Nintendo Switch Lite

[Grim Reaper]

https://www.nintendo.com/switch/lite/

Launching 09/20/2019
Price $199.99

https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/10/tech/...rnd/index.html

Nintendo announced it will release a smaller version of its popular Switch gaming console.

The new Nintendo Switch Lite will cost $199.99, which is $100 less than the regular Switch model. It will be released on September 20.

"Adding Nintendo Switch Lite to the lineup gives gamers more color and price point options," said Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser in a release. "Now consumers can choose the system that best suits how they like to play their favorite Nintendo Switch games."

The Switch Lite is designed to be exclusively portable. That means it can't connect to the television like the Switch can. It has built-in, not removable, controllers.



Nintendo announces a $199 Switch Lite handheld video game system

Nintendo announces 'Mario' and 'Zelda' in virtual reality

See the $199 Nintendo Switch Lite

Nintendo announces 'Mario' and 'Zelda' in virtual reality

See the $199 Nintendo Switch Lite

New York (CNN Business)Nintendo announced it will release a smaller version of its popular Switch gaming console.

The new Nintendo Switch Lite will cost $199.99, which is $100 less than the regular Switch model. It will be released on September 20.

"Adding Nintendo Switch Lite to the lineup gives gamers more color and price point options," said Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser in a release. "Now consumers can choose the system that best suits how they like to play their favorite Nintendo Switch games."

The Switch Lite is designed to be exclusively portable. That means it can't connect to the television like the Switch can. It has built-in, not removable, controllers.

It's slightly lighter than the Switch, weighing 0.61 pounds. It has a 5.5-inch touch screen (slightly smaller than the 6.2-inch touchscreen on the Switch) and has a slightly longer battery life. It can last up to 7 hours depending on which game is played.

The Switch Lite comes in three colors: Yellow, turquoise and gray.

Nintendo notes that the Switch Lite can play games from the Switch library that "support handheld mode, although some games will have restrictions."

The Switch was a blockbuster for Nintendo when it launched in 2017. It sold 10 million units in less than a year and supply shortages made them hard to find.

But sales have recently stagnated. In February, Nintendo cut its annual forecast for Switch sales from 20 million to 17 million. That suggests the device might not have the Wii-like mass appeal that Nintendo was banking on.

But games for the consoles are still selling well, a sign that the Switch's popularity could prove resilient. Nintendo increased its annual outlook for sales of Switch games from 100 million to 110 million.

[TheBlayman]

Launching 09/20/2019
Price $199.99

Really?

[InuYashaCrusade]

Originally Posted by TheBlayman

Really?

Should be closer to $150-$170 honestly. Give the main system a drop to $250 while they're at it.

[jonmoz]

Originally Posted by InuYashaCrusade

Should be closer to $150-$170 honestly. Give the main system a drop to $250 while they're at it.

They are not going to drop the price of the regular Switch when it's selling like it is,and $199 is the right price for this and it will fly of shelves when it launches.

[jonmoz]

Originally Posted by TheBlayman

Really?

They will sell it for what the market will stand,the Switch has sold very well since launch and there is no reason to panic sell it imho.

[BluMan28]

Wasn't that also how much the new 3DS XL cost when it first came out?

[kuzronk]

It's like sale price of the main deal here yikes....

[heyadol]

This isnt a perfect comparison, but the MSRP for Nvidia Shield w/ 16GB storage (and no screen) is $180. From that perspective, $200 for the same SoC w/ 32GB storage and a 720p display sounds reasonable.

Obviously, both systems have different feature sets, and Shield gets better discounts and gets them more often than Switch.

Btw, I think your forum pic is perfect for your statement.

[jonmoz]

Originally Posted by Grim Reaper

https://www.nintendo.com/switch/lite/

Launching 09/20/2019
Price $199.99

https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/10/tech/...rnd/index.html

Nintendo announced it will release a smaller version of its popular Switch gaming console.

The new Nintendo Switch Lite will cost $199.99, which is $100 less than the regular Switch model. It will be released on September 20.

"Adding Nintendo Switch Lite to the lineup gives gamers more color and price point options," said Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser in a release. "Now consumers can choose the system that best suits how they like to play their favorite Nintendo Switch games."

The Switch Lite is designed to be exclusively portable. That means it can't connect to the television like the Switch can. It has built-in, not removable, controllers.



Nintendo announces a $199 Switch Lite handheld video game system

Nintendo announces 'Mario' and 'Zelda' in virtual reality

See the $199 Nintendo Switch Lite

Nintendo announces 'Mario' and 'Zelda' in virtual reality

See the $199 Nintendo Switch Lite

New York (CNN Business)Nintendo announced it will release a smaller version of its popular Switch gaming console.

The new Nintendo Switch Lite will cost $199.99, which is $100 less than the regular Switch model. It will be released on September 20.

"Adding Nintendo Switch Lite to the lineup gives gamers more color and price point options," said Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser in a release. "Now consumers can choose the system that best suits how they like to play their favorite Nintendo Switch games."

The Switch Lite is designed to be exclusively portable. That means it can't connect to the television like the Switch can. It has built-in, not removable, controllers.

It's slightly lighter than the Switch, weighing 0.61 pounds. It has a 5.5-inch touch screen (slightly smaller than the 6.2-inch touchscreen on the Switch) and has a slightly longer battery life. It can last up to 7 hours depending on which game is played.

The Switch Lite comes in three colors: Yellow, turquoise and gray.

Nintendo notes that the Switch Lite can play games from the Switch library that "support handheld mode, although some games will have restrictions."

The Switch was a blockbuster for Nintendo when it launched in 2017. It sold 10 million units in less than a year and supply shortages made them hard to find.

But sales have recently stagnated. In February, Nintendo cut its annual forecast for Switch sales from 20 million to 17 million. That suggests the device might not have the Wii-like mass appeal that Nintendo was banking on.

But games for the consoles are still selling well, a sign that the Switch's popularity could prove resilient. Nintendo increased its annual outlook for sales of Switch games from 100 million to 110 million.

I would say it's a bit of a stretch to say sales have "Stagnated" as you put it,Nintendo's original 20 million was a little ambitious imho,and 17 million is still very good,the system has thus far sold 37 million consoles in around 2 and a half years,and still continues to sell very well.

I do think there will be a lot of 3DS owners that have not jumped to the Switch due to it's portability,the Switch lite should be a nice alternative to the normal model,plus I also think Nintendo were very wise to remove the T.V dock facility,as I feel it could have impacted on the regular models sales.

[Batman90]

Did Nintendo ever say why they didn’t make 3DS games and to b played on the Switch?

[Scarface32]

Originally Posted by Batman90

Did Nintendo ever say why they didn’t make 3DS games and to b played on the Switch?

They are different size game cards. They’d have to put money into porting them (and you’d have to buy them again)

[Batman90]

Originally Posted by Scarface32

They are different size game cards. They’d have to put money into porting them (and you’d have to buy them again)

I know they are different sizes but it would have been smart of them to make the Switch’s cards the same size.

[jonmoz]

Originally Posted by Batman90

I know they are different sizes but it would have been smart of them to make the Switch’s cards the same size.

I can't really see the point to be honest as the 3DS is dead in the water at this point despite the fact Nintendo keep saying they will still support the console,without actually supporting it with any new games ,the machine is awesome but it is around 8 years old now,now that's a pretty long time by any modern console standard,adding backwards compatibility is not as easy as we think,just because the console is far more powerful than the one you are trying to emulate does not mean it won't take a lot of effort to get it working,not to mention the extra cost of putting the card slot in the system etc,Nintendo just would have not seen the benefit imho.

When you look at the Wii U and 3DS's backwards compatibility you have to remember that these to consoles at their core were only updated versions of their previous consoles the Wii and the DS,they were both designed to offer backwards compatibility right from the start,but that's a damn sight easier if you are effectively using the same architecture as before,the Switch is nothing like the Wii U or 3DS in terms of console design,the best we could hope for is at some point DS/3DS games being released as pert of their online service,although I would not bank on it anytime soon.

[Scarface32]

Originally Posted by Batman90

I know they are different sizes but it would have been smart of them to make the Switch’s cards the same size.

You also have to keep in mind hardware differences. Nintendo could have done a software emulator, but it wouldn’t have ran as smoothly as it would have at the hardware level. In other words, the DS/3DS games would have ran not as well on the Switch.

[x7q3]

The Switch Lite looks really cool and slick, but I think 200 dollars is a bit too much. It should be at most 150 dollars.

I'm certain plenty more people would buy it at $150.

It has less features and functionality, compared to Nintendo Switch. But if you want a solely handheld system, the Lite seems practically perfect.

I wonder if Nintendo will cease production of 3DS in the future, and just produce the Lite alongside the regular Switch.

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by x7q3

The Switch Lite looks really cool and slick, but I think 200 dollars is a bit too much. It should be at most 150 dollars.

I'm certain plenty more people would buy it at $150.

It has less features and functionality, compared to Nintendo Switch. But if you want a solely handheld system, the Lite seems practically perfect.

I wonder if Nintendo will cease production of 3DS in the future, and just produce the Lite alongside the regular Switch.

I thought the 2DS line was already OOP.

[heyadol]

Since Nintendo is unlikely to release a Switch successor this year, I hope they release an OLED Switch Lite. Every game I play on OLED Switch looks so good, but the Switch light having an actual d-pad is a huge improvement.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Originally Posted by heyadol

Since Nintendo is unlikely to release a Switch successor this year, I hope they release an OLED Switch Lite. Every game I play on OLED Switch looks so good, but the Switch light having an actual d-pad is a huge improvement.

The thing for me is that I like the hybrid portable/console option, making the Switch Light unappealing to me in all respects other than it having an actual D-Pad.

Nintendo really needs to just F-ing make Joy-Cons that don't drift and have an actual D-Pad.

I know they like having the individual buttons so that the two joy-cons can be used as separate controls, and from a certain perspective that is kind of a good thing for families with kids who don't want to buy a ton of extra controllers.

But the lack of a proper D-Pad hinders gameplay for certain games, and most people are likely using both Joy-cons together as a single controller. So the fact that there isn't at least an official first party option with a D-Pad is really absurd.

[heyadol]

Originally Posted by Dynamo of Eternia

The thing for me is that I like the hybrid portable/console option, making the Switch Light unappealing to me in all respects other than it having an actual D-Pad.

Nintendo really needs to just F-ing make Joy-Cons that don't drift and have an actual D-Pad.

I know they like having the individual buttons so that the two joy-cons can be used as separate controls, and from a certain perspective that is kind of a good thing for families with kids who don't want to buy a ton of extra controllers.

But the lack of a proper D-Pad hinders gameplay for certain games, and most people are likely using both Joy-cons together as a single controller. So the fact that there isn't at least an official first party option with a D-Pad is really absurd.

Yes, the hybrid feature letting you dock the system and connect to an external display is the biggest problem with the Switch Lite, but for handheld mode it is the best version. Regular Switch feels flimsy as a handheld so I'd rather just play docked with a Pro Controller, but then I miss out on that terrific OLED display. I suppose the other option would be a Pro Controller version of the Switch Lite, guessing we will see how popular that design is this fall when PSQ is released.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Originally Posted by heyadol

Yes, the hybrid feature letting you dock the system and connect to an external display is the biggest problem with the Switch Lite, but for handheld mode it is the best version. Regular Switch feels flimsy as a handheld so I'd rather just play docked with a Pro Controller, but then I miss out on that terrific OLED display. I suppose the other option would be a Pro Controller version of the Switch Lite, guessing we will see how popular that design is this fall when PSQ is released.

I don't have the OLED version, so I cannot confirm this first hand, but I thought I heard something about that version being sturdier than the regular version (I could be wrong... and even if there is an improvement, I don't know how big of a difference it is).

I have the regular Switch, and I know what you mean about it feeling flimsy (I do have something that helps with this... more on that further down). I bought my original Switch at launch. I took good care of it. I didn't abuse it or anything. But over the course of using it, I could tell that gradually the joy-cons fit in the rails more loosely than they originally did.

It also started developing cracks on the back plate, which other people started having. It seemed that from just trying to hold it and play it, with it being kind of flimsy and the joy-cons fitting a little loosely, it was causing stress on those areas and caused the cracking.

At one point I bought a new backplate and replaced it.



The other issue for me is that with the joy-cons being so thin and not ergonomic, my hands would really cramp up. For a while I was looking for a good solution to this, but early on there weren't many.

Then Satisfye came out with the first version of the grip (which I bought, and later upgraded to the 2nd gen version). Both of those versions only fit the original version of the Switch. They have a newer version that will fit both the regular Switch and the slightly wider OLED version. I haven't bought that newer version because frankly I have no reason to. (They also have separate versions for the Lite as well).



While my main reason for buying it was for the ergonomic issue, it also helps to stabilize the Switch and give it extra support (since it goes all of the way across the back, and the Switch even rests on those two curved areas at the bottom), making the combo of the Switch and this grip collectively much less flimsy.

I started using one of these with my original Switch, and didn't have any further problems with it cracking after swapping out that back plate. At one point I traded that Switch in for a newer one after they revised the internals, allowing it to run on a somewhat lower amount of power and therefore having longer battery life (even though it was the same size of battery). At the time Gamestop had some really ridiculously good trade-in deal where I think it cost me less than $100 when all was said and done (it may have even been something like $70, but it's been a long time, so I don't quite remember exactly).

I've consistently been using one of these grips with that Switch since I got it, and now a few years later, I've never run into any problem with it cracking.



For the D-Pad problem, I've been the Hori D-Pad controller (which had no battery and only works when connected directly to the Switch), which replaces the left joy-con.



It works pretty good overall. It does not have any of the motion control features. It works best with games that don't require motion controls and where a D-Pad comes in handy (particularly fighting games for me, though there are others as well). I swap between this and a regular left joy-con as needed.

It's pretty good for what it is. I do wish the build quality was a bit better. I have a few of them. Most have held up well, but I have at least one that, while technically functional, is kind of difficult to use now just from wear and tear.


This D-Pad controller is also why I ended up getting the 2nd gen version of the Satisfye grip. It is shaped a bit differently than a regular joy-con, especially on the back, and really didn't fit in the 1st gen version without really forcing it in... and I didn't want to break anything or make the rails any looser than they were already.

Prior to that 2nd gen version coming out, I was stuck in a catch-22 situation of wanting to use the grip, and wanting to use this D-Pad. Finally when they came out with that, giving a little extra wiggle room that would work with either option, I got one immediately.


I know there are other- 3rd party options out there to completely replace the joy-cons with other controllers that are ergonomic and have a D-Pad. I tried the Hori Split Pad, but I didn't like it as much as what I already had. I haven't bothered with others.

In addition to the overall controller quality of 3rd party options varying, the other issue is that most of these options that completely replace the joy-cons simply attach to either side of the Switch like the joy-cons do. Since they don't have something supporting and stabilizing the entire Switch like that grip does, I just worry that they wouldn't be good solutions.





But all of this really illustrates my love/hate relationship with The Switch.

I have own every Nintendo console from the NES up to the Switch. Here is how I rank them:

-NES/SNES (hard to decide which is #1 over the other, and I admit Nostalgia plays a huge part in that).
-Switch
-Gamecube
-Wii U
-Wii
-N64

(to be clear, I still enjoy the systems at the bottom of the list, but they just don't rank higher than the others for me).

So, the Switch is rather high up there for me.

But it is also the system that I have the most frustrations with. Between Joy-Con drift (which I have dealt with to some extent) and all of the the above issues (other QC problems like the flimsiness, the lack of a D-Pad, lack of being ergonomic in the day and age), more than any other system they've made, it's one that I've felt the most need to have to try 3rd party options and go through a lot of trial-and-error just to get it to a place where I can use it in a manner that is comfortable, functional, and won't break (joy-con drift not withstanding). It's just frustrating as hell.


As much of a failure as the Wii U was, I have to say that the gamepad/tablet is excellent. It is VERY sturdy with great build quality. While not perfect, it is rather ergonomic. It has a proper D-Pad and the controls overall feel great. Honestly if the Switch in portable mode had been more similar to the Wii U Gamepad (just with a bigger screen, the better power/resolution/etc of the Switch, and the Switch's motion controls), but could still be docked, that would be nearly perfect for me.

I will say that from an ergonomic standpoint, that grip that I have for the Switch is probably better than the Wii U gamepad, but the gamepad is still more than good enough IMO that I would have been perfectly happy with the Switch being similar.

I get that they wanted the Switch to have a smaller footprint since it is meant to be fully portable, but I think it is more of a compromise than was necessary in that regard.