Nintendo Switch 2: 4K resolution and faster processing
06-21-2023Nintendo Switch 2: 4K resolution and faster processing
Rumors of a Nintendo Switch 2 (or Switch Pro) have been circulating for years. Whispers of the next-gen Nintendo console first started when The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was first teased in 2019, gained steam when the Switch OLED launched in 2021, and are increasing now that the standard Switch has been out for six years.
Nintendo recently announced that we won’t see a Switch upgrade in the next fiscal year, meaning the absolute earliest we get a look at a new Nintendo console would be in late 2024.
While the Switch surely wasn’t built to compete with the Xbox Series X or PS5 in terms of raw horsepower, it can feel woefully underpowered running even Switch exclusives, let alone multi-platform titles. Trailers for upcoming Nintendo titles are often met with “that looks great … for the Switch” and new launches don’t always run as smoothly as fans hoped. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet were unusually buggy at launch, Sonic Frontiers couldn’t hit high frame rates on Switch, and games like Hogwarts Legacy and The Lord of the Rings: Gollum are coming to the Switch well after initial launch dates as those ports require extra work to fit them on the system. While the upcoming Legend of Zelda installment looks great, we can’t help but dream about how well it’d run on another console or PC.
The current Switch can hit 720p to 1080p resolution and has a 60fps frame rate limit. We’d love to experience full 4K gaming on the Switch 2 and bump up that frame rate potential (so it can at the very least consistently hit 60fps). We aren’t going to get into the ins and outs of processing power and preferred chipsets here, but we definitely need more power from Nintendo going forward.
CR: digitaltrends By Sam Hill
