A couple of days ago, Nintendo finally made mention of Switch’s day one update. However, the company didn’t really explain what we can expect from the patch. Now that we’ve received some information straight from Nintendo, we have a few more details.
The update will provide access to network features including the eShop, online gameplay, ability to share images via social media, and more. You’ll also be able to link Nintendo Accounts. Also noted is that the update lets you “connect online using hotspots that require authentication, such as at a hotel or café. A web applet will open up so the user can sign-in or accept terms of use.”
This week, Famitsu provides yet another feature on Switch. The magazine interviews Satoshi Hamada from Hamster about the company’s Arcade Archives plans and more.
Hamster received requests from fans to bring the Arcade Archive series to portable devices. Since Switch acts as a handheld in addition to a console, they thought this would fulfill these wishes.
The Arcade Archive series has a feature to rotate the screen to play vertically-displayed arcade games. With Switch, you can easily stand the display vertically, so he think it’ll well fit for the system.
More footage has arrived showing this week’s Wii U Virtual Console title Harvest Moon 64. Another 25 minutes is in the video below.
Digital Foundry published a lengthy report about the technical details surrounding Switch today. The piece is highlighted by the reveal of a new, optional handheld mode that boosts mobile clocks by 25 percent.
Here’s the rundown:
– Digital Foundry says Switch’s “build quality and design is excellent”
– 4310mAh, 16Whr battery takes up a good portion of the internal space
– Apparently “third party replacements by the end-user shouldn’t be too difficult”
– Switch is held together by screws
– Detachable microSD card reader
– This seems to sit on top of the heat-shield when the unit is first opened
– 32GB of eMMC NAND storage also seems to occupy its own mini-daughterboard, as opposed to being soldered directly onto the mainboard
– This offers Nintendo the chance to more easily produce premium SKUs with more generous storage capacity, while retaining the same mainboard
– Heat pipe siphons heat away from the Nvidia Tegra processor
– Active cooling is available to stop the processor overheating, ensuring consistent performance
– Seems to be a more lightly modified X1, still on the 20nm process
– Nintendo has added to the available performance modes available to developers in a recent update
– This bumps the mobile GPU power
– A new ‘NX add-on’ note introduces an expanded table of operating modes
| Available CPU Speeds | Available GPU Speeds | Available Memory Controller Speeds | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Undocked | 1020MHz | 307.2MHz/384MHz | 1331.2MHz |
| Docked | 1020MHz | 307.2MHz/384MHz/768MHz | 1331.2MHz/1600MHz |
– Developers can opt for a 384MHz GPU clock – a straight 25 per cent uplift in compute power compared to the default 307.2MHz option
– Both frequencies are available to developers in what it calls ‘normal mode’ operation
– Users can’t choose between them
– Adjustments have been made to available memory bandwidth
– 1600MHz option is now only available in ‘boost mode’ (when Switch is docked)
– 1600MHz support in mobile mode is deprecated
– Devs can opt to run handheld modes while in the dock too
– Documentation has no new modes for docked performance
– Not all games will use the 384MHz GPU mobile mode
– 307.2MHz remains the default option
– The expanded table above still shows memory frequencies in line with Tegra X1’s capabilities and a look at the Chinese Switch teardown shows two Samsung LPDDR4 modules in parallel, in exactly the same configuration used in Shield Android TV
– The only difference seems to come from the capacity of the RAM chips
– Shield uses two 1.5GB modules
– Switch ups that to a 2x 2GB configuration for 4GB of total system memory
– Configuration suggests a 64-bit memory bus
– Switch has a processor that looks like a Tegra X1, with specs from Nintendo in line with X1, and power consumption that fits the characteristics of the chip’s 20nm fabrication process
– Digital Foundry says Switch is “by far and away the most powerful handheld console ever made, backed by a dedicated API designed to extract maximum performance from the hardware”
– Gulf in performance between mobile and docked configurations is considerable
This is just a summary of Digital Foundry’s report. You can find even more information here.
Zelda: Breath of the Wild doesn’t support English subtitles with Japanese voices, but you can play the game in different languages entirely by changing Switch’s system settings. We show that off below.
Nintendo shared yet another look at 1-2-Switch on its Japanese Twitter page with a video for the Air Guitar mini-game. Take a look at it below.
?1-2-Switch ?????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????? ??????????????????????????????????https://t.co/bomhz6ujAi pic.twitter.com/TflvGuJkkE
— ??????? (@Nintendo) February 25, 2017
Update: Added in details from the review at the bottom of the post. Some of the information is slightly spoilerish, so keep that in mind before you proceed.
Original: This month’s issue of EDGE is in. Only one Nintendo game is reviewed, but it’s a big one – Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
The lineup of scores are as follows:
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild [10]
Horizon Zero Dawn [9]
Nioh [9]
Sniper Elite 4 [7]
Torment: Tides of Numenera [8]
Aaero [7] / PC
Dexed [6] / PSVR
Dandy Dungeon [9] / iOS
The Switch and Wii U versions of Zelda were both tested apparently. We’re waiting on the finer details of EDGE’s review, so we’ll let you know when we have some specifics.
Here’s a look at the beautiful cover for the month:
XSEED hosted a Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns stream last night, and showed a ton of footage from the game. The Twitch recording with over an hour of gameplay is after the break.
