Nintendo Switch Hits The FCC, Battery Cannot Be Upgraded

By Edwin Kee
Nintendo Switch label in an FCC filing
 FCC

Are you all prepared for what Nintendo has in store for you in the coming months? We do know that the Nintendo Switch is being prepared to meet the March 2017 release date, so those of you who received cash gifts over the holiday season, you might want to look into saving up that money for a spring purchase of Nintendo’s latest hybrid console that can be carried around to be played outdoors when you want to, and dock it when you are back home to enjoy a large screen gaming experience. Well, it looks like the Nintendo Switch has hit the FCC, which is more often than not a pointer that a particular electrical device is being readied for a commercial release. What we found out in this new FCC filing is the fact that the Nintendo Switch will not be accompanied by a removable battery.

So what do we know about the Nintendo Switch at the moment? For starters, it will have an NVIDIA graphics chipset underneath the hood, and can offer a gaming experience in front of the TV as well as while you are on the move. With the latest FCC filing, the Nintendo Switch is said to come with a non-removable battery. Is this good or bad? That really depends on the end user, but a removable battery offers you the option of swapping batteries rather than waiting for it to charge up at a power outlet while you are up and about. Of course, there is always the argument in which one can make -- use a power bank and there is no need for removable batteries. It really depends on which side of the coin you are looking at.

Of course, some folks are not too happy that the Wii U’s gamepad did not have that great a battery life, and Nintendo smoothed ruffled feathers by offering a high-capacity battery pack which helped to increase the runtime to a whopping 8 hours. This will not be possible at all with the upcoming Nintendo Switch, as it does not look as though it will have the kind of additional space to stash away a larger battery.

While we know that their experiment with mobile gaming in the guise of Super Mario Run on the iOS platform (and then Android in due time) did not really take off as expected, mainly due to the high entry price of $10 a pop, this has not stopped Nintendo from pursuing that vision as they have already outlined plans to roll out at least 2 to 3 more games for smartphones in 2017. Couple that with the Nintendo Switch’s expected March 2017 release date and a blockbuster title like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and chances are 2017 is not going to be too shabby for the Japanese video game giant at all.

What do you think of the upcoming Nintendo Switch? Do you figure out that it will be able to hold its own against the Xbox One and PS4, which are clearly more superior in ters of hardware? Only time will be able to tell and provide the right hindsight.