Back when Nintendo released the Splatoon 2 Global Testfire on the Switch some were a little dismayed to find that the game ran at 720p, even when docked - although the all-important 60fps was maintained.
The good news for those of you obsessed with resolution is that Nintendo has been working behind the scenes to improve this, and the final game will run in 1080p when docked (though annoyingly the Treehouse stream below is uploaded in 720p), while keeping the silky-smooth frame rate. Naturally, when playing in portable mode the resolution will be 720p.
What Nintendo has shown of Splatoon 2 during E3 has made us even keener to get our hands on the final game - what about you? Tell us by spraying some ink over the comments section, but make sure you clean up after yourself when you're done.
Comments 61
Yay! Thanks Nintendo, seriously I was really scared when they said it was 720p haha
Expected. Glad to hear.
Happy to hear it. Makes other companies look bad when they can barely manage 720p at 60fps...
Bosh
Sweet, great news--wait. My TV still maxes out at 720p. (Great TV, though.)
Now let's hope that Mario Odyssey is 1080p.
720p and 1080p both look really good, but I guess a higher resolution is better for those who focus on small details like that instead of focusing on the game that they're playing.
Thanks Nintendo!
i probably wouldn't even notice, but i'll take it. it might get those digitalfoundry guys all giddy. what would really benefit from a rez boost is the hopeful metroid prime trilogy for switch bundle you get for pre-ordering prime 4.
A nice bonus, although I'm probably gonna be skipping it. Do hope it sells well as I wonder what other types of games the Inklings could star in.
Right on I might this a try this time around. I skipped the one on the wii u.
Splatoon is brilliant. I'm buying it for sure.
Ooooooh, Splatoon 2 will look so much nicer than Splatoon! Upscaling by a factor of 1.5 (720p to 1080p) never look good unless the right post-process effects are added, which for some reason Nintendo never do with its games.
That's some good news to hear. As fun at the testfire was, it did look a little janky to me.
It looks like the Wii U game, so like MK8D, I'd expect them to use that little bit of extra power to increase the resolution and fps.
@alasdair91 not really. Other companies may be doing things in their games that is more taxing than the bare bones Splatoon assets.
No way Skyrim runs at 1080p on Switch.
@N8tiveT3ch
I'm not gonna lie to you, Splatoon is my most played game on the Wii U. More so than Mario Kart or Smash Bros. put together. By far, it is my favorite new IP.
@J-Fox Thanks for that, I needed a laugh stemming from a hilariously uninformed comment. NL never lets me down for those.
@MoonKnight7 Plus the portability of the game makes a better sell. Thanks for the insight.
@gatorboi352 Multiplats will never achieve what can be done when a game is built from the ground up for a specific console. For the people who care, the Switch will get some truly beautiful games and at 1080p. I care more that they're fun and have a smooth fps. Once you've achieved that, better looking is icing on the cake.
I'd be really curious to find out how many people in Japan weren't buying this b/c it ran in 720p on their TV but will buy it now b/c it runs in 1080p?
I think the multiple test question answers would be:
1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
Obviously great news, shows Ntineod is working to improve things, and a few more people in the west may care, and it's great to brag about, but I don't see this news really affecting sales any. Which means NTinedo did something for their fans just /c they could, which is nice.
@abbyhitter it most certainly will be.
That's a relief. We'll need Digital Foundry to check that the frame rate is solid
Wow, I might have to play this docked now to see if there is a difference. But I love playing portable.
I'm not obsessed with resolution, but this is awesome news! Splatoon in particular always looked at little ugly at 720p, almost like s 3DS game, the jaggies were just a lot more noticeable with Splatoon than with other games at the same resolution. A 1080p bump for this game will do it wonders. Yay!
@gatorboi352 Skyrim will easily run at 1080p on the Switch, since it's not the Remaster. My computer, running integrated graphics, is not far off that, despite being a lot less powerful.
Resolution really doesnt bother me when the fps is at a smooth 60. And I will be having way too much fun come July to look for any jaggies. A sharper image is always welcome though so good going Nintendo!
The "other guys" are trying to press developers to hit 4k resolutions in an era when the vast majority of consumers do not have 4k TVs... meanwhile, Nintendo gamers are still trying to argue that 720 or 1080p doesn't matter...
Of course gameplay is the most important thing, but 1080p should be the absolute standard since that's what almost every modern TV supports... 60 fps should also be the goal for most games.
@Dakt
Did they really? If so, I'm guessing someone mis-spoke and this was never put in writing... at lease I hope not since it was an absolute struggle to hit 900p30 right?
@ieatdragonz Yeah 720p Youtube streams aren't even technically 720p especially with fast moving content like a Splatoon match. Watching some of the Treehouse Splatoon 2 or even Fire Emblem Warriors streams does not do any of these games justice for the casual observer. You could question if these games would even be playable with how muddy they look. The same thing was true with Youtube footage of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe where Youtube video looked worse than the game played on Wii U, so you could assume there was no visual benefit when played on Switch, when the opposite was true. It is gratifying to know that when I buy these games they will look 100 times better.
Good to hear. Nicely done Nintendo.
Oh and you don't have to be obsessed with resolution to see the difference between 720p and 1080p. It's clear even on a 32" TV. I struggle between 900p and 1080p but have a look at Wii U MK8 next to Switch MK8D and it's clear.
@Dakt It's hard to say. With Breath of the Wild, that was a game written for the Wii U and then ported to Switch. For all we know Splatoon 2 was written for the Switch and will benefit from not being a port. I would bet that with time a new engine could be made for Breath of the Wild to run at a full 1080p 30 fps or even 60 fps, possibly even with one of the upcoming DLC releases. The next Zelda for Switch we have been told will be using the same formula as Breath of the Wild, so it will be interesting to see how it's performance is on Switch. Either way Zelda BotW is an amazing game even at 900p near 30 fps.
@electrolite77 Not only is it clear but it helps gameplay in both MK8 and Splatoon because you are looking at a small section of the screen in the center for details like corners or enemies all the time and the clarity can help you identify and react quicker.
@electrolite77 True resolution isn't everything, but it is nice that Nintendo chooses to optimize there games like they do on hardware that other developers struggle with.
That's cool to hear.
Awesome!
Love how they didn't only bump the resolution, but also improved the visuals in general.
@Nico07 this. Also BotW is huge and open world...Splatoon 2 is set in enclosed areas and is not that taxing for the GPU to begin with.
@Dr_Corndog it's a great tv at 720p? yeah, i don't think so. 10 years ago maybe lol
Splatoon 2 is one of those titles I see and know to preorder so I can be on it day one. Fantastic choice for the Switch.
@David_Dudeney Skyrim is very clearly the Special Edition version that the PS4 and X1 have.
@abbyhitter Since Odyssey will have had almost a year of just polishing by release, I think 1080p/60fps is almost a given.
@manu0 Thanks, but I didn't ask you.
@Dr_Corndog it's a comment section.
@Jamotello @J-Fox Actually it depends what TV you have. I have a 4K TV and on that the 720p is very noticeably worse than 1080p - having that Res boost on a 55 inch TV makes it so much clearer, sharper and nicer to play.. Super happy with this change, should be great! That said I don't believe going to 4K is that fantastic - it's only really a big deal when you watch at very high sizes (like on a 70 inch TV for example)... but 720p to 1080p is a fantastic jump visually!
@manu0 Indeed it is. Just make sure your comment is worth posting.
@Indielink Not really. It hasn't been marketed as such, and we haven't seen any gameplay. All we have seen is what is most likely PC footage overlayed on a Switch screen. It is most likely a half step between the original and Special edition, in order to provide the most stable frame rate at 1080p.
I'll probably still end up noticing jaggies. ...until the battle starts, of course! Can't wait to see what I've been missing by playing in 720p before and in 1080p now! (and hopefully I won't have to squint to see text...)
This is important to me. I am very happy!!! 60fps will always be the most important but to have it at 1080p is really great
@Dr_Corndog you should take that comment to heart. rofl
very, very nice. They really are at work, optimizing to the tee. They did the same thing with Breath of the Wild, releasing quick fixes for the fps drops. Nintendo is really aware of what gamers want this year and are taking graphics more seriously and is putting their resources into great details like this.
Amazing to hear. Hopefully Rocket League will benefit from some behind the scenes magic to bump up the resolution to 1080p docked as well
@FTL do you have post-processing activated on your tv? otherwise, the difference between 720p and 1080p would be exactly the same whether displayed on 1080p or uhd when taken pixel for pixel.
@Jamotello =) yes, post processing enabled.. I'm not sure what you're trying to say though.. are you trying to say that 1080p won't look better than 720p?? - because all I'm saying is that 1080 looks good - 720p not as much (which makes perfect sense).. In contradt for those people saying they have a 720p (native) TV then 720p would be fine.
@FTL i was trying to say that on a point-to-point display, the difference between 720p and 1080p would be the same whether the resolution is 1080p or uhd. with postprocessing, the difference is multiplied. i use a pc monitor since i play games in between doing work so to me, the difference is minimal.
@David_Dudeney We saw PC footage with the Zelda stuff in it? I dunno man, this isn't Ubisoft or EA here. Bethesda is pretty straight about "what you see is what you get," and I'm inclined to believe the Switch Skyrim trailer we saw this week is the real deal and that is clearly based on the Remastered Edition.
Many of their games look like ass run like ass, Crackdown 3 looks like a PS2 game @gatorboi352
@Indielink Well, I guess we'll have to see. I'd personally rather have the previous version of Skyrim with as many bells and whistles as possible at 1080p, but we'll find out in a few months.
Good! It bothers the hell out of me when games are designed that take no advantage of the extra power the system has when docked. I'm very tempted to pass on Rocket League for this very reason.
Though the breadth and depth of the performance difference between docked and undocked Switch is smaller than the breadth and depth of the performance difference between, say, PS4 and PS4 Pro, and there's also the matter of not having to pay extra money to get the docked experience (at least, not that first dock), it's still premier and non-premier platforms for the same software offering premier and non-premier experiences with it.
And so, in this sense, I see absolutely zero difference whatsoever between a developer who releases a Switch game that offers absolutely no kind of boost for docked mode, and a developer who releases a PS4 game that takes absolutely no advantage of the Pro's additional assets. You get the non-premier experience regardless of whether you're playing on the premier or non-premier hardware (or the premier or non-premier MODE in the case of the Switch.)
This practice, if allowed to run rampant will kill the Pro and 1X, leading to a huge waste of money for the buyers, and while the stakes are certainly much lower for Switch owners, this practice will still hurt us in similar fashion by turning the Switch from a system with two tiers of performance, which makes the "portable / console hybrid" narrative credible into merely a portable, which you can simply rebroadcast on your TV screen - which the nVidia Shield handheld could already do, and offer no benefits whatsoever.....making the claim for "console hybrid" in my opinion, untenable.
So even if the stakes are lower for us, I still think it's every bit as important for we Switch owners as it is for the Pro and future 1X owners (among both of which I hope to include myself in time) for at least the sake of preserving the most unique and magical aspect of the platform that the developers take the time to invest and nurture the more premier assets to support the more premier hardware (or in our case, the fully unlocked hardware).....otherwise they'll just die off, leaving us all with less.
Cheers!
p.s. I've always held to the more maximal view of the Switch's hardware capabilities - namely, "less than XB1 but closer to it than WiiU", rather than "better than WiiU, but closer to it than XB1" - and so I never doubted Splatoon 2 could achieve 1080/60 docked. That's why I was so mad when they were talking 720p. But more and more games are coming out at 1080/60 now, so hopefully this trend continues, and hopefully more blockbuster developers are drawn in as a result as well as maybe getting patches that up the resolution on lower res games. 1080 BotW, anybody?
Already pre-ordered it
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