StarTopic Future Nintendo Hardware & Technology Speculation & Discussion |ST| (Read the staff posts before commenting!)

[Ab]

christ just call it Resident EvilX

it's flawless

And then the next would should be Resident Evil X

 

[Kevin]

You've been saying this for a looong time

I have not played anything on Switch in a long time.

Just waiting to move on. Seeing how slow these forums are these days, I think a lot of people are feeling the same way. Very little news of any kind. I think things will pick up if we get some juicy rumors or a General Direct.

 

[ShadowFox08]

Just read through Rich's article, haven't watched the special yet, but all the info basically confirms the MLID leak (and he should take a thorough W on that). Here is my perspective.

TL;DR
Sony: "Mom, can we have RTX"
AMD: "We have RTX at home!"
Sony, Thanos voice: "Fine, I'll do it myself"

It's a Ray Tracing machine
The move to RDNA3+4 hybrid design over the RDNA1+2 design gives a significant RT boost to the system. This is clearly the primary driver of what's going on. Sony is saying that there is enough performance here to enable RT on PS5 games that lack it, and drive RT further on existing systems - add RT shadows on top of RT reflections.

Ignore the Giant TFLOPS Number
The term "fake FLOPS" pisses me off, but anyone thinking this is a 3x performance increase is wrong. It's like 45% according to Sony. This number is inflated by changes to RDNA3

PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution is interesting
Sony is saying that their upscaler runs on the base PS5. I don't understand quite what's going on here, but it seems like Sony is giving the finger to FSR, and going their own way with an AI guided solution that still runs on more traditional GPUs.

Their checkerboarding for PS4 was rad, even though few games used their custom hardware for it. I tend to give Sony the benefit of the doubt here.

The machine learning hardware is... confusing?
Sony is claiming 300 TOPS of ML in there. That's huge.

But it's unclear to me if this is the TOPS rating for the ML accelerator, or if it's some combined number between the GPU and the NPU. And why stick it in there for PSSR is you've also got a giant GPU and you're claiming your upscaler runs on base PS5 hardware?

I think this might be basically for 8k. If PSSR is a better path to 4k than FSR 2 on the base PS5 model, then it seems like it should be sufficient on the bigger machine. But it would make sense if it falls over under 8k loads, and needs the extra acceleration there.

The RAM Improvement is necessary, but minor
There is more RAM available to games, but it's not clear how that works. Rich speculates it's similar to the Xbox solution of having a pool of cheap, slow RAM to slide more of the OS into, opening up fast RAM for games. It sucks that this technology keeps coming back, but laws of physics and all that.

The memory clock is getting pushed for more bandwidth. My guess is that this is essentially a "free" upgrade that comes along with the move from N7 to N6 - more ability to push the memory controller with the node shrink.

The CPU Upgrade is the Same
It's still Zen 2, because total redesign just wasn't viable, I imagine, and Sony would rather invest that energy in the RT upgrades. Moving from N7 to N6 let them push clocks a little, and so they've done it. But it's not transformative.

I'm kinda surprised they didn't increase the RAM to like 24GB, but I guess they don't need to. With the + 1.2GB dedicated for games, I wonder if if they will do the same for base PS5 models with a patch.

I thought it was interesting he said this:
However, as cross-gen becomes a thing of the past, we are seeing more and more titles hitting CPU limits. Our investigation of the AMD 4800S desktop kit - built on the exact CPU used in Xbox Series X - reveals that the processor is way behind the capabilities of today's mid-range PC CPUs.

Current gen console CPU is already way behind mid gen CPU? I thought they closed the gap quite a bit vs last gen Jaguars.

Other than that, the article mentions a 10% boost in CPU, not that would require a 1% downclock for the GPU (according to Sony), which is a negligible sacrifice.

Final thoughts... it's likely going to be on a 6nm node as they stated/leaks say which is disappointing. Makes me wonder if they waited to use it on 5/4nm instead. Maybe the CPU clocks could have been higher? Looking at last gen... PS4 Pro uses 16nm node like PS4 slim, but the jump from 28 to 16nm was huge (vs 7 to 6nm) Of course we'll never get that big of a jump in a node in a generation again.

sticking to 16GB RAM and 6nm node while putting most of the cost to the RDNA3 GPU was likely the best thing they could do while savings costs..Hopefully the extra RT capabilities, 28% extra RAM speed and DLSS like resolution boost pays off.

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

I don't think that a CPU boost is very needed. DF is probably raising some alarms because they're disappointed at DD2 I guess, but it's probably just because the engine is dated if it is running into CPU limitations. The simulations in DD2 are super simplistic, the AI is awful, barely anything animates or has physics or collision... Not sure what would eat a CPU here on a modern engine.

Outside of BG3, basically all significant PS5 games this gen have barely taxed the CPU.

 

[Lugia667]

Game was announced for a summer release for every non Nintendo platform before Nintendo even knew of the delay. It was never planned around Switch 2.

then it will bomb unless it somehow gets 90+ metacritic score

 

[oldpuck]

Super Metroid's wall jump doesn't work well if you're rolling your thumb on the d-pad. It breaks when it detects an up or down input. One of my favorite patches is here - https://metroidconstruction.com/hack.php?id=161

I think that Zero Mission significantly improved the controls.

One day I'll actually make some progress on my Super Metroid fan remaster. One day.

I'm kinda surprised they didn't increase the RAM to like 24GB, but I guess they don't need to.

It was probably price prohibitive - I don't think they're betting on geometry or texture improvements for most games.

With the + 1.2GB dedicated for games, I wonder if if they will do the same for base PS5 models with a patch.

Rich's speculation is that they've added cheap, slow memory to offload some OS tasks to, which makes sense. If so, a patch likely won't be available for the base model

Current gen console CPU is already way behind mid gen CPU? I thought they closed the gap quite a bit vs last gen Jaguars.

They did, that didn't mean CPUs stopped growing. DF did some interesting benchmarks and in CPU limited scenarios, it's something like 30% behind just about anything you can buy.

DF is probably raising some alarms because they're disappointed at DD2 I guess

Some people were expecting Zen 4 to give them 60fps/120fps versions of games that were 30fps/60fps on the base model. It's expectation setting for a certain class of person who had been looking at that jacked up teraflop number and expecting a near next gen leap in perf. The subhead in the article is literally "CPU: Zen 2 remains"

 

[karmitt]

The industry moves on with hardware announcement* after hardware announcement (perhaps to its detriment), but Nintendo stays quiet, utterly indifferent to all of it. Wish Nate had more to say on the subject but here we are, heels dug firmly in the “we have no idea what’s going on” camp.

Fortunately Unicorn Overlord is perfect on Switch (1), and TTYD remake looks great too. There’s a chance I’ll still be dabbling with this system come end of year - curse it’s resilience.

* PSSR / PS5 Pro was leaked, not announced, but the amount of detail and coverage is still the object of envy.

 

[MP!]

So from my basic understanding PS5 pro looks to be targeting mostly RT and resolution improvements essentially... and their own flavor of AI upscaling.

 

[Steve]

So from my basic understanding PS5 pro looks to be targeting mostly RT and resolution improvements essentially... and their own flavor of AI upscaling.

I'm kinda surprised if won't have a big boost in FPS with the ps5 pro, i would have thought it being the selling point, especially with GTA 6 coming right around the corner.

 

[Lancelot]

I'm kinda surprised if won't have a big boost in FPS with the ps5 pro, i would have thought it being the selling point, especially with GTA 6 coming right around the corner.

They're not betting on raster power to increase frames this time, but RT and upscaling. What you're saying can still be true, especially for pretty much all future games.

 

[Steve]

Fortunately Unicorn Overlord is perfect on Switch (1), and TTYD remake looks great too. There’s a chance I’ll still be dabbling with this system come end of year - curse it’s resilience.

If only Nintendo didn't make good exclusives and use their wizardy power to utilize 8 year old hardware, then we would have gotten the Switch 2 earlier.

 

[MP!]

I'm kinda surprised if won't have a big boost in FPS with the ps5 pro, i would have thought it being the selling point, especially with GTA 6 coming right around the corner.

well, I omitted frame rate from my comment because a dev can make it whatever frame rate they want, (and tend to sacrifice frame rate for other things) and so mileage will vary... but yeah in theory the Upscaler would probably assist in hitting higher framerates more consistently.

 

[Giancarlo]

I will ALWAYS love Nintendo's IP but yeah I moved onto PS5 these days (will be getting the Pro as well). I agree entirely with Nat and MVG here.

The Switch is at the end of the day, a toy but as an enthusiast, it's been greatly disappointing that Nintendo not only won't move in but has yet to say anything about Switch 2. Since I know there is nothing I can do about it, I decided to simply move on from the Nintendo ecosystem. I'm basically done with my Switch.

sadly it seen, Nintendo is not doing the heavy hitters again on Switch, where is 2D Legend of Zelda? where is a brand new 2D/3D Donkey Kong, where is Metroid Prime 4, games that could revitalize Switch, the only game i seen to care to play is Paper Mario the Thousand Years Door remake, after that i might give a rest to my Switch, unless Metroid Prime 4 release this year(if not, i have to wait until Switch sucessor launchs, hopefully in march/april and present myself with the console and next 3D Mario too)

 

[rick_C]

If only Nintendo didn't make good exclusives and use their wizardy power to utilize 8 year old hardware, then we would have gotten the Switch 2 earlier.

This simply say "if switch flopped, we would have switch 2 earlier".

 

[bmfrosty]

sadly it seen, Nintendo is not doing the heavy hitters again on Switch, where is 2D Legend of Zelda? where is a brand new 2D/3D Donkey Kong, where is Metroid Prime 4, games that could revitalize Switch, the only game i seen to care to play is Paper Mario the Thousand Years Door remake, after that i might give a rest to my Switch, unless Metroid Prime 4 release this year(if not, i have to wait until Switch sucessor launchs, hopefully in march/april and present myself with the console and next 3D Mario too)

And all that really means is that Nintendo has been planning for Switch 2 and is holding certain teams/games to Switch 2 instead of targeting Switch 1. That their targeted release time frame for Switch 2 has (apparently) slipped is besides the point.

There is no nintendoomed (and I'm not saying you've suggested that), just a pause in the big releases until Switch 2 is ready.

I'll be there for Switch 2 when it releases, and I'll probably pick up 1-2 more games on Switch 1 before it's done. Right now I'm playing Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth, but on steam because it was $10, and it's currently $25 on Switch.

 

[karmitt]

If only Nintendo didn't make good exclusives and use their wizardy power to utilize 8 year old hardware, then we would have gotten the Switch 2 earlier.

Spoiler

I know this is a joke but it’s Vanillaware (AA third party efforts), and remasters of old games that are fueling its resilience - not wizardry in new games :]

Edit: And, all of these games would still be better on the new hardware :]]]] TTYD was 60 fps on GCN (?), but there’s no indication it’s 60 in the remake.

 

[Steve]

This simply say "if switch flopped, we would have switch 2 earlier".

Not really, because i expected them to release new hardware in 2022-2024.
I'm just surprised how much the switch has gotten support, like last year we had Mario wonder, Totk, pikmin 4 and Metroid prime remastered.
compare to the Wii which got less and less support until they immediately put it to rest.
Like what makes the switch weird is that Nintendo can make it seem like a year is dull, until the inevitable Nintendo direct.
The switch as of right now is one of the best supported system in recent year with exclusives and games, kinda reminds me of the ps4.

 

[Steve]

Spoiler

I know this is a joke but it’s Vanillaware (AA third party efforts), and remasters of old games that are fueling its resilience - not wizardry in new games :]

Edit: And, all of these games would still be better on the new hardware :]]]]

True, but as they say ,,With patience you'll get rewarded''.
Also i'm guessing that's how NES fans felt when the SNES was coming out, since the hardware was ready for 2 years.

 

[Hermii]

True, but as they say ,,With patience you'll get rewarded''.
Also i'm guessing that's how NES fans felt when the SNES was coming out, since the hardware was ready for 2 years.

Except then they didn't have the internet, so they didn't know and didn't care.

 

[Gingerbread Man]

Spoiler

I know this is a joke but it’s Vanillaware (AA third party efforts), and remasters of old games that are fueling its resilience - not wizardry in new games :]

Edit: And, all of these games would still be better on the new hardware :]]]] TTYD was 60 fps on GCN (?), but there’s no indication it’s 60 in the remake.

Wait and see for DK

 

[karmitt]

Wait and see for DK

What about DK? I’m out of the loop perhaps

 

[Darknut85]

Except then they didn't have the internet, so they didn't know and didn't care.

It‘s the curse of technological advancement, they never come without trade offs./s

 

[Steve]

Except then they didn't have the internet, so they didn't know and didn't care.

I mean i would presume because the Sega genesis came out in 1989, meanwhile the SNES came out in 1991. So i would expect the NES fans waiting annoyingly until Nintendo would release a console similar to the sega genesis or more powerful then the NES. I would assume that children and adult would talk to each other and maybe diss Nes.

But i'm most likely wrong.

 

[Steve]

What about DK? I’m out of the loop perhaps

I think their were rumor of a new 3D DK game being in development by the Mario odyssey team, but the leaker i think was zippo

 

[MP!]

I mean i would presume because the Sega genesis came out in 1989, meanwhile the SNES came out in 1991. So i would expect the NES fans waiting annoyingly until Nintendo would release a console similar to the sega genesis or more powerful then the NES. I would assume that children and adult would talk to each other and maybe diss Nes.

But i'm most likely wrong.

no one knew the genesis existed either

until the sonic vs mario commercials
At least that's how I was

and honestly I don't think we even expected new hardware to ever come as kids I guess we just assumed NES was it and that we'd get games for it forever?
we just weren't as plugged in as we are now

some kids got magazines and playground talk and TV commercials

 

[Aufhebung RPG]

I mean i would presume because the Sega genesis came out in 1989, meanwhile the SNES came out in 1991. So i would expect the NES fans waiting annoyingly until Nintendo would release a console similar to the sega genesis or more powerful then the NES. I would assume that children and adult would talk to each other and maybe diss Nes.

But i'm most likely wrong.

SFC was already released in 1990 (correction)

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

What about DK? I’m out of the loop perhaps

EPD Tokyo was working on a 2D platformer four years ago so people think it should be near completion now and are guessing it's DK. We will see on both counts.

 

[rick_C]

Not really, because i expected them to release new hardware in 2022-2024.
I'm just surprised how much the switch has gotten support, like last year we had Mario wonder, Totk, pikmin 4 and Metroid prime remastered.
compare to the Wii which got less and less support until they immediately put it to rest.
Like what makes the switch weird is that Nintendo can make it seem like a year is dull, until the inevitable Nintendo direct.
The switch as of right now is one of the best supported system in recent year with exclusives and games, kinda reminds me of the ps4.

NG will eventually come no matter what, so i dont mind the delay, if Nintendo think that will be better. But i will care if they try to release the console earlier and make it flops.

 

[Koren Lesthe]

I'm gonna ask Thanos to snap all the people saying "Switch 2 2026".
Stop It.
S.T.O.P. It.

And the Switch 2... does it FLOPS ?

Oh yes, they TeraFLOPS... they all TeraFLOPS !

 

[Steve]

no one knew the genesis existed either

until the sonic vs mario commercials
At least that's how I was

and honestly I don't think we even expected new hardware to ever come as kids I guess we just assumed NES was it and that we'd get games for it forever?
we just weren't as plugged in as we are now

some kids got magazines and playground talk and TV commercials

(responding to you)
Thanks for the well put out response.
And that's completely true since the internet wasn't a thing. Plus consoles/hardware development were different back then,

(forum question)
Can we expect any noticeable difference with how the Nvidia and Nintendo partnership would look like, since Nintendo were once with AMD and that didn't go well for either sides. Plus what makes Nintendo different compare to Xbox or Sony, since i think Nvidia said that the chip the ps4 and xbox were too expensive to mass produce and were once in the console market. Like wouldn't Nvidia prefer to partner with them instead of Nintendo? Like how much influence does Nvida have with the Chip development, like do they just follow what Nintendo wants or would they push Nintendo into doing the smarter move, for example using a 4TSMC instead of the 8NM.

 

[PedroNavajas]

es

I'm kinda surprised they didn't increase the RAM to like 24GB, but I guess they don't need to. With the + 1.2GB dedicated for games, I wonder if if they will do the same for base PS5 models with a patch.

I thought it was interesting he said this:
However, as cross-gen becomes a thing of the past, we are seeing more and more titles hitting CPU limits. Our investigation of the AMD 4800S desktop kit - built on the exact CPU used in Xbox Series X - reveals that the processor is way behind the capabilities of today's mid-range PC CPUs.

Current gen console CPU is already way behind mid gen CPU? I thought they closed the gap quite a bit vs last gen Jaguars.

Other than that, the article mentions a 10% boost in CPU, not that would require a 1% downclock for the GPU (according to Sony), which is a negligible sacrifice.

Final thoughts... it's likely going to be on a 6nm node as they stated/leaks say which is disappointing. Makes me wonder if they waited to use it on 5/4nm instead. Maybe the CPU clocks could have been higher? Looking at last gen... PS4 Pro uses 16nm node like PS4 slim, but the jump from 28 to 16nm was huge (vs 7 to 6nm) Of course we'll never get that big of a jump in a node in a generation again.

sticking to 16GB RAM and 6nm node while putting most of the cost to the RDNA3 GPU was likely the best thing they could do while savings costs..Hopefully the extra RT capabilities, 28% extra RAM speed and DLSS like resolution boost pays off.

Ray-tracing is very VRAM intensive. Lower end Nvidia GPUs lose their advantage against AMD due to VRAM issues, so I'm surprised as well in that regard. But also, mobo and interface complexity might make adding more VRAM not very cost effective, so we must wait and see.

 

[SiG]

Oh yes, they TeraFLOPS... they all TeraFLOPS !

"I'm announcing the Switch 2 launch in the one place that hasn't been corrupted by '2026'...SPACE!"

 

[Maxrunner]

I will ALWAYS love Nintendo's IP but yeah I moved onto PS5 these days (will be getting the Pro as well). I agree entirely with Nat and MVG here.

As someone with an Xbox Series S, i wont be migrating to Sony anytime soon, specially with the Pro thing being standard for them now. I feel for these that have to buy every single machine a company releases just because they feel they need the next shiny thing.
Edit:But I do agree Nintendo is too silent regarding this for too much time.

 

[karmitt]

The industry moves on with hardware announcement* after hardware announcement (perhaps to its detriment), but Nintendo stays quiet, utterly indifferent to all of it. Wish Nate had more to say on the subject but here we are, heels dug firmly in the “we have no idea what’s going on” camp.

Fortunately Unicorn Overlord is perfect on Switch (1), and TTYD remake looks great too. There’s a chance I’ll still be dabbling with this system come end of year - curse it’s resilience.

* PSSR / PS5 Pro was leaked, not announced, but the amount of detail and coverage is still the object of envy.

Just to add re: Nate’s podcast, as I haven’t seen any coverage - here’s a handful of notes:

• As recently as January this year sources had reiterated the late 2024 launch timeframe
• Propagation and media release of information around the delay to 2025 was atypically swift; Nate was surprised at the short timeframe that it all happened
• Speculated an almost certain acknowledgment (not reveal) of the successor is due by mid-May, due to investor briefing for next FY; The thread has largely been on the same page around this.
• Several partners have been asked for assets (trailers, etc.) for Switch 2 games they were/are working on; It’s unclear to me what the timeframe for this is, ie. prior to January, or more recently?
• Discussion around “Has Switch overstayed its welcome?”; A solid cathartic (and for myself, relatable) segment from MVG and Nate. TLDR; It depends, but mostly yes.

@NateDrake I was only able to find your postcast on YouTube. How long before Apple Podcasts or Spotify usually drops? (I typically use Apple)

 

[Steve]

Several partners have been asked for assets (trailers, etc.) for Switch 2 games they were/are working on; It’s unclear to me what the timeframe for this is, ie. prior to January, or more recently?

Wondering if it'll be bigger than the switch presentation that showed Skyrim and NBA 2k.

 

[Giancarlo]

And all that really means is that Nintendo has been planning for Switch 2 and is holding certain teams/games to Switch 2 instead of targeting Switch 1. That their targeted release time frame for Switch 2 has (apparently) slipped is besides the point.

There is no nintendoomed (and I'm not saying you've suggested that), just a pause in the big releases until Switch 2 is ready.

I'll be there for Switch 2 when it releases, and I'll probably pick up 1-2 more games on Switch 1 before it's done. Right now I'm playing Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth, but on steam because it was $10, and it's currently $25 on Switch.

if all this games has been kept to Switch sucessor, how Nintendo will keep Switch healthy? surely a bunch of remasters/ports and remakes isn't enought for the console.

 

[bmfrosty]

if all this games has been kept to Switch sucessor, how Nintendo will keep Switch healthy? surely a bunch of remasters/ports and remakes isn't enought for the console.

For the next year it probably is. They're looking towards the next system. People are buying for 7+ years of releases at this point. People are finally getting around to it. A month or so ago, I told my sister to not get one for her husband because they're about to announce the new one, then a few days later I told her to go ahead and the next one wasn't out until next year. A 10yo girl that's daughter to someone in the friend group just got one for Christmas. Maybe they don't sell 20mm of the m in FY25, but honestly, it's better to sacrifice a bit of hardware sales this year and bolster the next system.

 

[Lugia667]

honestly I'd be more impatient if this gen wasn't so underwhelming so far, sure there have been a few hits here and then but man...I just don't feel it

 

[Steve]

For the next year it probably is. They're looking towards the next system. People are buying for 7+ years of releases at this point. People are finally getting around to it. A month or so ago, I told my sister to not get one for her husband because they're about to announce the new one, then a few days later I told her to go ahead and the next one wasn't out until next year. A 10yo girl that's daughter to someone in the friend group just got one for Christmas. Maybe they don't sell 20mm of the m in FY25, but honestly, it's better to sacrifice a bit of hardware sales this year and bolster the next system.

I think it's also important to note that the people who were born in the 2017 are now 7 years old, and that's pretty much the prime age to get kids games so that's probably why mario kart 8 is still making crazy numbers.

Fun fact Windwaker HD is now 11 years old...
Damn covid really has altered my perspective of time.

 

[Concernt]

honestly I'd be more impatient if this gen wasn't so underwhelming so far, sure there have been a few hits here and then but man...I just don't feel it

While I didn't like 3DS, combined Wii U and 3DS would probably get my preference on account of my Wii U love + New Leaf + LBW.

Switch is better than either individually by a long throw, though, but a lot of the original Switch content has felt kind of bland, and the best games (for my tastes) are mostly Wii U ports.

Next generation being backwards compatible means continuing to build a library rather than breaking off, and that'll start it on better footing.

 

[bmfrosty]

I think it's also important to note that the people who were born in the 2017 are now 7 years old, and that's pretty much the prime age to get kids games so that's probably why mario kart 8 is still making crazy numbers.
Damn covid really has altered my perspective of time.

Lol. I'm also going to point out for @Giancarlo that this is not all according to plan. All according sounds like Switch 2 would have been out for this holiday. Late Switch 1 support was probably always late ports and remakes. It's just they now have to cover the holiday too, and assuming that the decision to push the system into 2025 was made in 2024, they at most can push up a few late Switch 1 games by a month or two.

Next generation being backwards compatible means continuing to build a library rather than breaking off, and that'll start it on better footing.

This here is key. This is why PS5 and XBOX Series weren't dead on arrival. I don't think either have had the unique software to support a platform. Happy to hear a counter-argument on that.

 

[Steve]

Switch is better than either individually by a long throw, though, but a lot of the original Switch content has felt kind of bland, and the best games (for my tastes) are mostly Wii U ports.

That's interesting since i find it to be the opposite, like some of Nintendo most unique games are switch exclusives, while i agree that the Wii U had some phenomenal games, i personally found it mediocre, like the best Wii U games are still locked behind the Wii U (rest in piece WW, TP and Xenoblade X)

Plus i found the 3DS the more compelling system, since it had fire embelm, kirby and had DS backward compatibility. Since i grew up more with the DS and Nintendo handhelds. (loved the Wii though)

 

[lattjeful]

I don't think that a CPU boost is very needed. DF is probably raising some alarms because they're disappointed at DD2 I guess, but it's probably just because the engine is dated if it is running into CPU limitations. The simulations in DD2 are super simplistic, the AI is awful, barely anything animates or has physics or collision... Not sure what would eat a CPU here on a modern engine.

Outside of BG3, basically all significant PS5 games this gen have barely taxed the CPU.

I respectfully disagree. Despite the complaints, open world games are still "in" and BVH construction is still very much CPU intensive. Time will tell if the improved RT and upscaling stuff is enough, but I don't think the slight CPU boost we'll get will be enough for a lot of games between the continued adoption of RT and the ever increasing scope of games.

Your last point is spot on, but I do feel some of that is just due to the nature of studios finally moving off of cross gen and going all in on current gen tech.

 

[ItWasMeantToBe19]

I respectfully disagree. Despite the complaints, open world games are still "in" and BVH construction is still very much CPU intensive. Time will tell if the improved RT and upscaling stuff is enough, but I don't think the slight CPU boost we'll get will be enough for a lot of games between the continued adoption of RT and the ever increasing scope of games.

Your last point is spot on, but I do feel some of that is just due to the nature of studios finally moving off of cross gen and going all in on current gen tech.

I don't view non-mandatory ray tracing as interesting at all and I don't think it matters much to consumers or developers either so RT is either on in the base model or won't make much of a difference imo.

 

[Lugia667]

While I didn't like 3DS, combined Wii U and 3DS would probably get my preference on account of my Wii U love + New Leaf + LBW.

Switch is better than either individually by a long throw, though, but a lot of the original Switch content has felt kind of bland, and the best games (for my tastes) are mostly Wii U ports.

Next generation being backwards compatible means continuing to build a library rather than breaking off, and that'll start it on better footing.

I was more referring to the non-Switch stuff this gen to be honest. Outside of Elden Ring and the Re4 remake, I haven't found much for me this gen

 

[Lancelot]

I respectfully disagree. Despite the complaints, open world games are still "in" and BVH construction is still very much CPU intensive. Time will tell if the improved RT and upscaling stuff is enough, but I don't think the slight CPU boost we'll get will be enough for a lot of games between the continued adoption of RT and the ever increasing scope of games.

Your last point is spot on, but I do feel some of that is just due to the nature of studios finally moving off of cross gen and going all in on current gen tech.

It's not like they can just upgrade the Zen 2 cores though, it'd absolutely compromise feature parity between models and end up as a discount PS6 which Sony doesn't want. At best, they should have increased the clocks further but a CPU upgrade was never in the cards.

 

[Concernt]

I was more referring to the non-Switch stuff this gen to be honest. Outside of Elden Ring and the Re4 remake, I haven't found much for me this gen

But those are both Gen 8.

Planned and released for the PS4 and Xbox One.

Wouldn't that being your total for this generation, Gen 9, excluding Switch, down to... 0?

 

[Danny]

Capcom isn’t just any random AAA developer, MH series isn’t just any random IP. For the most part since Tri days have been basically synonymous with Nintendo consoles and handhelds.

Multiple MH games (Tri, 3U, 4, G, GU, Rise) were released exclusively for Nintendo console or handheld initially.

Some people have been playing MH series for much longer than the existence of MH World.

I don’t know why it would be such a shocker if Nintendo and Capcom has decided to make MH:Wilds part of the Switch 2 launch lineup. Maybe it’s not in the launch lineup or window but if it is that really shouldn’t be so surprising either.

Capcom used to be a close partner to Nintendo. Now they are usually as distant as most AAA developers. I hope you are right but I think a late port is more likely if it comes to the Switch 2. I even started a thread recently here on famiboards about the likelihood of AAA games releasing day and date on the Switch 2 and the majority thought late ports of AAA games were more likely than day and date releases for the Switch 2. So its a pretty common belief, i think making ports for Switch 2 will take time and will not be as easy as porting a PS5 game to Xbox series x/s.

 

[Lugia667]

...after Nintendo, I have more Capcom games on the Switch than any other publisher lol

 

[ShadowFox08]

They did, that didn't mean CPUs stopped growing. DF did some interesting benchmarks and in CPU limited scenarios, it's something like 30% behind just about anything you can buy.

Absolutely. It just sounded like DF was making a big deal out of it, like it was super outdated due to PS5/x series getting a few 30fps games that are CPU bound. I guess they didn't make a dose comparison.
To be fair, I guess a few of us speculated they would use newer Zen cores like Zen 3 or 4, which would have significant IPC gains over 2. But it makes sense to use the same Zen 2 within the same generation as base PS5. Would be more work for devs otherwise.

Quite frankly, 3.5GHz is quite high as it is already in frequency. I think for next gen, besides a newer CPU with much higher IPC gains (2x total from current Zen 2)?, the next way to go is just using more cores .12 cores at 3.5Ghz each. 11 for gaming. 1.57x3= almost 5x as fast. Though I can see them use 16 cores like Zen 5, but at lower clock speeds.


I can't wait when DF does it for Switch 2..Hopefully late summer/fall?