More Switch 2 Rumours Surface In New "Exclusive" From Reuters

Man, I don't know who 'Reuters' are, but they seem to have their finger on the pulse and ahead of their game! Exciting news!

(/s)

Ugh, this limbo period when we’re just sitting and twiddling our thumbs is the worst. I know WHY Nintendo won’t announce it yet because why should they. But this is agonizing. Just put us out of our misery already!

I think if it is coming in 2024, the likelihood of when we hear about it maybe around the end of the FY / Q4 report for shareholders (May). They won't announce it via the shareholders reports but it might be around this time to give insight to their 2024/25 business plan.

I really hope they announce it sooner than later. If this machine isnt announced before may (this year) i will go for a handheld PC. If they do announce it i will wait for that. But i seriously hope they release it somewhere (max) end of this year. Wont wait longer than that.

@The-Chosen-one Been loving my Steam Deck OLED. It's very much an example of what Switch 2 could be at that price point. Minus an SSD, I think Nintendo could get something on par for about £350-£400.

Well if we are getting Switch 2 this year they would probably need to announce soon.

From first announcement to selling would be about 6 months. So March to September is 6 months. May to November is 6 months.

For me though it’s the games that count.
As we all know that’s the heart and sole of any console and new console release.
The games is what I really want to see.

@Duncanballs
Yeah thats why i will wait till summer, if there isnt anything announced l i will "switch" over to handheld PC. Still not sure which one i will get.

İ am still waiting for the announcement from the next console from Nintendo. İ think still the next console will launch in 2024 at the end but you never know it can be possible in 2025 too.

İ do not think Nintendo will show it in the Febuary Direct. İf we get a Nintendo Direct this month.

The games count so much for the switch 2 release as going from Wii u to Switch hybrid was easy ride for Nintendo as they took the handheld console away as well.

Now we have 130 million Switch owners with that hybrid console already.
Switch 2 will be just be a more powerful switch so getting people over to Switch 2 won’t be as easy this time round.

@The-Chosen-one I debated for ages between the Deck and the Legion Go. Deck won on battery, simplicity and a good community of support.

I've got through so much of my backlog since October!

Where the heck did Reuters got the exclusive that the successor to Switch will likely include a new Nvidia custom design. That's insane!

Truly groundbreaking stuff from Reuters! Next thing they'll tell me that its gonna have a Mario game on it!

SOMEONE ordered 5 million or more of the T239, an automotive chip which has the main selling point of 1:1 redundancy (meaning the single dye has two identical chips which preform all processes in parallel and compare the results), but with the redundant cores stripped out and replaced with tensor cores and a GPU.

We've flat out seen the design specs. It's a 4TF chip that is almost identical to the Series S (which is great for ports) but runs with a crazy low power profile that's perfect for portability.

So, either Phil is going to be showing off a Handheld in the future of Xbox feature this week, or that Nintendo's new chip.

Outside of the remote possibility that someone else with that much buying power has a secret project in the works, we're as certain as we can be about what chip the new Nintendo console is using without them making an announcement.

"Expected this year" because the current gen is almost seven years old (which somehow didn't prevent these dodos from "expecting" the successor every "this" year since 2018) and "likely to include a custom chip" because Switch's own Tegra was at least partly customized for its purposes as well.

Maybe I should ditch my teaching day job and become a "leaker"?😏

@ShepDawg1 once again...

@HeadPirate plot twist: it's actually meant for the likewise "rumoured" PSP 2!🤓

well if you pay attention to nintento youtube fan channels which i do leaks and rumors are a daily occurrence.

@OldGamer999 if we get a wee bit more juice under the hood, backwards compatibility so i can keep my favourite games, and a wee screen upgrade I’ll be a day one switch (pun intended)

Reuters are a big global news agency group based in Europe. They tend to be quoted a fair bit in global news stories (at least where I live in the UK).

I actually thought there may be a customised chip tech for the Switch. It would be worth Nvidia making considering the Switch 1 sales. It also means they can try and get over the limitations it may have for devs to work with in the latest gen games.

Really just want to see the launch lineup. I'm not going to be a day one buyer unless there is something amazing, I'd be very surprised if the big launch title isn't a 3d Mario but that doesn't float my boat.

If developers have have the devkits long enough I can see a whole plethora of ports coming that couldn't run on the original Switch. But I think I'll end up waiting till the next big Monolith soft title arrives.

Don't get why people are so desperate for a new Switch. Guys, there has to be plenty of games you'd like that you haven't played yet

Please Understand

@OldGamer999 "Now we have 130 million Switch owners with that hybrid console already.
Switch 2 will be just be a more powerful switch so getting people over to Switch 2 won’t be as easy this time round"

This is exactly why I don't think the Switch 2 will "just be a more powerful Switch" - don't people think Nintendo already knows and has planned for this problem?

I remember Nintendo mentioning that with the Switch, they wanted to double consoles lifetimes ... so from 6 to 12 years ... should that really be the case, that's another few years of having to put up with these rumours then!

This wait is especially agonizing for me because I want higher frame rates so badly, especially on a Nintendo system! Even if Nintendo doesn't include graphics options or release any games that run at 90 or 120 or 144fps, at least make it possible for other developers to do it! I don't want all the lighter games running perfectly at 90fps on OLED Deck, while the Super Switch versions max out at 60fps because Nintendo has an old fashioned screen on their 2024 handheld. Oh well, probably find out soon enough!

@Shepdawg1 i actually like all this antagonizing speculation

Can't wait for new rumors telling us the Switch successor will have an 8-inch screen.

I'm calling it again. The next Console will be the NINTENDO HOLO.

@nhSnork

Wouldn't it be the PSP3?

As long as it's fully backwards compatible, I am all for it. Though I do hope they release two versions from the get go!
A cheaper LCD version and a more premium OLED version.

I would be seriously annoyed if they going back to LCD only and we have to wait years, before they release a new OLED model.

@OldGamer999 March reveal is the common prediction, right before the Japanese fiscal year ends

@KingdomTears PS5 is just a more powerful PS4 when it comes down to it, is it struggling to sell?

Whatever they do, it will be fine. I still have games to play on the Switch for 4 more years lol.
If it's backwards compatible though, I might get it sooner than later.

Well, we can't even predict when the next Nintendo Direct is,and much less can Reuters predict when the next Nintendo console will be out.

It's going to be amazing whatever it is, Nintendo always sprinkle there magic over whatever they produce.

@imadeanaccount I'm now in a very ill-advised "well I want to play Xenoblade Chronicles 3 but maybe it will run better on switch 2 so I'll wait" zone.

The Reuters article is about Nvidia setting up a dedicated business for the AI market. The mention of the Switch successor is basically just a footnote at the bottom, so I wouldn't read too much into it.

Yes, it's extremely likely the Switch 2 will, again, contain an Nvidia chip. This time, it might be custom made for the console, rather than an off-the-shelf part like the Tegra.

@KingdomTears What problem?

People buy "The device i already have, but more powerful" all the time, phones, tablets, PCs, TVs, minor stuff like, you know, the competitor's consoles...

On the flipside, going for some "Gimmick" is risky, if it catches on (Like Wii or DS did), great, but if it doesn't, like Wii U, 3DS (Which had a very rocky start, even if it was a success later on), or... [shudder] Virtual boy, the gimmick (And the costs of components for it) are just a burden.

@FishyS @larryisaman @electrolite77 @MysticX yeah other brands (iPhones, Playstations, etc) have continued to sell well after simply releasing new, more powerful hardware. But those always been because they were at the bleeding edge of what's possible for those platforms. The Switch 2 will be at PS4 Pro level at the absolute maximum so will still be a generation behind, and there's already other hybrid systems (Steam Deck, Rog Ally, etc) that have offered this level of power for several years now

@HeadPirate nah, recent "rumours" about it unironically called it PSP 2 which goes to show how many of them even remember Vita.

@KingdomTears Nintendo always relied on first-party games for success, but those games could also do with less dinky hardware for a change, keep in mind that Switch wasn't spectacularly powerful when it was released, 7 years ago.

Imagine what Nintendo could do for an Open-world Zelda or 3D Mario with an actually powerful console...

@electrolite77
Don’t get me wrong I will be there day one preordering the second I can.
Yes I think backwards compatibility is important this time round. My Switch digital library is big.

@MysticX yes, I agree. That's what I would want, and that's what most of the people on this site want because we're lifelong Nintendo fans. However, keep in mind that to get anywhere near the levels of sales the Switch has had, they need to cater to both hardcore Nintendo fans and families with young kids between 5-12 (this segment is a substantial part of the Switch user-base). Without catering to both I would say they can expect to maybe sell maybe the equivalent of the SNES (~50 millions units) which would be an absolute disaster for Nintendo as they don't have a separate handheld division to fall back on this time

I'm hoping switch 2 has pressure sensitive triggers (like the ones Gamecube had)

Finally "rumours" from more or less plausible sources. Can't wait for the actual announcement now.

A new chip!? Shut the front door!

Yesterday i drop off my hands my NS for the first time after 5 years of ownership . Th joycon bended a bit but i fixed it with my hand. now it plays as it was , but after incident i would like to buy the new console instead of another NS the next time it happens and maybe break ppermantly .

I'm not in any rush for Nintendo's next system as the Switch is still providing me with plenty of great games but at this point I would like them to announce it just so I don't have to put up with all the rumours and speculation.
The years of endless Switch Pro talk ( which amounted to nothing I might add ) was bad enough.

Slightly bigger screen and slightly more powerful hardware... I'm just not that excited about it.

Nintendo will need some killer software lined up if they're going to be able to convert people to the new system. We're probably due a new 3D Mario I think it's fair to say, and of course there's the Metroid Prime 4 cross-gen possibility.

Is that enough to convince people to part with £300+ though? Surely, in true Nintendo fashion, there needs to be more to the hardware? Not necessarily a gimmick... but something that makes a Switch owner NEED to upgrade.

If there is no direct or partner showcase then it will be revealed on march 3rd. Cause my uncle who works at Nintendo told me so lol.

I hope the wait was worthwhile enough to classify those T239 rumours as outdated information. As years pass, tech moves forward, especially in mobile hardware.

@nhSnork They're not ripping me off a third time. They can keep their junk handhelds with terrible power draw and nonexistent game library.

@nocdaes For "need to upgrade" the good old "Everything new is for the new system only" will do just fine, has done since SNES...

Sure, the new system needs some must-have games for it to work (New SMB-game, new Mario kart, Zelda, maybe "Animal crossing"), but that's also been that way since the 80s, and is probably the reason the Switch first-party lineup for this year is so meager. (And rich with remakes)

For me, more powerful hardware, and maybe controllers that don't drift will be enough (The whole Switch concept is innovative enough), sometimes it's ok to not re-invent the wheel...

In other news, water is wet and the night is dark…

@Savage_Joe night is not always dark

If it’s really releasing this year they need an announcement soon. Say it releases in November - that’s already only nine months away. How much time do they think they need to market this thing?

@Shepdawg1 the struggle is real

Nintendo seeing all these rumours out here and deciding to release in 2027 out of spite

For me, I am perfectly happy with my Switch and will probably have games to last me for many years. I was still playing a Snes when the n64 and ps1 were dominant though so I've never really cared if something isn't up to date/modern ect - that said, I think peoples reasons for wanting a successor console are valid too, especially with some of games coming out that are struggling with the current hardware so I don't want to sound like I am dismissing those folk.

Between the meltdowns around xbox and the 6 years of switch pro/ 2 rumors, gamers should be the most calm people ever. Because everything is a crisis, all the time…for years. Anybody got some sony meltdowns to round out the doomscrolling?

@electrolite77
I shall but one for sure day one. But I am assuming a new big AAA Mario 3d game on release day and maybe another big AAA from Nintendo, maybe Metriod Prime 4.
If one or the other doesn’t release day one or something like that maybe DK 3d platform then I might just wait a while.

@120frames-please

It's look to be about a 4TF system. Even if it doesn't end up using the exact chip we think at this point, to get a power profile and form factor that would make it a decent portable, Nintendo are basically limited to chips in that range. The current most likely chip has tensor cores and therefor supports frame generation, but frame generation isn't magic.

The bottom line is that I wouldn't get your hopes up. The system is unlikely to be powerful enough to drive gaming above 60fps, and at current bulk market prices, a 120hz LCD is anywhere from 4 to 10 times the price of a 60hz model. Given Nintendo doesn't sell consoles as loss leaders, this is a big deal.

120hz gaming almost isn't consistent with Nintendo's design strategy. I speak Japanese and read Japanese language magazines, where Nintendo interviews often speak to how they don't see graphics and frame rate as targets in and of themselves. They basically would only make a game 120fps if they felt the gameplay simply wasn't possible at 60fps. On a technical side, they also use over-polling (where the game seeks input and the game LOGIC refreshers faster then the graphics) more then any other developer.

I mean I obviously hope I'm wrong and you get the system you are hoping for. But nothing we've seen as of right now points to that. The next Nintendo console will likely target 1080p/60 native with 1920p supported though DLSS.

@Shepdawg1 we’re not out of their current fiscal year until March 31st. Anytime after that, I can see an announcement coming out from them.

@GrailUK *(AP Reports)

@Duncanballs
One question about the deck. How does it run games like streetfighter 6 and Mortal Kombat?
Or even games like say, palworld, that game makes my graphics card really hot.
Which settings do u use to play demanding games like that.

This isn't news, seriously🤦🏾‍♂️. We knew this.

@The-Chosen-one I haven't got either of those but some recent ones ....

Mass Effect Trilogy - High runs fine
Guardians of the Galaxy - Low/medium
Tomb Raider Reboots - Medium

I think anything new will be low but still looks good. Medium to high for anything 3-5 years old.

You get away with a lot being that it is handheld, so stable FPS is the main thing I aim for when cranking the settings up.

Gamepass runs really well streaming with a good internet connection.

The Deck gets warm but not worryingly so.

The Legion Go will give you more power but you'll sacrifice battery. Some really good comparison vids on YT.

really don't need to report so many times or as often on the same rumors, imo. ✌️

@KingdomTears Even Nintendo themselves have proven that a direct upgrade over the previous console can be enough on its own to be successful. GBA didn’t reinvent the wheel and it did fine, 3DS was as direct a successor as it gets too (3D being the main gimmick but ultimately not being important to the platform) and it did great. Neither were bleeding edge either as far as power went and both dominated the handheld space. They sold on the back of strong software, something Nintendo would have no issue doing with a straight up Switch 2.

If Nintendo needs any convincing that trying to do something new just for the sake of it and expecting that to carry the platform they need only look at their past with the Wii U. They’ve made something universally appealing with the Switch and consolidated their workforce to focus on a singular platform and that’s lead to one of the most successful console of all time- what would be the need in trying to do something radical when it’s been proven time and time again that “same but better” just works? Unless they have something that truly is incredible it just seems pointless to risk alienating a corner of the market that they’ve pretty much dominated for the last 7 years.

And as far as handheld PCs go, they aren’t the same market as consoles/handheld consoles. I love my Steam Deck but I wouldn’t recommend it to everybody, and certainly not to kids who make up a large audience for Switch and consoles in general. It’s as close as you can get to a PC having a console experience right now but it still comes with many of the headaches that PC gaming is known for. I don’t doubt there’s people who will choose to go for a handheld PC over whatever Switch is currently available but they’re largely not competing in the same space for a variety of reasons.

@MysticX Ordinarily I'd agree with this assessment... but Nintendo have a huge challenge trying to convince people they need a new Mario Kart, Animal Crossing or Smash Bros games after the series highs they've achieved on Switch.

A new 3D Mario at launch feels plausible. But if it's literally Odyssey 2, I'm not sure I'll feel the urgency!

@GrailUK Reuters has been around since 1851, and they're also based in the UK; London specifically. Being from the UK and not knowing the name at least, is quite surprising.

Anyway, this "exclusive", didn't tell us anything we didn't already presume; 2024 release date, with a custom Nvidia chip, like every other rumour. 🤷‍♂️

It would be kind of hilarious if it's not backwards compatible.

@electrolite77 I'd refer you back to my last comment but here's the short of it; there are three main demographics that the Switch sells into:

1). The Nintendo core market (that's you and I)
2). The family market (typically families with kids between 5-12 years old)
3). Gamers who aren't particularly fussed about Nintendo IPs (at least not enough to buy a console just to play them) but bought into the idea of a console that could play AAA games on the TV and in handheld.

This last group I agree is the most niche and probably wouldn't impact Nintendo too much if they lost that particular audience for their next console.

However, the mistake most people on this site make is to think that the first group makes up the majority of Nintendo's core audience for Switch, when in fact it's the second group that Nintendo sells the most consoles to (essentially sites like this are echo-chambers for the first group making people discount this second larger group).

This website (https://www.start.io/blog/nintendo-target-market-segmentation-marketing-strategy-main-competitors-statistics/) sums it up nicely:

"(T)he key Nintendo target audience were big fans of Nintendo in the 80s and 90s. Now, as adults with families of their own, they are bringing Nintendo into their homes for a shared cross-generational experience."

A more powerful Switch alone won't appeal to this demographic on which Nintendo so heavily relies. The viewpoint of this type of user would be that they already have a Switch and a huge library of games to play, and that better graphics or frame rates isn't going to be enough for them to part with another $300-$400.

Without this audience Nintendo can expect to sell moderate numbers, but nowhere near the numbers they have done for Switch (likely less than half) which without a dual console and handheld strategy in place would make it the worst selling generation of any Nintendo generation ever - unlikely to be a position Nintendo wants to find itself in

I’m not expecting anything new until March 2025.
Tho I’m expecting a world wide reveal around November 2024
Between then all directs will focus on games and content for the switch. Pushing the remaining releases between now and November.
I imagine the few directs we get will throw a few quick hits out there which have not been included or mentioned to date. Eg ports and HD remasters.

i dont trust these rumors at all i wait for actual info from nintendo,

@larryisaman the GBA sold 40 million units less than the Gameboy and the 3DS half of the DS. I don't doubt that Nintendo could still shift a good number of consoles by simply releasing a more powerful version, but you can guarantee that they won't want to take a hit like that on the number of sales for their successor system - it's just how business works - if you're not growing year on year it means trouble for your business as investors lose confidence. As gamers we want to ignore this reality but Nintendo is not our friend, they are a business and they will do whatever is needed to make that business a success

@HeadPirate Good catch, almost certainly for Switch 2 manufacturing. Digital Foundry ran a feature video in November 2023 which fairly convincingly pointed to the Tegra T239. Specifications from Ampere architecture and Ada Lovelace backport, with a few customized features such as a new file compression engine (exactly what a gaming console needs), describe a plausible feature set for Switch 2 hardware to a tee. Pulling from a currently 4 year old architecture is an expected technology gap for a new Nintendo hardware release.

However, considering Ampere is not natively backwards compatible with Maxwell, and Nintendo compiling shader code that stripped out future compatibility in exchange for better operation on the Switch, this does open questions as to how Switch 2 would support backwards compatibility with Switch games. We'll have to wait and see, but it would probably need some OG Switch hardware accompaniment onboard since it wouldn't work by accord of the new hardware by itself. Which if true means we're looking at a console that will retail for more than the $350 that Switch OLED launched at.

I'm still not thinking this is Switch "2" so much as Switch+ for some reason. They need that final push to topple the DS, need to maintain the current library, give devs a little more to play with, improve the eShop, introduce probably Hall Effect joycons, and more internal memory, just to address some issues while still driving demand for this family of systems. It'll also make good on their "10 years of Switch" they were talking about, as if they "Switch 2" now, it will be the start of its own family of Switch systems.

We know it’s being announced in March. Do people really believe there’s a chance it doesn’t release this year? What sense would that make?

Closer we get to a Direct the more leaks/rumors start to get to MainStreet NewsOutlets that just a fact Ninjas will not be able to stop this from coming out. It's coming this year why do we constantly have NintenDoomed people talking about both sides of cheeks for????

@Duncanballs ive been waiting on getting a steam deck because of switch 2, i really cant afford both and ik ill probably want nintendo exclusives more over my steam library on the go (and emulators ofc)

@The-Chosen-one,

I will drop Nintendo a line, as their entire next genaeration strategy may depend on your one sale.

@-wc-

So true, but clicks are clicks.

@epicgamner There are gamers whom have both Deck and Switch or PS5/Xbox and it's up to the player to figure what they want how to play. And gaming isn't a cheap lifestyle when you game on different platforms that the nature of it. Some choose one or the other and others have multiple platforms - it a choice one makes.

**** Rumor story check list ****

Article based on previous rumors, about rumors, with little to no facts.... check!

Insert known source to give credibility... like Reuters.... check!

Sprinkle in somebody who worked on the chip for the last console... like Nvidia......... check!

Usually add an analyst to give a little more weight to it.... check!

Then reffer back to previous unfounded rumor articles, and claim this somehow supports them, even though most totally contradict each other... check!

Secret unamed source.... check!

Yes all the usual ingredients to make basically any rumor, that if you wait long enough is bound to happen, and at least be partly correct.

Could we not leave all this to those desperate YouTuber's with very few subscribers, and even less vews.

They won't announce anything because switch sales are still very strong...why stop their money flow by announcing a new console? They will squeeze every last drop of juice thats left from current Nintendo gen which operates in its own space...also we can expect the next system to do 4k and ray tracing as they were wanting that...id be happy with a solid 2k 60 fps system or else like what the hell are they doing there are so many fricking handheld pcs right now and the prices keep getting better and better on those

@SwitchForce,

Not many though.

@kalosn If Nintendo has demonstrated anything in the last 20 years, it's that they have no reservations digging up an old chip to power their new console.
May I remind you the Wii U's CPU was basically three overclocked original Wii cores, which itself was an overclocked GameCube core.

@PoeTheLizard Least we remind this poster the T239 upcoming SOC isn't ancient by any standard here. So not sure why one is digging a hole for themselves dismissing the Switch 2 for. Wii hardware isn't the same as Switch v1 hardware so let's not beat a DeadHorse shall we anymore.

Reuters does tend to have a very high rating for factual reporting while not being biased one way or another (according to Media Bias/Fact Check), so it is possible that the report is credible.

Still, I would take this report with a grain of salt. Until Nintendo themselves says anything about the successor to the Switch, everything is still speculative.

After all, there were supposed leaks of the Switch when we still knew it as Project NX that turned out to be false, such as the the photo of the mockup that was more elliptical in shape than the final product was.

So when it comes to rumors about upcoming hardware like Nintendo consoles, the age-old adage of "I'll believe it when I see it" applies. Especially when Nintendo notoriously plays their cards close to their chest.

Anything from any news or news outlet can't be confirm til Nintendo gives a Direct and shows what the product it or does or give the real specs and how it's powered then all can see what is. Then no one can deny what is there and not there.

@electrolite77 the group that bought the Gameboy, GBA, DS & 3DS were the kids themselves. You can do that when a console is in the $150-200 range. The group that are buying the Switch is the parents of the kids; the people who want to be able to play on their commute but also play Switch Sports and Mario Kart as a family. It's not the same I'm afraid. As for buying the latest iPhones, Playstations, XBox's, etc.. I've already explained that that works because it's the latest technology that the consumers are after. This can't work for Switch 2 as there's already more powerful hardware out there

@HeadPirate Thanks for the info. I'll be bummed if it's just 60hz like a TV from 1985. My phone has 120hz, my laptop has 144hz (180hz if I connect my monitor), and of course my OLED Deck has 90hz (and higher if I connect it to a monitor or good TV). I'll still play Nintendo exclusives on Super Switch, but I guess everything else I'd have to get on Steam. I hope Nintendo starts supporting high frame rates!
We'll find out soon enough!

@EVIL-C I was being sarcastic. Apologies.

@120frames-please Not saying 120Hz isn't welcome, but it's a bit of an overly high bar, considering that most Switch games can't even maintain 60fps! If "Switch 2" had a 90Hz or 120Hz screen, only lightweight games such as remasters would be able to take advantage of it, while any modern AAAs... well, we can look to the Series S to provide that info.

Personally, all I really want is 60fps and fast loading- and preferably graphics that aren't terrible, but even that is negotiable. My standards aren't that high!

Look, Nintendo started again from scratch. If the Switch is basicaly the NES for a new generation then I cannot be more excited for a modern SNES era from Nintendo. i think the leap in performance will be as profound (and will totally spark an old school next gen vibe!)

@smoreon I appreciate what you're saying. I just see Ori, Deadcells, Wreckfest, Kingdom Eighties and so many other light, older, or 2d games running locked at 90fps on OLED Deck and can't help but want similar smoothness on Super Switch 2. Series S has many games that run at 120, so maybe at least when docked (assuming the next Nintendo is handheld and dockable) it can run some stuff at a high frame rate. We'll see!
And I do realize that OLED Deck costs over $500, so Nintendo might feel they have to go with a 60hz screen. If that's the case, then I really hope they don't rule out a deluxe model, or OLED refresh, just something that could have a 90hz or 120hz screen later down the road. Valve refreshed their Deck and added 90hz, so it's possible for other companies to do something similar.

@120frames-please

I feel ya, and I totally respect your personal preference as to what makes the best possible game experience. But there are some things to consider as to why developers and hardware manufactures might not see 120fps as something worth targeting.

At the end of the day it's just math. You're making a choice and balancing what is important. It's not like the system can either hit 120 or it can't. You're simply choosing how to allocate the power you have.

Let say you have hardware that could could render your game at 1080p/120fps. That means you could also get it to render that same image at 1980/60 with the same processing overhead. Or, you could target 1080/60 but enable more complex rasterization techniques such as ambient occlusion, global illumination or even ray tracing.

Another huge consideration is what happens if you can't hit your frame rate consistently. It's hard to explain without getting really technical, but basically while having inconsistent frame times at 60hz isn't that big a deal, it's a much more noticeable problem at 120hz because the variance can be so much higher. Most games that target 120hz support VRR out of necessity, but that requires a compatible display the average Switch user isn't going to have.

Because of this, it's just not that viable to target 120fps in a limited power environment. Even Xbox X and PS5 games that target 120 generally do so in a much scaled back "performance" mode.

Maybe the best way to look at it is this; 120fps is the thing you add when you've already maxed out graphical fidelity in every other aspect. It's not something you're going to target at the cost of resolution and image quality.

@GrailUK Ah, lol, sorry. Hard to tell online sometimes. 😅

@HeadPirate Yes, all that makes total sense. Sometimes when I'm asking for 120fps I'm basically begging Nintendo to have a screen capable of it, so someone like Jeff Minter can put an awesome psychedelic arcade game on their system that can hit 120 (like his PS5 stuff does). I probably should accept that a mass market Target, Walmart, and Amazon selling console isn't going to have what I love. When I play on Deck I lower every setting, lower resolution, do whatever is needed to try to lock the frame rate at 90fps. That's what looks best and plays best, to me. But I'm a high maintainence frame rate jerk, lol!

@HeadPirate I also want to say that people can get an awesome 180hz VRR screen for around $100. I know not many people buy them, but they're for sale. I don't like 7 foot 60hz TV type stuff. I'm excited about high frame rates and smaller screens!

@The-Chosen-one going off of what duncanballs said, the steam deck is most likely going to be similar spec wise as the deck is capable of ray tracing in games! Valve just hasn’t gone through much effort to make the ray tracing experience on deck be very smooth yet, you can still pump out an almost 30 though in cyberpunk with low ray tracing

@KingdomTears GBA was out 3/4 years before being replaced versus Game Boy/Color selling and being supported for 10+; “casual” crowd that made the DS so huge were lost to phones and app stores. Iterative design wasn’t the driving factor behind those sales lagging behind predecessors.

Regardless, gambles make sense when the previous thing didn’t work. Wii after GameCube, Switch after Wii U etc. Deciding to shift gears again and doing something risky and different after releasing the third best selling console of all time does not make sense. I’m not saying there won’t be anything novel about the new machine but what are we expecting them to do after consolidating all of their studios into working on one device? There’s no way it won’t fundamentally be a Switch in design, regardless of whatever wrinkles they add to it.

@HeadPirate The part about the T239 being the basis of the Switch 2 is probably spot on, but the comparison to the Series S is factually incorrect.

The Series S uses an x86 architecture chip from AMD and it uses an on chip custom AMD GPU. The Nvidia chip uses ARM's architecture. The two are not compatible or similar at all.

Porting Series S games to an Nvidia ARM chips would require emulation and translations layers and the chip would have to be a lot more powerful than the Series S chip to do that. Or they could rewrite all the games for ARM, I highly doubt Microsoft is going to reprogram all their x86 games for ARM, and their third party software partners definitely aren't going to. So the portable Xbox theory has slim to nine chances. They would definitely go with an x86 chip or if they did go with ARM, it would be a streaming handheld.

If you were referring to Xbox to Switch ports, yeah that sounds likely. Some third parties have shown they are willing to reprogram their games to work on ARM for other platforms (Switch 1, MacOS, iOS). So it is assumed this would continue, especially with newer more powerful Nintendo ARM hardware.

The Nvidia chip if used in a Switch, yeah it definitely would draw less power. Its max power draw stock is 50w. But expect Nintendo to tune it for a handheld and be more around 30w or less. For comparison the Series X chip draws 75W on normal gameplay. It has to be cooled by a massive fan that is bigger than the entirety of the original Switch with controllers attached. That speaker looking thing on the Series S is the same diameter as the internal fan and its about 2 inches thick.

To put it modestly, the chip in the Switch (and most likely Switch 2) and the Series S are in completely different world and are not at all comparable in anything other than synthetic benchmarks.

@DestructoDisk

My point is that they are both around 4TF at target power draw, which might be a simplification, but it's not inaccurate. I also never suggest a portable Xbox ... if you go back and look at that sentence I'm using how unlikely that is to reinforce how likely it is that this is Nintendo's new chip.

But honestly, most modern APIs have automated tools to move your source between environments, and in the absence of that AI assisted binary translation can do most of the work for you. MS already have a x86 Windows to Switch conversion kit you an get as an ID@Xbox developer, and Windows 10 ARM64 support is native in Unreal and several other engines. I don't think they ever would, but if they wanted to move to ARMs chips ... I don't think it's as big a deal as you're making it out.

MS also had a ARM emulator for WUP and it ran with almost no overhead.

I can't wait until I bear witness the meltdown so fast when Nintendo at this or next week announces a general direct with just Switch games.

Of course it would be fun to having wrong about it and that "Switch 2" indeed gets unveiled. But get real, it's Nintendo we're talking about, and the current situation out there in the real life isn't that fun right now...

So 100% that it's just a general direct then, and no "Switch 2" reveal during this year. It's too early. Don't forget that Nintendo delayed Advance Wars for 1 year because of that unnecessary war.

Nintendo isn't Sony or Microsoft. They're different and loves to breaking their own rules again and again.

Also don't forget that the "Switch Pro" rumors which a lot of "insiders" claimed to be legit since 2018... Which in end never became true. Just don't blindly trusts everything on internet, it's their job to getting clicks.

@120frames-please

Hey, power to ya man. I hope you get it. Maybe a system refresh at some point. Nintendo LOVES system refreshes

Is anyone even making an 8 inch VRR or 90hz display? I think most insiders peg the cost of the screen they think is going to be in the next Nintendo console at around $4. I wonder how much more a 90hz or VRR would be, if it's even a thing. 120hz are like $40.

@HeadPirate Interesting, I don't know much, especially about the cost of bulk purchased screens. I'd love it if Nintendo could benefit from the fact that Valve is buying a good number of 90hz OLED screens and include those in a refresh or deluxe version of Super Switch 2. Even without VRR, 90 fps on an OLED is just SO NICE!

I love the switch design. I'd be okay with a more modern and higher quality build. The joy cons need to stay, but just fix the drift issues. I'd be fine if the screen is the same size but we at least get 1080p. I'm hopeful for Xbox series S power but I'm expecting something closer to PS4.

Shouldn't be on the production line at this point? If they are planning on realising it during 2024 it has to be assembled as we speak, so this rumors about new chips and ramb should have been set by now 🤔🤔🤔

Bought my switch (oled) 2022, was still enjoying my wiiu. As always, I never buy first edition of new console, as most of the time, there's problems of all sorts. I wait till second edition of said console, plus, still have so many games on my series x and switch...

@-wc- Yeah, but dumb stuff like this is the reason they can afford to pay the people at time extension to write real articles.

I guess these rumors about Switch 2 will keep on coming until Nintendo spill the beans by 2025. We all know Nintendo won't announce their next system until the Switch beat the Nintendo DS in worldwide sales figure.

It is a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

@larryisaman "There’s no way it won’t fundamentally be a Switch in design, regardless of whatever wrinkles they add to it".

I never claimed that it wouldn't be the same design, what I said was: This is exactly why I don't think the Switch 2 will "just be a more powerful Switch".

So essentially you've been arguing with me about something I never said?

Wow, I was worried I might actually go more than 15 seconds without hearing another false leak about a supposed Switch 2. With the equilibrium in my head balanced, balance itself has been restored to the world.

The Switch is great, we'll get a new device to spend $500 or whatever on soon enough. I'm enjoying the Switch a lot, so I'm apathetic about the time it takes to get a next gen Nintendo device and I couldn't afford it at the moment anyways, cos man them cars don't last like they used to.

@Jeronan exactly my words! After owning Switch Oled, I won’t go back to a regular LCD, so hopefully they will offer two versions at least if not having Oled at launch.

@imadeanaccount
This has been a problem since the 7th gen 360/PS3 where a unhealthy focus was placed on hardware over software and ramped up when pro models were released in the 8th gen, this went hand in hand with the obsession over “AAA” games that started during that time and we’ve seen where that’s brought us today where these sorta hardware pushing games keep needing increasingly longer development times with a very high risk of their studios collapsing from their games even being just a minor failure due to the enormous budgets they require.

@SalvorHardin Personally I believe the Nintendo Switch is fine where it's at, if a bit underpowered. But it's more like an alternative to PlayStation. PS5 is almost the exact same as PS4. There's a reason why many PS5 games still release on it, not many games need that power. And the ones that do are simply too ambitious for their own good.

@electrolite77

Me: "other brands (iPhones, Playstations, etc) have continued to sell well after simply releasing new, more powerful hardware. But those always been because they were at the bleeding edge of what's possible for those platforms"

You: "I’m not sure you understand why consumers buy iterative products. They buy it because it’s the best and newest hardware within the ecosystem they’re already established in."

You say I don't understand how this works and they carry on to say the exact same thing, then follow that up by saying that Playstation, XBox, SteamDeck and ROG ally aren't in the same ecosystem because reasons?

We can go around in circles like this forever, but at the end of the day it's just a comment on the internet - it's perfectly acceptable for you to have a different opinion than me and I to you. Let's not get upset over something that's really not important in the scheme of things

Given the rumoured specs, it sounds more like a switch pro than a switch 2. If true then the thing is as fast as a PS3, so it's not a huge improvement.

@Jeronan Yes. I don't think I can go back from oled so please don't make us wait

I hope it's all true, because it matches what any of us could deduce. The release schedule for Switch games is drying up by mid year, and the Switch is now 7 years old. You would suspect a teaser announcement late Feb or during March, a full reveal around July, and a release late Sep to early Nov.

I don’t really care tbh I’m happy with what I’ve got and the games are great

just read an article saying that a well informed Brazilian journalist who already announced good info over the past years says that the new console should be announced in March.

I am not hoping for any technical details, but just the release date would make my day

I’m not convinced it’s happening in 2024. I’m calling spring 2025. I think they will try and get one more holiday season out of the Switch. Switch 2 will release before end of financial year. This is be closer to the approach on announcing then delivering the Wii U. That was over year from announcement to launch. I’ll be so happy to wrong though. This holiday season handheld PC’s could be a real threat if Nintendo delays any further.

@PoeTheLizard But the Wii U administration was like, many eons ago. And we all know that was one of their key mistakes to how the Wii U was handled, and a much bigger mistake than using a cutting-edge mobile chipset (for 2015) in a 2017 console, was also a different context.

Nintendo, during those "NX" years, was still recovering from the losses of the Wii U, of course they couldn't affort to risk more power (and a higher price) for their next console by increasing their Tegra X1 requirements. Except of course, increasing its RAM by 1GB by request from developers.

But right now, with the enormous success of the Switch in mind, and the ever-increasing competition in the mobile space, it suddenly doesn't feel like a no-brainer, does it? You have to spend your money on something worthwhile, listen to what the devs want and all that.

Nothing new here, Nintendo always used a custom chip, never did they use a standard....that wouldn't be nintendo if they did the standard, now would it?

@ArcticEcho those "junk handhelds" boast some of the most memorable and enticing experiences in PlayStation history, though, and the third party segment of their "nonexistent library" granted me long-craved access to a whole lot of titles, too. PSP alone had Dissidia 012, the first game I ever found myself clocking over 200 hours in.

This is the most exciting thing to happen in gaming this year and probably next too bar none! Excited to see the new system and what it can do.

@30mm Nope, the Tegra X1 was actually off the shelf, they got it dirt cheap as Nvidia had a surplus of them. They just changed it a bit then with some AI tech for the Shield TV and to lock down on the hacking of the Switch that was occurring.

@Keman I can’t wait for when Nintendo announce their new console next month, and I bet you’ll all of a sudden forget about your posts claiming it’s all fake and you’ll be all excited… right?

I wonder what the release day title(s) will be. Switch had Zelda, Wii U had Mario's Bros u, Wii had Zelda, GameCube Luigi's Mansion and N64 Mario 64. Surely it's either Mario Kart 9 or a sequel to Odyssey. I'd imagine both coming out within the first year.