SoylentNews

takyon writes:

Coverage of the Nintendo Switch console "launch" is available at Ars Technica, Tom's Hardware, Anandtech.

Nintendo Switch uses a USB Type-C cable for charging, and has a battery life ranging from 2.5 to 6.5 hours, comparable to (but less than) the latest version of the Nintendo 3DS XL. It can be played in Console, Handheld, and Tabletop modes. The handheld has a 6.2" 720p screen but the docked console supports 1080p60 gaming.

The Switch has 32 GB of internal storage, some of which is used for the operating system. It has a "game card slot" for games released on some form of proprietary physical flash media, but also comes with a standard microSD slot for expandable storage.

Nintendo will offer a free trial of a paid online gameplay service for the Switch (similar to Xbox Live Gold or PlayStation Plus) until sometime in Autumn.

The system will be released on March 3, 2017 for $299.

Here are some of the games.

Previously: "Nintendo Switch" Coming in March 2017
Will Third-Party Developers Support Nintendo's Switch?

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Nintendo takes a gamble with record-setting Switch production plans

The Nintendo Switch has been an unqualified success so far, with Nintendo recently promising increased holiday season production to meet demand and expectations of over 16 million total sales by the end of March 2018. Reporting now suggests the company is expecting that sales pace to increase markedly in the coming year, though, and another associated production increase would come with both a fair amount of potential and risk for the company.

The production news comes from The Wall Street Journal, which cites "people with direct knowledge of the matter" in reporting that Nintendo plans to make 25 to 30 million Switch units in the coming fiscal year (which starts in April 2018). That's a major increase from the 13 million produced for the current fiscal year, which itself was a sizable increase from the company's initial plans to make just 8 million units for the console's first full year on shelves. WSJ's sources say those production numbers could go up even higher if coming holiday season sales are strong.

Nintendo exec: Failed Wii U is responsible for Switch's success

The success of the company's latest gaming console, the Nintendo Switch, is the result of lessons taken from the failed Wii U, according to Reggie Fils-Aimé, the president of Nintendo America.

[...] The console also didn't have a consistent flow of new games supporting the system. "We've addressed that with the Nintendo Switch -- having a steady pace of new launches is critical," he said. The Switch includes games like "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild," "Super Mario Odyssey" and "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe."

Another issue with the Wii U was that it didn't have "strong support" from Nintendo's third-party partners, Fils-Aimé said. "Whether it's the big companies like Electronic Arts, or whether it's the smaller independent developer, we need those companies to create content to support us. We have that now with Nintendo Switch," he said.

Previously: Will Third-Party Developers Support Nintendo's Switch?
Nintendo Switch Available on March 3rd for $299
Nintendo Switch Stolen by Distributor's Employees Ahead of Launch, Details Leaked
The Ghost in Nintendo's Switch - Game Unlocks on the Date of Satoru Iwata's Death

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

The Nintendo Switch has been named America's fastest-selling home games console.

A total of 4.8 million units were sold in the US during the 10 months following the Switch's launch there on 3 March last year.

The Switch breaks tradition with the firm's previous home consoles in allowing owners to use it as a portable console for game-playing on the move.

One analyst said Nintendo had completely turned its business around.

The previous record for the fastest-selling console in the US was Nintendo's Wii, launched in 2006, which went on to be one of the top-selling consoles in history worldwide.

However, the company's next offering - the Wii U - fared much more poorly.

As a consequence, Nintendo had been under considerable pressure to deliver a popular device this time around.

What if you don't like Mario or Zelda?

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

A newly published "exploit chain" for Nvidia Tegra X1-based systems seems to describe an apparently unpatchable method for running arbitrary code on all currently available Nintendo Switch consoles. Hardware hacker Katherine Temkin and the hacking team at ReSwitched released an extensive outline of what they're calling the Fusée Gelée coldboot vulnerability earlier today, alongside a proof-of-concept payload that can be used on the Switch.

"Fusée Gelée isn't a perfect, 'holy grail' exploit—though in some cases it can be pretty damned close," Temkin writes in an accompanying FAQ.

The exploit, as outlined, makes use of a vulnerability inherent in the Tegra X1's USB recovery mode, circumventing the lock-out operations that would usually protect the chip's crucial bootROM. By sending a bad "length" argument to an improperly coded USB control procedure at the right point, the user can force the system to "request up to 65,535 bytes per control request." That data easily overflows a crucial direct memory access (DMA) buffer in the bootROM, in turn allowing data to be copied into the protected application stack and giving the attacker the ability to run arbitrary code.

takyon writes:

Nintendo's Switch has been hiding a buried "VrMode" for over a year

Hackers have uncovered and tested a screen-splitting "VR Mode" that has been buried in the Switch's system-level firmware for over a year. The discovery suggests that Nintendo at least toyed with the idea that the tablet system could serve as a stereoscopic display for a virtual reality headset.

Switch hackers first discovered and documented references to a "VrMode" in the Switch OS' Applet Manager services back in December when analyzing the June 2017 release of version 3.0.0 of the system's firmware. But the community doesn't seem to have done much testing of the internal functions "IsVrModeEnabled" and "SetVrModeEnabled" at the time. [...] [Using] those functions to enable the Switch's VR mode splits the screen vertically into two identical half-sized images, in much the way other VR displays split an LCD screen to create a stereoscopic 3D effect.

[...] Despite the discovery of this VrMode code (and previous hacked-together proof-of-concept tests from individual Switch owners), it's hard to imagine the Switch's large form factor, 720p resolution screen, and relatively low-end gyroscope would lead to a very robust VR experience. That said, some industry watchers continue to speculate about a potential PS4 Pro/Xbox One X-style mid-generation hardware update for the Switch, which could provide the extra horsepower needed to enable passable virtual reality on the platform (Nintendo has not even hinted at any such plans, though).

Original Submission