I was going to post this as a comment on one of the several Nintendo Switch threads, but the detail is kind of important enough to warrant the attention of a separate thread.

The Nintendo Switch comes bundled with a pair of Joy-Con controllers and a grip which provides for better ergonomics. Up to this point, people had assumed that the bundled Joy-Con-Grip would be the same "Joy-Con Charging Grip" which will be sold separately for around $30. This however does not seem to be the case.

According to multiple sources, including Eurogamer, the grip bundled in the Nintendo Switch retail package will not have a USB-C port and as such can not charge the attached Joy-Con controllers. This means that, unless you purchase the $30 Charging Grip peripheral, the only way to charge the Joy-Con controllers is to detach them from the grip and re-attach them to a docked or charging Nintendo Switch console. Or you can buy the $70 Pro Controller and use that to play at home.

Then again, the New Nintendo 3DS XL did ship without a charger, so stuff like this might be familiar to existing Nintendo customers

Gallery

Wew lad. (That's it. That's all I got for this).

does the pro controller also has rechargeable battery?

So like the other console controllers? ok

So they can add straight up deception to what they've been showing. Every time they've shown off the grip, it has been the charging grip implying that that is what you will be getting. But nope. Just like the required Pro controller if you have hands bigger than Trump, and their shit-ass storage solution, it's something extra you need to pay for, raising the actual cost of the system up from $300.

Is the battery life for these known to be a problem? I know the life of the screen thing but I haven't heard anything about the Joy Cons themselves.

Console seems worse and worse with every bit of news i read.

From what I have read the battery life for each JoyCon is supposed to be around 20 hours. That certainly seems substantial enough that we won't be constantly looking to charge those things.

@sodapop7: all the impressions so far indicate that they seem to have decent battery life.

@skullpanda1: Ok then I really don't care, I had to pay 35 bucks for a charge and play thing on Xbox to stop burning through AA batteries on these. At least these charge out of the gate like the PS4. People are really nitpicking at this point.

@fugoy: I don't see that comparison working. The other controllers are just a single device that charges through a cable connection. You can charge those controllers without losing functionality. With the joy-cons charging this way you lose some part-or are at least limited-of the promised functionality. You either cannot play on your tv until they are done charging, or your portability is limited by being forced to plug the handheld in to charge the joy-cons. I wonder if they will charge from the tablet's battery; draining, what already seems to be a limited supply, even quicker. If what @telliot says, about the battery life being 20 hours for the joy-cons, is true then neither scenario seems like it will happen that often.

Personally I see myself playing at home more than on the go, so the full tablet will be docked at night to charge. I do think this is another seemingly greedy decision by Nintendo in regards to this console and it's accessories.

not a big deal, charge them on the main consolr. seems people came in with a lot of expectations founded on nothing. my only big concern is how they'll handle the paid online (another thing people are making gross assumptions about without having more information).

Ummm, no, the other console controllers you can just plug in and play while they charge, with this you are forced to use to tablet thing or just leave em charging if you want to play on a TV.

@ripelivejam: The problem with the charger is like @ericsmith mentioned, all the promo images suggest that the Joycon holder will charge the Joycons. That's not the case. Any other console all I need to charge the controller is a USB cable. With a Switch I either stop playing on my TV or I pay €30 to keep playing on a TV.

Additionally, what online stuff are you talking about? Because people assumed based on the wording that the games will only be available for a month - which Nintendo have since come out and clarified is in fact the case.

@onarum: You can only do that on the Xbox by buying the plug and play charge kit thing, unless they've changed what's bundled in. Which costs about 20-30 bucks. Only Playstation has that capability out of the box.

The joycon landing pad thing is such a monstrosity. It looks like an alternate universe original Xbox pad. If I'm getting the Switch when it's prices reasonably, I am absolutely getting a pro controller.

I also don't understand this charging grip and why the standard pad doesn't do that, just seems incredibly weird, even if it seems like it won't matter much.

Xbox has replaceable batteries, so with a bit of forethought (spares/rechargables) you at least don't have to put your controller down for X hours when the batteries run out.

@sodapop7: You can always plug the Xbox One controller into the console to use in wired mode, or you can just switch out the (rechargeable)batteries on the fly and continue playing. Like others have mentioned, when your battery runs out on the Joy-Con controllers you have to either stop playing or play in handheld mode unless you buy a peripheral.

@jesus_phish: cotrary opinions always! i can deal with moving to the tablet for awhile if i'm doing a long session. guess it sucks for those for whom it is an inconvenience or have to pay nintendo's blood money (not that they ever insinuated the grip would have charging capability).

hope they modify their online offerings, which is always possible. depending on price i may be ok with it to get online mario kart/splattoon/smash/etc. especially if it is a more stable and robust service. will probably cancel xbox live as i barely use that. it's the only real sticking bit with the console for me so far, personally.

That's stupid. Seriously stupid.

The closer we get to this thing, the more I don't care about it.

Wait, so the controllers ARE rechargeable out of the box? You just need to dock them to a charging Switch? That seems ok. Better than being forced to buy a bunch of batteries or a charger.

This is starting to feel like people piling onto No Man's Sky. "The premium charging grip is also made of sexier translucent black plastic, as opposed to the dull matte version bundled in the console box." It's like we're taking every opportunity to shit on this thing before it's even out.

@csl316: What if you want to continue to play on your TV but your controllers are dead? If you didn't spend the $30 for the charging base or the $70 for the pro controller you can't continue to play. Being unable to play on your TV while charging the controller makes for a really bad home console. Folks spend decent money on TVs and I know many who would love to be able to use them to play their new supposed home console hybrid. The switch should come with a charging base and not just the plastic shell.

Their MSRP is already overpriced so they could at least eat that single cost. Though I guess the 3DS XL did end up coming without the charger and folks still flocked to those ugly screens (OG 3DS is superior and XL is just too big and jaggies are so much more bothersome).

If the Joy Cons do have the rumored 20 hour battery life, then it won't be a problem. Especially since it charges while snapped into the Switch.

If they last 20 hours, it's a nonissue to me since I don't play for 20 hours straight. If I'm at home doing nothing I'll just charge my controllers and be good for a week. My Xbox One controllers last a week or two doing just that, and my PS4 controllers are routinely being charged after a play session.

If you play games for nearly a full day straight, taking a 3 hour break to charge them seems like a good thing to do, anyway.

I mean it'd be annoying to have to remove them from the grip and attach them to the tablet to charge them, but if the battery life is really 20 hours it's a bit of a nonissue. If the battery life was like, 6 hours like the PS4 controller it'd be a huge hassle.

I guess it is pretty bad if they haven't been clear in their messaging about the difference between the pack-in and retail grips, but I haven't really paid attention to anything post-stream.

@darkvare: I would be surprised if the pro controller isn't rechargeable. On Amazon Nintendo UK have priced it at £99.99 which is around $120 USD but it very well could be cheaper from the Nintendo website

You know rechargeable AAs exist right? The Xbox controller situation is way better than PS4's. Rechargeable batteries are cheaper and last far longer than a built in battery pack, and eventually PS4 controllers won't hold a charge.

This is kinda shitty messaging, but if I'm playing at home I'm definitely getting the pro controller for a better experience anyway.

Great Nintendo saves $1 by not having it included in the box and can sell an additional overpriced and useless accessory to players.

It's not a huge problem, but during the reveal event they were definitly not good at pointing this out. They even did a 'These products will be found in our box' segment, and after watching that no alarmbells started ringing for me. Kinda shitty.

Considering they have 20 hours of battery, its not really a big deal to me.