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[MrAlwaysRight]

It's fine if you're not expecting PS5 level games, it's a mistake for publishers/developers to target the same game, we should get a Switch 2 version of a game, similar to the SNES/Megadrive where we'd get a different game based on the hardware, it might need a different visual style, maybe change an open world to a semi open linear world, but just doing a 1/1 port is the wrong way to go in my opinion.

 

[apple_of_enlightenment]

Of course there's plenty of headroom. Just like every other console ever release.d

Edit. I mean in software not hardware obviously. Thanks for the lols.

 

[PeteBull]

A beefed-up PS4 is not a PS5.

The Switch 2 is Gen 9.5 hardware. technologically similar in architecture features to a PS5 Pro. Graphics performance is always tunable by developers, and for a handheld, what the Switch 2 delivers is more than sufficient. And Nintendo can boost GPU performance by 40% or allow developers access to an extra 1GB at any time.

On top of that, Nintendo could request a Switch 2 Pro from Nvidia, a process port with minor tweaks would 3x the GPU performance.


PS5 will likely see support through 2034 or beyond. There's no reason to expect Switch 2's support lifecycle to be any shorter.

The Series S's real problem is memory. It's 8-8.5GB of usable RAM is already behind the Switch 2's 9GB and well behind the PS5's 12.5GB.

RDNA2 being underwhelming is a common feature of all Gen 9 consoles (even though Microsoft's memory/GPU configuration choices made it worse).

Ok so u agree with me here that switch2 hardware wise is well(roughly 2,5x slower) below base ps5.

2028 and onwards when we enter x-gen period amount of ports switch2 gonna get will vastly depend on how popular it is at that point, if it will go on the trajectory similar(bit better or even bit worse) to og switch it will 4sure receive multiplat ports left and right, the question is tho what OP asked- about its secret sauce- how much and if any improvement we can expect vs what we got today, graphics wise, and gotta be honest here not much or nothing at all(unless its at heavy cost off lowering resolution and framerate).

Series S has many problems, ram being one of huge ones obviously, another being weak sales/its owners barely buying any new games, another one being digital only, combined with super tiny ssd, and last but not least of its problems, gpu 3x weaker from series x(roughly 2,5x from base ps5) and based on old and for sure extremly outdated rdna2 amd archi, especially by 2028

Base ps5 will get very long support but if u thinking 2034 u are largery mistaken(unless u mean legacy versions of sports games, but who cares about that shit on hc gaming forum like GAF ).
2030 to 2032 is time when most of AAA multiplat support will end, even for very succesful platform like ps5- ofc assuming we getting brand new ps6 holidays 2027- hopefully we will.

I say even if we get some big AAA multiplat port in 2032 that version gonna look and perform terrible, likely 30fps only, huge visual downgrade(especially when it comes to rt and ai upscaling, ps6 will be much more superior in those 2 aspects) so u gonna need to brace urself for similar experience that lowend pc users get when they chose settings well below console equivalent(aka low/very low)- games (compared to midrange gaming pc or brand new console) gonna look and perform artiociously, u will look at those versions and be like:

Lets not forget we got example of how such a late lastgen downgraded port looks and runs, of proper AAA game too:

 

[Physiognomonics]

A beefed-up PS4 is not a PS5.

The Switch 2 is Gen 9.5 hardware. technologically similar in architecture features to a PS5 Pro. Graphics performance is always tunable by developers, and for a handheld, what the Switch 2 delivers is more than sufficient. And Nintendo can boost GPU performance by 40% or allow developers access to an extra 1GB at any time.

On top of that, Nintendo could request a Switch 2 Pro from Nvidia, a process port with minor tweaks would 3x the GPU performance.


PS5 will likely see support through 2034 or beyond. There's no reason to expect Switch 2's support lifecycle to be any shorter.

The Series S's real problem is memory. It's 8-8.5GB of usable RAM is already behind the Switch 2's 9GB and well behind the PS5's 12.5GB.

RDNA2 being underwhelming is a common feature of all Gen 9 consoles (even though Microsoft's memory/GPU configuration choices made it worse).

They didn't do for Switch 1, I doubt they would do it for S2.

Why would they bother when a super cheap OLED model (cheap to RD for them) will have the same sales results as a Pro model: making a good share of S2 customers double dip.

And considering how shitty the current screen is... the S2 OLED will likely print money again for Ninty.

 

[Kataploom]

The switch 2 specs are below average by modern pc and console standards. Of course there's no headroom.

They shouldn't be mixed up, PC and consoles are on different ballpark, specially on CPU side.

Switch 2 will show better results with time, btw, but I wouldn't expect miracles... Just engines better suited for modern architecture, which has been a bottleneck for even the bigger machines.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

It has entry lvl 2021 nvidia tech, and its launch was pushed back solid couple years coz og switch was selling like crazy, we likely saw max or close to max of its capabilities already, so in future games something gonna have to give, resolution, framerate or graphic fidelity, normally when we talking stationary console hardware u can only have 2 out of 3, in case of switch2 since its so weak(and has handheld hardware) we will likely only gonna get 2 out of 3 too, sometimes maybe only 1 out of 3...

Next jrpg from monolith soft likely gonna be final litmus test, if that doesnt look impressive likely nothing will(and keep in mind it will likely have terribly bad image quality and framerate, same like their xenoblade chronicles 3 had on og switch)
For comparision, thats how SW: O looks and runs on switch2


On super weak(but still much stronger) 3050 it looks visibly better/at higher settings and runs way smoother too, timestamped so u can compare directly:


And just for reference, look where desktop rtx 3050 8gigs version stacks up among modern graphic cards (it launched jan 2022 on 8nm, 250$ msrp):

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 8 GB Specs

NVIDIA GA106, 1777 MHz, 2560 Cores, 80 TMUs, 32 ROPs, 8192 MB GDDR6, 1750 MHz, 128 bit

www.techpowerup.com

Again for comparision, 16gigs 9060xt aka ps5pr0 equivalent is roughly at 257% perf lvl in games(in other worlds 2,5x stronger), nuff said...

True problematic times for switch2 graphical prowess(or rather lack there of) will start durning x-gen so end of 2027 and onwards, by that time many multiplats either gonna have to be downgraded to hell and back to run on it or devs gonna decide its not worth their effort and simply not port the game at all...
So u got about 1,5 years left, after that brace for impact

Last time it was so bad that games like RE7 needed to be streamed. I wonder if this scenario will play itself out again with Switch 2.

 

[Robb]

For first party stuff I definitely think there is. 3rd party probably not.

I can't wait to (hopefully) see a new Metroid Prime from the ground up by RETRO. Or Luigi's Mansion 4 from Next Level Games.

 

[UltimaKilo]

The thing is, can they port it to a smaller node without redesigning the entire chip? The crux of it is that 8nm is a dead end node.

Oh they could absolutely! Some adjustments would still be needed in physical layout and voltage tuning, but the overall system could remain compatible with the same software and design.

Right now, 8nm is much cheaper than 7 or 6nm but that is expected to change by late 2027 or early 2028, so quite a while to go.

 

[Mozza]

Frame gen is bullshit just to be clear

Still, devs have workarounds for the hardware. Have you see what some people are doing with the N64 and Dreamcast now?! It's fucking amazing. And it's not just by old hardware. Last of Us on PS3 is a looker, Ryse on Xbox One is a launch title that looks better than other big names NOW

Capcom adapted it's engine to run well on Switch 2, and if we take Code Veronica trailer in comparison with REmake 2, they found some dev shenanigans to get thing better, so it's expected to S2 also tske advantage of this

About a Pro version... Original GameBoy got it, DS got it, 3DS got it. Did You Know Gaming (can't remember the video) found that the riginal Switch was about to get it, but covid and more stuff turned into difficulty for this, so they released just the OLED version - that actually has a better hardware, but not enough to be called Pro

When Nintendo do their hardware revisions I feel it's more down to the components have simply got better, rather than actual desire to make a more powerful machine. The Switch 2 could change this as Nintendo have gone down the route of giving specs this time round, not like Sony or Microsoft of course... but still.

 

[Sohurmk833]

They didn't do for Switch 1, I doubt they would do it for S2.

Why would they bother when a super cheap OLED model (cheap to RD for them) will have the same sales results as a Pro model: making a good share of S2 customers double dip.

And considering how shitty the current screen is... the S2 OLED will likely print money again for Ninty.

Yeah the OLED model is what i want. Power is already more than enough for the type of game i play (Nintendo, Indie, Japanese stuff, Retro).

 

[Baemono]

Can they make a better version of their DLSS ? Maybe

Going from 8nm to 4nm in the future can help boost battery or even performance in newer models

Can devs better optimize games ? Sure, some of the PS5 ports were shoehorned (AC Shadows, Hitman 3), while other had more work into them (Star Wars Outlaws, Indiana Jones, FF7 Rebirth)

And the situation is different here, as this gen devs push for better framerates, compared to previous gens, so it's a bit easier to port PS5 games running at 60 on Switch 2 than it was to port PS4 games running at 30 on Switch 1.

 

[Embearded]

Even if there is any, the studio that would need it most is GameFreak and they are technically incompetent.

 

[Sir Sonic]

For the price point it has enough power
What it doesn't have is enough battery
We need that battery and screen revision ASAP

 

[Magic Carpet]

There must be Cuda cores inside those Joycons helping out the graphics. How else do they justify that high price?
New Joycons, added power.

 

[Dacvak]

Just like the Switch 1, the software side of tech will continue to be optimized, and so we'll see improvements over time in a general sense. But, no, we're not going to magically unlock extra cores or anything lol.