INDY

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Revision as of 04:16, 22 March 2022 by RedBees (talk | contribs)

The INDY was the codename of a cancelled system planned by Nintendo and STMicroelectronics in 2013-14, possibly as a successor to the 3DS and/or Wii U.

As some early files referring to the Nintendo Switch are named "NewSwitch", it seems like the INDY was the initial concept for the Switch.

The exact timeframe of the project is unclear, but it seems to have been started in 2012 and cancelled at some point around December 2014.

The planned release date of the system is also unclear, however based on delivery schedules a late 2015/early 2016 release may have been the target.

Hardware

  • 4 ARM Cortex-A53 cores (the Nvidia Tegra X1 SoC used in the final Switch also has 4 ARM Cortex-A53 cores, however they are disabled and unused due to a silicon defect; instead, 4 ARM Cortex-A57 cores are used by applications)
  • Graphics core (sometimes mentioned with the name "Decaf Latte", implying that it would have been a copy of the Wii U's graphics core)
  • 1GB of LPDDR3 RAM (the final Switch uses 4GB of LPDDR4)
  • 1 3D touchscreen display with a 1280x800 (800p) resolution
  • 1 front camera, 2 rear cameras
  • Built-in NFC interface (implying that detachable controllers were not used)
  • Accelerometer & gyroscope
  • GPS
  • PCIe expansion interface for a "Toronto" SoC by Sharp which would have provided 3DS compatibility
  • Game cartridge slot

Software

A Linux-based OS was to be used for bringup (similarly, Android was used for bringup of the final Switch), and was being considered for use as "diagnostic software" in production. A custom OS developed by Nintendo was to be used as the main production OS. NintendoSDK has support for the A53 CPU used by the INDY.