Nintendo Switch Leak Tips LCD, Hall Effect Joysticks

[Cpt.Jank]

With the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 all but a given, much has been said about the new handheld gaming console in leaks and rumors. Now, a new set of supposed leaks from Decky Wizard on X have caused a bit of consternation among the Switch community, given the seemingly random mix of upgrades and perceived downgrades coming to the next-gen Switch. Minor details include larger buttons, a redesigned dock, and three colorways at launch, however, details around the new display and controls are more significant. For starters, the leaks suggest that the Switch 2 will have larger buttons and Hall-effect joysticks, both of which would likely be a massive upgrade in the eyes of most gamers, however it also seems as though the Switch 2 will use an LCD, as opposed to an OLED display, for the base model.

It seems as though most Switch fans were expecting an OLED panel right out the gate, given the Nintendo Switch OLED has been available for quite some time, now. Hall-effect joysticks will also likely solve one of the community's biggest complaints about the Switch controls—that being stick drift—but Nintendo would have to also provide a calibration tool in the Switch software to correct for wear and tear on the joysticks. Larger buttons may also be a welcome change for most Switch gamers, since cramped controls are a fairly common criticism of the original Switch. In addition to the news of the physical and technical specifications, Decky Wizard also claims that the Switch 2 will be lighter than the Steam Deck and be launched as soon as January 2025. In a subsequent post, Decky Wizard uploaded leaked images of the new Switch 2, showing off not only a fresh looking chassis with smaller screen bezels and a new built-in kickstand design, but also the design of the new first-party dock and two new, larger Joycon release buttons on the backs of each Joycon.



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[Hyderz]

might pick one up 4 years after its release along with some pokemon titles....
i dont play other nintendo titles like mario, zelda
ive always bought nintendo consoles for pokemon

 

[yfn_ratchet]

This smells of priorities being chosen. Nintendo got far more complaints about the Joy-Con drift than they got praises for the OLED panel, so if they were forced to choose one to meet margins on the new Switch 2 console they would obviously address why people didn't like the first generation.

What I wonder now is if they'll be making the Switch 1 forwards compatible—albeit with a crappy graphics preset to make up for its '2016 android tablet' tier hardware.

 

[umeng2002]

I wonder if it was just to save a buck or if patents got in the way of consoles using hall effect sticks for 20 years. I think Dreamcast or other console from that era had them.

 

[AcE]

OLEDs very unimportant on a device that isn’t bought for graphical prowess nor has any and isn’t used to watch movies. It just saves some power maybe and that’s the main upside. OLED Switch was mainly marketing, not a big upgrade. There’s way better devices, graphically, that can watch movies, that don’t have OLED.

 

[Chaitanya]

What CPU are going to choose or still going with ancient Tegra?

 

[clopezi]

OLEDs very unimportant on a device that isn’t bought for graphical prowess nor has any and isn’t used to watch movies. It just saves some power maybe and that’s the main upside. OLED Switch was mainly marketing, not a big upgrade. There’s way better devices, graphically, that can watch movies, that don’t have OLED.

You're wrong in every possible manner. OLED it's a FANTASTIC update and make every single game looks better. The OLED display has nothing to do with graphics power, but in how colors, and blacks, are represented on screen.

 

[The Quim Reaper]

OLEDs very unimportant on a device that isn’t bought for graphical prowess nor has any and isn’t used to watch movies. It just saves some power maybe and that’s the main upside. OLED Switch was mainly marketing, not a big upgrade. There’s way better devices, graphically, that can watch movies, that don’t have OLED.

Lol..lack of OLED on launch model has nothing whatsoever to do with power savings.

It's all about giving the Nintendo junkies a reason to double dip and buy another console in 2-3yrs when they launch a refresh model with an OLED screen.

Just the usual cynical, cash grab tactics from Nintendo.

 

[dgianstefani]

OLEDs very unimportant on a device that isn’t bought for graphical prowess nor has any and isn’t used to watch movies. It just saves some power maybe and that’s the main upside. OLED Switch was mainly marketing, not a big upgrade. There’s way better devices, graphically, that can watch movies, that don’t have OLED.

Actually OLED uses more power generally, unless all you're doing is staring at a black screen.

The advantage was better colours, brightness, pixel response time/clarity despite being low Hz.

 

[chrcoluk]

Calibration software makes stick drift moot, but of course providing it prevents controller sales, although I think the problem is far worse for Sony than Nintendo, as Nintendo controllers are much cheaper for a start.

I got 3 Sony controllers during the recent sales, two myself, and one my sisters partner got for me for Christmas, he tested it and had to return it, I had to return both the ones I purchased also drifting, I had to return one of the replacements as also drifted, but now I should have 3 PS5 controllers with no drift temporarily until they drift.

You're wrong in every possible manner. OLED it's a FANTASTIC update and make every single game looks better. The OLED display has nothing to do with graphics power, but in how colors, and blacks, are represented on screen.

To be honest I find it hard to see the difference between my switch OLED and my Steam Deck LCD. Its there if you look for it, but its not a wow this is amazing thing. The main difference is dark detail.

Also recently got a new TV, cheap hisense on offer, I suppose its relative to what you used to, but its a very clear upgrade over the old screen for contrast and blacks, but also not perfect, old TV was edge lit IPS, new one is back lit VA. Very pleased due to what I was used to, but I expect an OLED owner would consider it trash quality.

Regarding the switch 2 joycons, they should have made the buttons offset, that was a bigger issue for me compared to the size of the buttons, I brought Mobapad joycons which are offset and also hall effect sticks. Was using a wii u pro controller for ages with a USB adaptor, but now using a standard switch controller instead. (Nintendo sell cheaper controllers, they not well known but isnt the pro controller, a cheaper variant, first party).

Lol..lack of OLED on launch model has nothing whatsoever to do with power savings.

It's all about giving the Nintendo junkies a reason to double dip and buy another console in 2-3yrs when they launch a refresh model with an OLED screen.

Just the usual cynical, cash grab tactics from Nintendo.

Yeah its clear cash grab tactics, everyone seems to do it now.

 

[Jomale]

x.com

x.com

 

[Naito]

Knowing Nintendo, the OLED will be kept for a mid-life refresh to keep the prices high

 

[AcE]

You're wrong in every possible manner. OLED it's a FANTASTIC update and make every single game looks better. The OLED display has nothing to do with graphics power, but in how colors, and blacks, are represented on screen.

We need a poll for how many percentage of population care about the tiny difference in IQ, ofc in a tech forum everyone hypes OLED up the wazoo. I bet more than 50% will not care about OLED in general population that’s why Nintendo seems to not care about it. I say this btw as a heavy OLED aficionado, but the Switch is a lo-fi device, simply spoken, that’s why I don’t see big relevance there. Most users will be kids and casuals who couldn’t care less about it.

Lol..lack of OLED on launch model has nothing whatsoever to do with power savings.

It's all about giving the Nintendo junkies a reason to double dip and buy another console in 2-3yrs when they launch a refresh model with an OLED screen.

Just the usual cynical, cash grab tactics from Nintendo.

Honestly it would be new to me that Nintendo is like that, I usually know this type of behavior from US companies not Japanese ones that behave usually very differently. But maybe you’re right.

btw OLED would drive prices up, including this in the poll would just make most people say “they don’t need it”, a lot of people don’t even know what it is. The last time Nintendo was about graphics and performance was in Nintendo 64 times perhaps, that’s how low care tech is for Nintendo since then. They care more about the games and whatnot, basically everything but the tech. The switch is very slow and outdated since a long long time and only now they gonna replace it with a relatively mild upgrade as well.

 

[Dredi]

@Cpt.Jank

Hall-effect joysticks will also likely solve one of the community's biggest complaints about the Switch controls—that being stick drift—but Nintendo would have to also provide a calibration tool in the Switch software to correct for wear and tear on the joysticks.

Where did you get the idea that Hall effect sticks need calibration tools? PS3 didn't have any 'calibration tools' for the Hall effect sticks. You calibrate them when you make them in a factory, and that's it. There is no "wear and tear" on the sensing parts and calibration is a non issue.

 

[Kaleid]

If it was possible I'd buy one without a screen. It's 95% running in dock mode anyway

Edit: Hopefully it can run Switch 1 games with a higher framerate

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

I'll probably be buying on launch, since it is fully backwards compatible and my switch gets a lot of use as a party machine. Now if Gamefreak would pull their head from their arse and make a decent pokemon game....

Calibration software makes stick drift moot, but of course providing it prevents controller sales, although I think the problem is far worse for Sony than Nintendo, as Nintendo controllers are much cheaper for a start.

I got 3 Sony controllers during the recent sales, two myself, and one my sisters partner got for me for Christmas, he tested it and had to return it, I had to return both the ones I purchased also drifting, I had to return one of the replacements as also drifted, but now I should have 3 PS5 controllers with no drift temporarily until they drift.

You know what would be amazing?

If they had hall effec tjoysticks where drift wasnt an issue. Weird!

 

[lexluthermiester]

I wonder what the specs are going to be? After 8 years since the first system released, this new development should produce some interesting results.

 

[Dredi]

Calibration software makes stick drift moot

Not really. It makes the accuracy of the sticks utter shit. Yes, the sticks no longer drift in neutral position, but the mid range linearity of the sticks degrades in the process. It's a good option to give to consumers using the sticks as glorified d-pads, but repairing the sticks is always better if the analog values are to be used in some capacity. Hall effect sticks would be a better choice - no drift and perfect linearity if calibrated correctly at the factory. And no change to linearity over time either. Cost difference is something like one USD per pair of sticks.

 

[lilhasselhoffer]

So...I see this as another Nintendo console. The tech will be 3-4 year out of date, where the other consoles will be 1-2. It'll support moderate specifications, be the cheapest console, and it won't bother with anything else. If Nintendo has their way they'll sell all their games on a near SD memory card format that isn't quite SD, and nothing will be compatible with old hardware unless introduced on the virtual console.

Nintendo sells older tech that is much cheaper, at near but slightly lower prices to the competition. They therefore make a profit on hardware unlike MS and Sony...and ideally invest that back into their first party games that basically move console sales. It's basically Nintendo aiming for a price point and profitability that has the OLED screen not as standard...and it'll probably be offered on a unit that has price parity with the other consoles as an upgrade, if not a mid-life refresh. The thing is, LCD panels are dirt cheap right now...so it's silly to not use something that delivers 90% of the performance for 50% of the price.


Me...I stopped engaging with Nintendo when I looked at 500+ pokemon, and the next game required I buy a console, open an account, transfer a limited amount of them a day to the online account daily, and then upload them to my new game by a limited amount daily. The previous generation allowed me about 6 a day to be transferred and "caught" per game. That was bad...but the online service was also hailed as a finite time. This meant that there was a ticking clock...and like my ancient gameboy games not connecting to the DS, Nintendo was gating things and forcing people to be an early adopter so they could control my experience...but they then allowed global trade, with people trading literally impossible things that were obvious hacks...because reasons.

 

[redeye]

Calibration software makes stick drift moot, but of course providing it prevents controller sales, although I think the problem is far worse for Sony than Nintendo, as Nintendo controllers are much cheaper for a start.

I got 3 Sony controllers during the recent sales, two myself, and one my sisters partner got for me for Christmas, he tested it and had to return it, I had to return both the ones I purchased also drifting, I had to return one of the replacements as also drifted, but now I should have 3 PS5 controllers with no drift temporarily until they drift.


To be honest I find it hard to see the difference between my switch OLED and my Steam Deck LCD. Its there if you look for it, but its not a wow this is amazing thing. The main difference is dark detail.

Also recently got a new TV, cheap hisense on offer, I suppose its relative to what you used to, but its a very clear upgrade over the old screen for contrast and blacks, but also not perfect, old TV was edge lit IPS, new one is back lit VA. Very pleased due to what I was used to, but I expect an OLED owner would consider it trash quality.

Regarding the switch 2 joycons, they should have made the buttons offset, that was a bigger issue for me compared to the size of the buttons, I brought Mobapad joycons which are offset and also hall effect sticks. Was using a wii u pro controller for ages with a USB adaptor, but now using a standard switch controller instead. (Nintendo sell cheaper controllers, they not well known but isnt the pro controller, a cheaper variant, first party).


Yeah it’s clear cash grab tactics, everyone seems to do it now.

Buy the Gulikit TMR sticks and replace the Sony sticks, the effort is TOUGH, but the reward is a “recycled” controller that works better. I failed at it first, because I didn’t have a heated desolder sucker… after I got the heated sucker, I changed the sticks in a controller where the original sticks were good but they were “creaky”… the controller is better now, than a new Sony controller.

 

[Vayra86]

You're wrong in every possible manner. OLED it's a FANTASTIC update and make every single game looks better. The OLED display has nothing to do with graphics power, but in how colors, and blacks, are represented on screen.

That's really it - and alongside that comes the treat of being able to play on pretty low brightness and still have a very pleasant experience. Ambient light permitting. There's really no equal to OLED atm. Its just superior. Being able to 90hz my 45 FPS on Steam Deck is also fantastic, its better than CRT in motion resolution. You notice there is a framerate, but there is just no motion blurring, the only limiting factor is your own two eyes.

 

[Kaleid]

In this case it makes perfect sense that it's much slower because it's also a handheld where efficiency is of real importance. How much does series X use? 200w.
Wouldn't be possible to do that kind of power for portable. Not in many years. But also as Nintendo has said it's still quite a lot more powerful than the current Switch, game development will take quite a bit more time and become costly.
DLLS should help further, I hope they target 1440p as maximum instead of 4k on too demanding titles. Switch 1 has some framerate issues, that's above all what I hope we don't have to experience.

 

[Space Lynx]

Knowing Nintendo, the OLED will be kept for a mid-life refresh to keep the prices high

strategically it is smart to do it this way too, because of burn in issues 4-7 years down the road in long product life cycles like this, especially being used by teens etc who may not pay attn to utilizing standby mode or turning it off, etc

that being said, I am interested in Switch 2... switch 1 was difficult for me to hold comfortably though, so we will see how this one fares. steam deck on the other hand, fits my hands perfectly.

 

[AcE]

Wouldn't be possible to do that kind of power for portable. Not in many years.

Never because those 200W heat up the device, general physics, rules of nature, does not matter how strong your battery is in the year 2062, the 200 W will still burn your hands, so "never" is accurate here. 25-35W is probably the top point, maybe 50, after that it will be impossible to still be a nice to use device I guess. UNLESS, they find a means to get rid of that heat without there "being heat", but that's now firmly in Sci-Fi territory.