Nintendo Switch 2 Performance on Par with PS4 and Xbox One, Activision Emails Reveal

[Tsing]

Nintendo is definitely working on a successor to its Switch console, but the new hardware will be nowhere near as powerful as the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X|S. This is according to new internal emails from Activision stemming from the FTC v. Microsoft case, one of which, from Chris Schnakenberg (head of Activision’s platform strategy and partner relations), includes a PDF that discusses how the console is "closer…to Gen8 platforms in terms of performance and our previous offerings on PS4 / Xbox One." Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, who testified during the FTC v. Microsoft hearing to discuss Call of Duty coming to the Switch, met with Nintendo in December 2022 to discuss its next-gen hardware.

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[Brian_B]

I don't think that's such a bad thing.

For starters, if it does end up being another handheld device - you can only pack so many pixels on that screen and have them be useful anyway.

That, and Gen 8 consoles aren't horrible on visuals. I mean - we still have a Gen 9 console that has ~weaker~ specs than it's Gen 8 counterpart anyway (XBox Series S) - Gen 9 was mostly about the shift to SSD, and for whatever reason, Raytracing.

So to catch up to a Gen 8 device on a mobile form factor, with decent battery life -- yeah, I think that's a win for Nintendo.

The second part would be - Nintendo does best when they just focus on making good games. Whenever they try to swing a big D around on hardware, they abysmally suck at it. So I don't really want Nintendo to go chasing around "top performance" -- they always do best just chasing something robust and useful, but still powerful enough to get a long useful life out of.

 

[SeymourGore]

Ps4 level performance + ssd + dlss should make for a good time.

 

[Grimlakin]

Ps4 level performance + ssd + dlss should make for a good time.

As long as it isn't PS4 performance only with DLSS.

 

[DrezKill]

Whenever they try to swing a big D around on hardware, they abysmally suck at it.

SNES, N64 (not in all aspects), and GCN were excellent examples of Nintendo doing a fantastic job with hardware power. But yeah starting with Wii they were low-end sh1t. The problem now is that Switch's level of power isn't one gen behind, it's two gens now, so they need to go back to being at least just one gen behind. Sounds like this proposed Switch 2 would cover that.

That, and Gen 8 consoles aren't horrible on visuals. I mean - we still have a Gen 9 console that has ~weaker~ specs than it's Gen 8 counterpart anyway (XBox Series S) - Gen 9 was mostly about the shift to SSD, and for whatever reason, Raytracing.

So to catch up to a Gen 8 device on a mobile form factor, with decent battery life -- yeah, I think that's a win for Nintendo.

Yupz to all of that.

Ps4 level performance + ssd + dlss should make for a good time.

I've heard the Steam Deck is only about as powerful as a PS4 anyways. So that level of power should be sufficient for a handheld console indeed.

DLSS, that would indeed be interesting. If they use nVidia again, DLSS could very well be a possibility.

 

[Marees]

If they are going with the cut down jetson nano (on optimized samsung 8nm), then performance will be in the range of ryzen z1 non-extreme apu

Otoh, if going with full T239, then something along the likes of the ryzen z1 extreme but subject to the same (handheld) power constraints (9w to 15w)

All bets are off, if nvidia agreed to subsidize a 4nm chip with ada/blackwell