You may recall that, a couple of days ago, some tech experts at Digital Foundry speculated that the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild may not be running on a Nintendo Switch, but hardware that may be more powerful.
Well, some analysts are now taking a look at the same gameplay trailer footage that Digital Foundry did, and they have joined the debate. For example, Dr. Serkan Toto said that “I personally believe [Digital Foundry is] making a good case here, and I would bet not my life, but a handsome amount of money that the BOTW 2 launch will be accompanied by a new/upgraded Switch next year”. However, Dr. Toto also says that “I’m certain that Nintendo would ensure that BOTW 2 performs well enough for the existing Switch owners to enjoy”.
Meanwhile, George Jijiashvili said that “We can speculate on this all day, but Nintendo without a doubt will want to get BOTW 2 on as many Switch consoles as possible. Limiting BOTW 2 to only Switch 2 owners wouldn’t make any business sense”.
So, will The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild 2 release alongside a successor to the Switch? Dr. Serkan Toto says that “instead of a Switch 2, I think an appearance of the mystical Pro [model] would make much more sense to support the launch of BOTW 2”. And as for George Jijiashvili, he says that “we know that Nintendo doesn’t shy away from delaying games if it feels it’s not ready yet. We therefore can’t fully rule out BOTW 2 launching at the same time as Switch 2, if the game keeps getting delayed a la Metroid Prime 4”.
It seems like they are still calculating the games engine and file size still believing the game won’t run on the original Switch.
This is dumb. BOTW2 will naturally look and perform better than BOTW. BOTW was built from the ground up as a Wii U game and THEN moved to new software (the Switch). This game will now release 6 years into the life of the Switch and will have 6+ years more experience developing and optimizing for the Switch than they did with BOTW.
Do you know someone recently got Super Mario 64 to run at 60 FPS on original N64 system? They did it by rewriting the code and optimizing it. Same basic idea here. Seeing a 60 FPS of Super Mario 64 isn’t evidence of a “Pro N64” or something.
“ Switch and will have 6+ years more experience developing and optimizing for the Switch than they did with BOTW.”
Yet the most optimised and best look Swotch games remain to be the 2017 titles.
Yeah, Luigi’s Mansion and Metroid Dread were a disgrace. I bet if they took 3+ years dev time to make a new game and release it in 2023, it’d probably look like crap too. /s
Sad indictment of most of Nintendo’s first-/second-party studios over the past few years. With such an uncritical consumer base, effort and improvement are largely optional. Meanwhile, third-party last-last-gen ports like Skyrim and AC:Black Flag make much more impressive use of the hardware than the overwhelming majority of Nintendo releases.
Still, the Zelda team tends to be one of Nintendo’s most competent, and least likely to cut gratuitous corners. Some degree of optimization improvement is reasonable to expect from them after a 6 year gap.
It should be noted that many of these same analysts said the exact same thing about Monster Hunter Rise.
This developer knows how to work the Switch because it’s their console. Why on earth would they make something their latest console can’t handle?
I have a hard time believing a Pro Model will come out at this point. A lot of people that bought the OLED Model a year and a half earlier would be upset they didn’t wait for the real prize.
And its too soon for the successor. The Switch is still a very successful device selling well enough to compete with the newer consoles. Why would they cannibalize their own sales with the next generation when BOTW2’s window of release will only make the current Switch 6 years old rather than the usual 7~8 years for successful hardware these days? Additionally, with the current situation with the semiconductor shortage still being a major issue, it would be best to hold off on a new hardware release until sales are back to a more normal state allowing Nintendo to better meet the demand of the following gaming platform.
Maybe I’ll be proven wrong here as others have pointed out Nintendo doesn’t lie with their gameplay footage and this clearly to many experts is running better than what the Switch is capable of. But I still find it hard to believe there’s new hardware coming early next year or worse, late this year. If it is the fabled Pro Model rumored since the Switch’s inception, what does that mean for the Switch’s successor? Would they seriously release the OLED, then a year and a half later release the Pro and a year and a half after that release the next gaming platform? Just having a hard time wrapping my head around how stupid either of these two options would be (the other of course being prematurely releasing the Switch 2). In the case of this being the possible Pro Model, you wouldn’t be leaving any breathing room for these upgrades surely irritating the fans that buy any of them as they would be instantly disappointed they simply didn’t wait a little longer for the next improved model.
Switch Pro would have made more sense 3 years into its life. I’m still pretty disappointed that didn’t happen. We got a half baked OLED edition no one even asked for instead.
The Steam Deck is a perfect example of what a new Switch would be like. I’d be fine with that right now. But, of course, we’d get the Nvidia equivalent. Whenever that may be.
The Steam Deck is a real power-house of a handheld. Assuming the successor of the Switch is also a hybrid platform, I’d be surprised if its as powerful as the Steam Deck. Valve is selling the Deck at a loss, something Nintendo never does. Even if the successor comes out late 2025 (8 and a half years after the original Switch) giving it the maximum time between releases, I still think the Deck would be stronger.
I’ve looked into how the Deck compares to modern PC’s and how the specs relate to Nvidia’s graphics card specifically. Before I mention my findings, know that I’m no expert in this field, don’t even know how to build a PC, so take this with a grain of salt. Additionally, most places comparing it to an Nvidia card also said that there are many factors to take into account, so again even if this was the most reliable source for a good comparison (that I could find), this isn’t a one-to-one. They compared it to a GTX 1050, and I just don’t see Nintendo’s next platform (unless its a straight console rather than also being a handheld) being this powerful.
They would have to charge at least $500~$600 to break even (maybe even more, not sure) and Nintendo likes to have the cheaper hardware. I have a hard time seeing them go above $400. And no, I don’t think prices will come down that much in the next 2 years. Even though Valve is selling their low end memory version at $400, the hardware is somewhat comparable to the Aya Neo which is over $1,000. Honestly, not sure how they managed to bring the price down to such an affordable amount, kudos to Valve for doing the literal impossible. But yeah, I’d be very surprised if the Switch 2 is comparable to the Steam Deck.
Yeah, too bad valve has awful history with their hardware and the steam deck will likely be left in the bin within the next 2-3 years.
As much as I keep hearing about this Switch pro, rumors since 2017, and the Steam Deck is available, I want to know how sales are. Is it selling better or worse than the Switch?