History of video games/Platforms/Switch

Development
The Nintendo Switch was preceded by both the Nintendo Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS.

Third party developers, including Capcom, persuaded Nintendo to make a console with at least 4 gigabytes of RAM during development.

The Nintendo Switch was announced by Satoru Iwata to investors as the NX in March 2015.

A number of false rumors circulated around the console prior to the launch of the system.

Launch
The Nintendo Switch was launched in March of 2017. Following the launch of the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo struggled to maintain stock of the system in multiple regions. In 10 months following the launch of the Switch, the system had already outsold the Wii U, and caused Nintendo to experience it's best quarter since 2009.

System Life
As a result of the trade war, Nintendo partially diverted some Nintendo Switch production from China to Vietnam in 2019, diversifying it's supply chain.

The Nintendo Switch Lite was launched on September 20th, 2019 for $199, integrating controllers into the console, and removing TV output.

In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 the Nintendo Switch was widely sold out for a period of several months. High demand was confounded by limited supply, as computer chip shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 constrained production of the new Nintendo Switch units. As a result, in combination with with other factors such as increased competition, earnings during this time for Nintendo were only slightly up.

On July 6th, 2021 a new model of Nintendo Switch was announced featuring improved hardware specifications.

In late 2021 the chip shortage began to seriously impact Switch production, with a 20% production reduction caused by the shortage.

Compute
The Switch uses a SOC based on the NVIDIA Tegra X1. The Switch has four 64-bit ARM Cortex A57 architecture cores clocked at 1020 megahertz (~One Gigahertz). The Switch also has an additional four low power ARM Cortex A53 architecture cores, which are said by some to be used by the SOC automatically for low power tasks and are not exposed to the switch operating system. Others claim these cores are totally unused.

The Switch GPU is an NVIDIA Maxwell Architecture GM20B and has 256 CUDA cores. The GPU is clocked at either 307.2 megahertz when either docked or undocked, or up to 769 megahertz when docked. The GPU has 16 texture units and 16 ROPs.

The Switch has four gigabytes of RAM. The memory controller governing the RAM on the Switch typically operates at 1600 megahertz when docked, and 1331 megahertz in portable mode, though developers can opt for higher clock rates in portable mode if needed. The Development kits differ from standard models here, as earlier dev kits featured 6 gigabytes of RAM and starting with the 2021 ADEV kit offered 8 gigabytes of RAM.

The Nintendo Switch is often compared to the Wii U in terms of computational power. Though on paper the switch and the Wii U appear comparable due to similar major specs, architectural differences between the two tend to give the Switch an advantage in general computational performance over it's less portable predecessor.

Console Hardware
The Nintendo Switch is fairly durable, with the main unit able to survive significant falls, albeit with damage.

The Switch shipped with 32GB of onboard NAND storage. This was enough for about 2-4 major games, or about a dozen or so small games. The Switch has a microSD card slot which supports cards up to 2TB in size through the SDXC standard.

Display
The original model Switch has a 1280 by 720 resolution 6.2 inch capacitive multitouch IPS LCD. The Switch lite has a 1280 by 720 resolution 5.5 inch capacitive multitouch LCD. A ST Microcontroller is used to handle touchscreen input.

The home button on the right JoyCon also contains a notification LED, but it went unused until the release of firmware version 9.0 in late 2019.

Sensors
The system includes an accelerometer and gyroscope. An ambient light sensor is used to automatically control screen brightness.

Unlike the 3DS which did have a built in microphone, the Nintendo Switch lacks a built in microphone, but can use a microphone built into a wired headset, a USB microphone, or a smartphone app for voice chat purposes. Game support for microphones is limited.

Battery
The Switch shipped with a 4,310mAh Lithium-ion battery, taking three hours to charge while sleeping. The original model of the system, HAC-001, lasted 2.5 hours to 6.5 hours and an increased efficiency revision in mid August 2019, HAC-001(-01), increased runtime to be 4.5 to 9 hours.

The device charges through a USB type C port. The Switch battery can become permanently unusable if left uncharged for periods of more than six months.

Networking
The Nintendo Switch supports dual band 2.4 gigahertz and 5 gigahertz Wi-Fi supporting b, g, n, and ac standards, as well as Bluetooth 4.1. Supported Wi-Fi encryption protocols include WEP and AES based WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK. A number of college campuses encountered difficulty with the Switch on their wireless networks, requiring special steps to access their wireless networks.

The Switch allows USB ethernet adapters to be used when docked or with a specific accessory for the Switch Lite.

Other hardware
The Switch Dock and charging grip both have an STM32 microcontroller. The Switch Dock also features 2.5 megabytes of flash storage, a USB 3.0 hub, and a MyDP/Mobility Displayport to HDMI converter. The Switch dock uses slightly modified version of industry standard protocols, often leading to issues with 3rd party docks which typically implement the same standards without Nintendo's deviations, or when they fail to correctly match said deviations.

The Switch can use a USB keyboard and mouse.

JoyCons
The Joycons have an enhanced rumble feature called HD rumble, though this feature is absent from the integrated controls in the Switch Lite.

The Switch right JoyCon features an NFC radio, which is handled by the same STM32 microcontroller which handles the IR camera.

The right JoyCon contains an Infrared camera based on a CMOS sensor with a 5 micrometer pixel pitch. Four IR LEDs are used for illumination. The near inferred camera is capable of taking photos with a resolution of 240 by 320 pixels. An STM32 microcontroller built into the JoyCon handles the IR Camera.

The IR Camera was used extensively with Nintendo Labo.

Nintendo Switch Pro Controller
The ProThe Nintendo Switch Pro controller is a more traditional style controller released for the Switch. The controller contains vibration motors, NFC, and wireless connection support, though it lacks the IR camera of the JoyCons, and must charge over a cable instead of slotting into the console.

An easter egg containing the message "THX2 ALLGAMEFANZ" (Thanks to all game fans) is printed on the PCB of the pro controller.

Poke Ball Plus
The Poke Ball Plus was released on November 18th, 2018 as a special controller for use with the Nintendo Switch Pokemon games and Pokemon Go. The controller is shaped like a ball and contains a control stick, speaker, accelerometer, gyroscope, vibration motor, and LED. Designed to be used with a throwing motion, the controller created issues for dog owners, and many dogs were confused by nearby humans using the controller. The Poke Ball Plus has a non-removable lithium ion battery rated at 220mAh and charges over USB type C.

The Poke Ball Plus is shipped with data for the Pokemon Mew. Prior to this, Mew had only been officially obtainable in games by attending special events, or by trading with a player who had.

Mario Kart Live
The Mario Kart Live prototype used a Raspberry Pi W as it's onboard computer.

Game Media
Nintendo Switch Game cards are read only, with save data residing on the system's internal storage. Macronix XtraROM flash memory is used in the game cards for storage. Game cards are coated with denatonium benzoate, a non toxic potent bitterant, to reduce the chance of being accidentally swallowed. Both of these features make accidentally damaging cartridges or harming the user through improper use more difficult.

Games for the Nintendo Switch are not region locked. This allows a Switch to play games released in other countries.

Some games released for the Switch, such as Resident Evil 7, were streamed from an online server and did not actually run on the Switch hardware. This allowed the Switch to play games with much higher fidelity then possible on the base hardware, though at the cost of requiring a constant, good internet connection. This also presents a preservation issue, as these games are not actually rendered on hardware, and rely on external services which will eventually be shut down.

System Applications
A browsable E-Shop was included on the console. A Miimaker was also included, but was deemphasized. A user accessible internet browser was not shipped with the system. No games were bundled with the operating system, unlike the 3DS.

Operating System
Most operating system updates required user interaction and a reboot, however some firmware updates were able to be installed silently, without requiring user interaction or a reboot.

Nintendo Switch Online
Nintendo Switch Online is the online service for the Switch. Instead of using dedicated servers, multiplayer on the switch is conducted over peer to peer connections.

Backwards Compatibility
The Switch did not have backward compatibility with previous systems.

The Virtual Console did not return on the Nintendo Switch. A lack of a virtual console was a common point of frustration among Switch owners, and lead some to continue to keep using their Wii U consoles well into 2021.

Accessibility
The console was criticized for it's lack of accessibility, though this was slightly improved in software with time.

Some third parties would also attempt to address accessibility concerns on the system, though these approaches were hardware based.

Removal of Manuals
Unlike the Wii U and 3DS, which primarily offered digital manuals, most Nintendo Switch games lacked either a physical or a digital manual. This occasionally caused issues, such as when the Nintendo Switch Online service added StarTropics, which requires a manual to beat.

Some publishers did include manuals with their physical games. Some gamers took matters into their own hands and produced their own unofficial game manuals for games which did not ship with them.

Social Features
Social features like voice chat were moved to a companion app for smart devices.

The Switch did not support Nintendo's social media platform Miiverse, which was discontinued in late 2017. Instead the Switch supported linking to other Social Media services for sharing content.

Third-Party Hardware

 * Hot Wheels Switch Backpack
 * Clock

2017

 * Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
 * Arms
 * Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
 * Golf Story
 * 1-2-Switch
 * Xenoblade Chronicles 2
 * Pokkén Tournament DX
 * The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Breath of the Wild
Breath of the Wild is widely regarded as a mold breaking open world experience.

The cooking system in breath of the wild is hailed as a better representation of cooking then most games at the time provided.

Read more about The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on Wikipedia.

Super Mario Odyssey


Commonly considered to be among the hallmark games for the system. This 3D platformer was noted for achieving some of the highest aggregate review scores of all time on release.

Read more about Super Mario Odyssey on Wikipedia.

Splatoon 2
Splatoon 2 was a popular continuation of the Splatoon series, sporting innovative shooter mechanics focused on map control and movement options.

The game featured integration with Miiverse, which was later spun off into its own communication functions after Miiverse proper ceased operation. Many gamers used this feature to promote a variety of causes in Inkopolis Square regarding topics outside of the game, ranging from bringing Black Lives Matter demonstrations, messages regarding the LGBTQ community, and demanding the release of Knack 2 for the PlayStation 4.

An unutilized function to check if the operating system was Windows 98 was included in the Splatoon 2 multiplayer software.

Read more about Splatoon 2 on Wikipedia.

2018

 * Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
 * Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!
 * Super Mario Party
 * Mario Tennis Aces
 * Kirby Star Allies
 * Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
 * Octopath Traveler
 * Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country
 * Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
 * Fitness Boxing

Nintendo Labo
Nintendo Labo was promoted on the Tonight Show with notable musicians performing a song using Labo instruments.

Read more about Nintendo Labo on Wikipedia.

Firewatch
The switch port of Firewatch included a hidden mini-game.

Read more about Firewatch on Wikipedia.

2019

 * Pokémon Sword and Shield
 * Luigi's Mansion 3
 * New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
 * The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
 * Super Mario Maker 2
 * Fire Emblem: Three Houses
 * Astral Chain
 * Yoshi's Crafted World
 * Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Port of CD Projekt Red's acclaimed RPG. Though visual quality had to be reduced to run on the switch, reviewers were still impressed by the ability of the game to run on Switch hardware at all due to it's reputation for being a computationally demanding game. Because of this, the Switch edition was often referred to as an "Impossible Port".

Read more about The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition on Wikipedia.

Ring Fit Adventure
Nintendo's exergame focused on arm movement using a custom Pilates Joycon holder known as a "Ring-Con" and a leg strap.

Read more about Ring Fit Adventure on Wikipedia.

2020

 * Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition
 * Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX
 * Paper Mario: The Origami King
 * Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise
 * Brigandine: The Legend of Runersia

Animal Crossing: New Horizons
A refresh of the Animal Crossing series, focused on homesteading a wild island with new crafting mechanics.

Read more about Animal Crossing: New Horizons on Wikipedia.

Good Job
A short physics puzzler about solving problems in an office as quickly as possible, regardless of mayhem caused.

Read more about Good Job! on Wikipedia.

Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics
A digital complication of various traditional board games from around the world.

Read more about Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics on Wikipedia.

Jump Rope Challenge
A simple free exergame released by Nintendo to give switch owners a simple workout activity they could perform while under lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Later on 3rd party manufactures released jump rope add on accessories for Joy-Cons intended for use with this game.

Read more about Jump Rope Challenge on Wikipedia.

Miitopia
Port of the casual 3DS RPG.

Read more about Miitopia on Wikipedia.

New Pokémon Snap
An updated take on the earlier Nintendo 64 game Pokémon Snap, featuring newer Pokemon and contemporary graphics.

Read more about New Pokémon Snap on Wikipedia.

Metroid Dread
This game stood out on a technical level, with reviewers noting speedy load times, quality graphics, and 5.1 surround sound support.

Read more about Metroid Dread on Wikipedia.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus
An open-world action RPG style Pokémon game.

Read more about Pokémon Legends: Arceus on Wikipedia.

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
An open-world RPG style Pokémon game.

Read more about Pokémon Scarlet and Violet on Wikipedia.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land
A Kirby game set in the ruins of an abandoned civilization.

Read more about Kirby and the Forgotten Land on Wikipedia.

Dragon Quest Treasures
A Dragon Quest spin off game about obtaining treasures.

Read more about Dragon Quest Treasure on Wikipedia.

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
Read more about Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope on Wikipedia.

Splatoon 3
A third person shooter known for its multiplayer.

Read more about Splatoon 3 on Wikipedia.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Read more about Xenoblade Chronicles 3 on Wikipedia.

Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes
A musou game set in the same setting as Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

Read more about Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes on Wikipedia.

Bayonetta 3
Read more about Bayonetta 3 on Wikipedia.

Mario Strikers: Battle League
A Mario themed football (American Soccer) game.

Read more about Mario Strikers: Battle League on Wikipedia.

Nintendo Switch Sports
A game developed by Nintendo similar in style to Wii Sports, albeit not as a launch pack in title.

Read more about Nintendo Switch Sports on Wikipedia.

Fire Emblem Engage
A mainline game in the Fire Emblem series.

Read more about Fire Emblem Engage on Wikipedia.

Metroid Prime Remastered
Enhanced Remake of the GameCube game.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
A sequel to Breath of the Wild featuring a similar overworld map with expanded areas, a new story, and different mechanics.

Read more about The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom on Wikipedia.

Pikmin 1
Rerelease of the GameCube game.

Pikmin 2
ReRelease of the GameCube game.

Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon
A prequel to Bayonetta.

Read more about Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon on Wikipedia.

Super Mario RPG
Enhanced remake of the SNES/Super Famicom Game.

Special Models
This section contains special editions and notable variants.

Special Editions

 * Animal Crossing: New Horizons edition - A Switch with pastel green and blue colors and a dock illustration.
 * LA Noire - Features art deco styling.
 * Mario - Features red and blue colors.
 * Crash Bandicoot N Sane Trilogy - Orange and Cyan, only 3 produced.
 * Pokemon Let's Go - Tan and Yellow Joycons with decal of Pikachu and Eevee.

Special Purpose

 * Starlight Gaming Station - A mobile kiosk version of the switch intended for hospital use.
 * Story Display Nintendo Switch Lite

External Resources

 * Official site
 * iFixit - Nintendo Switch page.