| RolStoppable said: A clamshell design would be better suited for another handheld-only revision of the current Switch, but an immediate question is how to integrate sticks that double as a button in order to be compatible with all games. A clamshell essentially forces circle pads in place of sticks. Integrating a second battery in the top half is a stupid idea. It would increase the thickness of the device considerably while adding weight to the half of the system that isn't being held with the hands. You'd need some very sturdy hinges for that, but aside from that, the console would be too heavy to be comfortable to hold for longer play sessions (everything above an hour). Since you'd have built-in controls, the chipset and battery all located in the bottom half, you'd have to make big concessions to the size of the battery. That's the reason why the Switch Lite revision opted for the wider design instead of a clamshell. As technology and battery efficiency improves, you could eventually make a Switch revision with a clamshell design, but for a new console it just wouldn't work because you'd either have a system that is too bulky or comes with atrocious battery life. From a marketing standpoint, you'd also have the problem that you'd be making a handheld that connects to the TV because the console would have to ship with a separate controller for TV usage. |
The GPD Win 2 has analog sticks that are clickable (or can be modded to click I guess, either way it's doable).
It also has a way, way, way bigger battery than the Switch (double the battery life for 8-9 hours usage), so that form factor, while yes is thicker, actually allows for more space for a battery.
A battery behind an LCD doesn't necessarily need to be thick, it can be a thin battery that goes across the size of the LCD at the top while being thin throughout for probably a 500-1000 MaH battery. That basically offloads the need for the base unit to power the LCD at all.
This is an ion lithium battery for example which is 1mm thick (which is probably overkill but doable), since there's a lot of deadspace behind a large display you could have a larger one than this but keep the thiness:
In thickness overall I think you're talking the same thickness as a 3DS/DS which is thicker than a Switch, but only about as wide as a Switch Lite (so less wide than a normal Switch w/Joycons attached). This would actually give you room for a far larger battery than what is there now (4310 MaH).
Last edited by Soundwave - on 13 May 2020
