Nintendo Switch Technical discussion [SOC = Tegra X1]

[Entropy]

Is the GPU even the limiting factor here?

Impossible to know really. Different titles are bound to have different issues when it comes to porting. And some issues will be relatively easy to resolve, and other more costly. It's going to be situational.
The lower the cost, and higher the potential sales, the more titles will be ported. (*Shrug*)

 

[Goodtwin]

Is it possible to use Checkerboard 720P to port games from PS4 to Switch? Do you see it as a good option or image quality could be seriously compromised?

There is no technical reason why not. Fast Racing Neo used temporal reconstruction on Wii U to create a native 720p framebuffer, but was actually rendering 720x640 instead of 720x1280. It worked rather well with FRN, and I suspect it would work out even better on the small 6" screen. The easiest way to free up resources for ports to Switch will lye within the resolution, and temporal reconstruction helps maintain acceptable image quality. The temporal AA in Unreal 4 works extremely well to eliminate jaggies, so even the low resolution of Snake Pass looks pretty decent. It has a bit of a blurry image quality to it, but its far better presentation than you would expect from such a low resolution.

 

[one]

Another route though would be to follow the pattern of Sony and Microsoft, and introduce a distinct new but compatible product at around the same time, keeping a similar die size to the current, yielding a 3-4 times performance improvement along with hopefully a corresponding factor of 2.5-4 in RAM bandwidth, on board solid state storage and speed and so on.

Well that's what Nintendo pioneered with New Nintendo 3DS with upgraded CPU performance in 2014 (but it had exclusives)...

 

[Entropy]

Well that's what Nintendo pioneered with New Nintendo 3DS with upgraded CPU performance in 2014 (but it had exclusives)...

If they did this, I would assume that they would keep backwards compatibility, but make forwards compatibility optional, so it would have more of a "new platform" quality to it, distinct from being a polished version of the old. That way they make for a smooth transition to a new platform for consumers and developers/publishers alike. Doesn't cost them much either if they stay within this family of SoCs. But they already have to support two tiers of performance, and the gap between the current Switch undocked, and a x4 Switch docked would be quite large, with associated compromises. Making forwards compatibility optional simplifies for ports which don't have to support the weaker hardware, and allows installed base to grow for forward aiming titles, at the same time as less graphically intensive titles can target the full installed base. In order for this to make sense though, the step up in performance should be appreciable. Otherwise the vast majority of new titles will also target the old hardware, and so software progression and thus extended life time of the platform won't be achieved. The technical side of this is that such a performance leap pretty much requires 7nm lithography or better.

 

[eastmen]

https://twitter.com/Dystify/status/856906915871432704

FF7 remake is rumored to be announced. Do you guys think the switch even has the horse power to pull this game off ?

 

[Karamazov]

maybe it could look at least as good the the PS3 FF7 tech demo ?

 

[Rodéric]

https://twitter.com/Dystify/status/856906915871432704

FF7 remake is rumored to be announced. Do you guys think the switch even has the horse power to pull this game off ?

It certainly can run FF7 HD...
As for a PS4 tailored game, not without work.

 

[Goodtwin]

It certainly can run FF7 HD...
As for a PS4 tailored game, not without work.

I personally think that it would actually make more sense on Switch. It seems like it would be a better fit for the Switch and its audience. I believe the new remake is being done on Unreal 4, so its certainly not out of the question for that to come to Switch. Just depends on how much money Square Enix is willing to invest in the Switch build.

 

[monstercameron]

I personally think that it would actually make more sense on Switch. It seems like it would be a better fit for the Switch and its audience. I believe the new remake is being done on Unreal 4, so its certainly not out of the question for that to come to Switch. Just depends on how much money Square Enix is willing to invest in the Switch build.

Why would it make more sense on the switch?

 

[Goodtwin]

Why would it make more sense on the switch?

Turn based RPGs are pretty popular on portables.

Sent from my SM-G360V using Tapatalk

 

[AlNom]

They should probably add more frequent saves for FF7 then.

 

[Eteric]

So no Call of Duty WWII for Switch. At least yet anyway. The port could be being done by another studio, at least that's what I'm hoping. They did that kind of thing on the Wii U IIRC. So we'll see. The game didn't look that demanding tbh.

 

[bgroovy]

Turn based RPGs are pretty popular on portables.

Sent from my SM-G360V using Tapatalk

But the FF7 remake isn't turn-based.

 

[Goodtwin]

But the FF7 remake isn't turn-based.

I know, but the original was turn based, and they released a spruced up version on PC a few years back. I think polishing that up and releasing it on Switch would be a good fit. Nothing against the new FFVII remake.

 

[Eteric]

I'm not really concerned about FFVIIR or even KH3 right now. Nintendo needs to get CoD, Madden, etc on board. I still have a bit of hope for a CoD announcement down the line (this happened a lot with Wii and Wii U). CoD, Madden, NBA, Fifa, etc are staples. They need the staples before anything else.

 

[Rodéric]

oh my I have no interest in games that are already available on PC, but everything else would be welcome, I would especially apprieciate DS/3DS/2DS games on the Switch.
3D graphics are nice, but hand drawing rocks.

 

[Goodtwin]

I'm not really concerned about FFVIIR or even KH3 right now. Nintendo needs to get CoD, Madden, etc on board. I still have a bit of hope for a CoD announcement down the line (this happened a lot with Wii and Wii U). CoD, Madden, NBA, Fifa, etc are staples. They need the staples before anything else.

We already know Fifa and NBA 2K are a lock for Switch this year, and I personally think that Madden is likely now that Switch is off to a good start. By the time Madden releases in August, Switch could have an install base north of 6 million units, and Nintendo isn't releasing any major first party titles that month that would cannibalize potential sales for Madden. If these titles do well this year on Switch, I would expect them to become yearly releases.

COD for Wii was always a secret leading up to release day. I remember Activison wouldn't not acknowledge the existence of these games being on Wii until they were put on store shelves. It was kind of funny looking back on it. I give COD a 25% chance of coming to Switch. These large publishers might not feel there is enough potential for a big return on investment with Switch. When they are accustomed to selling over 15 million units between the Xbox and Playstation, selling south of a million units on Switch might be seen as a waste of time. Even if profit exceeds cost, they may feel like the investment is better placed elsewhere with bigger potential for return.

 

[Eteric]

We already know Fifa and NBA 2K are a lock for Switch this year, and I personally think that Madden is likely now that Switch is off to a good start. By the time Madden releases in August, Switch could have an install base north of 6 million units, and Nintendo isn't releasing any major first party titles that month that would cannibalize potential sales for Madden. If these titles do well this year on Switch, I would expect them to become yearly releases.

COD for Wii was always a secret leading up to release day. I remember Activison wouldn't not acknowledge the existence of these games being on Wii until they were put on store shelves. It was kind of funny looking back on it. I give COD a 25% chance of coming to Switch. These large publishers might not feel there is enough potential for a big return on investment with Switch. When they are accustomed to selling over 15 million units between the Xbox and Playstation, selling south of a million units on Switch might be seen as a waste of time. Even if profit exceeds cost, they may feel like the investment is better placed elsewhere with bigger potential for return.

I think they always kept the Wii/Wii U versions on the DL because MS and Sony put a lot of money into the advertising, so those versions will probably be the spotlight ones. I feel like if Nintendo has to moneyhat to get CoD, they should do it. Any console without it would seem a bit incomplete. Basically they should try to get all of the staple games. I'm curious to see if GTAV would sell on it. I know RS felt burnt on Chinatown Wars on DS, but a full fledged GTA but portable AND playable on TV is a pretty good proposition to a lot of people. I could see it doing fairly well.

But we'll see. I can see a lot of devs ignoring it until the user base is to big to ignore. Until then I wish Nintendo would let the 3DS fade and go on all cylinders on Switch. I can't blame them for not doing that (3DS makes them money and kept them afloat), but they should have all of their A and B teams on Switch, C teams on 3DS maybe. They'll be the primary people keeping Switch going for at least a year or two.

 

[Goodtwin]

Until then I wish Nintendo would let the 3DS fade and go on all cylinders on Switch.

Don't get it twisted, Nintendo is going forward with Switch as their future. Its kind of like when Sony released the smaller version of the PS2 after the PS3 released. The plan is to sell their older hardware on the existing library of games. Sure, there will be a few remaining titles finishing up development released for 3DS this year, but the majority of support will come from the existing library of games. Nintendo of Australia recently listed a bunch of new games for 3DS being added to the Nintendo Selects lineup. If the New 2DS is going to cannibalize anything, it will be the New 3DS.

I played well over 5 hours of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe this weekend, mostly docked, and I must say that MK8 still holds up really well. The 1080p update is rather nice, although it does seem to highlight a few short comings. The lower resolution for the shadows is more pronounced, and some textures are a bit low res.

 

[Rangers]

I dont know how good this lady is, and I barely skimmed the vid, but apparently the switch has a very high quality display. She rates it 9-9.5 out of ten.

That's nice, being Nintendo and 720P I just assumed it was garbo.