Nintendo Nintendo Switch 2 Officially Announced (Focused Direct April 2nd)

[Adamant]

Yes, it shows in the image above the part you quoted

Oh I see. I'm not familiar with the whole cartridge thing. I've been with Playstation since PS1, and nothing else.

 

[Plissken]

Intrigued that the joycons can be used like a mouse. That opens up a realm of possibilities, especially if it's a decent mouse. That also means that some third party peripherals could come out with a potentially higher end version with better internals for better accuracy and polling rate.

 

[GtehMVP]

Didn't have much interest in Switch 2. But full backwards compatibility has me thinking otherwise.

That's big for me too.

I really hope they announce an Oled option at launch. I can wait for the inevitable.

The OG Steam Deck is the last device with an LCD screen I'll ever have purchased.

 

[Plissken]

That's big for me too.

I really hope they announce an Oled option at launch. I can wait for the inevitable.

The OG Steam Deck is the last device with an LCD screen I'll ever have purchased.

What if they go with mini-led?

 

[GtehMVP]

What if they go with mini-led?

I'd be down for sure, depending on the quality.

I have a Samsung 77' Q90T (QLED) TV. I chose it over Oled at the time, and would prob do it again, as I use it as a PC screen often and didn't want the anxiety of image burn in for such an expensive purchase. I pass out to Youtube videos way too much lol. QLED's are pretty similar to mini-LED's, with better peak brightness but less contrast from what I recall. Beautiful screens regardless and no real worries of burn in.

I'd prefer Oled though, just can't beat those blacks/response times. I have Alienware's AW3423DWF (Oled) Monitor. The picture is stunning, and super smooth. I game and work on it, but being far cheaper than my tv, burn in anxiety isn't that big of an issue. Same goes for a handheld. My next Steam Deck will definitely be an Oled version.

 

[SaiWa]

Is this the least interesting/exciting/unique console Nintendo has ever made?

I know the Wii U is kind of up there, but it was at least a "WTF?" with that giant-ass tablet of a 'controller.'

This on the other hand is basically just "Switch again, but more powerful... lol."

And sure, that's kind of what the NES to SNES was, but the leap in graphics/technology was incomparable, and the SNES also brought in an entirely new controller. The Switch 2 doesn't even really have that going for it.

It's pretty disappointing to see Nintendo playing it this safe. They're supposed to be the company that pushes the boundaries and comes up with crazy ass new ideas, but this just has "phoning it in" written all over it.

Maybe you are expecting too much every single time?

I’ll grant you that innovation is a bit lacking this time around but why overly radicalize something that was already really good?

I am just hoping it’s powerful enough to warrant me upgrading. I am interested in Switch 2 but this time around I may not put the extra effort in getting one at launch like I did with Switch. I HAD to have Switch on launch with BOTW. The effort I made to get one was legit (and fun). This time around I am not feeling that big desire to get it immediately. I am pretty sure I’ll get it eventually but the urgency is definitely not there… unless they announce a sudden new Zelda release with the launch.. lol

 

[Slobodan]

@lsa is looking forward to the Switch 2. He was telling me about his anticipation for playing Hello Kitty Island Adventure again with improved perfromance.

 

[rikwebb]

That's big for me too.

I really hope they announce an Oled option at launch. I can wait for the inevitable.

The OG Steam Deck is the last device with an LCD screen I'll ever have purchased.

Supposedly it's an LCD screen again

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

@lsa is looking forward to the Switch 2. He was telling me about his anticipation for playing Hello Kitty Island Adventure again with improved perfromance.

My 7 year old daughter wants me to get her that game.

 

[Foppa21]

I've read a lot of articles where they predict it'll be somewhere between $299-$400

What's that compared to release date and today?

I'm not in the US but in NZ, the price hasn't really shifted much since it's been released.

 

[Adamant]

@Foppa21

 

[Zazen]

@Foppa21

Damn that better not be true because I could see a lot of people deciding not to buy it.

 

[Foppa21]

@Foppa21

How is that compared to the Switch now and at the time of release?

Again when I am, from memory, the Switch is about $100 from its initial price. Someone will be running a promo so there's no real reason to pay full $$$

 

[Madmick]

Are Nintendo fans excited? I feel like if Sony pulled something like this the fanbase would be eating them alive right now. A teaser and then a 2.5 month wait to hear more? No games at all except Mario kart which looks exactly the same. I don’t know… not feeling it. I know I’ve been a bit of a downer on here but it really feels like they just phoning it in lately

Is this the least interesting/exciting/unique console Nintendo has ever made?

I know the Wii U is kind of up there, but it was at least a "WTF?" with that giant-ass tablet of a 'controller.'

This on the other hand is basically just "Switch again, but more powerful... lol."

And sure, that's kind of what the NES to SNES was, but the leap in graphics/technology was incomparable, and the SNES also brought in an entirely new controller. The Switch 2 doesn't even really have that going for it.

It's pretty disappointing to see Nintendo playing it this safe. They're supposed to be the company that pushes the boundaries and comes up with crazy ass new ideas, but this just has "phoning it in" written all over it.

Given these “host experience” events are scheduled for as late as June 1, 2025 for Korea I’m wondering what kind of launch window we’re looking at for it. Can’t possibly be holiday 2025, because they’d be announcing this way too early if that was the case. PS5 and XSX/S launched for November 2020 and I think they were both announced towards late March 2020. Maybe July 2025? September?

It definitely is the smallest incremental leap they’ve had that I can think of. It’s only really comparable to the move from NES to SNES or N64 to GameCube but imo not as big a leap as either of those leaps were.

I read the article about the leaked new Tegra chip from Digital Foundry last year, but otherwise, I hadn't looked at anything until yesterday when I finally got around to checking it out. If the specifications are accurate it's impossible not to be negative-- at least from that point of view.

To tie this into an iteration of the points you guys have already raised: "Switch again...but more powerful". Even that meager consolation-- it's barely more powerful. If the specifications for the custom T239 Tegra chip and its clockings are accurate, this is what you've got to put it into context:

Console	Nintendo Switch 2	Nintendo Switch	Steam Deck	ASUS ROG Ally Extreme	MSI Claw A1M	ONEXPLAYER XFLY F1 Pro	Sony Playstation 4
Pixel Bandwidth	13.5	12.3	25.6	86.4	72.0	92.8	25.6
Textel Bandwidth	26.9	12.3	51.2	129.6	144.0	185.6	57.6
TFLOPS	1.72	0.39	1.64	8.29	4.61	11.88	1.84
VRAM Bandwidth	68.3	25.6	88.0	102.4	102.4	120.0	176.0
(V)RAM Capacity	12GB	4GB	16GB	16GB	16GB	32GB-64GB	8GB
Architecture	NVIDIA Ampere (May-2020)	NVIDIA Maxwell 2.0 (Sep-2014)	AMD RDNA 2.0 (Oct-2020)	AMD RDNA 3.0 (Dec-2022)	Intel Xe-LPG (Dec-2023)	AMD RDNA 3.5 (Jul-2024)	AMD GCN 2.0 (Apr-2013)
Console Release	??-2025(?)	Mar-2017	Feb-2022	Jun-2023	Mar-2024	Nov-2024	Nov-2013
Age of Ark @launch	57+ months	30 months	16 months	6 months	3 months	8 months	7 months

The OneXPlayer specs quoted there are for the most expensive chipset variations (starting at $1339) of their latest and greatest, it's not a serious competitor, it's a Chinese also-ran like GPD, because as we've seen with the ROG Ally, even a major company Taiwanese company like ASUS focused on very few variations of a product are vulnerable to major oversights with potential issues related to build quality, but I share it to give you guys an idea of the cutting edge of mobile chips out there right now as AMD's AI HX 370 is what you'll see in the many of the most expensive newest laptops you can currently buy, and AMD's Radeon 890M is their current flagship among mobile GPUs.

The custom Tegra 239 chip set to launch in the Nintendo Switch 2 is from NVIDIA's Ampere architecture. That was the architecture they launched with the RTX 3000 series, so we're talking about the RTX 3080, RTX 3070, etc.

Nintendo is seriously going to be putting that into a 2025 console release? Possibly even a late 2025 release?


*Edit* To better illustrate my point, I've added a final row showing the difference in months between the launch of the graphics architecture used in the console, and the launch of the respective console.

 

[rikwebb]

I read the article about the leaked new Tegra chip from Digital Foundry last year, but otherwise, I hadn't looked at anything until yesterday when I finally got around to checking it out. If the specifications are accurate it's impossible not to be negative-- at least from that point of view.

To tie this into an iteration of the points you guys have already raised: "Switch again...but more powerful". Even that meager consolation-- it's barely more powerful. If the specifications for the custom T239 Tegra chip and its clockings are accurate, this is what you've got to put it into context:

Console	Nintendo Switch 2	Nintendo Switch	Steam Deck	ASUS ROG Ally Extreme	MSI Claw A1M	ONEXPLAYER XFLY F1 Pro	Sony Playstation 4
Pixel Bandwidth	13.5	12.3	25.6	86.4	72.0	92.8	25.6
Textel Bandwidth	26.9	12.3	51.2	129.6	144.0	185.6	57.6
TFLOPS	1.72	0.39	1.64	8.29	4.61	11.88	1.84
VRAM Bandwidth	68.3	25.6	88.0	102.4	102.4	120.0	176.0
(V)RAM Capacity	12GB	4GB	16GB	16GB	16GB	32GB-64GB	8GB
Architecture	NVIDIA Ampere (May-2020)	NVIDIA Maxwell 2.0 (Sep-2014)	AMD RDNA 2.0 (Nov-2020)	AMD RDNA 3.0 (Dec-2022)	Intel Xe-LPG (Dec-2023)	AMD RDNA 3.5 (Jul-2024)	AMD GCN 2.0 (Apr-2013)
Console Release	??-2025(?)	Mar-2017	Feb-2022	Jun-2023	Mar-2024	Nov-2024	Nov-2013

The OneXPlayer specs quoted there are for the most expensive chipset variations (starting at $1339) of their latest and greatest, it's not a serious competitor, it's a Chinese also-ran like GPD, because as we've seen with the ROG Ally, even a major company Taiwanese company like ASUS focused on very few variations of a product are vulnerable to major oversights with potential issues related to build quality, but I share it to give you guys an idea of the cutting edge of mobile chips out there right now as AMD's AI HX 370 is what you'll see in the many of the most expensive newest laptops you can currently buy, and AMD's Radeon 890M is their current flagship among mobile GPUs.

The custom Tegra 239 chip set to launch in the Nintendo Switch 2 is from NVIDIA's Ampere architecture. That was the architecture they launched with the RTX 3000 series, so we're talking about the RTX 3080, RTX 3070, etc.

Nintendo is seriously going to be putting that into a 2025 console release? Possibly even a late 2025 release?

Supposedly those figures are from Handheld mode only for the Switch 2


Docked Mode is supposed to be along the lines of :

• CPU: 1100.8 MHz
• GPU: 1007.25 MHz (~3.09 TFLOPS)
• Memory Frequency: 6400 MHz
• Memory Bandwidth: 102.4 GB/s

 

[Madmick]

Supposedly those figures are from Handheld mode only for the Switch 2. Docked Mode is supposed to be along the lines of :

• CPU: 1100.8 MHz
• GPU: 1007.25 MHz (~3.09 TFLOPS)
• Memory Frequency: 6400 MHz
• Memory Bandwidth: 102.4 GB/s

I know. I saw that, but I didn't see the point in comparing it to the other handhelds because they operate at those speeds as handhelds.

Further, frankly, it changes little. I might argue this, concerning throughputs, by pointing out that, chiefly, the pixel throughput is so starved it will still be pitiful by 2025 handheld standards, and as we've seen with more recent AMD vs. NVIDIA lines, that particular pipeline plays a much larger role in FPS output for modern titles than may have previously been realized. Or I could emphasize that the docking is irrelevant to the fact the Switch will be implementing an architecture that will be nearly 5 years old (maybe more than 5 years old) on the day the Switch 2 releases.

But maybe the real argument to highlight is an old one favored by Playstation fans who insisted the lesser capability of the Series S would hold back games on the Xbox Series X, and the whole 9th generation, because developers would be forced to get their games to run on the turtle of the bunch. After all, Nintendo will have to design their games to run while the Switch is undocked.

To be clear, the increased CPU frequency is irrelevant, because I shared GPU figures above. However, in the interest of thoroughness, for those who care, here will be those throughputs:

Console	Nintendo Switch 2 (Docked)	Nintendo Switch 2 (Portable)
Pixel Bandwidth	24.2	13.5
Textel Bandwidth	48.3	26.9
TFLOPS	3.09	1.72
VRAM Bandwidth	102.4	68.3
(V)RAM Capacity	12GB	12GB
Architecture	NVIDIA Ampere (May-2020)	NVIDIA Ampere (May-2020)
Console Release	??-2025(?)	??-2025(?)

*Edit* Fixed, I had the original Switch copied above on the right, originally.

 

[HHJ]

Maybe you are expecting too much every single time?

I’ll grant you that innovation is a bit lacking this time around but why overly radicalize something that was already really good?

I am just hoping it’s powerful enough to warrant me upgrading. I am interested in Switch 2 but this time around I may not put the extra effort in getting one at launch like I did with Switch. I HAD to have Switch on launch with BOTW. The effort I made to get one was legit (and fun). This time around I am not feeling that big desire to get it immediately. I am pretty sure I’ll get it eventually but the urgency is definitely not there… unless they announce a sudden new Zelda release with the launch.. lol

It goes to show how good the Switch was. I got SO MUCH USE out of it. I of course modded the hell out of it. I bought it 6 years ago.

I still have it and have use for it, but since last summer, I've switched over to the Rog ALLY

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

I read the article about the leaked new Tegra chip from Digital Foundry last year, but otherwise, I hadn't looked at anything until yesterday when I finally got around to checking it out. If the specifications are accurate it's impossible not to be negative-- at least from that point of view.

To tie this into an iteration of the points you guys have already raised: "Switch again...but more powerful". Even that meager consolation-- it's barely more powerful. If the specifications for the custom T239 Tegra chip and its clockings are accurate, this is what you've got to put it into context:

Console	Nintendo Switch 2	Nintendo Switch	Steam Deck	ASUS ROG Ally Extreme	MSI Claw A1M	ONEXPLAYER XFLY F1 Pro	Sony Playstation 4
Pixel Bandwidth	13.5	12.3	25.6	86.4	72.0	92.8	25.6
Textel Bandwidth	26.9	12.3	51.2	129.6	144.0	185.6	57.6
TFLOPS	1.72	0.39	1.64	8.29	4.61	11.88	1.84
VRAM Bandwidth	68.3	25.6	88.0	102.4	102.4	120.0	176.0
(V)RAM Capacity	12GB	4GB	16GB	16GB	16GB	32GB-64GB	8GB
Architecture	NVIDIA Ampere (May-2020)	NVIDIA Maxwell 2.0 (Sep-2014)	AMD RDNA 2.0 (Nov-2020)	AMD RDNA 3.0 (Dec-2022)	Intel Xe-LPG (Dec-2023)	AMD RDNA 3.5 (Jul-2024)	AMD GCN 2.0 (Apr-2013)
Console Release	??-2025(?)	Mar-2017	Feb-2022	Jun-2023	Mar-2024	Nov-2024	Nov-2013

The OneXPlayer specs quoted there are for the most expensive chipset variations (starting at $1339) of their latest and greatest, it's not a serious competitor, it's a Chinese also-ran like GPD, because as we've seen with the ROG Ally, even a major company Taiwanese company like ASUS focused on very few variations of a product are vulnerable to major oversights with potential issues related to build quality, but I share it to give you guys an idea of the cutting edge of mobile chips out there right now as AMD's AI HX 370 is what you'll see in the many of the most expensive newest laptops you can currently buy, and AMD's Radeon 890M is their current flagship among mobile GPUs.

The custom Tegra 239 chip set to launch in the Nintendo Switch 2 is from NVIDIA's Ampere architecture. That was the architecture they launched with the RTX 3000 series, so we're talking about the RTX 3080, RTX 3070, etc.

Nintendo is seriously going to be putting that into a 2025 console release? Possibly even a late 2025 release?

I’m not exactly following why you’re poo poing the Switch 2 being equivalent to Ampere architecture when PS5 and Series X are supposed to be based on the rough equivalent of Turing architecture. I know that they’re not based on Nvidia tech at all, but I always heard it said that a PS5 and Series X had the power of a PC running an RTX 2070 Super or a 2080.

 

[Madmick]

I’m not exactly following why you’re poo poing the Switch 2 being equivalent to Ampere architecture when PS5 and Series X are supposed to be based on the rough equivalent of Turing architecture. I know that they’re not based on Nvidia tech at all, but I always heard it said that a PS5 and Series X had the power of a PC running an RTX 2070 Super or a 2080.

Because the PS5 and XSX released in 2020. Were they supposed to release on architecture from the future?

They were built on RDNA 2.0, and RDNA 2.0 released in Oct-2020. The PS5 and XSX both released in Nov-2020 a month later, not five years later.

 

[HereticBD]

@Foppa21

I'd laugh...if it wasn't Nintendo. They know they've got the kids(and their parents) by the balls. Only thing that fucks them up is branding, and they made the right decision by calling it the "Switch 2", and not the "SwitchU", or "SwitchX", or some other stupid shit.

It'll sell.