Checking in before the final stretch
over 6 years ago – Sat, Sep 15, 2018 at 09:49:39 PM

With big updates from the Nintendo Direct and Apple Keynote that hit earlier this week we thought it'd be good time to step outside of the factory walls and get in the mood to do a little updating ourselves. 

Tokyo Game Show

Okay so it's been like a childhood dream of mine since to visit Tokyo Game Show ever since I was a kid reading Nintendo Power magazine and read about Final Fantasy 5 showing at TGS and how it was not going to be localized... ah the memories of childhood gaming... Anyways, we're partnering with Korean distributor Intragames who is graciously demoing our latest prototype Genki with two indie games they're publishing - Mulaka which was on one of the Nintendo Directs and Super Cane Magic Zero which I've never heard of till now but is described as a comedy action RPG with 4 player co-op (woah count me in!).  If you're visiting the show, swing by the booth at Hall 3 Exhibit Area C-15. I won't know what that means till I'm there next week, but I'm happy to meet-up if you're around or in town!  (I do not speak Japanese).

Manufacturing Update #2

All fronts of production are moving forward but there's some crazy weather brewing. Most importantly our Genki audio adapter has gone through a round of mold refinement and is almost ready for scaled production. We had to purchase every Joy-Con color to basically ensure we get the best matches for the buttons.

On the tech side of things we've completed, debugged and begun all the certification processes to make sure we can ship globally. The dock adapter and microphone are pretty much done and waiting for packaging.

We had to change suppliers 2 weeks ago for the portable stand because we were not happy with the quality, which held back some of the final measurements for the case. Good news we were able to find a reliable supplier who makes many of the quality first party GoPro stabilizers and accessories. Timing wise we're still on track and have begun molding for both the portable stand and case with the expectation of having samples in two weeks.  

Some other things

For those that need to change addresses, you have up till the end of September to go in and update it. We still have about 200 people who have not responded to the Backerkit surveys to confirm their shipping address and customizations. We've done everything in our power to reach you but it looks like its mostly outdated email addresses attached to your Kickstarter accounts. We're sorry to say that we can't guarantee color customizations anymore as we go into production. If you're one of these people, rest assured though, you can still get your Genki in time if you fill in the survey. Oh and one more thing, if you see a charge from Backerkit that you feel is wrong please reach out to us instead of your credit card company - seriously we get charged $15 for each dispute that could've been easily resolved by us refunding wrong orders on Backerkit.

Also for those with Mumba cases we have some mixed news for you. We finally got our hands on this case and we were a bit confused because we saw long cutouts that were used for the vents on top and not for the USB-C on the bottom. 

It turns out that there is over 2mm of thickness gap between the port and the outer edge of the case so we can no longer recommend extended USB-C version for those that have this particular case. Good news is that since its made of rubber, a quick minute with a box cutter can make it compatible with the standard version. So if you have a Mumba case and want to switch back to a standard USB-C please contact us directly at [email protected] and we'll take care of you.

Until next time!

Eddie, Chris, and Andrew

The Joy of Logistics
over 6 years ago – Wed, Aug 15, 2018 at 07:39:58 PM

Backerkit Survey

Hopefully everyone received an email from Backerkit last last weekend to basically choose your Genki colors, select or purchase add-ons, and confirm your final shipping address. Please fill it out ASAP. There were definitely a lot of questions that arose since we sent it and we've basically compiled the most asked ones here that'll hopefully clarify things for the remaining 20% of you who haven't responded yet:

I didn't receive my survey, can you resend it?

Chances are the email ended up in your spam filter around Sunday.  If you can't find it you can always login directly at https://genki.backerkit.com with your Kickstarter email.

What gives, I'm being charged $2 extra?

Chances are its because you selected left neon red / right neon blue (it should be the other way around). During our campaign we went from one color to offering 6 free color combinations that match the standard Joy-Cons that come with each Switch as well as game themed colors from ARMS, Splatoon 2, and Mario Odyssey.

We also found there was a small group who really must-have certain custom color combinations so our designer Chris has volunteered to manually assemble these 43 other possible variations outside of our typical process - the $2 basically covers his housing for being out in the factory (this seemed practical when there was only 60 custom requests but now we're probably looking into the hundreds so it may end up being a full team effort).

What's with the difference between the standard USB-C and extended USB-C?

In most cases you probably just require the standard USB-C as it sits flush with your Nintendo Switch and is the most stable. We had some requests to create an option to support those who need a longer extended USB-C plug that would fit with some Switch cases/shells. Basically for this modification we have to order custom longer USB-C heads and solder them in a separate process so we're asking for $5 additional fee for this customization and may delay shipment ~1-2 weeks. Here are some photos of Switch bottoms for your entertainment:

If I buy the add-ons will I get the cool case?

Yes, from our packing point of a view a combo is the same as getting a standalone Genki and the two add-ons. The current thinking is to simplify our packing and shipping process so we'll just give everyone the case - and that way we don't have to think about designing another one just for all the other variations. The case holds one Genki, a mini microphone (included free with every Kickstarter purchase), portable stand, dock adapter, and four of your favorite Switch games.  

Can I change my order still?

Anything in the Backerkit can be changed up until September 1st when we close and finalize the surveys and hand them over for production and fulfillment. We seriously prefer you take initiative and fill out your form and save it now and make adjustments as you need after!

Update on Power Passthrough

The power passthrough has been quite the journey for us but we're happy to say we've been testing it for the past two weeks quite extensively with over 50 hours racked up in Octopath Traveler. We tested it with all sorts of chargers ranging from the official Nintendo charger at home, a Macbook charger when at work, and an Anker PowerCore when traveling.

Here's an idea what the power profile looks like when delivered straight to the Switch vs. passing through Genki (sorry Kickstarter compresses to 680 pixels wide). The left image shows what the official charger provides the Switch and then on the right its the power that flows after it goes through Genki to the Switch. For those still concerned, you'll be happy to know that Genki still works the same without power, it has no battery and will work without an external charge. 

Also we've refined the portable stand now to better work with the power passthrough, lifting the ledges slightly to give it more clearance. We now support multiple angles (including what I would call a Switch lounge chair mode) and are confirming our final revisions with a factory this week. And for those who fidget and play with things, you'll love the 'butterfly knife' transformation of this stand.

Progress Report

As for what we've been doing on the back-end here besides testing we've started to ramp up our production. With all these moving parts we're actually working with five separate factories directly so that we can ensure quality every step of the way.  Here's a snapshot of where we're at now:

Honestly with the power passthrough we've had to go back and do a lot of redevelopment and redesign for Genki and the portable stand so our chance of delivering early isn't likely - but good news is that this means we're delivering an even better product on time, right? Until next time!

Your Friendly Neighborhood Genki Team,
Eddie, Chris, and Andrew

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Project Funded... and Beyond!
over 6 years ago – Tue, Jul 24, 2018 at 12:04:47 AM

Hope everyone had a great weekend 😎. We’ve been busy getting everything sorted, prioritizing passthrough charging - and let’s just say we’ve worked day and night to sort this out with one of the leading suppliers of USB power delivery chips rather than celebrating (we’ll save that for when we start shipping!)

Wow, we ended the campaign with almost 10,000 GENKI orders on Kickstarter which means we really have to kick it into high gear. I think there’s about 20 million Nintendo Switch’s out there meaning we’ll be in roughly 1 in 2,000 Switch’s out there, 0.05%!

Now What?

Glad you asked! If you’re reading this update you’ll probably fall into 4 categories:

1. I’ve made my order on Kickstarter, everything is groovy, what now?
Awesome, you got your stuff together and now we need to get our stuff together. We'll send a Backerkit survey sometime next week where you can finalize your color choice, select the add-ons you wanted, and confirm your final shipment address.

2. I’ve made my order on Kickstarter but there’s a few things I want to add. 
So maybe you wanted to upgrade with some add-ons or even an extra GENKI for a loved one, no problem. When we send the Backerkit survey next week you’ll have the option to make additional purchases but note that you’ll have to provide your payment details again to Backerkit. From there you’ll also be able to select your colors and of course provide your final shipping address.

3. I’ve made my order on Kickstarter but are having some issues with payment!
So over the next few days Kickstarter is going through the orders and may label some as pending charges to your credit card, if it goes through it might have applied two pending charges, either way it shouldn’t be an issue and should be cleared over the next few days. If not, please reach out to Kickstarter as we don’t see your payment details. If for some reason your card was completely rejected even after trying to fix it, we’ve found a workaround where you can just enter your payment details (including PayPal options) as needed through Backerkit to recover your purchase. By the way we don't see any of your payments until after everything clears about 2 weeks from now.

4. I fell asleep at the wheel and totally missed the Kickstarter.
Bummer. Not all is lost though! You can’t be part of the original campaign but we’re starting to take pre-orders on Indiegogo InDemand so you’ll at least still be able to get a discount and get it shortly after the Kickstarter shipments. You won’t be able to get those limited edition colors though, sorry!

We’re 🌎! 

We’re actually super stoked to know that we’ll be shipping GENKI to 82 countries! I feel like Mario taking his journey Cappy spaceship across different worlds when I read through the list. If you’re curious, and from one of these countries you can be delighted to know that you will be the only gamer in your country to have a GENKI:

Aruba / Bulgaria / Bermuda / Belize / Cambodia / Cayman Islands / Croatia / Estonia / Ethiopia / Faroe Islands / Gibraltar / Guam / Latvia / Maldives / Martinique / Qatar / Romania / Serbia / Turkey / Trinidad and Tobago

Please, please if you're one of these backers please send photos of you rocking Genki. It'll be like postcards for us and we'll feel warm and fuzzy inside. 

What Can I Plug GENKI into?!

Okay now that we got all of that out of the way we can get back to the product update. So we’ve been doing some testing compatibility wise and basically can confirm that GENKI works with the following devices:

Rear Entry 🔌

Great news! We got power passthrough to work. It's actually pretty crazy how much this impacts our product. And for those that care, yeah we didn't skimp, these are gold-plated contacts, and yes it matters. Before we get too excited there's a load of testing we need to do - we've taken a lot of precautions and learned a lot about what causes damage to the Switch and we'll share it in way more detail next post. 

Surprisingly we were able to keep everything the same size by redesigning the buttons, leaving less gap between the board and the shell by extending the triggers into the actual button beyond the shell. Check out a before and after:

Building a passthrough charging of course comes at a price. We're no longer able to build out a full antenna and are working with a more high tech ceramic antennas. The trade-off here is way less real estate on the board for a reduced range and higher cost. This means we probably won't hit the 60 feet (20m) but we're getting at least 36 feet (12m) - either way it'll be further than a Joy-Con so hopefully this won't mess up anyone's setup.

Some further clarification also on the role of the passthrough, it only allows power to go through and is managed by a USB Power Delivery chip so this means you can actually charge it at the full 18 watts (and it will protect from overcharging). Despite it being a USB-C port, however, you won't be able to plug it in directly between the Switch and the dock - it will charge but not pass the audio/video data through to the television so keep the dock adapter handy. 

Also while we were working on passthrough charging we actually met up with Phillip who you guys may all know from another popular Kickstarter who is putting the final touches on the Satisfye Pro Grip and works perfectly while gaming. When its standing it kind of uses GENKI as a tripod leg for support though. 

Anyways, that's it for now. We'll have more to share in the next update. Look forward to the Backerkit survey next week as we try to optimize it for logistics.

The Final Stretch
over 6 years ago – Tue, Jul 17, 2018 at 01:12:33 AM

Before anything, two important things.  

1. THANK YOU for being an awesome supportive community, we're approaching half a million (wow!) and want to restate our commitment on full transparency and priority to our KS backers
2. We're on schedule, you'll see a lot of feature improvements below, just to be clear we don't expect any of them will impact our shipment schedule

Portable Stand 2.0

Some of you have been asking about getting more information about the dimensions of the Kickstand and after thoroughly testing the one we made we've decided to make some refinements especially now with the quantity we are able to have much more control over the design. We had some wild concepts, like check this out:

It wasn't quite what we were looking for so we went back to the three legged spread design and wondered what was the best way to improve it. We wanted to make it the perfect portable kickstand which meant it really needed to be slimmer, yet sturdy. To achieve this we have the back leg actually sit inside of the two sides, kind of like a switch blade (no pun intended), so it envelops the back leg when closed making the lines much cleaner packed away:

We've already gone over this design with manufacturers and are aiming to make it out of high grade aluminum to make it as slim as possible but still light and strong enough to keep your Switch lifted. Also a couple details are still being finalized here, including some anti-slip rubber legs and supports to prevent scratching. Seriously, this is amazing for those of you grabbing combo packs.  The measurements for those curious, 5.2in or 132mm tall, 0.67in or 17mm wide, and only 0.3in or 7.5mm thick - it should fit comfortably in almost any carrying case.  

Mic Check 1, 2

We dove deeper into integrating a USB microphone option in GENKI and basically came to the conclusion that we would need to add a mic, a sound card (ADC), USB interface IC, and a hub controller so we went ahead and built it. We just received our updated PCB at the moment to test and Andrew is soldering away through the night at the moment but the initial estimated size impact is 4mm on each side. We'll aim to bring it down but the current 8mm width increase is probably not ideal for anyone.

Of course we are also simultaneously exploring the external mic option. We worked through several iterations to make the microphone as least intrusive as possible - we actually had to approach a specialized factory for this. This is the third iteration and its small enough to leave plugged into your Switch even when packed and most importantly it delivers great voice chat quality. 

For now we prefer this route cause its the safest timeline wise and the least risk to re-opening the code for testing. Another bonus is that since the headphone jack is already an analog input (as is your voice), the analog mic is actually more efficient. So to encourage support for this option we're going to make it rain, free microphones for all!

Putting it All Together

So let’s end with something fun - given the sheer quantity of demand we’re able get to be a bit more creative with the packaging. Check it out!

Lots of things to digest in this animation. So let’s start first with the shape, yes we found the manufacturers of Nintendo Switch cases and we’re able to basically make packaging that will fit into your game library - something we hope you won’t ever want to throw away like other game accessory boxes. And don't worry, we're working on cover art.

Inside the case things get a bit more interesting though, GENKI basically clips in with all the add-ons and we even built in some space for you to hold a few extra games if you decide to pack everything on the go. I feel like we just took you through a virtual unboxing video - hopefully that didn't ruin the surprise. But wait did you notice something else?

One More Thing

*Breathe* okay are we all on the same page? More details to come, but basically we're still undergoing testing. Our original thinking was for this to happen GENKI had to essentially have to act like its own hub or dock, allowing power to flow through from an external source while also receiving power from the Switch.  

But our hero of the week is Andrew, who has found a way around this by enabling GENKI to redirect its power from the passthrough when it detects external charging. We don't want to promise anything till we've tested our solution to be safe - currently we've sent an updated PCB for fabrication to see how well this solution works by the end of the week, I'm optimistic!

Thanks for reading and please share with all your friends!

Eddie, Chris, and Andrew

The Half-time Show
over 6 years ago – Tue, Jul 03, 2018 at 11:49:08 PM

Color Voting Results are in!

When we first clicked launch we never imagined we’d grow to this scale so it felt safe to just stick with the neon blue / neon red combination. You guys wanted color choices as a stretch goal and we opened the floodgates and let everyone vote for their favorite color last week. We closed the polls after 3 days with 1,273 votes (incredible) - so we know you take your Joy-Con colors seriously.

The good news is we found some ways to basically make a lot of options for everyone but may have to sacrifice the 1P / 2P inscriptions - this actually could be better because it means you can use GENKI backward if the lights annoy you (though we actually have them auto dim btw). Anyways, back to what you’re here for, the voting results! (drumroll):

So we’re glad to know that is default color is the most popular and we will be making sure to be making plenty to go around for our monochromatic buddies (my wife included).

Now the interesting part - we honestly didn’t expect there to be more than a 1/4 of our crowd wanting the game specific Joy-Con colors. And honestly there’s a dangerously low interest in the ARMS Neon Yellow demand but we’ve decided that we’re just going to be awesome for the community because you guys have been awesome to us (or we can set an arbitrary stretch goal of $200K and congratulate ourselves in a few days - just kidding). We'll make these game specific colors limited and ensure there’s just enough to go around to satisfy our Kickstarter backers - so let's just call this a Kickstarter Exclusive.

So what about the remainder? This is where we had an ‘other color’ field that will probably get us in trouble. But upon closer inspection, we realized that half of the “others” category wanted color combinations made up of the colors above. So in order to fulfill this demand, Chris our designer has stepped up to the plate and offered his support in those wanting custom color configurations. He will personally sit in the factory and assemble these customizations and we ask that you donate $2 to your order if you want this so we can at least put him up in a decent hotel for volunteering (you can do this when we confirm final addresses when the campaign closes).

So there you have it, we’re able to satisfy 97% of your color demands. Now just to respond to some of the messages you guys left us on this survey (these were anonymous by the way)...

Reading Your Anonymous Mail

Can you make it to where the colors can be changed? Like a removable piece of plastic or something. 

So we had this crazy idea to offer a DIY LABO-like kit where you get an unassembled GENKI and you get a bag of colors for you to put it together with glue or snaps. Let’s just say the Engineer and the Designer do not approve… The size would have to be much thicker and the QA process would be a nightmare and we couldn’t truly ensure it would work on arrival. So yeah we’re sonic welding this thing to make it as compact and robust as possible and just offering colors directly.

You guys are dope / You guys rock! / Love you 

(brushing the dirt off our shoulders) You're dope, you rock, and we love you too!

In the case that the Splatoon Edition does not win out, since I was the first to post about the idea, is there any way at all you guys can be like "Hey kid! You gave us a great idea and got all these people even more excited our product, so we will do one Splatoon Edition just for you since you're a real nice guy!" That would make me a very very very happy person. Thanks for making this product happen! 

It's not every day we make someone very very very happy, we're honored!

I’m allergic to soy. 

What if soy milk... is just regular milk introducing itself in Spanish? (but seriously don’t drink it)

Can you make a little hardshell case for it? 

Stay tuned.

Grey and Neon should be made mass market, others possibly as Kickstarter exclusive. 

You got it, boss.

I would really like the ability to flip the Genki away from me or turn off the green lights.

Free win! USB-C works both ways. And our lights auto-dim, they’re actually not distracting at all but we leave it up to you.

I love your company and glad you take your backers/supporters into consideration. 

And this is how you schmooze us into making your ARMS edition neon yellow!

How do I choose before receiving my Genki? 

Good practical question, you’ll get a survey at the end specifying all the add-ons, mods, and even your final shipping address.

Does this work for PS4? 

Yes, it works on the PS4 with the dock adapter!  Also works on a Macbook if you want to Netflix and chill voyeuristically. In all seriousness, we do hope Netflix comes to the Switch.

Is Splatoon edition US or international arrangement? (Colors are flipped) 

We're a bit ashamed we didn't know that there was a color difference… and yeah I guess it is the US edition with the green on the left, and pink on the right. Well, at least we have that customization option?

Please keep us updated on the microphone functionality research and production! 

Okay, perfect transition into our next topic…

The Mic Update

So on the first day of our campaign we were all hyped up and freaking out at the same time as it turned out to be the same day Fortnite had announced (but not enabled) voice chat for the Switch. We first thought, yay this is great! If people can talk without the smartphone app over Bluetooth headphones this would be great. Since then we've been furiously preparing solutions and trying to figure out how the Nintendo Switch and Fortnite would handle voice chat. We quickly learned a few things on how the Switch handles audio input after a few tests.

1. Enable Voice-chat through HFP Bluetooth Profile

This sounded simple enough at first and when it seemed like the ideal option since we had all the hardware in place to technically make this change. When we looked into it though we realized there's a lot of software development behind this, and not just adding Bluetooth profiles but also introduces some complexity in how we toggle between profiles. What this means is you can use A2DP (Advanced Audio Distribution Profile for stereo 48kHz bit rate) to play games but the second Fortnite sends a request for mic input it'll force downgrade to a profile which supports it, HFP (Hands-Free Profile, mono 8kHz bit rate) which is what is commonly used in modern car phone integrations. Your game audio instantly sounds as if it were on the other side of a phone call, muted, hollow, and muffled. It's dramatically noticeable and an unpleasant experience. If you've heard of people using USB wireless audio headsets it's actually because they're specific gamer headphones that are not Bluetooth, and use a proprietary radio connection with big bulky designs that tend to make you look like a cyborg (which is cool, if you're into that sort of thing!)

2. Build an Integrated Microphone Inside of GENKI 

So then we looked into how we could just build in a mic into GENKI. We didn't know if this was technically possible for GENKI to transmit audio through one source and receive audio through another source all through one USB-C port. So what we did was get a USB-C splitter and basically plugged in USB microphone on one port and GENKI on the other. We loaded up Fortnite and high fives all around we saw it load. Now we're looking into what impact it'll have for the final product as we'll have to add three things to the BOM (bill of material for manufacturing) which include a microphone, a hub controller, and a sound card with ADC audio digital conversion. We have to try moving a lot of components around and do some further testing! The good news is the sound quality remains top notch but realistically we will have to consider how to mute the mic for those who value their privacy at times.

3. Add-on a Microphone to the Headphone Jack

So this sounded simple enough, GENKI uses the USB-C port why not use the headphone jack for analog voice input? It's pretty smart too because you don't need to modify and do further testing - and you don't have to worry about it always being on if its a separate thing to plug in. It sounds almost too simple but we found some interesting things. If you plug-in a USB audio device into the Switch it trumps all connections so even if you were to plug in a mic after it would ignore it. Yet when you do it the other way around, plugging in the mic first its not a problem. You heard it here first, a GENKI discovery. The great thing about this option is that it doesn't impact the sound quality, de-risks development, and shipment schedules, but it would technically require a huge upfront order for us to make one that sits the way we want.

We haven’t made a decision yet as we still want to further explore and adjust our confidence in each option. We are least confident in #1 because sound quality is super important to us and it introduces risk and confusion of toggling profiles and will likely introduce many more bugs (we’ve squashed all of them last week). #2 we will keep trying different parts and test the performance and most importantly the impact. #3 will require a bit of design and confirmation of a supply chain to support it. Either way, we just want to say voice chat isn’t going to be an optional add-on, we want it to be ready for everyone before shipping (even if Fortnite turns out to be just a fad). If you read all the way to the end, bravo... 

Till next time, 

Eddie, Chris, and Andrew

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