What will Switch 2 be like — more powerful than Steam Deck and bigger than the previous Nintendo console
The Switch 2, the new Nintendo console, has been officially announced. The trailer showed surprisingly little — only the console's appearance and the gameplay of the new Mario Kart. But there is already a lot of information about this device on the Internet, including from trusted insiders. You will find the most important information about it in our article.
In a nutshell about the first Nintendo Switch
Nintendo Switch appeared on store shelves in 2017. It belongs to the category of hybrid consoles — it can be used as a portable device or connected to a TV and turned into a home console. Joy-con controllers are detached, after which they can be used as separate small gamepads, including for playing together on one device.
146 million people bought the Switch. This is an excellent result, which brought the Nintendo device to third place among the best-selling consoles in the world. There are many reasons for such success. For example, until 2022, the big N had no competitors at all among portables. To this we should add a low price and a large library of games, including many exclusives.
Do you have an original Nintendo Switch?
Nintendo Switch 2 Appearance
Nintendo is clearly planning to build on the success of the Switch, so their next console will also be a hybrid. Externally, it is even too similar to its predecessor, the only difference is in size. The new console will have dimensions of 116 × 272 × 31.4 mm versus 102 × 239 × 13.9 mm for the previous device. The 8.4-inch OLED screen will have a resolution of 1080p. The first Switch has a much smaller display.
The console has a lot of ports, and the purpose of some of them remains unknown. There is an assumption that the connector at the bottom is needed to connect additional modules that will increase the performance of the Switch 2 when working with a docking station. However, there is no infrared sensor, so some games from the original Switch, such as Ring Fit Adventures, will not be available. But most of the projects for the previous Nintendo console will still launch.
Joycons are now attached using a magnetic connection. The increased size of the console has affected them too — the controllers and buttons have become larger. They are equipped with optical sensors that will allow them to be used as an analogue of a computer mouse. With the help of a U-shaped stand, you can install the Switch 2 in a vertical position. The previous console had a small leg, because of which the device fell on its side from the slightest touch.
The layout of the buttons is the same as on the previous console. However, one new button "C" has appeared. It is assumed that it is responsible for voice and text chat.
Nintendo Switch 2 hardware
According to the data miner ZachyCatGames, the clock frequency of the Switch 2 processor in portable mode will be 561 MHz, and the performance will be 1.71 TFLOPS. For Steam Deck, this value is slightly lower and is 1.6 TFLOPS. The basic version of PlayStation 4 has 1.84 TFLOPS, and for Xbox One, 1.23 TFLOPS. Moreover, if you connect the Nintendo console to the dock, we get 3.1 TFLOPS. This figure is already approaching what the Xbox Series S offers (4 TFLOPS). The original Switch was able to provide performance of 0.236 TFLOPS in portable mode and 0.393 TFLOPS in stationary mode.
It's also worth noting that Switch 2 may feature DLSS scaling technology, which is based on machine learning. It allows for automatic graphics and performance improvements. At the moment, only one console, PlayStation 5 Pro, has something similar.
What Will We Play on Nintendo Switch 2
Nintendo has always provided its consoles with dozens of great exclusives, and Switch 2 is unlikely to be an exception. New parts of Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Metroid and Pokemon will be released on it. And if the backward compatibility data is correct, then almost all projects for the original Switch will be available on the new device.
You may have noticed that the performance of the Nintendo console is comparable to that offered by the previous generation consoles. It is highly likely that games from PS4 and Xbox One will appear on it. Microsoft and Sony are now interested in distributing their projects on competitors' devices, so they will probably agree to port them to Switch 2.
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Are you looking forward to the new Nintendo console? Or are you not interested at all? Share your opinions in the comments!
Planning to purchase Switch 2?
