Nintendo might not be planning to release any more official Nintendo Switch details until January 2017, but that doesn’t seem to be stopping further hardware features appearing online.
Over the past few days, reports have emerged that not only is the console likely to utilise USB-C charging, it will have a wide array of additional hardware accessories and a multi-touch display.
Having come from from the Nintendo CEO himself, Tatsumi Kimishima, the news of the additional hardware accessories is the most reliable.
Reliable reports
In an interview with Bloomberg, Kimishima suggested that the tablet and detachable controllers shown in the console’s reveal trailer were just part of the planned hardware lineup.
“It may be appropriate to call them accessories. Or it might be better to call them add-on hardware," he said. "It's probably more correct to call them accessories. You can assume that there will be a wider array.“
Meanwhile, the report on the Switch’s screen specifications has come from Eurogamer, which cites “a number of sources”, several of whom previously confirmed the system’s physical design and detachable controllers before it was officially revealed.
According to these sources, the tablet portion of the console will have a 6.2-inch 720p screen and will be first Nintendo device to feature multi-touch technology.
Nintendo introduced touchscreens to its hardware all the way back in 2004 with the Nintendo DS, bringing it through to the handheld’s later 3DS iteration and the Wii U gamepad, but never moved past single-touch and relatively imprecise resistive displays.
If it has the 10-point multi-touch display that’s being rumoured, Nintendo’s Switch tablet will be on par with most modern smartphones, and will have the capacity for multi-finger gestures.
Fast charge
It’s interesting that Nintendo decided not to show this feature in the first ad for the console, but that could be because Nintendo needs more than four seconds in a three-minute advert to explain how it will work alongside the detachable controllers.
The less-exciting but still interesting rumour is that Nintendo is planning to drop its own charging ports for USB-C. Citing a source from Nintendo, LetsPlayVideoGames has reported that the bottom middle of the Nintendo Switch tablet will have a USB-C port, which will allow it to be charged when in the dock and through a separate cable.
It would make sense for Nintendo to adopt USB-C charging, given emerging reports that the Nintendo Switch doesn’t have the greatest battery life. By using USB-C the tablet’s battery will at least charge fast, even if it doesn’t last very long.
Of course, it’s likely that all of these rumours will remain rumours until Nintendo’s next official event, in Tokyo on January 13.
At this event Nintendo is expected to not only confirm or deny these reports, but also to reveal a final price point for the console, as well as its software lineup, before its worldwide release in March 2017.
