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greenmedic88 on 15 November 2016
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vivster said:
greenmedic88 said:

I'm willing to bet money that the Switch is not an Android OS based system. Software is Nintendo's domain and I would be very surprised if Android was the route they went.

In fact, I would interpret that directly as Nintendo's signaling of the white flag or exit strategy to leave the hardware/toy business and enter a strictly IP/game development business model. Maybe that model would include peripheral development, but that would demote them to a third party controller/accessory company, which while profitable, would be quite a step down from their existing brand. 

So why not? Piracy and maintaining strict control of their hardware/software ecosystem. 

You do know that "android based" and "being android" are different things?

Android is much like Linux very customizable while still using the same kernel. It would actually be very wise for Nintendo to go that route with Tegra, which is already a proven entity for that OS. It would basically open up a big pool of already proven Android games to come to the system. That would give the Switch more leverage when it comes to convincing mobile users to get a Switch.

Piracy and quality control are not Android problems but Google problems.

If you look closer then Android as a platform is as legitimate as any other gaming platform and does not lag behind in quantity or quality of games. For example it's the platform with the most DQ games ever.

Of course. It's the ability for every vendor to create their own version of Android that has resulted in the market fragmentation that makes iOS produce twice as much revenue on half as many downloads. 

While I don't know whether Nintendo would want to use Android any more than you do, the only reason would be as a shortcut.

You're probably thinking compatibility: the Android powered Switch would be able to play all the existing Android games/apps or something to that effect, but I'm thinking Nintendo wants to stamp its brand firmly on the Switch and the perception that it was powered by another flavor of Android, even if it was Nintendo's flavor wouldn't exactly help the product distinguish itself, and that would include having it run all the same Android apps that run on all the existing Android devices. 

But, as I said, I don't know. Only Nintendo's engineers and presumably any 3rd party software developers know. 

Even CNET reported:

What operating system is it running?

Great question. Nintendo typically rolls its own operating systems, and it probably will again, since purpose-built software is often more reliable and efficient. Or, it could be Android under the hood -- maybe a very, very lean, modified build of Android like the one Amazon uses on its tablets.