A Nintendo patent listing made all the way back in June, but only released today, strongly hints Nintendo may be planning VR for the Switch, at least in some shape or form. Although the listing does not specifically state VR, it does say;
“An HMD accessory to be described below as an example accessory can be used as a so-called HMD (head mounted display) with the main unit 2 attached thereto.”
Reading this, it appears to be a reference to the portable screen of the console system, being able to be mounted to some sort of attachment for your head. This does not indicate that the Switch is capable of VR, but it does seem as though they are taking inspiration from the HMD aspect of it. However, further on in the patent, it goes on to say;
“the HMD accessory 230 may present images of a wide viewing angle to a user by enlarging the viewing angle of the images on the display 12 through the lenses.”
This clearly refers to the uses of lenses, of which you’d find in a VR headset. The patent also refers to the tracking of movement via sensors, it states;
“the HMD accessory 230 may transmit the detection results of the sensors”
If Nintendo is indeed planning VR for the Switch, it needs to be asked why they haven’t said anything. The console is set to be released in January 2017, it seems strange they’d hold back on what would be a massive selling point. If they would have announced this product along with the console, I think interest in the unit would have been considerably more. As it stands, we are not sure how well the console will be received in January, or how many units they will actually sell, but it needs to be asked, would this console see more sales if this planned accessory was announced officially before launch day?
What do you think?
Here is a link to the patent if you want to have a look for yourself.
It’s set to be launched march 2017, not January.