Switch 2 coming late 2024

Steamdeck is 18 months old, surely it’ll be faster than that. It struggles with the latest games at 720p. I can see them use dlss to get 1080p portable, question is, what are they going to do with docked mode connected to a 4k tv? Maybe just keep it at 1080p?

I totally believe DLSS will be in use for the new console but to have a portable form factor console that Nintendo likes to do WITH stuff going on comparable to a PS5/Series X, yeah no.

I'm thinking a 4TF machine similar to a Series S which is comparable to a PS4 Pro.

No way it is going to be doing The Matrix Awakens demo with full ray tracing... at least not in portable mode. If the dock actually had its own GPU in it, maybe some additional RAM, then I could imagine them looking at something that is near PS5/Xbox Series X level. Also certain they will be using DLSS on it.

This has been my hope for what they would do though, so maybe it's just wishful thinking from my part.

If they aren't looking at having different hardware for docked/portable then I can believe this is accurate.

If they do go down the route of the dock giving additional power, perhaps they will sell the dock separately. Maybe with the standard Switch 2 it will be mainly a portable system, possible with an HDMI port to plug it in a TV if you really want. They sell that for around about £300 or maybe a little less. Then you can pay another £150 (or something) and you get the dock to supercharge it.

I can't really see them selling something that is at a PS5 level of power for the expected Nintendo price and going higher likely would alienate much of their audience.

I think there’s 0% chance the Switch successor is weaker than a Steam Deck. The Steam Deck itself is below a PS4 in overall performance, and there’s no point in releasing a new console this far into the Switch’s life with such a meagre upgrade. I’m sure DLSS and upscaling will play a big part in splitting the difference between it and PS5 performance, but I agree with sentiments that it should lie within PS4 Pro and Series S’ performance levels.

I do expect it to have decent ray tracing support, even though I’ll probably turn it off when given the option, because even on the PC side, nvidia’s GPUs still have a significant lead in RT versus AMD’s GPUs which otherwise have comparable performance levels.

My money on the Switch 2 is that it will be waterproof and usable to depths of 10m and called the SwitchU.

It makes sense that the only place kids don’t have access to digital devices more or less is while swimming… the last frontier in gaming space recognised

3.5 is based on DLSS 2. It has already been confirmed to be coming to all GPUs with tensor cores (20xx and above).

DLSS is a confusing mess now. It covers an upscaler, frame generation and now a de-noiser.

In not sure how much use a Switch 2 would have for DLSS 3.5. Ray tracing is still an absolute hog on resources, unless it is just for shadows which has very little impact on image quality. DLSS 3.5 won't improve frame rate either, it just improves image accuracy and quality. Unless we are looking at the equivalent of a 40 series card or a high-end 30 series, I don't think supporting ray tracing is really worth it, outside of its most basic implementations (which is probably not worth doing, outside of a bullet point on the back of the box).

Any guesses as to launch titles?

Think it's a fairly safe bet we'll get a new 3D Mario. Other than that I've very little idea.

Metroid 4, besides that, probably 60fps versions of both zeldas?
Still doesn't make any sense to me, I can't see Nintendo caring about RT. I can see nvidia making one hell of chip, but not in the 10-15 watt power range. e-GPU in the docking station would be super expensive.

Yeah, new Mario Kart must be on the way at some point. They've been milking the last one for 9 years now!

As much as I'm hyped for MP4, it's just not a system seller. At this stage I definitely wouldn't be surprised to see it pushed to the Switch 2 though.

A new Pokémon game will still probably look like utter shit in comparison to other titles. I'm giving them a very wide berth from now on after Stinking Violet.

Wouldn't be surprised if we got another Mario Kart and Smash Bros 'Super Deluxe' versions with all DLC included.

I'd buy the Smash one if they could get the online working.

Like with the Wii U I could see a launch with a bunch of 3rd party titles that never had releases on switch before, or had those streaming versions.

I'm hoping for a new Animal Crossing soley for my little girl, the Switch version was the first real game she ever played and really got into, so it would be her first experience of the excitment and hype of a new game release. For me I just want a new 3D Mario, I feel like that will surely happen for launch! Or for Nintendo to have secretly re-acquired Rare and we get Banjo Threeie at launch. Could happen amirite?

I reckon they’ll have the same software strategy as they had for the Switch. It’ll be a soft launch with major titles releasing every month or two for the first year, not all at once. So perhaps one major launch title and some smaller digital games to back it up. Whether that means it launches with a brand new Mario or not, I don’t know.

I reckon we’ll see a new Mario, Mario Kart, Xenoblade (or equivalent), a Fire Emblem and perhaps Metroid all within the first year, but what order that is in is anyone’s guess. Mario Rabbids 2 is getting a Switch 2 port, so that’ll be in there somewhere.

A Splatoon follow-up, which will definitely happen, might not launch so closely to Mario Kart this time around, given it is also a bit of a sales monster (and if the Splatoon team are working on Mario Kart). Animal Crossing will likely come much later as I believe there is a large cross over of staff with the Splatoon developers, including the game directors.

There’s also that rumour that a Donkey Kong game was in the works, from the Mario Odyssey team, which would make a launch Mario title less likely if true. I wouldn’t hold my breath, but the Metroid Prime remake rumours were true.

It’s gonna be a weird run, but I think some folk will be annoyed until their favourite series gets a new release. F-Zero won’t happen unless a third party of Nintendo’s choosing agrees to make it. Smash Bros needs a reinvention at this point. Zelda will be 5 years away, excluding spin offs, remakes or ports.

Baldur's Gate 3 on Switch, plus cross-platform co-op (for the Steam Deck) and all of a sudden the FE household is co-oping on the go