Nintendo NX is now Switch (Official thread) (1 Viewer)

[DaveF]

I admit I’m very cautious towards buying a Switch. It’s a $500 splurge for a toy I’m not sure of. And belatedly discovering I need to buy a dumb dongle that I fear will get lost or broken doesn’t help.

 

[JQuintana]

I admit I’m very cautious towards buying a Switch. It’s a $500 splurge for a toy I’m not sure of. And belatedly discovering I need to buy a dumb dongle that I fear will get lost or broken doesn’t help.

$500?? from where?

Dongle for what? Nice earbuds plug right into it.

It's $299 everywhere and probably could be a tad cheaper closer to holidays


https://www.target.com/p/nintendo-s...V1UsNCh3GyQjQEAkYASABEgIMXPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I think the issue is that you're looking for a USB solution but you should be looking for a 3.5 mm solution. The USB-C jack is on the bottom of the Switch (and people have been complaining about that since the console launched, but it's mainly supposed to be for the dock and not really much else). The 3.5 mm headphone jack port is on the top of the console. You should look for a 3.5 mm adapter with bluetooth support. Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/TROND-Bluetooth-Transmitter-Simultaneously-CD-Player/dp/B01B4W40VC/

That's just one example. There are cheaper ones, too.

 

[Ruz-El]

Honestly, seeing all these bluetooth posts, the Switch isn't for you if this is the breaking point. I'm sure you can find plenty of great gaming experiences on your cellphone or tablet that will meet your travelling needs.

 

[JQuintana]

My son decided he wanted to get a wired controller for the switch BUT wanted it to be attached to the actually Switch, not the dock. We bought a $9 USB-C adapter at Best Buy to attach the controller to the Switch. I think it's kinda silly to do, but he enjoys it so it is what is.

 

[DaveF]

Dongle for what? Nice earbuds plug right into it.

It’s as if you haven’t read a word I’ve written.

 

[DaveF]

I think the issue is that you're looking for a USB solution but you should be looking for a 3.5 mm solution. The USB-C jack is on the bottom of the Switch (and people have been complaining about that since the console launched, but it's mainly supposed to be for the dock and not really much else). The 3.5 mm headphone jack port is on the top of the console. You should look for a 3.5 mm adapter with bluetooth support. Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/TROND-Bluetooth-Transmitter-Simultaneously-CD-Player/dp/B01B4W40VC/

That's just one example. There are cheaper ones, too.

Thanks. It’s rechargeable which is good. But, these things are $30 and so janky. (Sigh)

Honestly, seeing all these bluetooth posts, the Switch isn't for you if this is the breaking point. I'm sure you can find plenty of great gaming experiences on your cellphone or tablet that will meet your travelling needs.

What I don’t get is why BT is such a big ask? Everything *eveything* has Bluetooth. I’ve got a $20 Bluetooth waterproof speaker I travel with. But a high end portable game console — where Bluetooth headphones are an obvious match — doesn’t support a bog standard feature? I don’t get it.


As for pricing, buying a console isn’t just the price of the base unit. Buying into the switch costs $500:
$300 console
$100 accessories (BT adapter, memory card, case, USB C cable)
$100 for a couple games

 

[Morgan Jolley]

The Switch has a similar feature set to the PS4 and Xbox One, it's "real" competition. Neither of those has bluetooth support out-of-the-box. So not *everything* has bluetooth. Additionally, I don't think it's that crazy of Nintendo to assume that people would use the Switch with headphones that plug into it instead of BT because you're most likely holding the Switch in your hands rather than putting it in your pocket or using it without looking at it like a phone. The BT use case is different with phones from gaming systems. The PS Vita, 3DS, etc. never supported bluetooth.

I personally don't really consider phones and tablets to be "gaming" platforms. They're more like mobile platforms that also play games, but as a secondary function rather than a primary driver of sales and usage. So arguing that a $1000 phone has bluetooth support while a $300 game system does not isn't a fair comparison.

The bluetooth adapter I linked to was to give you an idea of the type of adapter that could work. I'm not necessarily recommending THAT adapter, but rather just showing it as an option of that style. Amazon has several similar ones that are under $20 that will honestly work fine for the Switch. Janky or not, it's a solution.

Are there any games that you're interested in for the Switch? I mean, if a "janky" $20-30 adapter to let you use $300 headphones with a $300 game system is the ONLY thing holding you back, how interested are you in the platform to begin with?

 

[JQuintana]

It’s as if you haven’t read a word I’ve written.

But I have. You are angry that Switch won't support your higher end BT headphones so you are at the point that you may not buy a Switch because of that. Correct?

I find it hard to believe that for those times you are actually on a plane you can't toss in your iPhone earbuds into your carry-on that holds your Switch and just sit and enjoy the Switch for what it is. That in itself baffles me because the solution for those 2-3 hours is so so simple.

Did I miss something else? All I've seen with your last few posts is your mad you can't listen to the Switch via BT.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

You do have a point. Dave could buy a $20-30 adapter to use his BT headphones or just buy a $2 pair of wired earbuds.

 

[Sam Posten]

PS4 supports BT out of the box. I still think this is a dumb argument.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Umm...I have a launch model PS4 and I believe only the controllers are bluetooth. It doesn't support bluetooth headphones natively. You need an adapter (like a USB dongle).

 

[Sam Posten]

Ah you are right, I forgot it was just controllers. Sorry.

 

[DaveF]

Are there any games that you're interested in for the Switch? I mean, if a "janky" $20-30 adapter to let you use $300 headphones with a $300 game system is the ONLY thing holding you back, how interested are you in the platform to begin with?

But I have. You are angry that Switch won't support your higher end BT headphones so you are at the point that you may not buy a Switch because of that. Correct?

I find it hard to believe that for those times you are actually on a plane you can't toss in your iPhone earbuds into your carry-on that holds your Switch and just sit and enjoy the Switch for what it is. That in itself baffles me because the solution for those 2-3 hours is so so simple.

Did I miss something else? All I've seen with your last few posts is your mad you can't listen to the Switch via BT.

You do have a point. Dave could buy a $20-30 adapter to use his BT headphones or just buy a $2 pair of wired earbuds.

I'm flying about 50,000 miles a year. Not a huge amount, but a fair bit. It's about 12 hours a month on a plane. I no longer use earbuds on planes. Planes are too loud; you have to crank up the sound pretty loud to hear over the cabin noise with open earphones. I have expensive NC headphones for a reason. Because good NC is expensive and because I'm traveling enough and have enough hearing problems now that I'm not using earbuds on a plane.

If I still traveled with my wired NC headphones, this would be a non-issue. But I've finally moved to wireless. And in comparison, wired headphones suck. They're so 2017. I'm done with them in my personal life.

As for what games: Everyone says Zelda and Mario are very good. And Mario Kart is fun for the few minutes I've played at a BestBuy demo. It's hard to know what's actually good since I haven't had a Nintendo console since the GameCube.

As for dongles: my sense is having a wired dingus dangling from the Switch while I'm playing is not acceptable. Especially not at $30. The USB adapters are too big, and will get broken. And I don't think any of these fit in a slim case. Because, again, plane. Carry-on space in my satchel is limited and I'm looking for minimalistic cases.

I keep hearing there are $10 tiny adapters. I can't find them. I'm looking for the Switch rev 2 with built in BT, and lacking that a third-party slim-profile adapter. But as I posted with a screen cap of Amazon search results, top results are large-ish $30 - $40 adapters.

As for comparison to PS4 and Xbox: they're not portable. I have the Sony headphones connected to my PS4 with its USB dongle. The PS4 is in an equipment rack in the media room. I don't carry it around. It's not used on a seatback tray table. It's not at any risk of being lost or broken. Portable console has different expectations to me than a home console.


I get the confusion over how I can decide not to spend $500 over a $30 dingus. I can be that way when it comes to Apple devices. But here in the video game world, I'm Average Joe. I'll play a few days a month. I think the Switch would be an affordable, but really expensive splurge. And I'm disappointed it doesn't do something basic I need, and lacks a simple solution that fits precisely my needs.

I've got so many ways I can entertain myself, so many things I can spend money on. That $500 could be pay for in-flight wifi for the next year or two of travel. It's more than halfway to a new iPad Pro. It's four of Hulu or CBS. So yes, I'll not buy a console because of a $30 dongle. It's a simple, pragmatic decision.

 

[DaveF]

An I appreciate the efforts to help me, especially @Morgan Jolley 's suggestions on possible adapters. I'm being super picky because I want what I want. And for this category, I often don't buy what I don't exactly want.

 

[LeoA]

One option if you're unsure is to just wait. The rumor mill in recent weeks has been going on about a Switch revision for 2019. It may offer what you're looking for.

There's no set trend here when Nintendo releases hardware revisions, but it frequently has happened early in the year. So we could see this rumored revision on store shelves pretty soon if there's any truth to it all.

Then again, it could be easily be a year from now.

 

[Sam Posten]

Friend code for Diablo Switch: SW-1804-2497-1309

 

[DaveF]

"Diablo III leads our list of older games born anew on Nintendo Switch | Ars Technica" (https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018...-of-older-games-born-anew-on-nintendo-switch/)

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that the Switch v2 (and probably any future versions) won't support bluetooth headphones. Main reason? The JoyCons are bluetooth, the console can support up to 8 controllers at once, and I doubt they'll either change the antenna configuration or remove support for 1-2 JoyCons in order to add support for headphones. And of the rumors for the Switch v2, none of them have mentioned support for bluetooth headphones. Sure, it could be a feature (not being mentioned so far is not proof that it will never happen) but I see Nintendo pulling a Nintendo and offering a goofy solution, like supporting bluetooth headphones through your phone, rather than straight-up offering what you're looking for.

Honestly, a USB-C adapter to support wireless headphones is probably not a good idea, period. The port is on the bottom of the console and you would need some sort of stand to hold it up a good 1/2" or more in order to use it (which means another thing to purchase unless you plan on holding the Switch the entire time you use it).

Again, your best bet would be something that goes in the headphone jack, not the USB port. The one example I shared was $30 but I did see cheaper options on Amazon and elsewhere. Some of them would fit in a slim case with the Switch, and even if they didn't they are still small enough to fit in just about anything.

 

[JQuintana]

Talking about tuning out plane noise. I find that with earbuds like these are great at blocking noise as well as WAY more comfortable than the Apple style earbuds (which I hate).