Nintendo Switch Could Have Touch Screen and Extra Processing in Dock

Ashley Allen / 8 years ago

Following the tremendously received reveal of the Nintendo Switch – the Japanese company’s new home/portable console hybrid – we’re back to reporting rumours, since it seems unlikely we’ll get any further concrete new on the hardware and its specs until 2017.

Game journalist Laura Dale, who has a reliable track record reporting insider rumours, has revealed that, according to her sources, the Switch has a touch screen, extra processing power in its home dock, but has a battery life that can only be described as “mediocre.” Dale’s sources – verified by her – include “a close source to an internal Nintendo division,” “a source close to development at a Ubisoft studio,” and “a source connected to a large indie developer.” She has also conferred with fellow insiders Tom Phillips and Emily Rogers to compare “similar, contradictory, or matching info.”

I am VERY confident in saying that the Nintendo Switch screen is a touch screen, but that is not core to most gameplay.

— Laura Kate Dale (@LaurakBuzz) October 20, 2016

I'll be there for menus, for drawing, for certain games like Mario Maker port etc.

— Laura Kate Dale (@LaurakBuzz) October 20, 2016

I'm confident in saying that the Nintendo Switch's screen is a multi-touch screen.

— Laura Kate Dale (@LaurakBuzz) October 20, 2016

As all Nintendo Switch games need to be playable with the handheld in the console dock, all Switch games will be playable without touch.

— Laura Kate Dale (@LaurakBuzz) October 20, 2016

RE: dock, what I've heard is additional processing (lacking specifics atm) for when docked. However, would expect a few secs to switch.

— Laura Kate Dale (@LaurakBuzz) October 20, 2016

If there is additional processing in the dock, I would expect at least a few seconds to swap handheld to console etc.

— Laura Kate Dale (@LaurakBuzz) October 20, 2016

“This information again came from sources A (Nintendo), B (Ubisoft) and D (Manufacturing),” Dale writes, regarding the above two tweets. “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.”

To those asking about battery life on Nintendo Switch, I'm hearing "mediocre" battery life.

— Laura Kate Dale (@LaurakBuzz) October 20, 2016

According to Nintendo, no further Switch news will be officially released until next year, meaning that we’ll be none the wiser regarding hardware specs, operating system, or even launch titles (apart from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild) until January 2017, at the earliest.

Nintendo: no more official announcement would come this year on 1) game titles 2) spec details, including region-lock status.

— Takashi Mochizuki (@6d6f636869) October 21, 2016

Dale, though, claims that Nintendo could release some key details by the end of October: