Just last week, we heard rumblings that Nintendo's next console — which we're still tentatively calling the 'Switch 2' — was demoed to select developers at Gamescom 2023. The reports from both Eurogamer and VGC suggested that the console showcased an improved version of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, though details were sparse on what these improvements actually entailed. Well, the rumour mill has continued to churn and more reported details are now being shared.
The latest rumours come from a recent Nate the Hate podcast in which the host claims to have been told that the Gamescom tech demo saw BOTW running at 4K 60fps, with the emphasis of the show being that "load times had been erased". Again, this is not to suggest that the Switch launch title will be re-released with the next hardware, only that it was being used to demonstrate to showcase the successor's technical improvements.
There are also claims that the demo was utilising DLSS 3.5 — Nvidia's real-time AI upscaling technology — though it may "not have been utilising the full feature set" of the 3.5 version, e.g. frame generation. This is something that has been suggested for a Switch successor for a good few years now, though seeing the beefier 3.5 version thrown around sure is an interesting prospect.
Later in the conversation, the host stated that a March 2024 date came out of a lot of the conversations he was having, though he couldn't say whether this was a reveal or a release date. Rumours from earlier this year stated that the Switch 2 would be targeting a release in late 2024, remember.
You can find Nate the Hate's full chat in the video below.
This is very exciting stuff, to be sure, though it should be stressed that much like the original report, this is all based on sources and hearsay with nothing being even remotely confirmed by Nintendo for the time being. Further, if we are to believe these specs, it's worth bearing in mind that what was reportedly shown at Gamescom was a tech demo and may not necessarily possess the same features as the final console.