Topic: The Nintendo Switch Rumor and Speculation Thread

@Octane That's not a realistic expectation. You can probably expect MOST first party game will be, Nintendo will want to make sure their games are accessible to as much of the Switch userbase as possible. The third parties though? They'll probably consider the older models too weak for what they want (they already are with the Switch, they'd probably consider the same with the Switch Pro in 2025) and you'd have to buy in on the frequent upgrades to get the third party support.

@Octane Don't you have a PS5? Play stuff on that? It's more likely AAA games anyhoo. No way Nintendo is going to make exclusives. That's crazy talk. Maybe in a couple of years time, more in line with your timing to prod folk over to the upgrade lol. I only have a Switch and will upgrade in a heartbeat. One obvious boon is Nintendo have a business model that can react quicker to competitors wanting some of the Nintendo pie (which they will be. They always do without 'getting it'.)

Lets face it, the switch is due for an upgrade. I’m so looking fwd to it.

The NintenDoomed fandom would like you to think otherwise.

I think recent 1st party games shows even Nintendo's struggling with the Switch hardware specs at times. The old stuff runs well like the old content in ports and remasters but recent new content and new games are rather rough for framerate like Bowser's Fury and Age of Calamity.

@Slowdive One better be a BotW edition!!!

It’s probably just two more sets of black and neon joycons.

@Octane @Bolt_Strike
Back on this discussion, it's worth noting that on an ecosystem like IOS there are different kinds of "incompatible". There's the kind where the performance isn't quite up to par but it is possible to run the code. Then there's literally incompatible in the "it won't even load" sense. And, to play devil's advocate, on an ecosystem like IOS Apple can just decree that new application submissions must drop certain legacy IOS compatibilities. They'll say for security reasons but it's definitely a thing.

With the move from 3DS -> New 3DS the incompatibility was mostly of the "performance" kind. Even where content was locked to the New 3DS we can pretty confidently say it was because of performance. The New 3DS wasn't a trivial jump, it was about 2X the CPU clock speed, 2X the core count, 2X the RAM and slightly under a 2X GPU clock bump. So having some content exclusive made sense, I expect a "Switch Pro" will be similar.

But here's the core of the discussion. Are we ok with the current model where console makers continue to sell us hardware that's significantly less powerful than they could be? Burning late adopters with unnecessarily underperforming hardware with a short lifespan and burning early adopters with a small library? Or would we rather a continuous improvement of the hardware available at the cost of edge case software incompatilities for luddites who refuse to upgrade?

Personally, I prefer to be able to walk into a shop and being able to buy a thing on the shelf having a fair idea this year's model has at least 4 years in it. Or being able to recommend hardware to someone without really having to worry that the next thing is going to immediately leave them out in the cold.

@skywake If the base unit is going to be Xbox 1ish level, and dlss can boost it to XBox1X, then I reckon it has a good 4 years in it, easy. But I have no idea what performance the rumours are thinking it will be lol.

While it'd be nice to think that a couple of recent games were slipped out with sub-par performance in the knowledge that new hardware would soon arrive to bump them up, you've only got to look at Xenoblade 2 in handheld mode to see that this isn't exactly a new thing, and that such compromises go right back to 2017.

That said, at least they're now in a position where the technology might be available to fix them. While I'd think it unrealistic to expect native 4K rendering, 120fps and HDR from the Switch Pro, there are a heck of a lot of games where just getting a steady frame rate without resolution scaling could make all the difference.

While we're talking about specs it's worth noting that the Switch Lite and 2019 Switch revisions were already higher spec than the launch Switch. Not a significant bump, about a 20% GPU performance improvement, but a performance bump all the same. It just had almost no fanfare around it so people have been able to carry on as if it didn't happen.

I think this is also part of why some people are clinging onto their doubts about the Switch Pro. There have been leaks of Switch revisions since not long after the Switch launched. The thing is a lot of the leaks around 2018/19 were about that 2019 Switch revision. Which happened, but people understandably forget or don't realise it happened. And then in 2020 we started getting leaks about the Switch Pro which is going to happen but people are primed to doubt leaks now.

If you were only partially paying attention you might conclude that "there are always leaks about Switch revisions and none have happened yet". Which isn't that wrong. Because the 2019 revision didn't feel like a hardware revision and, because of the multiple revisions, there have been leaks of new revisions since day 1

The Switch Lite is all ready a pretty big revision. I could imagine the Switch Pro or what ever its called when it does actually come out will have to be something totally radical beyond the power of the switch and switch lite if it is to catch on and do well.

I don’t expect first party exclusives but I wouldn’t be shocked if the “Pro” is just so they can get GTA5 and COD to run on the Switch. I can see the addition of those games selling the Pro itself.

I never bought a PS4 Pro just like i won't be buying any so called switch pro if anything of that sort even exists. The base systems are just fine thank you very much! I'd rather wait for the next generation successor than to blow another wad on a stop gap machine.

If you really can't stand that the switch isn't getting all the games released on other hardware because it's too weak then get those other already available systems. If you're so eager to shell out for a switch upgrade then do it. They already exist.

I think you're right. If you had GTA5 + COD + Madden + Assassins Creed Valhalla type games then I think the pro model could equal the sales of the original Switch.

What exactly do you mean by that? The small almost invisible increase they did to the base model?

@jump
I mean if you want a more powerful system then why don't you buy the ones that already exist? PS4/PS5 or whatever. You don't wanna miss out on certain games because the switch is too weak to run them well There's your solution. We don't need a slight upgrade to the switch. It wouldn't sell and would become obsolete as soon as Nintendos next gen system got announced.

@Zeldafan79 I doubt it wouldn’t sell, Switch is already selling well so a deluxe/super/pro version would be at least as in demand as the Switch and probably more so since it can also be sold to the existing Switch users too.

Why are you so sure there will even be a next generation? Just look at the approach Microsoft is taking now, the XBox Series isn't really a traditional "new generation" of console. It's in the name, it's another hardware platform in the "Xbox Series". It has it's exclusives and it has some titles from the previous "generation" it can't play (it doesn't support Kinect) but for the most part it's the same platform.

If you walk into a store and pick up an XBox Series title odds are you can play it on an XBox One. If you buy an XBox One title odds are it'll run on XBox Series but at a higher resolution & framerate. This is the death of the concept of console generations and it is undeniably a good thing for consumer. If this Switch Pro is what it sounds like it's going to be Nintendo is heading down that same path.

What makes you think it's purely about multi-platform titles? I mean it'd be nice if there was the option to play something like Shadow of the Tomb raider on a portable console. That's certainly part of the appeal. But so is the prospect of BotW2 running at a locked 60fps. Or playing Metroid Prime 4 on an OLED panel with deep blacks and full HDR. There is plenty of room between a PC with a 3080 and the Switch as it currently exists, it's not a question of one or the other. The Switch can slide up that scale a tad

What would a "next gen" system actually have? Define what "next gen" means. Because I'm doubtful you'll come up with much other than a generational leap in performance. And if you're into the idea of that why aren't you into the idea of a generational leap in performance without the baggage of platform change?

@Slowdive I wouldn’t even say the key factor is software. The New 3DS sold well despite having a handful of exclusives that weren’t even really popular.