It turns out Nintendo Switch 2's Piranha Plant webcam comes with a shockingly low resolution

The Piranha Plant camera for Nintendo Switch 2 looks great, but its resolution is limited to 480p, compared to the official webcam's 1080p.

[darthv72]

Even better... the lower the res, the less bandwidth it will use to transmit video while playing. Besides, i dont think anyone will be buying it to actually use... I'm getting it just for the aesthetic. Maybe another company (or Hori themselves) can offer a Lakitu holding the video camera while riding a cloud like he does in the game. That would be another cool one to have.

[Cacabunga]

🤦🏻 what we shouldn’t be hearing..
So you prefer it because it’s low resolution? Just wow!
If for the look you can get piranha night lamp 10 times cheaper

[goken]

My thoughts exactly… that take… just wow

[GamerRN]

Yeah an easier solution to low bandwidth would be to use a 4k camera, and allow you to choose to broadcast in lower res for bandwidth preservation.... Not force poor quality

[Tacoboto]

Question tho - what about the matching Printer? Bring back Gameboy Camera + Printer and reboot Mario Paint with it all too

[ZycoFox]

It should be cheaper because of the lower resolution, now if it could switch between 480p and 720p it would be good enough.

The sites I've seen selling it don't even state a resolution in the description.

[FIELDMARSHALL_P]

Your comment is wild they could've done a better camera than that. The only thing I agree with is the idea about Lakitu.

[sinspirit]

Actually, if you're overlaying yourself on top of your game stream you've not changed anything bandwidth wise.

[MetroidFREAK21]

Ummm

[Profchaos]

This is a hori product which I've always felt the build quality was a bit iffy on their gamepads so to see them passive off a low resolution camera is unsurprising

[gold_drake]

is it shocking?

really?

its funny tho, the camera is 34 moneys woth 480p resolution only, i found one for 11 with 1080p resolution haha wat a rip off ha

[RpgSama]

Dude, I was SO ready to give Nintendo my money for the Switch 2, I've been wanting to buy a portable for a while and didn't pull the plug because I was waiting for the Switch 2.

Now I just want Nintendo to fail, I sincerely hope they do, because this is just absurd at this time, this is worse than PS3 era Sony at this point.

[Cacabunga]

Actually the multiple fails since reveal event just made me start playing switch again because i know i won’t be getting this thing anytime soon. The more i hear of it the less i want it..

[neutralgamer1992]

Exactly this is sony level obnoxious behavior from Nintendo. So much of switch 2's reveal is anti consumer. Like Zelda remastered not including expansions. I really hope switch 2 struggles so Nintendo have to change their policies. Early struggles will give Nintendo a much needed wake up call

But let's be honest it's Nintendo system will do well. They have dabs who will defend them no matter what

[MeteorPanda]

Ps3 era made sense, it was the cheapest bluray player at the time

[Knushwood Butt]

You can get a $20 expansion pass that upgrades the resolution to 720I.

[LonDonE]

LMAO thanks man i needed that lol... you made me break into a full blown laugh where i am literally sitting here crying.. its 7am here in the uk and now my wife has woken up hearing me laugh my ass off.. asking whats to funny.. now she can make me some breakfast.. haa
On a serious note.. man Nintendo take the biscuit and have the cheek to also ask for some nutella..
Like you can literally by 4k webcams for £50 which auto follow you and have remotes etc

I have my switch 2 pre ordered as i love all things Nintendo but i wont be bothering with the cam etc
I suspect they will allow third party cams to work as the wording used around usb c cameras seems like it will be allowed.. but time will tell. Thanks for the laugh i needed it.. had a looong week at work.

[Hedstrom]

Of course it is!

[Knightofelemia]

Not surprised.

[Chocoburger]

The shocking low resolution fits well with how shockingly low resolution third party games will run at.

[Elda]

At this very point of time no one wants muddy unclear visuals, the camera should be 4k or at least 1080p.

[DodoDojo]

The official is 1080p, this a third-party camera from Hori.

[Elda]

Hori needs to stop making 480p cameras, 480p resolution is obsolete.

[Profchaos]

Copy and paste from the article

Get the official webcam for better video quality
While the Piranha Plant Camera looks fun and unique, it’s not the best option if quality is important to you. This is because Nintendo also has an official webcam for the Switch 2 that offers much better visuals (and it’s available in the US). This camera plugs into the console's USB-C port, has a wide-angle lens that can be adjusted freely, and includes a high-sensitivity sensor that automatically adjusts brightness.

Most importantly, it offers 1080p resolution, which means clearer, sharper video quality. And it's not even that much more expensive, as the official webcam costs £49.99, which is only £16 more than the Piranha Plant Camera when comparing the UK prices. We’d like to see a 4K camera, but 1080p isn’t the end of the world.

[Knushwood Butt]

You can get a 1080p webcam with mic for less than 10 GBP.

[Profchaos]

That's the thing though not all 1080p cameras are created equally i got a cheap 30 dollar one when I started working from home it was 1080 and garbage image I quickly replaced that with a $100 Logitech one and it's a world of difference.

I assume this is just going to be plug and play USB C camera standard protocol stuff so I don't expect anyone couldn't just use whatever camera they already have lying around to including the old PS4 camera if you also had a vr you have a webcam.

Just get a USB C adaptor and I'm confident it'll work

[RhinoGamer88]

Nintendo, failing hard in 2025!

[Profchaos]

It's a third party product the official one is 1080p

[RhinoGamer88]

Yes, but Nintendo approves the design/product or it does not release. They are accountable...

[anast]

Count on Nintendo to charge a high price for the lowest quality possible.

[Profchaos]

It's a third party product the official is 1080p

[jjb1981]

They have a1080p expansion card for $20 extra a year with the Nintendo online subscription.

[z2g]

when it comes to Nintendo, low spec is hardly ever shocking.

[Profchaos]

It's third party

[fsfsxii]

480p with the horrible bit rate as seen in the trailer? Boy, this will be a doozy. Even the 1080p camera with that bitrate is horrible.

[UltimateOwnage]

That one is a cheap decorative camera. Cool idea, but not surprised it’s got some tradeoffs. The regular one is 1080p and that’s fine for that it will be used for.

[Profchaos]

In typical hori fashion they blow all their money on licensing out an ip which means the build quality always suffers or there's other concessions made.

[zero_jp]

Nintendo is allowed to cheap out on everything. From hardware. To the non oled screen. To the worse battery life. To ridiculously priced games. To the over priced system.

At what point will they ever be held accountable for anything? I don’t get why they get away with everything simply because they’ve been making things people love since the 80’s?

And if this was Xbox or PlayStation they’d be getting their backs blown out by anyone and everyone. The pass the Nintendo gets is so egregious it’s become a joke.

[jznrpg]

Hori should have at least went with 720p.

[Abear21]

Nintendo: yesterdays tech at tomorrow’s prices