Reggie, Miyamoto, and the Switch’s appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon last night gave us Nintendo fans plenty to get excited about. But beyond the obvious showcases like a new look at Super Mario Run, a live demonstration of Breath of the Wild running portably on Switch, and a joyous Mario-themed musical performance; Jimmy also gave us our closest look yet at near-final Switch hardware.
Resourceful viewers, like Jose Otero at IGN Nintendo, have been panning, zooming and scanning through the footage to find new details about the system’s hardware. With our first good look at the top, bottom and back of the console, comes a few more clues about Switch’s functionality.
First off, we got a better look at the buttons on top of the tablet. In the top left corner are two buttons: one large, protruding rectangle and a small, recessed circle. The small button resembles the recessed power button on current 3DS models, while the larger button has some markings below it that almost look like volume bars, so our best guess is that these inputs are audio and power-related.
We’ve seen the sliding action of Switch’s removable Joy-Con plenty of times now, but last night also gave us our first look at exactly how they’ll function. Near the top of each Joy-Con, just below the rear triggers, are what appear to be release buttons for the peripherals.
Finally, a clear shot of the bottom of the device shows how the Switch tablet will interface with its dock: A small recess aligned with a port. It has been rumored for awhile now that Switch will utilize the new USB-C standard, and the new footage could certainly corroborate this. USB-C would allow the Switch tablet to easily transmit video or large amounts of data through its dock, while simultaneously providing some of the quickest battery charging available.
Aside from the technical jargon, another clear look at the device in the wild is a reminder of just how sleek and attractive the Switch really is. Nintendo is clearly looking to portray its new console as a piece of high-end consumer electronics, and not just a toy.
As always, stick with Nintendo Wire and we’ll keep you posted on any new Nintendo Switch information as it becomes available.
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Written by Brittin Shauers
Brittin literally grew up with Link, Mario and Samus. These three characters and their worlds collectively capture everything that he loves about video games.
