Rumor: Switch to have a maximum battery life of 3 hours, multi-touch screen

Nintendo may have formally revealed the Switch yesterday, but there are still a ton of questions surrounding the system. That means there is plenty of room for rumors to surface leading up to launch in March.

Laura Kate Dale, who shared numerous pieces of correct information about Switch prior to yesterday’s video announcement, has been providing new unconfirmed information on Twitter. One source who she’s spoken to at Ubisoft states that the system will have a maximum battery life of three hours. Dale commented on a few other aspects as well.

Switch may feature a multi-touch screen based on what Dale has heard from a Nintendo source. However, it won’t be core to most gameplay. It would be there for things like menus, drawing, and for certain titles like a Super Mario Maker port. Additionally, Dale says all games need to be playable with the handheld in the console dock, and all Switch games will be playable without touch.

It’s also worth mentioning that Dale weighed in on the Switch Dock. Even though a Nintendo representative said yesterday that it’s mainly intended for charging and TV output, sources told her that it may provide additional processing.

Here’s what Dale shared on that front:

This information again came from sources A (Nintendo), B (Ubisoft) and D (Manufacturing). None could confirm whether the dock is a PlayStation VR-style processing box which helps power higher resolution play when docked, or if docking the console simply allows the handheld to overclock and provides better performance that way. All sources claim the hardware has an easier time running docked compared to when out and about as a portable.

Many on Twitter have drawn my attention to this interview with IGN where Nintendo state that “The dock is not the main console unit of Nintendo Switch… The main function of the Nintendo Switch Dock is to provide an output to the TV, as well as charging and providing power to the system.”

To that, I reply that they repeatedly use the words “main function” and “Main Console” here which still leaves a lot of room for clarity. I believe these statements were aimed at clarifying the Switch was not another Wii U style console rather than saying the dock won’t in any way alter game performance. You can’t play the dock without the handheld, but that doesn’t mean the dock won’t improve game performance.

You can read Dale’s full article here. It’s quite interesting, as she shares more insight about her sources and looks back on previous reports.