While Nintendo has shared a lot about the Nintendo Switch over the last few months there were still a few lingering questions regarding the hardware and the operating system. While it doesn’t cover every base, a new Switch page on Nintendo UK’s site clears up a few things. We’ll go through the essentials.
For starters, it’s confirmed the Dock will come with three USB ports (two on the side, one on the back) and they will all function as USB 2.0, with USB 3.0 support being patched in later. Likewise, the system itself will be connected to the dock via a USB Type-C port.
Micro SD, microSDHC and MicroSDXC will be supported by the system, too, but you’ll have to download an update before you can use your SDXC cards (which also essentially confirms a day-one firmware update.) Sticking to the subject of internals, it’s confirmed you won’t be able to replace the lithium ion battery but Nintendo is planning on offering a paid customer support service to do it for you. It is also revealed that the battery life can last for more than 6 hours, depending on the software and usage conditions, while charging it will take 3 hours while in sleep mode. The Joy-Con batteries are in a similar situation, though they’ll last 20 hours approximately and take 3.5 hours to charge.
We also get another look at the home menu with a new image, which doesn’t really show anything new other than the Bowser, Link and Peach user icons. It is confirmed that you’ll be able to manage your friends via this home menu, though, so that won’t be relegated to the eventual smart device app.
A few of the icons are also described – the red speech bubble will be where you go to get the latest news about games, the shopping bag is naturally the eShop and the blue photo will be where you access, edit and share screenshots you’ve taken with the Capture button. It’s also noted that a Nintendo Account will be required to access all of these services.
We’d still love to get more specific details regarding the eShop and menu management (the home menu looks like it could get laborious once you have more than 5 games) but for now we have a pretty good idea of what’s on offer. We’ll bring you more news as it comes in.
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Written by Tom Brown
Whether it’s an exciting new entry in a series long established or a weird experiment meant only for the dedicated, Tom is eager to report on it. Rest assured, if Nintendo ever announces Elite Beat Agents 2, he’ll be there.
