I don’t think the third-party dock market for general consumers is too big. But of course, any example I quote would be anecdotal as I dont have any actual stats.
It also breaks other stuff like being able to output video to portable video glasses. A relatively niche use now, but something that will pick up considerably over the life of the console.
Having a floating 4k screen that you can put anywhere at any size is pretty nice. Don’t have to look down at your hands or hold the system up to a comfortable eye line.
I do hope that at some point they open it up a bit more. And maybe only exclude stuff that would damage the system, which is ostensibly the -given- reason for locking it down. While of course, the real reason is likely a licensing opportunity.
I do still buy their stuff. But it has been more and more often lately that I buy it and then feel ok about emulating it to add in stuff like 4k 120 fps or VR/stereoscopic or whatever.
I have an USB hub with a Type C to HDMI output. I switch with my laptop, Steam Deck, and Switch 1. Additionally, when I’m traveling, I prefer to take the small USB hub over the chunky switch dock. My biggest gripe is how petty it is to disallow it. That’s like HP levels of petty… Actually, they’re really starting to adopt a lot of shitty HP policies.
That’s rich, from a company that stops making or never makes enough its first-party accessories. Ask anyone interested in getting an Ethernet adapter for Switch, or a first-party Gamecube adapter more than like 8 months after those products launched. Get on Amazon and try to buy an official Switch dock from Nintendo; there is no official outlet for them there, so you’re either buying pre-owned, or a lookalike knockoff, or an explicit knockoff, or something that MIGHT be real but it’s from a weird seller, at a suspiciously low price, with some random text in the item name. Christ, get on Gamestop’s website! They only have refurbs and pre-owned ones. It’s been like this for as long as I can remember. Nintendo cannot be trusted to make their own shit and trying to stop third parties from doing what they won’t is peak anti-consumer behavior. A classic Nintendo Move™.
ask anyone interesting in getting an Ethernet adaptor for switch
Then they had the balls to brag about having a real Ethernet port on the OLED’s dock as if it was some massive innovation and not something standard for the prior ~20 years.
The country where I live has this article available for free (other articles from the site do require a subscription, albeit they are labelled as such).
I normally post archive.is copies for subscription articles, I thought this was in open access.
How would it be? Unfortunately there are still a lot of consumer hostile practices going on that are completely legal in the EU. I‘m no expert of course so I‘m curious what EU law would regulate this exact practice.
EU made iPhone have proper USB C port, instead of proprietary stuff
It can probably do something about this too. I think USB C rule was only for phones so may not directly apply to Switch, but they can make Nintendo fix it.
most of the things i’ve read about this thing has been just more and more typical corpo user-hostile practices. if i ever had more than a passing interest in buying one, it would have been gone by now
Just by literally any of the other handheld PCS and just stick an emulator on it if you’re that interested in playing the games. The only reason to buy a Switch 2 is for convenience.
The problem is that the Steam Deck is nowhere near as powerful as the docked switch 2 at this point. I’m still gonna buy a Steam Deck instead of a Switch 2 because of Nintendo’s bullshit, but that kind of sucks.
I selected all and copy/paste before it popped up with the subscribe. It’s not perfect and I didn’t do any editing, but it’s readable.
Edit: now that I read it, I guess it’s not all there but TLDR there is encryption between the dock and console that prevents 3rd party docks.
How Nintendo locked down the Switch 2’s USB-C port and broke third-party docking
We whipped out a USB-C PD analyzer to test how Nintendo walled its garden this time around. by Sean Hollister Jul 2, 2025, 3:47 PM EDT
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If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement. Nintendo Switch 2 Photo: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Sean Hollister Sean Hollister is a senior editor and founding member of The Verge who covers gadgets, games, and toys. He spent 15 years editing the likes of CNET, Gizmodo, and Engadget.
There’s always a reason why universal USB-C ports don’t “just work” like you’d expect. In the early days, it was incompetence or naiveté. Later, manufacturers often cheaped out. But in the case of Nintendo’s Switch 2, it appears to be intentional.
With the Nintendo Switch 2, it should be easy to plug your new, more expensive console into video glasses or TVs when you’re traveling away from home. USB-C makes it so. But Nintendo has intentionally broken the Switch 2’s compatibility with those devices, using a new encryption scheme and some form of dedicated encryption chip, two accessory manufacturers tell The Verge.
I haven’t yet found proof of that encryption chip myself — but when I analyzed the USB-C PD traffic with a Power-Z tester, I could clearly see the new Nintendo Switch not behaving like a good USB citizen should. A third-party Switch dock, plugged into a USB-C PD tester, about to be plugged into the Switch 2. Please forgive the terrible photo. A third-party Switch dock, plugged into a USB-C PD tester, about to be plugged into the Switch 2. Please forgive the terrible photo. Photo: Sean Hollister / The Verge
If you’ve been wondering why there are basically no portable Switch 2 docks on the market, this is the reason. Even Jsaux, the company that built its reputation by beating the Steam Deck dock to market, tells us it’s paused its plans to build a Switch 2 dock because of Nintendo’s actions. It’s not simply because the Switch 2 now requires more voltage, as was previously reported; it’s that Nintendo has made things even more difficult this generation. How docking works
That “U” in USB isn’t always “universal,” but this is generally true: if you plug any USB-C to HDMI adapter, dock, or hub into a USB-C laptop, tablet or handheld that supports USB-C video output, you can expect to see your screen automatically appear on your TV.
The magic is normally possible because of a simple, standardized set of instructions that any manufacturer can follow to make their docking station or hub “talk” to the computer. Subscribe to The Verge to continue reading. More in this stream See all We confirmed Nintendo’s Switch 2 TV dock supports VRR — so why doesn’t it work with Switch 2? Sean HollisterJul 3 12 Can you spot an authentication chip in the Nintendo Switch 2’s dock? Sean HollisterJul 2 9 Obsbot will update its Tiny and Meet webcams for Nintendo Switch 2. Sean HollisterJul 2 More in Report We confirmed Nintendo’s Switch 2 TV dock supports VRR — so why doesn’t it work with Switch 2? We confirmed Nintendo’s Switch 2 TV dock supports VRR — so why doesn’t it work with Switch 2? Sean HollisterJul 3 12 Meet Soham Parekh, the engineer burning through tech by working at three to four startups simultaneously Meet Soham Parekh, the engineer burning through tech by working at three to four startups simultaneously Emma RothJul 3 20 Can the music industry make AI the next Napster? Can the music industry make AI the next Napster? Elizabeth LopattoJul 1 15 ‘We are the media now’ ‘We are the media now’ Mack DeGeurinJun 29 101 Reddit turns 20, and it’s going big on AI Reddit turns 20, and it’s going big on AI Jay PetersJun 28 24 The Nintendo Switch 2 webcam compatibility mystery is solved and updates are on the way The Nintendo Switch 2 webcam compatibility mystery is solved and updates are on the way Sean HollisterJun 26 14 Top Stories An hour ago The American system of democracy has crashed Two hours ago This is not a tattoo robot 2:37 AM EDT The Loop Micro is my new favorite bicycle phone mount Jul 3 Deerhoof did not want its music ‘funding AI battle tech’ — so it ditched Spotify Jul 3 Meet Soham Parekh, the engineer burning through tech by working at three to four startups simultaneously Jul 3 A guide to the best sci-fi streaming this summer
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In another post I wrote on this I encouraged the potential of 3rd party docks eventually happening
Thinking more on that I will say that nintendo probably did this because of third party docks damaging switches. I repaired a bunch of switches and a common issue I would see is a blown up pi3usb chip with often pcb damage leading to pin (iirc) 5. This was caused by cheap/shitty docks feeding too much power or incorrectly negotiating power delivery. It wasnt just like cheap AliExpress docks either, nyko, insignia(best buy), etc actual name brand docks would brick your switch.
Swapping the damaged chip for a good one would make the switch boot and work normally except it would only work in handheld mode. To work in dock mode you’d have to rebuild the damaged trace. Nintendo won’t do this; they would just replace the entire board, so to them this is a very costly repair (though tbf paying a tech labor to replace a chip and rebuild a trace is costly too as it’s much more skilled labor, requires more testing, and has a much higher potential for failure after repair)
That said I still think it’s a users right to use a third party dock if they so choose. Fuck nintendo. Though nyko should be on the hook to buy you a new switch if they design a piece of shit that wrecks your switch
Though nyko should be on the hook to buy you a new switch if they design a piece of shit that wrecks your switch
Nintendo also tried to lock down the Switch 1 docking, and 3rd party manufacturers had to hack together a workarounds. "When Nintendo released the original Switch in 2017, accessory makers similarly had to figure out how to crack Nintendo’s esoteric docking protocols, and some of them (Nyko) allegedly led to damaged handhelds."
I’d more blame that for causing the issues in the first place, if the Switch spoke standard USB-C, then all reputable docks would work with no weird hacks.
It is what it is. I had already accepted that I would probably buy it if/when Mario Odyssey 2 comes out, but then I saw the Nintendo Direct for the Donkey Kong game and it looks fucking dope. I think it’s the same team that did Mario Odyssey.
First party Nintendo games are really the only reason to own a Nintendo console anymore imo, and I could not care less about Pokemon and shit… But I’m a sucker for a good Mario game. The DK game looks like it’s on the scale of a Mario Odyssey or Breath of the Wild.
You do you, but I refuse to support a developer that routinely shits on any project their fans make and stifles emulation for consoles / games that they never plan to sell. Not to mention problems with their hardware and pricing.
In this day and age there are tons of amazing games in every genre, how much are you really missing out on by not playing Nintendo games?
Sigh, the more I read about Nintendo Switch 2… The more nonsense it becomes.
I actually was curious about the Switch 2 and was wondering about Donkey Kong Bananza. Though, the more I read, the more I hesitate to purchase one later on.
I will only purchase a Switch 2 once somebody comes up with a way to hack it (and assuming any modchip is not unreasonably difficult to install); if that doesn’t happen, fuck it, I’m gonna pass.
I mean, the Switch 1 also abused the heck out of the USB-C specification (I can’t find the really good write up anymore unfortunately :( ) Not surprising they would do something similar here. This post suggests it’s not actually that dire
The EU AFAIK only requires that USB-C charging needs to be compliant.
ETA: This is in no way me going in to bat for the big N
Ah, fair point. Still, I’m not too jazzed about Nintendo making their own USB standard. They may as well call it just SB, because there’s nothing universal about this.
Yeah the requirements are for USB-C power delivery for devices capable of charging @ (if I remember correctly) > 15W.
The requirement was placed in the radio equipment directive of the EU so unlikely they will amend it to add requirements for USB-C cabled data transmission.
Forza Motorsport coming out real mid was a huge surprise. It for so long was solidly competitive with Gran Turismo and then the last one just seems to have disappointed so many
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