Technical Description

The Nintendo Switch is a console made by Nintendo, which was released on March 3, 2017. When a consumer buys a Nintendo Switch, they will receive: a Nintendo Switch tablet, two Joy-Cons (L)(R), a Nintendo Switch doc, an HDMI cable, an AC-Adaptor, a Joy-Con Grip, and two Joy-Con strips.

What makes the Nintendo Switch unique compared to its competitors is the different ways you can play your video games. According to Nintendo’s support team, “The Nintendo Switch console allows you to enjoy three different play styles: TV mode. Tabletop mode. Handheld mode.” The Nintendo Switch tablet consist of a 6-inch 720p screen, in which users can attach the left and right Joy-Con (The controllers that come with the Nintendo Switch) to it, enabling the user to play in “handheld mode”. The Nintendo Switch tablet has a kickstand on the back, enabling the user to prop it open and make the Nintendo Switch tablet stand up right and play their video games on “tabletop mode”. The Nintendo Switch can be hooked up to a tv with the use of the Nintendo Switch Doc, allowing for a regular console gaming experience. The Nintendo Switch doc is hooked up to a television via HDMI and an AC-Adaptor. The user can place the Nintendo Switch tablet to the Nintendo Switch doc, which will connect via USB-C, which will let the user play their Nintendo Switch on any monitor they choose of. When the Nintnedo Switch is placed in the Nintendo Switch Dock, the user can use the Joy-Con separated from each other, allowing the user to hold one in each hand, giving a more comfortable gaming experience. The left and right Joy-Con can also be combined by the use of the Joy-Con Grip, making the Joy-Cons like a standard video game controller. This will allow the user to play their Nintendo Switch on “tv mode”. The vast amounts of ways you can play with your Nintendo Switch is where the Nintendo Switch gets its name.

According to Nintendo, The Nintendo Switch tablet is 9.4 inches wide (while the Joy-Cons are attached) and .55 inches thick. These dimensions for the console limit the amount of power the Nintendo Switch has compared to its competitors; due to the limited amount of power you can store in such a small machine. According to Nintendo, Inside the tablet of the Nintendo Switch, there is a customed NVIDIA Tegra chip. This chip handles the graphics of the Nintendo Switch; however, this chip can cause the Nintendo Switch tablet to overheat, which can be problematic. First, overheating can cause the product to malfunction, and make it unusable to the user. Second, overheating can start to morph the product, such as bending the screen, into something undesirable for the user. To combat this overheating issue, the Nintendo Switch tablet uses 3 vents as a cooling system, 2 that are in the back of the Nintendo Switch tablet and 1 that is on top. Air would go through the 2 vents in the back to cool the system and push all the hot air from the top. Additionally, according to ZDNET, there is also a large metal plate serving as a heat sink, making sure the plastic shell of the Nintendo Switch tablet does not heat up as much. The Nintendo Switch tablet uses a 4310mAh lithium-ion battery to power the entire console, which gives the Nintendo Switch tablet about 3-6 hours of use, depending on the type of game you are playing. The Nintendo Switch charges this battery via a USB-C port located on the bottom of the Nintendo Switch tablet. The Nintendo Switch allows users to download applications onto the Nintendo Switch via the Nintendo Eshop or to buy video game cartridges. For users that like to download applications, The Nintendo Switch tablet has a micro-Sd card slot, and for users that like to have video game cartridges, there is a cartridge slot located on top of the Nintendo Switch tablet. The Nintendo Switch tablet also includes 2 speakers to allow audio from the user’s application to play. For users that do not want to bother the people around them, there is a 3.5mm headphone jack located on the top of the Nintendo Switch tablet.

The Nintendo Switch Tablet can be connected to the Nintendo Switch Doc via USB-C. The Nintendo Switch Doc uses HDMI to project the Nintendo Switch onto whatever monitor the consumer is using. The Nintendo Switch Doc gives a slight boost to the NVIDIA Tegra X1 chip, making 1080p resolution available and also giving off better graphics. Many games run drastically different depending on whether the Nintendo Switch is stationed in the dock or not. The side of the Nintendo Switch dock includes 1 USB port. The back of the Nintendo Switch dock includes 2 USB 2.0 ports, 1 HDMI port, 1 USB-C port, and 1 slit for ventilation purposes.  

Nintendo has always been a “family-friendly” company, meaning their games are for all ages. The target audience that Nintendo always tried to get the attention of was the kids market, however for the Nintendo Switch it was a different story. The first trailer for the Nintendo Switch does not have a single kid, only showing adults in the age range of early 20s to early 30s. Nintendo was marketing towards an older untapped demographic, people who were to busy to play video games. Most of the Nintendo Switch trailers show people travelling, such as in “First Look at Nintendo Switch”, where someone is seen playing his Nintendo Switch in the airport. Nintendo will later on include kids in their marketing, however they will still advertise people travelling while playing with their Nintendo Switch.

As of writing this paper, the Nintendo Switch has been on the market for 4 years and according to Nintendo of Japans IR department, the Nintendo Switch has sold about 79.87 million units. For comparison, the Xbox One has been on the market for 7 years and according to Statista, the Xbox One has sold 48.69 million units. The Nintendo Switch serves as proof that the handheld market is a market that a lot of consumers are interested in, and that many people prefer the portability aspect for playing video games.

SOURCES:

  1. “Play Mode Overview.” Nintendo, en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/22511/%7E/play-mode-overview#:%7E:text=The%20Nintendo%20Switch%20console%20allows,Handheld%20mode. Accessed 8 Mar. 2021.
  • “Technical Specs – Nintendo SwitchTM Official Site – System Hardware, Console Specs.” Nintendo, www.nintendo.com/switch/tech-specs. Accessed 8 Mar. 2021.
  • “IR Information : Sales Data – Dedicated Video Game Sales Units.” Nintendo Co., Ltd., www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/finance/hard_soft. Accessed 8 Mar. 2021.
  • Statista. “Global Unit Sales of Xbox One Consoles 2017-2020.” Statista, 22 Jan. 2021, www.statista.com/statistics/1005403/global-xbox-one-console-unit-sales/#:%7E:text=This%20statistic%20shows%20lifetime%20unit,million%20units%20in%20November%202020.