Shinya Takahashi, who has produced a number of classic Nintendo games over the years, has told investors that he believes that the performance of the Nintendo Switch is good enough right now and “would not say it is lacking,” despite the platform being in its seventh year on the market. However, he did concede that developers generally would like more horse power to play around with. Takahashi went on to say that since the Nintendo Entertainment System they have worked on pushing the potential of the consoles they create and have figured out how to make fun games within the constraints.
I’d like to hear the honest opinions of the developers about whether the hardware specifications of Nintendo Switch, now in its seventh year, are sufficient to bring all of their game ideas to fruition
Takahashi: As a game software developer, if you ask me whether Nintendo Switch has sufficient performance, I would not say it is lacking. However, game developers generally want more, and will always want to incorporate a lot of elements that exceed the hardware limitations. Since the Famicom era, we have worked on how to fit these elements inside a framework with certain limitations, and our job is to figure out how to create a fun game within these constraints. I believe that some interesting content are created as a result of accommodating the limitations and we have actually been able to make this happen.
Ko Shiota (Director, Senior Executive Officer): We have been developing Nintendo Switch software for a long time and have used various methods to overcome performance barriers. Even now, the system developers are listening to game developers and continuously implementing initiatives to increase the smoothness and longevity of Nintendo Switch software development.
As a game dev myself, I’m not going to be able to port my game to the Switch. It’s genuinely not powerful enough in a number of metrics. You can’t optimize out the fact that it only has 4GB of ram.
You must not be a good developer then. Most companies have been able to accommodate these specs. It is about willingness not if it can be done.
Try telling that to the devs who managed to get Crysis 1, 2 and 3 running on the Switch with little issue or the team who managed to get Alien Isolation to look so damn amazing on the Switch despite it being weaker than most of the consoles released to date.
Limitation breeds Innovation
Crysis 1 ,2 , 3 are Ps3 games we are at Ps5 already? Even comparing it to Ps4 it’s still really old like 2006 tech ;)
I agree with him, games are about good gameplay not graphics. This has been proven dozens of times when a game that looks like a PS2 but sales are through the roof. Mobile games are also proving the point when you see games such modern combat series and nova series, these look amazing and run on hardware weaker than the switch.
People need to get use to the idea of having a graphical limit so developers can get back to making games that play good and less bugs
Stop lying you not a developer and if you were,you would still be lying about you game not being able to be ported on to the switch,becuase first of all your imaginary 2D game isnt even have half as ambitious as the Witcher and Doom Eternal which were both very ambitious games designed for ps4 and xbox one spec consoles and they were successful ports on swutch
The Next Console is going to be as powerful as consoles released in 2013. This is horrible
Assuming its another hybrid this is acceptable. If they came out with a console only that was as powerful as an 8th generation platform, then there would be a problem. But if I can take these experiences on the go this would be very cool. If it takes off like the Switch did we can expect many (semi old) 3rd party games to come to the platform such as Dark Souls 3, Elden Ring, Street Fighter 5 and maybe a watered down 6, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and maybe the Resident Evil Remakes just to name a few. Sure, it probably won’t get some of the newer games being released today (except watered down fighting games), but if its still portable this could be a huge win in my book.
We all know there is always new consoles for every seven years and fans want to know if the Switch still has potential for its lifespan. I know some games that you mentioned won’t be able to be handled on Switch on the next hybrid system.
That’s not true actually, it has just happened to be that way the last 2 gens. It use to be every 5-6 years. I do not expect a new PS or Xbox for 10 years hopefully. Technology is not advancing fast enough to warrant a seven year release anymore. The Xone and the PS4 compared to the PS5 and Series X proves that. Very minimal improvements that do not warrant a new console.
I would also expect the new ones to cost $700 and the new Nintendo to be at least $450.
What do you mean it’s not true? What’s not true?
Just because technology isn’t advancing fast enough doesn’t mean the cycle is going to change. Phones are a prime example of that. And Home consoles are a prime example of an unnecessary luxury. I’m sure this generation will stick around a bit longer, but not because of the lack in advancements in tech, but because COVID really did a number to everything.
There are no games released today on PS5 that PS4 cant do, to this moment and this is a known facts.
Yeah, how terrible. A console that will be as powerful as an XBone and can essentially slide in your back pocket. Yeah, what an awful thought that is.
There’s a lot of people that don’t care about portability. But have to put up with all the drawbacks that the portability costs, like the implementation of a screen that’s useless for docked players or the awful cartridges that have very limited capacity. Wii U had 25GB discs, but no Nintendo caters to the handheld market. The year is 2023, I want Nintendo games to use the technology available today, not from a decade ago.
Me and many other people don’t care about or ever use the portal part but do have to deal with the drawbacks of there choice for going this route.
I dunno, games like Zelda are rly fun even on limited capabilities, it looks great too. I believe it’s doable, but maybe not everyone is ready to do the work they did to fit Botw on that kind of specs. (Building an engine from the ground up, being creative with artistic details, etc)
I know the next machine is going to be much powerful like Xbox series X since it holds more power in the hardware making has 60 frames per second. We all know every developers want more power to pursued consumers needs, but what about the Switch features and it’s performance rates?
Actually there was a news story that Bobbey Kottick is in talks about the next consoles power and it would be one par with the ps4 and the previous xbox meaning 10 year old tech.
people often say that Nintendo should move on, what about Sony and Microsoft with PS4 and Xbox One/X? those two have been around for about a decade, they have no right to say Nintendo needing to move on when the other two have consoles that are way more older than the Switch.
anyways, the problem is that some of them dont even put any effort in porting games to Switch hence they as for more but even if they get more they will still not put any effort. even if the next Nintendo platform (i dont mean “Switch 2”, i mean whenever they decide to go all out) ends up being on par with a laptop with desktop GPU that is around an RTX 3080/RX 6800 and a CPU that is around a Ryzen 5 5800 X/i5–12600K they will still put no effort. also a console with those specs will 100% not be under $300, will be almost as much as any laptop with those specs meaning at the min $1500.
also people need to understand that Nintendo isnt trying to compete with who has the most beefiest console as that does not guarantee success, just look at the PS Vita, it flopped and its a powerful handheld. the PS2 was super weak compared to GCN and OG Xbox and it was a success. once again powerful does not equal success.
I mean… there’s some noticeable pop-in with TOTK and some framerate drops in certain areas. I think it’s time to concede that they might need something a little more powerful.
Developers? Try consumers too.
I don’t need super high end or 4K specs on my Switch games, but I do want hardware that can run all games that were designed for 60fps gameplay to run at 60fps. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe looks fantastic at 60fps, and whenever I see lower than that (namely 30fps) it just looks off.
Seeing third party developers having to trim down their games just so that they can fit them on the Switch makes me so sad because where are games that I’d normally want to play on my Switch for the comfort of portability of the system, I’ll instead wind up getting them on my PlayStation 5 or PC instead so that the experience doesn’t feel tampered and lessened. I WANT to buy Sonic Superstars on Switch, but it looks so weird on that platform… I guess I’ll just have to go with the PlayStation 5 version like I did with Sonic Frontiers.
I’ll admit that some games do stutter a bit and running games at steady frames be it 30 or 60 is what I want, as far as how the game looks as long as it looks fine and still fun to play.
Look Nintendo, normally I would side with you on this.
However, the fact thar your own in-house games like Xenoblade 3 and Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom show that compromises were made is an issue. It’s one thing for 3rd party ports to be a little watered down, but when it looks like even your own teams have to compromise, there’s a problem.
“Good enough” does not reflect what they actually said or implied in the interview in regards to the Switch’s capabilities.
Alt title: While Nintendo believes the Switch is “not lacking”, admits developers desire more power
So much hostility for people calling it how it is. Nintendo has been lagging behind in the console power race since, let’s say the GameCube era and with the Wii the lag compounded, they’ve remained successful due to their exclusive IP and typically catering to a younger audience. It’s worked for them. I as well as many others have wished Nintendo would put some effort into competing with Sony & Microsoft in terms of console power, even if its only so it could handle ports of the newest games like CoD and we could avoid buying an extra console for the more power hungry games. It’s dishonest to pretend otherwise.
If you are not stupid or lazy or get paid off by other companies…then the switch is powerful enough.