There were a lot of questions about the Switch 2 prior to Nintendo's Switch event this week, but one of the biggest was about performance.
We knew that the Switch 2 would have to be an upgrade in the power department, but how much of an upgrade would it actually be?
We now have a decent idea of what the Switch 2 is bringing to the table, but the details are still coming out in drips, and one of those drips comes courtesy of Nvidia.
On Thursday, Nvidia announced that the Switch 2 is using a custom processor that could take Nintendo to the next level in terms of graphics, which brings two major and modern features to one of the gaming world's least powerful consoles.
A new generation of Nivida
One of the biggest announcements from Nivida is that the Switch 2, thanks to a custom processor, will now support a couple of next-gen capabilities.
One of those features is Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS), which uses AI to boost frame generation.
This should — if other DLSS implementations are anything to go off of — upgrade the overall image quality of Switch 2 games without having to shoehorn in a beefier GPU or clunkier, expensive hardware.
With a new custom Nvidia processor, the Switch 2 will be able to support 4K gaming in docked mode and up to 120fps at 1080p in handheld mode, according to Nvidia.
All in all, Nivida says the Switch 2 has 10 times the graphics performance over the original, which is to be expected since the Switch came out in 2017, but is still a welcome leap generation-to-generation.
Secondly, Nvidia says the new processor, thanks to new Tensor cores specifically, will also support (drum roll) ray tracing.
Yes, that's right, Mario can be ray traced.
On one hand, yay! Better graphics is, well, better. But on the other hand, I'm not convinced that the leap will be as big as Nintendo hopes it will.
Switching up the narrative
I don't think anyone will be mad about increased graphical performance.
The Switch, being nearly ten years old at this point, is outdated and was never really known for its power in the first place.
And here's the thing: that has never, ever mattered to anyone who loves Nintendo's iconic console. People play the Switch for Nintendo's classic first-party games, because it's affordable and because it offers a versatile, unique form factor that's inimitable when it comes to the traditional console market.
In a way, Nintendo succeeded not just despite its lack of graphical performance but because of it. While Microsoft and Sony were busy chasing ray tracing, Nintendo focused on creative, functional hardware and the core games that make the brand beloved.
And sure, Nintendo can still do both, but it risks falling into the trap of chasing performance, which hasn't exactly worked out for its competitors.
Ray tracing, for context, was a major selling point when Microsoft launched its Xbox Series X, but a lack of developer support and potentially fan interest has made the feature sort of a non-factor. Up until recently, the Series S — Xbox's cheaper, non-performance oriented console — made up a whopping 75 percent of the company's current-generation sales.
That's all to say that price-to-performance is still more important than outright performance for the vast majority of people, and I doubt that Nintendo is immune to that trend.
Maybe ray tracing will be a bigger deal to the Switch 2 than I'm giving it credit for, but I have a feeling Nintendo ought to stick to its guns and focus on making Mario fun, not photorealistic.
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