Highlights
- The next Nintendo console, tentatively named Switch 2, could be more powerful in terms of graphics, potentially on par with PS5 and Xbox Series X.
- Emails between Nintendo and Activision Blizzard suggest that the upcoming console may be closer in power to PS4 and Xbox One, though later reports claim it is more in line with current-gen consoles with support for Nvidia's DLSS upscaling and ray-tracing.
- If the rumors of a late next year launch are true, the next Switch console could level the playing field with more contemporary consoles, offering visuals more sophisticated than its predecessor.
A newly released email might give players a better idea of how powerful the next Nintendo console could be. With the massively successful Nintendo Switch now in its sixth year, many are starting to speculate about the gaming juggernaut's next system. Rumors about a new Switch follow-up have spread across the internet over the past few years, with insiders believing that the tentatively named Switch 2 could launch as early as next year.
In the meantime, there have been plenty of leaks and discussions about the features and hardware specifications of this new Nintendo console, with insiders believing that it will retain the console/handheld hybrid formula that helped make the original Switch one of the best-selling gaming systems of all time. One area many feel the original Switch falls short in is its graphical horsepower, which was somewhat weaker than the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and significantly behind the newer PS5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles.
Nintendo could be aiming to correct this with the next Switch console, at least according to a series of email discussions between it and Activision Blizzard in December 2022. These emails were recently made public during the Federal Trade Commission's trial over Microsoft’s planned buyout of Activision Blizzard, and detail preparations for a meeting between Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa and Activision executives like CEO Bobby Kotick. While most of the details regarding this gathering are redacted, one of the notable areas of discussion was the supposed graphical capabilities of Nintendo’s next console.
One note from Bobby Kotick implies that this new Nintendo hardware will be closer in technical power to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, which seems to be contradicted by later claims that Nintendo demonstrated a level of graphical horsepower more in line with the PS5 and Xbox Series X during September's Gamescom 2023 event. However, this could have simply been referring to the unnamed Switch successor's general power, and that rumored support for Nvidia’s AI-powered DLSS upscaling and ray-tracing could allow it to push the envelope further than these initial appearances might suggest.
Graphics is one area that Nintendo seems to be one step behind with its consoles, as evidenced by the divisive reception of games like Mortal Kombat 1 on the Nintendo Switch. The emails that have just been unearthed during the recent Activision Blizzard investigations hint that the next Switch console could level the playing field by rendering titles on the level of more contemporary consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X – provided that the rumors of it launching sometime late next year are correct. At the very least, players could expect visuals more sophisticated than the last-gen consoles the original Switch was launched to compete with.
Source: IGN
