl to play all the ds/3ds library i missed. Are you saying emulation sucks for snes/nes... bummer if true
I have purchased a few nes & snes titles from e-shop & they work great on my New 2DS XL.

I'm somewhat excited at the new $100 cheaper switch, as I'd only use it for portable only, and the $300 was hard to stomach. I really want to see if the new switch fits in my jeans pocket or not before I commit.
 
With how many decent 3rd party dock adapters there are out there for a fraction of the price of the official one, I'm sure most will continue buying those over the official dock, so they wouldn't make up the additional sales through that either. Nintendo would be wise to cut the price on those, as I don't see how they're selling at all at $80 (I always see the store shelves fully stocked with them at least, as opposed to controllers and other licensed accessories sold out or partially stocked), but with the Switch selling like hotcakes anyways, they probably don't care about lowering the price at all on any of their hardware.

You mean all the 3ed party adapters that risk bricking the Switch every time you use them. I wouldn’t go near any 3rd party dock.
 
You mean all the 3ed party adapters that risk bricking the Switch every time you use them. I wouldn’t go near any 3rd party dock.

Yeah, all the ones countless people have had no issues with while using an original or reputable/included power adapter (with warranties to back them up too), those. Just like with everything, do your homework and you're fine.

Worst case, you RMA your switch still, as if they can tell what killed it or dispute it. But given some switches have died using the original hardware, I'd say comparatively the risk is pretty negligible and you're just being a contrarian. I hope you never use a 3rd party cell phone charger either, as you can go on Amazon and find reviews of them bricking phones too (just like the OEM chargers :rolleyes:).
 
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Yeah, not a big fan of stripping the HDMI docking function of the Switch Lite (why even call it a Switch at this point?). Sure, you could argue that it would cannibalize normal Switch sales, but would it? Users would still require to buy the expensive dock adapter, would lose out on the tablet/joycon functionality - I still think the regular Switch would be an appealing choice to consumers.

Really hoping they release an official Joycon that uses that traditional d-pad. I know there's cheap 3rd party alternatives on the market, but I'd prefer that official brand quality.
You would need to buy a dock and joycons or controller unless you already had them that is 50 for dock 60-70 for controller. No reason to buy that way vs full size. So no as it is more expensive to buy a switch mini to play on TV NONE of the full size switch sales are going to get cut more than they will as is. The problem with Ds games is 2 screens to emulate the experience is not very good on my phone. So realistically none of them will get ported. There is no reason Wii and wiiu titles bought in the eshop can't be ported that includes new and SNES and tg16 titles.
 
I have purchased a few nes & snes titles from e-shop & they work great on my New 2DS XL.

I'm somewhat excited at the new $100 cheaper switch, as I'd only use it for portable only, and the $300 was hard to stomach. I really want to see if the new switch fits in my jeans pocket or not before I commit.

Do you know for sure you only want to use it in portable mode though? I think you'd have a good part of the people buying it that would consider buying the dock later once they start to build up their game collection. I could easily see people wanting to do that. Maybe they get a rpg, maybe they decide to get something like mario party that will not work in portable mode. Being able to buy the dock and a nicer controller later makes more sense.

It couldn't have been much to make the thing work with a dock. sees like they are cutting possible addin sales. I was actually talking to my brother about this stuff the other day. He has wanted a switch but the cost has been a push back as he has two kids and already has a xbox one. The lack of docking killed his interest in the cheaper switch, he still might end up buying the normal one later. If he could have spend the 200 bucks(which should have been 180 or maybe 150) on the system and down the road spent the extra on a dock and controllers for playing on the tv it would have been something that would have driven him to buy it.
 
Do you know for sure you only want to use it in portable mode though? I think you'd have a good part of the people buying it that would consider buying the dock later once they start to build up their game collection. I could easily see people wanting to do that. Maybe they get a rpg, maybe they decide to get something like mario party that will not work in portable mode. Being able to buy the dock and a nicer controller later makes more sense.

It couldn't have been much to make the thing work with a dock. sees like they are cutting possible addin sales. I was actually talking to my brother about this stuff the other day. He has wanted a switch but the cost has been a push back as he has two kids and already has a xbox one. The lack of docking killed his interest in the cheaper switch, he still might end up buying the normal one later. If he could have spend the 200 bucks(which should have been 180 or maybe 150) on the system and down the road spent the extra on a dock and controllers for playing on the tv it would have been something that would have driven him to buy it.

It won't fit in the current dock. So they'd need to make a new dock and make sure to label it "Switch Lite Only".
 
It won't fit in the current dock. So they'd need to make a new dock and make sure to label it "Switch Lite Only".

That wouldn't be that big of a deal, hell they could probability make a newer dock that works on both.
 
That wouldn't be that big of a deal, hell they could probability make a newer dock that works on both.

A Switch Light dock would leave a decent amount of the normal Switch's screen exposed on the sides and more exposed on the top. The Lite is apparently only a little bit bigger than a Vita.
 
The Switch Light makes sense to me, but I consider the lack of docking functionality to be a deal breaker. I don't really care about the joy-cons or smaller screen. In fact, I welcome the smaller screen for the sake of being more portable. At the same time, if I'm playing anything seriously, I'm going to do it via my TV.
I suppose this shows a long-term commitment to the Switch as a portable, though. I could see them making future revisions that include the smaller form factor with docking functionality. If they do, I'll happily sell my launch Switch and grab one.
 
A Switch Light dock would leave a decent amount of the normal Switch's screen exposed on the sides and more exposed on the top. The Lite is apparently only a little bit bigger than a Vita.

So? The screen cuts off when its docked.

The Switch Light makes sense to me, but I consider the lack of docking functionality to be a deal breaker. I don't really care about the joy-cons or smaller screen. In fact, I welcome the smaller screen for the sake of being more portable. At the same time, if I'm playing anything seriously, I'm going to do it via my TV.
I suppose this shows a long-term commitment to the Switch as a portable, though. I could see them making future revisions that include the smaller form factor with docking functionality. If they do, I'll happily sell my launch Switch and grab one.

Yea why not have it as an option? To me it just doesn't make sense.
 
I think it may have made more sense to just sell a switch version without the dock for a smaller price. Because yeah selling add ones would be nice. But I guess this is supposed to replace the 3DS so something a bit smaller would probably be an easier sale to parents.
 
I think it may have made more sense to just sell a switch version without the dock for a smaller price. Because yeah selling add ones would be nice. But I guess this is supposed to replace the 3DS so something a bit smaller would probably be an easier sale to parents.
They do in Japan.
 
I think it may have made more sense to just sell a switch version without the dock for a smaller price. Because yeah selling add ones would be nice. But I guess this is supposed to replace the 3DS so something a bit smaller would probably be an easier sale to parents.

That dock probably costs Nintendo maybe $5-$10 to manufacture and include with the original Switch, so not including it doesn't do much at all to improve the profit margin or price on the new Lite console. It makes much more sense for them to put that artificial limitation of no docking on the Lite in order to up-sell the original Switch and to not cannibalize too much of its sales.

They do in Japan.

Interesting.. looking it up it sells for about $52 cheaper without the dock in Japan, but it also doesn't include the Joycon grip or HDMI cable as well, so they're maybe saving $10-$15 in manufacturing those while cutting ~$52 off the price of the console. Given that the Lite sells in Japan for ¥19,980 (~$185), and the standard Switch with dock sells for ¥29,980 (~$278), they've priced the dockless Switch pretty much exactly between the two systems at ¥24,980. So you can pretty much assume that if they sold that dockless Switch in the states, it would be $250 right in between the Lite and standard bundle we have now. At that point, I would be surprised if they kept offering that dockless bundle in Japan after the Lite is released, as it seems to me that most people would just buy that unless they absolutely don't care about docked play or the other handful of extra features the standard Switch has over the Lite.. or (as a majority of sales probably come from) parents just buy the cheapest option available anyways and get the Lite for their kids simply because it's the cheapest way to get them a Switch, so it might not matter anyways.

Probably just thinking about that too hard and it doesn't really matter much what SKUs Nintendo sells.. they're making a shit ton of money either way, lol. I just wonder what the true profit margin is on each SKU to know what their strategy is.
 
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To be pretty frank, the dock isn't anything special design-wise. I'd welcome an overhaul to it that isn't as flimsy and angular. Some additional USB ports (or a dedicated one for an Ethernet adapter) would be welcome, too. A smaller AC adapter would also be very much appreciated. I doubt they're going to do anything like this with the Light, but Nintendo loves to release new system SKUs over the long haul. With the Switch officially replacing the DS, we're probably going to be on that system for at least another 5 years. At least from a portable perspective.
 
I'd be okay with a smaller dock that doesn't cover the entire screen. I'm always paranoid about scratching it when I place it in the current dock (it hasn't happened but I've read lots of articles to this effect), and wouldn't mind a more minimal dock.
 
Well yes, I know that. I'm just commenting on how I don't know the state of the native emulators. Can't be bothered to hack my console.

I'm sure it has more than enough processing power, but are they stable/compatible/usable GUIs?

And I only own an original 3ds (not enough horsepower, so I never bothered), so buying one for emulation would cost me $150, as well as waiting for an unpatched vulnerability to hack it (I assume new systems will have new firmware).

I'll let you know how my PocketGo performs, and how easy it is to use. It should be there when I get home tonight.
i have a older 3dsxl same as the old 3ds it runs my r4i cart nes and snes and gba games very well. my PSP and PSV run them better IMHO but i was never a fan of the formfactor of the 3ds. i cant stand playing on my retromini perhaps ill feel different about a ldk landscape. As for my psv i need more time to get it set so it will read off either my 64gb cart or the sdcard in the other slot. right now i have vita shell able to read the sd card in the game slot and the machine operates off the 64gb memory card but adrenaline and other emulators wont read from the sd card unless it is mapped to main memory.
 
Yeah, after a week of owning one, I like my PocketGo. It's pretty comfortable for long-term play, as it's pretty light. I've always preferred the landscape layout, ever since I got my GameGear, but skipped the GBA 1st-gen because they cheated and didn't include a back-light.

It needs some more built-in options exposed, like autofire for MAME4All, and there are broken things (like the Turbo button in FCEUX), but these things can be fixed, eventually. There's some performance issues in more complex games, but it's pretty fast and stable for a 1.0 release. Since the OS is open-source, there are teams already working on Custom Firmware updates.

I'm going to spend the rest of the week poking through the ini files, digging for unexposed options in these emulators. A Fast froward button would be nice for replaying Genesis RPGs, but it's not currently exposed on any of the emulator's menus (and I have confirmed broken on NES). But I can make due with just autofire, if fast forward doesn't work.

I will still use my 3ds for nesDS, but for everything else I'll use the PocketGo.
 
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Those glass screen protectors for the Switch are pretty fantastic. Once applied you'll never even notice it's there. They prevent scratches from the dock and/or anything else within reason. A 2-pack is still only $8 on Amazon.
 
Yeah, after a week of owning one, I like my PocketGo. It's pretty comfortable for long-term play, as it's pretty light. I've always preferred the landscape layout, ever since I got my GameGear, but skipped the GBA 1st-gen because they cheated and didn't include a back-light.

It needs some more built-in options exposed, like autofire for MAME4All, and there are broken things (like the Turbo button in FCEUX), but these things can be fixed, eventually. There's some performance issues in more complex games, but it's pretty fast and stable for a 1.0 release. Since the OS is open-source, there are teams already working on Custom Firmware updates.

I'm going to spend the rest of the week poking through the ini files, digging for unexposed options in these emulators. A Fast froward button would be nice for replaying Genesis RPGs, but it's not currently exposed on any of the emulator's menus (and I have confirmed broken on NES). But I can make due with just autofire, if fast forward doesn't work.

I will still use my 3ds for nesDS, but for everything else I'll use the PocketGo.
i ordered a ldk landscape... supposedly it is better than the pocket go...
 
Pretty cool. I don't use my Switch enough in portable mode to make the... uh, switch. However, if there is a decent performance boost (ie: menu navigation, load times) then it might get a second look.
 
I traveled quite a bit for work in my previous position (changed about 6 months ago) and I think I can count on one hand how many times I actually took my Switch with me, let alone played it after taking it. Not sure why but I just couldn't get used to the joycons (I use the Pro controller). Switch is docked 95% of the time at home so this new SKU is largely irrelevant for me.
 
Looks like there is a new Switch SKU with better battery life incoming:
https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/17/20697601/nintendo-switch-new-model-battery-life-improvements

Should be interesting to see what else is new/different with that model.

Looks like it will just be the battery and other improvements related to it, but I assume there have to be other small minor changes.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019...l-will-improve-battery-life-about-40-percent/

Frame rate wise it looks to be the same, at least for now. If it is indeed coming in August with no major rebranding I can see that being accurate. I would've thought they'd make more changes and rebrand it but it seems like they're pushing this out as a silent revision in August. For such a huge battery capacity interesting find that interesting.
 
Looks like it will just be the battery and other improvements related to it, but I assume there have to be other small minor changes.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019...l-will-improve-battery-life-about-40-percent/

Frame rate wise it looks to be the same, at least for now. If it is indeed coming in August with no major rebranding I can see that being accurate. I would've thought they'd make more changes and rebrand it but it seems like they're pushing this out as a silent revision in August. For such a huge battery capacity interesting find that interesting.

Right, this is the same sort of Die Shrink + other efficiency tweaks that made the DS Lite reality.

Sometimes Nintendo does an actual performance bump, like the DSi or New 3DS. But on new, battery-hogging consoles (like the DS or Switch), a die shrink comes first. That die shrink is what made the Switch Lite possible, and the big switch will also benefit.

There's only the confusion about multiple consoles using the same ASIC because, for the first time ever Nintendo has the highly-portable + standalone power under a single core design. It was only a matter of time before Nintendo did this on the older console; but because people like their joycons and large screen, there's no room to shrink the rest of the original Switch layout.
 
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http://www.nintendolife.com/news/20...itch_joy-con_drift_class_action_investigation

Anyone here experienced this? I've only had my switch for a couple months now and have mostly used a Pro controller so far too, so my Joycons are still good. But I would be very annoyed if my overpriced $80 (or $50 for one, lol) Joycons took a dump right after my warranty expired. If they do break before the warranty expires, I'll be damn sure to RMA it immediately, but it still sucks to wait 2-4 weeks to get them back. I have 2 sets, plus a Pro controller, so I wouldn't miss a set so bad except for Mario Party with the fam, since you can only play that with Joycons.
 
It is possible it's not a die shrink, rather just respun silicon and a much more efficient display? Something like an IGZO low power display?
 
It is possible it's not a die shrink, rather just respun silicon and a much more efficient display? Something like an IGZO low power display?

Not really since it has already been confirmed that the Lite got a die shrink and is launching at the same time.

 
The soc is still going to be a X1 custom it is a new revision going from 20nm to 16nm IMHO i would rather have seen a Xavier soc on 12nm or the x1 printed in 12 or 10nm finFET unfortunately all the new soc are being used in test units for car control centers.
 
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