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Discussion Searching for the new cool Nintendo hardware feature

crepuscule said:
And massively decrease durability. No thanks to having to get a major repair every few years.
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Foldable screens are like... Semi interesting for phones I guess as some phones are slightly too big for pockets.

But the Switch is so massively too big for pockets that I don't see the point at all.
 
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Pretty much. While they're getting "better", we're still a couple generations away from foldable screens becoming good and cheap enough for a mass market device like the Switch, imho.
 
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I am breaking my head thinking about anything meaningful hardware wise, the best I can come up with is finding a way to make controlling a game more enjoyable and/or comfortable by taking the experience away from the screen and invest more commitment to interacting with ones surroundings as a gameplay feature. Think about the direction Niantic is taking but then focussed on fun instead of milking cashcows.

Pokémon is trying to do this with Pokémon Sleep, making even your sleep a gameplay feature.

But the question remains... What hardware gimmick other then a camera/mic recognising patterns could enhance the experience a step further?

The answer is came up with is touch, and by that I do not mean a touch screen but finding a way to create, shape and recognise surfaces, I don't think the technology exists yet, albeit not in a consumer practical way... HD rumble tried it in a certain way. Think of the first Stinky Horse game with the icecubes and counting balls. PS5's promo game did it as well, they actually nailed it imo, such a shame it never went beyond that single game.

VR and AR both still need a breakthrough as well, but it's just not convenient enough... yet
 
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Foldable screens are just not ready for prime time, in cost or appearance. Rather they blow resources on giving it 64GB RAM than that.
PK_Wonder said:
Re: Foldable Screen, what if when folded, the resulting clamshell design was the Dock?
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So you... put the system in itself?
 
Yavga said:
I am breaking my head thinking about anything meaningful hardware wise, the best I can come up with is finding a way to make controlling a game more enjoyable and/or comfortable by taking the experience away from the screen and invest more commitment to interacting with ones surroundings as a gameplay feature. Think about the direction Niantic is taking but then focussed on fun instead of milking cashcows.

Pokémon is trying to do this with Pokémon Sleep, making even your sleep a gameplay feature.

But the question remains... What hardware gimmick other then a camera/mic recognising patterns could enhance the experience a step further?

The answer is came up with is touch, and by that I do not mean a touch screen but finding a way to create, shape and recognise surfaces, I don't think the technology exists yet, albeit not in a consumer practical way... HD rumble tried it in a certain way. Think of the first Stinky Horse game with the icecubes and counting balls. PS5's promo game did it as well, they actually nailed it imo, such a shame it never went beyond that single game.

VR and AR both still need a breakthrough as well, but it's just not convenient enough... yet
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See my post about Lego integration. I think it's the most realistic way of bridging the gap between the physical and virtual worlds with today's technology and at mass market prices.
 
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efyu_lemonardo said:
I love LABO but I think some of the criticism it got was legitimate. In particular, storing all those accessories after building them and using them only a handful of times.

Which is why I propose the following evolution for
Switch 2: LEGO integration!
Kits created by Nintendo and Lego, just like today's Mario sets, except these are a bit closer to Lego Technic sets and allow you to build custom controllers and other cool contraptions. They're completely optional, and you can always take them apart and use the pieces to build something else - including your own original designs which you can share through a LEGO/LABO-like smartphone app.

What you end up with is the best of both worlds:
  • A Mario Maker community for creating and sharing physical designs - open to both Switch owners and Lego fans in general.
  • Integration with a Game-Developer Garage like interface on the Switch itself, to program your inventions and share the software with other Switch users.
  • Joy-Con covers\attachments that have the Lego "texture", making them an actual part of your builds - these would come either with the sets or with some of the games you buy from Nintendo.
  • Meaningful Smartphone integration: use your phone to follow building instructions while you program and play on your Switch.
  • A new form of dual screen gaming, reminiscent of the Wii U, but without having to purchase an expensive peripheral.
  • $$$$ for Nintendo and Lego, with plenty of opportunities for cross promotion, including special support for Lego games on Switch, and more.
  • A killer-app for Switch 2, especially among the younger audience, or parents who grew up with Nintendo and Lego.
  • Camera integration (either in the console or using the phone's cameras) that add AR to the interaction: perhaps you can "scan" Lego builds, or "project" virtual builds into the real world.
  • That last point screams "Minecraft" support!
  • At this point you've won the console wars, and I haven't even mentioned the new LEGO Pokemon games!
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I am already sold at the idea of combining building toys like Lego with games, I think it will be hard to sell towards a grown-up audience even while they might be the specific audience needing it the hardest.
Nintendo would have to try and sell the idea of returning to your roots once again.

Anything that combines effort and fantasy with videogames without monitising it to death has my vote.

Having good memories about playing my own made up games with legos putting 2 armies against each other and taking turns attacking like some sort of turn-based RPG.
 
The SNES was just a better NES.
The Gamecube was just a better N64.
The GBA was just a better Game Boy.

But more importantly:
The Wii U would have been better off as just a better Wii. An early Wii HD was always the right play, and they fumbled it. The gamepad turned so many people off.
The 3DS would have been better off as just a better DS. Instead they ended up having to slash the price immediately and ultimately dropped 3d from a bunch of models.

Nintendo has learned their lesson. Switch 2 will just be a better Switch.

But like I've said, if I had the choice of features, it'd be glasses-free 3d.
 
Yavga said:
I am already sold at the idea of combining building toys like Lego with games, I think it will be hard to sell towards a grown-up audience even while they might be the specific audience needing it the hardest.
Nintendo would have to try and sell the idea of returning to your roots once again.

Anything that combines effort and fantasy with videogames without monitising it to death has my vote.

Having good memories about playing my own made up games with legos putting 2 armies against each other and taking turns attacking like some sort of turn-based RPG.
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I'm sure Nintendo are looking at sales of their Lego products and using those as a metric to decide if they have an audience for this direction.

I think the deterrent for most people will be the time investment in building the sets, so that's where Nintendo would need to apply their design magic in order to make the process as fun and effortless as possible.

But it could be that due to the lukewarm reception to LABO, they'll ultimately decide to distance themselves from such an initiative.

There are also simpler ways they could do this, without involving Lego or building, just by capitalizing on the idea of attaching the joy-cons to household objects in order to create novel controls in minutes rather than hours.

They could also sell much cheaper modular control elements that communicate with the system wirelessly and each offer a single feature: for example just a d-pad, or just a joy-stick or an IR pointer or accelerometer+gyro etc. that players can attach to household items like a broomstick or a rocking horse or a swivel chair, and offer a system level control mapper with sharable user configurations.
 
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Heron said:
The SNES was just a better NES.
The Gamecube was just a better N64.
The GBA was just a better Game Boy.

But more importantly:
The Wii U would have been better off as just a better Wii. An early Wii HD was always the right play, and they fumbled it. The gamepad turned so many people off.
The 3DS would have been better off as just a better DS. Instead they ended up having to slash the price immediately and ultimately dropped 3d from a bunch of models.

Nintendo has learned their lesson. Switch 2 will just be a better Switch.

But like I've said, if I had the choice of features, it'd be glasses-free 3d.
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I think Nintendo have learned their lesson in the sense that they won't force the entire design of the new system, and its audience, to accommodate a radically new and unproven feature. But they'll almost certainly add some original functionality that is creative and weird yet optional and unobtrusive.
For example: system level support for deeper smartphone integration via an app that would allow players to use their mobile devices as a second controller (complete with all the sensors and computation power that come with it) or second screen.
 
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efyu_lemonardo said:
I think Nintendo have learned their lesson in the sense that they won't force the entire design of the new system, and its audience, to accommodate a radically new and unproven feature. But they'll almost certainly add some original functionality that is creative and weird yet optional and unobtrusive.
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I really don't think there's anything certain about it. Once Nintendo had decided on making a hybrid console, the whole design of the Switch felt like the aim was to make the hardware itself as bland and unobtrusive as possible. No cameras or mics, no 3d, no gimmicks, nothing that would unduly raise the cost per unit beyond what was necessary. Frankly it looked like a knock-off chinese tablet to me at first, I was initially shocked it was something that Nintendo designed. And the one unique aspect - the joycons - were a necessity once they decided to make a hybrid machine, and looked and behaved much like anyone would have predicted detachable controllers would. (HD rumble was a humorous marketing wheeze, nothing more.)

On the other hand, Nintendo's creatives were in the lab working on some incredible things like Ring Fit / the Ring-Con, and also some fascinating failures like Labo. I really expect this to continue - Nintendo is still creative with hardware, but it'll express itself in their peripherals now.

Ultimately, adding something that is optional and unobtrusive yet adds cost to every unit sold - that seems to me like the exact opposite of their approach with Switch. If they DO add something, expect it to be universal and essential to the experience.
 
Heron said:
I really don't think there's anything certain about it. Once Nintendo had decided on making a hybrid console, the whole design of the Switch felt like the aim was to make the hardware itself as bland and unobtrusive as possible. No cameras or mics, no 3d, no gimmicks, nothing that would unduly raise the cost per unit beyond what was necessary. Frankly it looked like a knock-off chinese tablet to me at first, I was initially shocked it was something that Nintendo designed. And the one unique aspect - the joycons - were a necessity once they decided to make a hybrid machine, and looked and behaved much like anyone would have predicted detachable controllers would. (HD rumble was a humorous marketing wheeze, nothing more.)

On the other hand, Nintendo's creatives were in the lab working on some incredible things like Ring Fit / the Ring-Con, and also some fascinating failures like Labo. I really expect this to continue - Nintendo is still creative with hardware, but it'll express itself in their peripherals now.

Ultimately, adding something that is optional and unobtrusive yet adds cost to every unit sold - that seems to me like the exact opposite of their approach with Switch. If they DO add something, expect it to be universal and essential to the experience.
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I disagree with your assessment because this is exactly what they did with the Switch - they just did it in subtle ways that were less noticeable to the average consumer.
The joycons and their relationship to the main unit were designed from day one to accommodate experimentation.

The IR camera is the most obvious aspect of this, but there are others, especially when you consider that Nintendo didn't have to design the system with two independent controllers - which means two sets of batteries and two sets of connectors and charging circuits and two sets of wireless communication units and two sets of accelerometers+gyros and two rumble units and so on. You're eating the cost of all of that if all you care about is a portable console.
They could have sold you the equivalent of a Switch Lite with a video out cable and a vanilla wireless dual analog for $250 if they truly wanted to go in that direction.
 
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We don't need something super cool. I think there's a lot of room left on the hybrid space.
One thing Nintendo could expore is leverage the Wii U tech and allow for dockless casting to a TV.

But generally, improvinmg HD rumblde tech, improving performance is what tops most people's list.

The last thing we need is another Wii U style swerve that crashes a winning formula.
 
I think Nintendo would be going very hard into haptics this gen except that the Switch 2 being a hybrid will mostly prevent that as more advanced haptics are very electricity hungry and would kill the Switch 2's battery in handheld mode.

They could just make the haptics more exclusive to docked mode, but then I don't know if developers will take advantage of the superior haptics.
 
Quoted by: MP!
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Not having seen whatever it is that people are talking about makes this scrollwheel thing very amusing.

Reminds me of the clickable, flickable jog dial whose patent is owned by... Sony. Actually a really cool input method from a single object now that I think about it.

Not sure how beneficial it would be for games.... Like i guess you could scroll through weapons or whatever? Dunno, seems less ideal than just... A touch screen. Which, funnily enough, is what killed the jog dial in the first place!
 
I think the most likely form factor for Switch 2 is just a more powerfull Switch with better online capabilities and some incremental joy-con improvements.

The only cool novelty I can see is VR and, on the contrary of others, I think it would be already feasible, but at the same time I would say atm the risks outweight the returns (for them).
 
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catonkatonk said:
Not having seen whatever it is that people are talking about makes this scrollwheel thing very amusing.

Reminds me of the clickable, flickable jog dial whose patent is owned by... Sony. Actually a really cool input method from a single object now that I think about it.

Not sure how beneficial it would be for games.... Like i guess you could scroll through weapons or whatever? Dunno, seems less ideal than just... A touch screen. Which, funnily enough, is what killed the jog dial in the first place!
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Think of TotK but with scroll wheels. It would actually have a functional control scheme, cause you can't use the touchscreen docked.
 
If it's not possible to fit a regular analog shoulder button with sufficient travel and a click at the end into the joycon form factor, then I'll take a scroll wheel and a digital shoulder button over two digital shoulder buttons.
 
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Aerohydra512 said:
Think of TotK but with scroll wheels. It would actually have a functional control scheme, cause you can't use the touchscreen docked.
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You can if they use a Surface Book style form factor where the top screen comes off and goes into the dock while the bottom (touch) screen is like a Wii U gamepad.

The problem with Tears of the Kingdom is linear scrolling. I don't see how a scroll wheel helps that much?
 
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Heron said:
The SNES was just a better NES.
The Gamecube was just a better N64.
The GBA was just a better Game Boy.

But more importantly:
The Wii U would have been better off as just a better Wii. An early Wii HD was always the right play, and they fumbled it. The gamepad turned so many people off.
The 3DS would have been better off as just a better DS. Instead they ended up having to slash the price immediately and ultimately dropped 3d from a bunch of models.

Nintendo has learned their lesson. Switch 2 will just be a better Switch.

But like I've said, if I had the choice of features, it'd be glasses-free 3d.
Click to expand...
I think 3DS and Wii U were hurt not just by having weird new features, but that those features harmed things the previous systems were known for. In 3DS's case specifically I've often thought about how many ways DS's screens could be used. Main screen on top with additional on bottom? OK. Main on touch screen with additional on top? OK. One connected space? OK. Playing in book form? OK. But 3DS made the top screen MAIN SCREEN. If you wanted to have main action on the touch screen, you're both losing out on 3D and 20% of screen space. Using both screens connected would make for a weird T shape, and only half the viewing area capable of 3D. Book style wouldn't have both sides be the same size, and 3D would again be lost. The upside is Switch would be much less harmed by all this, since it already just has one main screen, and sideways play is almost entirely used by 2D oldies anyway.
Aerohydra512 said:
Think of TotK but with scroll wheels. It would actually have a functional control scheme, cause you can't use the touchscreen docked.
Click to expand...
I hear this brought up sometimes, but how do you imagine it working? In TOTK you had to use one button to bring up a list, and then use something else to scroll through it. Wouldn't that still be the case with a scroll wheel? You couldn't use ONLY it, or every time you changed finger position to scroll again it would think you've made a selection, which would usually be a bad thing.
 
IMO, the only way the gimmick can work is if it be done in both docked, and handheld.

So scrolling shoulder buttons would do it.

EDIT:

Fercho said:
tumblr_m9ih30vaUk1rvjt2vo4_250.gif
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Fun fact for those of you: The kid on the left is Elijah Wood.
 
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ItWasMeantToBe19 said:
I think Nintendo would be going very hard into haptics this gen except that the Switch 2 being a hybrid will mostly prevent that as more advanced haptics are very electricity hungry and would kill the Switch 2's battery in handheld mode.

They could just make the haptics more exclusive to docked mode, but then I don't know if developers will take advantage of the superior haptics.
Click to expand...
I mean wouldn’t haptics be limited to battery life anyway?
Unless you meant on the unit itself and not just the controllers?
 
MP! said:
I mean wouldn’t haptics be limited to battery life anyway?
Unless you meant on the unit itself and not just the controllers?
Click to expand...

I mean that using advanced haptics in handheld mode may drive down the battery to levels consumers find unacceptable unless they made the system weaker and I don't think that would be worth the tradeoff.
 
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A cornucopia of minor changes might just be the thing to make this stand out from the old Switch, rather than one big concept. To spitball-
  • New design- Potentially even an AppleTV-type unit under the TV with a separate Switch-type device
  • Scrollderbuttons
  • Wireless docking to allow for DS-type multi-screen play
  • Would also allow for Wii U-style asymmetric gameplay, linking multiple consoles with their own screens whilst also having the TV
  • Bunch of new online features and UI changes that alter the experience
  • Worse graphics (This is Nintendo)
  • New Joycon form factor, naming them the Wondercon or something
  • Wondercon have all sorts of mad HD Rumble-type features
They need to make it distinct from the original Switch to ensure people want to upgrade rather than just need, because Nintendo's audience often goes away when they try to lean into only the audience who needs.
 
ItWasMeantToBe19 said:
Wouldn't a foldable Switch add hundreds of dollars to the cost without adding anything meaningful.
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I mean if you're asking my opinion on what the actual new hardware feature would be... I think nothing. Or at least nothing substantial. But the thread presented it as if it's a given that a new Switch had to have some cutting edge tech in it, and asked us to put ideas out there. I strongly disagree about the "without adding anything meaningful" part by the way
 
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ItWasMeantToBe19 said:
Wouldn't a foldable Switch add hundreds of dollars to the cost without adding anything meaningful.
Click to expand...

No? The tech is pretty mature at this point. Hardly cutting edge.

And it would bring DS style games back to Nintendo’s ecosystem (not to mention it would facilitate the DS NSO service). There’s plenty of new gameplay possibilities that it would open up with a clamshell design; enabling Tate orientation games as well as front/back multiscreen titles (Yoshi’s Crafted World in particular was screaming for this kind of setup).

It also potentially makes the system significantly more pocket friendly (potentially halving its physical footprint when folded).

And it does this with no compromise to the current single large screen experience either.
 
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JoshuaJSlone said:
I hear this brought up sometimes, but how do you imagine it working? In TOTK you had to use one button to bring up a list, and then use something else to scroll through it. Wouldn't that still be the case with a scroll wheel? You couldn't use ONLY it, or every time you changed finger position to scroll again it would think you've made a selection, which would usually be a bad thing.
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I'd still take the wheel over a stick for those lists any day. You gain a lot of speed without losing any precision. IMO it'd just feel better.

But yeah, there's too many lists in TotK to not have dedicated buttons for them anyway.
 
Dcubed said:
No? The tech is pretty mature at this point. Hardly cutting edge.

And it would bring DS style games back to Nintendo’s ecosystem (not to mention it would facilitate the DS NSO service). There’s plenty of new gameplay possibilities that it would open up with a clamshell design; enabling Tate orientation games as well as front/back multiscreen titles (Yoshi’s Crafted World in particular was screaming for this kind of setup).

It also potentially makes the system significantly more pocket friendly (potentially halving its physical footprint when folded).

And it does this with no compromise to the current single large screen experience either.
Click to expand...

I just looked up foldable phones to see if they have really gotten affordable and the cheapest is $850 with most being closer to $1800 so uhhhhhh, I'm not sure what you're talking about.

If you made the Switch half as big... That would still not be pocket friendly at all either?

And obviously almost no devs would use DS style features that were only in handheld mode.
 
Heron said:
But like I've said, if I had the choice of features, it'd be glasses-free 3d.
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With how many publishers are now releasing FPS games on Switch (Doom, Metro, Wolfenstein and more), I genuinely think there would be huge potential in Nintendo including gf3D on the next Switch, and showcasing all the benefits it has for playing First-Person games in portable mode.

The 3DS was never a viable platform for FPS games, so this never got showed off, but the Switch absolutely has the potential to do so: You're playing FPS games on a very small screen, so depth perception and being able to identify enemies is crucially important. Bring able to actually look down the barrel of a gun and get depth information about your surroundings would be incredibly beneficial to playing these sort of games portably. The limits of a smaller screen are made less of an issue by having increased depth perception.

I have no idea if they will or not, but Nintendo absolutely should go down this route.
 
JoshuaJSlone said:
I think 3DS and Wii U were hurt not just by having weird new features, but that those features harmed things the previous systems were known for. In 3DS's case specifically I've often thought about how many ways DS's screens could be used. Main screen on top with additional on bottom? OK. Main on touch screen with additional on top? OK. One connected space? OK. Playing in book form? OK. But 3DS made the top screen MAIN SCREEN. If you wanted to have main action on the touch screen, you're both losing out on 3D and 20% of screen space. Using both screens connected would make for a weird T shape, and only half the viewing area capable of 3D. Book style wouldn't have both sides be the same size, and 3D would again be lost. The upside is Switch would be much less harmed by all this, since it already just has one main screen, and sideways play is almost entirely used by 2D oldies anyway.

I hear this brought up sometimes, but how do you imagine it working? In TOTK you had to use one button to bring up a list, and then use something else to scroll through it. Wouldn't that still be the case with a scroll wheel? You couldn't use ONLY it, or every time you changed finger position to scroll again it would think you've made a selection, which would usually be a bad thing.
Click to expand...
The scroll wheel only minimally solves the problem of not enough buttons true, but the major problem. The problem of spending too much time in menus is like immediately fixed. I mean the game is super complicated, but scroll wheels would make the gameplay experience much smoother; example the quick item select.

Also, you can simplify ultrahand use a lot with two scroll wheels one each for x and y.
 
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I just thought of something new.

Nintendo breaking the market with the first 60hz colour E-Ink display.
No more problems with playing outside.

If that isn't your cup of tea Nintendo could try creating a VR "display"
 
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I’m assuming you’re looking for like new features or technology…

But I always thought screencasting would be neat sort of the reverse Wii U scenario and would still fit well with the switch ideology…

But it’s not a new thing
 
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I can't think of anything super appealing that has a wide use case. I'd like screencasting, but that's just the Wii U again, and Nintendo isn't going to touch that. I'd like a foldable screen, but that would only serve DS and 3DS NSO, and foldable screen tech isn't going to be on Nintendo's radar for another decade due to price anyway. Clickable scroll wheels, I guess? Not sure how much that would actually improve menu navigation and the like, but... shrug
 
Dual screens and foldable screens are just a waste of money, they add massively to the cost without adding enough to the experience.

Labo style VR I could see Nintendo revisting, instead of cardboard though they could make a plastic helmet, maybe not one that is hands free (so you still have to hold it up), but if Switch 2 has a 1080p screen, that could be a considerably better experience and a fun bonus type of thing to enjoy for 15-20 minute bursts. It gives you a taste of VR without needing to charge a person hundreds/thousands of dollars.

Mario Kart VR would be cool.
 
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