Hardware Thoughts on Switch potentially getting VR

[duffmmann]

I'm curious if Nintendo will follow through on the Switch VR they've looked into or not. The patents are there, they've mentioned the possibility in passing, and it isn't hard to imagine what such a device would look like. It likely would be an affordable device, acting in the same way that smartphone VR does in how you just slide the Switch screen into a helmet and your joycons would function as your hands given their built in motion control/detection would a camera accessory be necessary to track your hands/joycons or would the built in motion control be enough? Regardless, even if neccesary it would still cost considerably less than the high end VR units and even the PSVR.

(A popular mockup floating around online)

Everything is there for Nintendo to offer an affordable (and cords free!) VR experience with the Switch. But to what end? Nintendo doesn't have much first person experiences, yes they have Metroid Prime, and with 4 confirmed for the system, it would be a perfect fit for Switch VR, and honestly wouldn't surprise me if they launched the Switch VR with Prime 4 being a launch title (I'd hope you could also play traditionally not in VR though if you prefer or don't have the VR unit). But beyond that one title, they might offer some party mini-game collection title built for VR much in the same way that NintendoLand was built for the Wii U and its Gamepad. But that would really be it for what Nintendo could logically offer, before starting to venture in uncharted territory (say making a first person Pikmin game, it could work, but it'd be quite the shift to force on such a franchise). So I'm thinking their 1st and 2nd party offerings for such a device might be pretty low and they'd have to hope that more 3rd parties were instead creating such VR experiences that could be playable on the Switch hardware. And when I think about it that way, plus given that virtual reality isn't exactly taking the world by storm in the ways that it might have seemingly been poised to do just a couple of years ago; I come back to the thought that maybe Nintendo will just abandon chasing VR with the Switch. I could see it happening just as likely as it not happening at this point. And in all honesty I'm not even sure if I'd want VR for the system or not at this point.

What are your thoughts? You think it will happen? If so what games do you think they'd get for it? Do you think it could be any good?

 

[Joe88]

I thought we had another thread on this already?
anyway I don't see it happening unless a major hardware upgrade takes place, unless 240p VR sounds appealing to you...
2nd problem is there is no way to track the controllers in a 3d space
3rd I believe the screen can only do 60hz? It needs to be at 90hz to get a decent vr experience

There are other problems but these are the big ones.

 

[MeowMeowMeow]

That would be awesome a vr with a hardware upgrade, but I bet it would be expensive af.

 

[migles]

isn' the switch too big and heavy to use it like that?

 

[duffmmann]

isn' the switch too big and heavy to use it like that?

Too heavy will be subjective to each person, but I don't see why it'd be too big. They could easily have the device that holds the switch leave only the dimensions of about a Galaxy S7 viewable from within the unit, and then place it as far away from your eyes as the Gear VR leaves the phone away from your eyes. So yeah, perhaps its so large that parts of the screen wouldn't be viewable in the device, but that wouldn't impede the ability for it to give a full VR view like what we see with smarphone VR.

 

[MeowMeowMeow]

isn' the switch too big and heavy to use it like that?

Got a point there my s8+ is 170grams, switch is 300grams

 

[duffmmann]

Got a point there my s8+ is 170grams, switch is 300grams

You think if your s8+ weighed another 130grams you wouldn't be able to tolerate it? I mean that as a genuine question, I have a gear VR wih the s7, and its so light that I can easily imagine another smartphone weighing it down without it being much more of an issue. GearVR is pretty dang light at the end of the day. If the Switch VR were anything like it, i can't imagine it being much of an issue for me personally in regard to its weight.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

isn' the switch too big and heavy to use it like that?

Weight shouldn't be too much of an issue, as long as the straps are properly adjusted you won't feel the weight much. It can get tiring after a few hours though, but that's the case even with large headphones, it's not a big deal.
I'm more worried about the screen resolution and refresh rate, and whether the screen is low persistence.
VR on a 720p 60hz non low persistence screen is not a good experience, I've tried it before on a Rift DK1. The man issue was the screen resolution, the screen door effect was pretty bad.
Even current VR headsets with higher resolutions are still too low resolution for a good VR experience once the initial novelty of it wears off.
At 720p it will just be a cheap way to test out VR, and not something people will actually want to use beyond that.

 

[MeowMeowMeow]

You think if your s8+ weighed another 130grams you wouldn't be able to tolerate it? I mean that as a genuine question, I have a gear VR wih the s7, and its so light that I can easily imagine another smartphone weighing it down without it being much more of an issue. GearVR is pretty dang light at the end of the day. If the Switch VR were anything like it, i can't imagine it being much of an issue for me personally in regard to its weight.

Well I think I would tolerate it, but I dunno if it's still will be comfy after playing for 2 hours or more. And the vr (mobile) glasses are so light because there is barely any hardware in it. I think the switch need some hardware upgrade, otherwise we will get shitty graphics.

 

[Xzi]

Weight isn't really the issue, Vive probably weighs more than Switch, it's just performance and the screen keeping it from doing the minimum necessary for a decent VR experience. Last thing Nintendo needs is another Virtual Boy. They put in the patents to keep others from patenting a Switch headset, nothing more. They might use it for Switch Tegra X2, though.

 

[Spider_Man]

can someone explain to me how placing a device screen in front of your eyes is VR.

and this is not a dig or anything but the SWITCH would fail for VR, yup lets stick a BIG TABLET in front of your eyes, games that require the motion of the TABLET wont work because it defeats the objective of VR.

this is something nintendo never take into consideration is designing a console that is current, can or could support new features.

when you buy nintendo consoles its basically a device that will and only ever will play its games.

come to think about it, nintendo are like apple while the others are like samsung...... you get features years later after others have already done it at a higher price tag and your restricted to what nintendo tell you the console can do.

even to date......... nintendo still lack media support, considering its a TABLET for on the move gaming, why not include media support to use the TABLET to play your music on the move and/or during gameplay........ OHH YEA, COST.

 

[zeveroth]

What does everyone think about possibly using a separate screen like the WiiU pad. Not as big but the idea would be same. It have extremely low/no lag. I for one never had a problem with the connection so long as I didn't go down the hallway which from the system was around 30ft give or take. As far as resolution and the other specs required, they could be built into the HMD. Offering up-scaling for whatever games Nintendo would wish to make. Just a thought. The joycons could be pretty good controllers for vr. Now,I'm going to stretch it a bit further. Nintendo could develop it's own full positional tracking and all that, laying the foundation for really impressive VR gaming at home. I've heard mixed reviews about the PSVR. Some competition would be healthy for the products in the console business. I have more ideas but not enough time. Til next time people.

 

[Essometer]

The Switch is already struggling with DOOM, as it is running in 720p@30fps. There is absolutely no way that if by some miracle the
Switch gets an VR-Headset, the resulting VR experience will be enjoyable or immersable.

The rumour stems from reversed engineers GPU drivers, if I remember correctly. The was ONE functions that had a simple boolean as
a return if VR is enabled. It's just a remnant from other GPU that uses part of the same driver.

 

[BlastedGuy9905]

I'm curious if Nintendo will follow through on the Switch VR they've looked into or not. The patents are there, they've mentioned the possibility in passing, and it isn't hard to imagine what such a device would look like. It likely would be an affordable device, acting in the same way that smartphone VR does in how you just slide the Switch screen into a helmet and your joycons would function as your hands given their built in motion control/detection would a camera accessory be necessary to track your hands/joycons or would the built in motion control be enough? Regardless, even if neccesary it would still cost considerably less than the high end VR units and even the PSVR.

(A popular mockup floating around online)

Everything is there for Nintendo to offer an affordable (and cords free!) VR experience with the Switch. But to what end? Nintendo doesn't have much first person experiences, yes they have Metroid Prime, and with 4 confirmed for the system, it would be a perfect fit for Switch VR, and honestly wouldn't surprise me if they launched the Switch VR with Prime 4 being a launch title (I'd hope you could also play traditionally not in VR though if you prefer or don't have the VR unit). But beyond that one title, they might offer some party mini-game collection title built for VR much in the same way that NintendoLand was built for the Wii U and its Gamepad. But that would really be it for what Nintendo could logically offer, before starting to venture in uncharted territory (say making a first person Pikmin game, it could work, but it'd be quite the shift to force on such a franchise). So I'm thinking their 1st and 2nd party offerings for such a device might be pretty low and they'd have to hope that more 3rd parties were instead creating such VR experiences that could be playable on the Switch hardware. And when I think about it that way, plus given that virtual reality isn't exactly taking the world by storm in the ways that it might have seemingly been poised to do just a couple of years ago; I come back to the thought that maybe Nintendo will just abandon chasing VR with the Switch. I could see it happening just as likely as it not happening at this point. And in all honesty I'm not even sure if I'd want VR for the system or not at this point.

What are your thoughts? You think it will happen? If so what games do you think they'd get for it? Do you think it could be any good?

My thoughts: YES.

 

[Beerus]

hell ye boi

 

[ByteBite]

You'll have to wait until the New Nintendo Switch comes out in early 2019.

 

[Xzi]

You'll have to wait until the New Nintendo Switch comes out in early 2019.

I don't see Tegra X2 releasing by then, or being cheap enough to put in Switch 2. With all these 2s, 2020 would make sense though.

 

[HaloEliteLegend]

I don't see Tegra X2 releasing by then, or being cheap enough to put in Switch 2. With all these 2s, 2020 would make sense though.

That's two years from now, though. The Tegra line has been improving at a very rapid pace. Last I read, Nvidia already had a chip planned after the X2 using a newer architecture they're currently working on. X2 should be out next year, I estimate. I also don't see it costing toooo much, and Nvidia is likely going to make it custom for the Switch like they did with the X1.

 

[NekoMichi]

What’s interesting is the developer documentation claims that while each Joy-Con has its own gyroscope for motion controls, the tablet section itself also has a gyroscope. This is unlikely to be used for handheld mode since utilising the gyroscope inside the Joy-Cons would be enough, and wouldn’t make sense on docked or tabletop mode either because the tablet would be stationary. This implies that the console is intended to be used in an additional manner where the tablet is in motion independently from the two Joy-Cons.