Looks like no 3G/LTE or Upgradable Battery for Nintendo Switch =(

[Cloudman]

KBG29 said:

Cloudman said:

I still feel you 2 are putting a much bigger importance on this one function that it would actually be. All those things mention on the things you could do with the switch: watching youtube videos, checking facebook, chatting with friends, and other reasons listed, are not really important for the switch to have. That is what a phone is for. People don't need 2 devices that can do this. The Switch will be for what it is designed to do best: play games where eve, whenever, and that's okay. I'm no no way trying to belittle the casual market or say they're not important. 3G/LTE just doesn't seem that necessary, when all the functionalities mentioned work just fine, and likely better on phones. Besides, are people really going to be using this device to be doing all those things anyways, especially when they have a phone? Probably not.

I don't think it's easy to conclude that PS4 and XBO are succeeding because they can do multiple functions in one device. I think it comes back to the games. They have more than enough games to appeal to the masses and Sony has done great with the marketing to find the device appealing. I mean, the device that was even promoted as an all-in-one device, the XBO, isn't selling as well as the PS4, which pushes the games. So yeah, if the Switch is at a good price, appealing games, and just overall look like a worthwhile item to own, it should be fine.

Also, with the addition of 3G/LTE possibly just draining the battery quicker or adding more cost to the device, due to possibly needing fees for a data plan or something, and it not possibly being that great of internet speed, doesn't seem that much of a risk to me to have it included either.

I completely understand that 3G/LTE, and comunicating via a console/handheld is a foreign idea. However, if it was included as an option, and marketed well, it could be looked at as a great alternative to a phone for some people. There was a point in time when communicating via your iPod was not the norm either. Including an always online option for Switch would only expand the potential of the device. Honestly, if it came down to $299.99 for a wifi Switch, and $399.99 for a LTE Switch, I would buy the LTE model every time, even if I don't plan to use it, I at least have the option in the future.

As for the expanded features of the PS4 and XBO doing some heavy lifting. I can not show proof, I really don't know how big of an effect it has. What I do know, is just based off of the couple hundered people I know with consoles, about 97% of them only have one because of those features. I 100% know that the lack of Phone capabilities is why only, my brother, one friend, and myself have Vita's, compaired to nearly every one of my friends and family members having owned the PSP.

In the end, it comes down to this. LTE gives the potential for massive growth. Without this, the chance that Nintendo gains back a large portion of thier userbase is very slim, if not impossible. As someone who loves consoles/handhelds, talks consoles/handhelds everywhere, understands the need for more casual audeince, and thrives for great selling points to be able to plant a seed in people head. The lack of this gives me nothing to work with. With iPhone when people said, yeah, but it's just an MP3 player, I could say, but it is also a phone, and offers e-mail, texting, and internet everywher = Buys and Spreads the word. When I talk Switch, people will say, but it's just a game device, ... .... yeah, that's it = No Sale.

Well, it's not that communicating via game devices is a foreign concept, but that it won't be a primary way to do so. I doubt any sort of device will be a replacement to a smartphone, aside from an updated one, and a game console I don't see being one of those things to do so. I also don't think a more expensive version of the Switch, especially at $399 is going to sell well.

As far as I know, the people I do know who have consoles use them primarily for games, with a few of them also using it for other apps, such as netflix, and I don't know anyone who owns a Vita. Everyone has and uses a phone though.

I won't discard the idea that LTE could be a benefit to consoles, but I'm still on the side that it's not really that important, and not one of the things to save portable gaming nor a contributing factor. Games are the primary purpose for buying them, with other apps being a nice addition to them, which allows people to get other sorts of entertainment aside from games. I don't see people doing it for other reasons besides games, though. I have a hard time believing that people thought of an iphone primarily for music and not as a phone. I think it's the opposite of that. It playing music is just one of the features of a smartphone, and smartphones are just the standard devices for communication, among many other things.