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Digital Foundry claims mid-generation Switch hardware refresh was once planned, but no longer happening and next-gen is next

AREYOUOKAY?

Member
I0rVSfQ.png


You'd think everyone would have learned by now when it came to those kinds of leakers. 2024 is just the right time for a new system considering the Switch came out in 2017.
 
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Hold on. It's very obvious this was the plan.

We're now seeing first party games that are unable to run properly on the system. Games like Bayonetta 3 in my opinion feel like they were planned for more powerful hardware
I guess Xenoblade 2 was planned for more powerful hardware, too.. oh and BOTW?
 

Robb

Gold Member
I’m sure they had the idea on the table. I guess Nintendo made the right choice though considering how much the Switch is still selling.

I would have bought a Pro model day one though.
 

John Bilbo

Member
I just received news from my uncle: Nintendo will release a smart phone simultaneously with a home console. You can play portable Switch games with the phone (cartridge slot included!) and quite good looking games on the home console.

They will be called Wii Umm
 

DonkeyPunchJr

World’s Biggest Weeb
Personally I think that really sucks. I was looking forward to a mid gen refresh (which is not unprecedented, look at Gameboy Color, DSi, and New 3DS). And I absolutely believe there was one that made it some way into development. There was a LOT of smoke in 2020.

Not really sure what they should do about the successor. Sure I’d love “same thing just more powerful” but how much of current Switch audience has an appetite for that?

I would’ve said “well they just need to make some killer next gen iterations of their evergreen games” but maybe not? Look at Wii U, we got Mario Kart, 2D Mario, 3D Mario, Zelda BotW, Smash Bros, Splatoon, etc and it still sold like shit. And Switch owes at least some of its success to the fact they already had a bunch of kickass Wii U games that everybody missed out on to port over + expand upon.

IDK man. I feel like the success/failure of Nintendo generations is unpredictable and surprises everyone, Nintendo included. Anybody who does “predict” the outcome really was just guessing and happened to guess right.

Almost like the mainstream audience (i.e. not you) needs get bored of Nintendo, take a generation off, then realize they miss it and want more of it. Like some cycle of death and rebirth. Hopefully I’m wrong but that’s the best theory I have now.
 
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Kumomeme

Member
one of stuff that we might get if the pandemic never happened

but on otherhand, if they decided to release superior next gen version of it instead, then it is better.
 

mcjmetroid

Member
I guess Xenoblade 2 was planned for more powerful hardware, too.. oh and BOTW?
What are you taking about these games were almost launched with the Switch itself.

I'm not sure what to say to you here.

I think it's very obvious a switch upgrade was planned at some point and it got to a way more serious stage than a Wii HD ever did. The games themselves show it lately with even first party showing poor optimisation and ambitious design.

I think this Switch HD was supposed to released instead of the Switch OLED. That's something they threw together at the last minute to have something ready.

A lot of developers believed this for sure.
 
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Drew1440

Member
I'd be suprised if they didn't, both the DS and 3DS had mid generation spec bumps. A higher clocked switch in a 7nm process would be more than welcome.
 

cireza

Banned
They won't do this but going back to a dedicated handheld and a dedicated home console would be for the best. Rather than pursuing this concept of having a bad console for both usages at the same time.
 

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
Good. The PS4 Pro and Xbox whatever it was called were pointless cash-ins, both of them offering next to nothing over the original systems.

Err......no? You mean better graphics is nothing? The leap was actually pretty large.
 

Marvel14

Banned
They should release a system that has the same concept as the Switch. It just needs a better screen and better specs.

There's no need to try to reinvent the system, like they had to with the Wii because the motion control fad was over. The design of the system is still solid.
If they could figure out a way of making the dock customizable so you can play at home at high or medium settings while portable plays at low settings with DLSS and ps4 level innards doing the upscaling legwork, they'd really be cooking.

But knowing Nintendo they may try to add VR to the dock or an AR glasses add on somehow
 

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
"next gen" with last gen tech knowing Nintendo.

Switch 2.0 featuring raspberry
They won't do this but going back to a dedicated handheld and a dedicated home console would be for the best. Rather than pursuing this concept of having a bad console for both usages at the same time.

This has potential to work for them but only if the architecture on the portable is so similar that all games can be released simultaneously on both. So similar to series S and X.
I for one would love this, imagine what the skilled developers at Nintendo could do with a 20 or 30 teraflop machine?
 
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I 100% believe Nintendo is nervous. Just a look at their history will tell you why. Whenever they have tried to follow a very similar path to their previous products, they have sold fewer units.

When it comes to hanhelds, GB Advance was the natural successor to the GB, yet sold ~38M fewer units than the GB. They then came out with the DS, utilizing 2 screens, one being a touchscreen, and it sold 154M units. The 3DS followed the same path as the DS, only adding better specs and 3D, and it was only able to sell half of the DS.

Onto home consoles, Nintendo saw a steady decline in their console sales for their traditional HW. They were only able to buck the trend with the Wii and it's motion control gimmick. The Wii U, which followed the same model as the Wii (cheaper, less powerful HW and even kept the Wii branding), only adding better specs and a tablet controller, and it was a massive flop, not even being able to hit 15M in sales.

Nintendo decided to round the wagons, so to speak, and combined their efforts into one piece of HW, a hybrid that saw success. However, IF history repeats and Nintendo just goes with a Switch 2, it will likely not be as successful.
 

Imtjnotu

Member
Just call your new console "Switch 2", make it halfway between a PS4 and a PS5 in specs and it's guaranteed to sell like cupcakes.
A 7tf handheld?


Cracking Up Lol GIF



Until solid state batteries or sodium ion batteries become the industry standard for consumer use. Get this shit out your head
 
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ADiTAR

Banned
I think they are coming with it in 2023.
I don't believe anything someone "heard" about anything Nintendo, so far all the rumors were false about them: The pro, Star Fox GX, Metroid Prime HD/Trilogy, etc. If they know the Direct release is because it's either obvious or a 3rd party leak.
 

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
A 7tf handheld?


Cracking Up Lol GIF



Until solid state batteries or sodium ion batteries become the industry standard for consumer use. Get this shit out your head

A bare minimum this new console should have the power of an Xbox Series S, so about 4TF.

Anything less would be extremely disappointing.
 
A 7tf handheld?


Cracking Up Lol GIF



Until solid state batteries or sodium ion batteries become the industry standard for consumer use. Get this shit out your head
I bet you said the same thing about the Switch/NX back in 2016. In case you somehow forgot, tech evolves over time and since the Switch released halfway in between the PS4 and PS5 was halfway between a PS3 and PS4 spec wise, logic only follows that the Switch 2 releasing either this year or 2024(half way in between PS5 and PS6) would be halfway in between the PS4 and PS5 spec wise.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
That's what most people could assume when the OLED model came along, it was probably meant to be the Pro model but plans changed, plus pandemic with chip shotages and all that stuff so here we are. But I doubt they have any better source than just thinking this makes sense and it's too late for an upgrade now so we're probably looking at the actual successor coming down the line (but not too soon since Switch still does gangbusters, they can probably ride it for another full year with no announcement for the contrary to limit its potential), whatever it's going to manifest as this time.
 
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Good. The PS4 Pro and Xbox whatever it was called were pointless cash-ins, both of them offering next to nothing over the original systems.
The One X was a beast that had amazing cooling the only thing letting you know the system was running was if you happened to run a game off disc. RDR2 looked and ran solid on it.
 

hoplie

Member
Just release a Switch 2:
- 1080p oled screen
- dlss to ~4k docked
- same or better battery
- same concept
- backwards compatible
No need to reinvent the wheel.
 
Whatever happens Nintendo Will have to discuss the future this coming year at some point. It will be all anyone is asking them about after Zelda launches.

It also makes me wonder. Maybe this is not BC! And they release Switch titles as enhanced 4k ultra versions.

DF said they needed BC, but it was not a given.
 

yamaci17

Member
I bet you said the same thing about the Switch/NX back in 2016. In case you somehow forgot, tech evolves over time and since the Switch released halfway in between the PS4 and PS5 was halfway between a PS3 and PS4 spec wise, logic only follows that the Switch 2 releasing either this year or 2024(half way in between PS5 and PS6) would be halfway in between the PS4 and PS5 spec wise.
halfway between ps3 and ps4 how? no your logic makes no sense. switch is closer to ps3 than ps4

switch has 0.5 fp32 tflops (500 gflops) (1 tflops fp16 metric is irrevelant). ps3 has 250 gflops

this makes it quarter of the ps4 in terms of power. if you apply the same logic, switch 2 at best will be 2.5 tflops
 

TonyK

Member
Please Nintendo, don't change all the system and confuse users, also, don't call it SwitchU and again confuse the people. Simply release a most powerful Switch fully retro compatible and call it Switch 2.
 

Rykan

Member
A bare minimum this new console should have the power of an Xbox Series S, so about 4TF.

Anything less would be extremely disappointing.
I suggest you take some more time and effort to educate yourself about what is feasible in a handheld. It will save you from being disappointed.
 
halfway between ps3 and ps4 how? no your logic makes no sense. switch is closer to ps3 than ps4

switch has 0.5 fp32 tflops (500 gflops) (1 tflops fp16 metric is irrevelant). ps3 has 250 gflops

this makes it quarter of the ps4 in terms of power. if you apply the same logic, switch 2 at best will be 2.5 tflops
Where is your source for those specs? Namely for when the switch is docked.

Either way, we have seen it run many 8th gen games like Mortal Kombat 11 and DOOM 2016 that would NEVER be able to run on a PS3.

 
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What are you taking about these games were almost launched with the Switch itself.

I'm not sure what to say to you here.

I think it's very obvious a switch upgrade was planned at some point and it got to a way more serious stage than a Wii HD ever did. The games themselves show it lately with even first party showing poor optimisation and ambitious design.

I think this Switch HD was supposed to released instead of the Switch OLED. That's something they threw together at the last minute to have something ready.

A lot of developers believed this for sure.
That is exactly my point. They performed worse than games releasing in the last year.
Zelda and Xenoblade 2 both performed badly at launch. Complaining that Bayonetta 3 and Whatever else are clear signs that a Pro Switch existed is just nonsense. Astral Chain had issues and it was a much smaller game than Bayonetta 3. Zelda had whole areas that tanked frame rate to 15fps.
Xenoblade 2 ran like a 3DS game in handheld in one town.

The whole "The switch is showing its age." Narrative is just bullshit. It is what it is, and nothing has really changed. Nothing, I repeat nothing hints at a Pro model switch. Nintendo never said they were making one, and no reputable developer has claimed one existed.
The whole garbage rumor came from attention seekers who bet on one existing and wanted to claim it gave them credibility when, they assumed, it would be revealed. .
 
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ManaByte

Gold Member
Nintendo had "planned" to do a mid gen refresh. It just didn't pan out lol. Yeah right. 6 years of selling the same outdated hardware with no price discount. Nintendo be milking that hardware.
It was speculated that the OLED was the refresh but was changed due to the chip shortages.
 

yamaci17

Member
Where is your source for those specs? Namely for when the switch is docked.

Either way, we have seen it run many 8th gen games like Mortal Kombat 11 and DOOM 2016 that would NEVER be able to run on a PS3.



we're talking about pure GPU power. switch has better or simply put, "easier to work" modern x86 CPU and much much more memory. ps3 had a total of 512 mb memory wheras switch as 4 gb of it. only reason ps4 games run the way they are on switch is because they can practically use better textures you would have on a PS3. of couse ps3 cannot run them, if it had more memory, i'm pretty sure the games in question could be somehow made to work. that console ran last of us 1, never forget that.

you can say doom and witcher 3 ran on switch but they look NOTHING like the ps4 version. if you ask a person who has no idea about things, they would think they look like PS3 version. and they would be right. you can take a look at how GTA 5 fares on PS3 versus PS4 and then do the same comparison for Witcher 3 on Switch versus PS4. You will see that both the GTA 5 and Witcher 3 takes similar shortcuts and cutbacks to make it run on those lower end consoles.

If switch was truly HALFWAY between ps3 and ps4, it would've ran the games better. that is simply not the case.

memory is one of the most important components that causes a huge upshift in graphics. this is why this gen will suck (only 8 gb to 16 gb between ps4 and ps5.) and switch is simply able to hold better textures. that does not mean it has more grunt than it has any rights to.
 
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TLZ

Banned
Literally all they have to do is make a Switch 2, aka a more powerful Switch with faster load times and that's it. I don't think anyone wants them to go back to having separate handheld and console systems.
I wouldn't mind that as long as they both play the same cartridges. Just one more powerful than the other obviously.
 

Xdrive05

Member


Clearly it wasn't announced at the TGS, but I believe this rumour 100%

That would be amazing but almost certainly impossible due to Nintendo's prioritizing battery life and cost above all else. Perhaps if Switch 2 is a return to the home console form factor, then yes. But as a mass market handheld? Not a chance.

Mostly likely it will be some variation of an ampere based Tegra T234, which at full power is about 4TF but requires 50 W, so Nintendo would probably run it at 18W or something (to match the Switch), so maybe 1.5-2TF if it could sustain that clock at that wattage.
 

Caio

Member
Make home console with no stupid portable gimmick please.
As much as this sounds unpopular, I agree with you, I absolutely don't want a Switch2, but a completely new Hardware. Can Nintendo survive against Sony and MS without "portable gimmick", or new gimmicks ? I'm not sure. If you ask me, I would cry for a Nintendo true Home Console, like it was with GC, but sadly we have close to zero chances. I didn't like Nintendo Wii, and I didn't like the Switch, but these are some of the most successful piece of hardware Nintendo ever did, so, how can we ask Nintendo to think about us, or the gamers like us ? They only think about profit, even more than MS and Sony.
 
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01011001

Banned
the Mariko APU refesh already was a mid gen refresh, but Nintendo opted to use it as a battery life enhancement and not a power enhancement.

the current Switch versions on the market all have a newer version of the X1 inside that would allow them to clock the docked mode high enough to reach 649 GFLOPS, compared to the 393 GFLOPS the Switch is currently reaching in Docked mode.

even the old X1 in the launch model could get to 512 GFLOPS but Nintendo apparently had concerns about heat I guess...
which also would be less of an issue with the way more efficient Mariko refresh in the new models.


so basically, Nintendo could literally turn every currently sold Switch model into a Switch Pro with a software update if they wanted to, but they just don't feel like it.
current Switch models could run almost Docked like clock speeds in handheld mode, and could run far beyond the speeds of the current Docked mode with an improved Docked mode.

the hardware improvement possible by a simple software update is actually far bigger than the difference between the 3DS and New 3DS for example.
 
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Rykan

Member


Clearly it wasn't announced at the TGS, but I believe this rumour 100%

I'm glad to see that you don't let the fact that none of this happened stop you from having unrealistic expectations.

It's probably also worth clarifying that having 4 "Teraflops" =/= power even remotely comparable to a Series S console. Teraflops are not at all an indicator of a console's capabilities.
If you do insist on using Teraflops as a benchmarks, take a look at the Steamdeck. The Steamdeck has about 1.6TF GPU.

Take a good look at the size and the price of the Steamdeck. Now look at the price and size of a Switch. Now back to Steamdeck. Now back to Switch. Steamdeck one more time. Switch.

It's not happening. Start having realistic expectations. If they do take a Switch 2.0 approach, you'll probably get something along the lines of an Xbox One/PS4 in best case scenario. It might be able to do a 4k image, but actual fidelity will be along the lines of those systems.
 
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well duh. this was obvious as of 2019-2021. classic DF.

in terms of sales, there is no real need for any more powerful hardware just yet. switch is #5 best selling console of all time. it'll surpass PS4 and Gameboy soon despite only been around for almost 6 years.

that said Nintendo does need a more powerful console to bring them into the 4K era or even 1080-1440p with DLSS/FSR to 4K output. that still ain't happening until 2024 at the earliest, imo. late 2023 is possible i suppose but i am skeptical.

before Switch there was quite a time when we had NX rumors. there is next to nothing about Nintendo's next console. not even a hint of another Switch model. i think we might see more rumors next year but definitely ain't anything coming out for another 1+ year.
 
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