A lot of the statistics contained in the recent Nintendo financial report covered how successful the company had been in business terms, but equally important is what it is doing to combat climate change and its negative impact on the environment. Fortunately, the follow-up presentation outlined the steps that the company is making in this field, notably concerning energy usage in its consoles and reductions to unnecessary packaging.
The first of these points is less about what Nintendo is going to do to combat its energy consumption, and more about what it already has done on this front. The presentation notes how the Switch has continually reduced its energy usage since its release in 2017. While the original console released all those years ago would use (on average) 12w when played in docked mode, the current model only uses 7w and the OLED is even more efficient on 6w.
Of course, these figures are but an estimate and power consumption will vary depending on the software and usage conditions. This being said, the move towards a console with a reduced environmental impact is always a plus.
The report also confirms Nintendo's plans to make its Switch boxes 18% smaller (more in line with the OLED packaging) by the end of 2022. Such a proposal was revealed back in August, though it was emphasised for its proactivity in combatting supply issues back then (something that Nintendo is still having to navigate today). It makes sense - smaller boxes = more space to pack 'em in for worldwide distribution. But there is also the environmental implications of this, where fewer trains, planes and boats are needed to get the products out in the world. This reduces the footprint of console distribution and the smaller boxes lead to a reduction of waste in the long-term - it's a win-win.
Nintendo's environmental considerations may not be the most radical policies we've ever heard - heck, one of them has been introduced already - but seeing any big company look to help out with climate change is always refreshing. Hopefully this will inspire more noteworthy changes in the future.
For more noteworthy points that we discovered in the Nintendo financial report's follow-up presentation, check out the following stories:
What do you think Nintendo could do better to combat climate change? Let us know in the comments below!
[source nintendo.co.jp]
Comments 22
That power consumption stuff is especially important to me. Haha, incredibly high energy prices...
To be fair, it's not hard to position the Switch as the more economical console when the other two are raising game prices and console prices (mostly Sony because of ballooning budgets to be fair, but Xbox seems intent to follow), and they also drink electricity like a drunk goes through wine.
Who knew stepping away from the graphical arms race would mean you can make a profit on every console sold, giving you greater price flexibility if needed instead of selling for a loss and then raising prices so you don't sell for even more of a loss, and also meaning you don't have to spend as much on games meaning those orofits don't just go into the next sequel, but across the business to fund more variety and niche products to get a broader userbase buying the console that makes a profit.
Funny that
So would the energy efficiency of the OLED be a good thing to bring up to my partner to justify why I need one then?
I still have the OG Pikachu/Eevee switch and i play exclusively docked save for rhythm games, so he see's it as pointless.
I'm joking... mostly, but damn that Sploon3 one looks fresh.
Another company making cost savings and then trying to play that it's an environmental benefit, pfft. .
Is there any option to remove Nintendo Life's related articles? It's so annoying.
@dew12333 It's both, not a binary issue. They aren't mutually exclusive.
Make the system more power efficient, cheaper for consumer to use, especially now.
Less packaging? Cheaper to make, less waste, can transport more units at once as each takes less space.
@Haruki_NLI it is both. But they didn’t do it for the environment. They did it to reduce shipping costs and packaging. Because shipping costs and packaging were the primary reasons bringing up the environment benefits sure sounds more like marketing than anything else.
@dew12333 Yep, and I'm usually the first person to defend Nintendo on most things....
But this is clearly a cost reduction lever, packaging and logistics costs. Nothing wrong with that, but they could be transparent about it - we're reducing these costs AND helping the environment...
@sixrings Sure. But is it a bad thing that they dont feel the need, in a slide to investors, state outright "Cheaper innit"?
I imagine right now, pushing this angle is to get more investors, because no duh it's cheaper, all these people care about is money, but if you can highlight it's environmental too, chances are you can pull some more investors in.
And let's be honest, everything in these slides is marketing, environmental or not. Look how well out games sell, invest in us please. Look at our subscribers, give us more money now.
Plus, I recall Nintendo had in previous years come under fire from various angles for not being transparent enough or doing enough with environmental responsibility. I can imagine this is now going to be a regular thing with the environment becoming more of an issue, and the history of groups going "Are you sustainable?"
In terms of energy usage. The Switch wins big time compared to PS5, Xbox and PC. It's one of the main selling points if you want to game as "green" as possible
@Pillowpants i would love to see some stats about how many people purchase their system bases it off its environmental packaging. Maybe I live in my own weird world where I get at least a couple packages bigger than a switch box delivered to my house daily by Amazon. I must be a green monster but I do recycle.
Let's be honest if it was more expensive they wouldn't give a s*** about the environmental benefit lol
I mean if Nintendo want to go extremely environmentally friendly, my suggestion is scrap the Switch and start back up the Wii U.
Make the demand for games and the console non existent and you have yourself a winner. Very very environmentally friendly.
Might go bankrupt, but hey that helps too in this aspect.
Bailey5000 wrote:
Wii U actually used around 32W in use on a TV whereas the Switch uses just 12W / 7W / 6W (og, revision, OLED). Benefit of designing around mobile use meant efficiency was key.
For comparison an Xbox Series X uses about 7.4 in rest mode and 170-200+W in use when gaming.
Wouldn’t a digital only system be the most environmental friendly. Or what about Xbox which is going to just let you use an app on your smart tv and stream the service. Even better. But give them a check for being environmentally conscious.
@sixrings Digital only depends on whether or not data is saved on the cloud or not. Cloud server parks are not environment friendly.
Nintendo has now lauded the Wii, Wii U and Switch as all being low energy consuming and power efficient. This is a little worrying for the raw tech specs of the Switch 2, especially as a lot of us just want the docked horsepower to be much better.
@Slowdive ok Nostradamus
@Slowdive
Ummm ok....
In comparison, the both xbox series consoles use 10 watts just in standby and PS5 350 watts in gameplay. I predict the Switch to sell well this holiday season in the UK.
This hobby of ours isn't exactly an environment-friendly one (as with most, if not all, electronic hobbies), so as long as product quality isn't compromised and Ninty doesn't go overboard believing every single climate scare that crawls out of the woodwork, every little bit helps.
The reduced power consumption is nice, but really 12w was already incredibly low. My TV uses something like 100w, so that 6w reduction is largely irrelevant.
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