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Discussion NVIDIA employee confirms existence of rumoured Switch 2 SoC

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An NVIDIA employee has confirmed the existence of the Tegra239 chip which has been rumoured since 2021 as being developed for the next-generation Nintendo Switch. His comment which can be accessed at linux.org and states:

Adding support for Tegra239 SoC which has eight cores in a single cluster. Also, moving num_clusters to soc data to avoid over allocating memory for four clusters always.
This incident further corroborates reliable NVIDIA leaker kopite7kimi's assertion that NVIDIA will use a modified version of its T234 Orin chip for the next-generation Switch.

As of this leak, we now know the following details about the next Nintendo Switch console:

  • T239 SoC (info from above leak)
  • 8-core CPU - likely to be ARM Cortex A78C/A78 (inferred from above leak)
  • Ampere-based GPU that may incorporate some Lovelace features (source)
  • The 2nd generation Nintendo Switch graphics API contains references DLSS 2.2 and raytracing support (source)

SOURCE: Famiboard's own hardware thread!
 
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Dammit, I wanted to be the first person who would leak something like this to Famiboards, but my cousin who works for nVidia as an IT manager says he doesn't have any visibility into what their different projects are used for.
 
Dammit, I wanted to be the first person who would leak something like this to Famiboards, but my cousin who works for nVidia as an IT manager says he doesn't have any visibility into what their different projects are used for.
That's what you get for a cousin working there instead of an uncle.
 
Dammit, I wanted to be the first person who would leak something like this to Famiboards, but my cousin who works for nVidia as an IT manager says he doesn't have any visibility into what their different projects are used for.
This wasn't a leak actually. This is public information about updates to the Linux kernel which reference the T239 chip that is referenced by NVN2
 
Wonder if the usual third parties will now just skip the ‘it can’t run’ excuse and just go straight to ‘no’.
It'll still look like a cute little tablet with detachable macaroon flavored mini wiimotes so regardless of its guts it won't be underground enough for certain games
 
If this device releases in the next 12 months we are gonna see many salty people, folks that are invested in Nintendo being so far behind and always releasing worse hardware - just because.

There are still people that think a Switch 2 would be weaker/worse than a SteamDeck - just because its Nintendo - while ignoring circumstances like release dates and production capabilities.

Fun times ahead either way.
 
Well, Switch 2 (“Drake”) is supposed to be using a custom variant of the Orin Nano chip that just got announced yesterday at NVidia‘s event isn’t it?

Makes sense that the update would come out following the official announcement.

Yeah, in plain english, are we still on ps4 levels of power?

The leaked specs imply a chip that is surprisingly close to Xbox Series S in terms of capabilities… and that’s before DLSS!
 
Alph_Found_Drake.png
 
Yeah, in plain english, are we still on ps4 levels of power?
Nothing has changed in that regard. The answer is that you can expect Xbox One S levels of power. A lot depends on the chip's clockspeeds so there is a broad range of possibilities.
 
In before it has 8 cores, but only uses 6 of them because the other 2 are there in case one or two break.
 
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the 3DS launched with pilotwings and fucking steel diver, let’s not pretend that nintendo only ever launches hardware with big system-selling games

(yes i know the 3DS launch wasn’t exactly successful but still. the wii launched with excite truck! it seems like they often try to pair a “big game” with one or more “little games” for launch. i’m telling myself this because i’m trying to convince myself that chibi robo will be a thing.)
 
Big stuff, and all it took for this to get public was a valuable new member here on Famiboards being bored and googling for some "random" stuff.
 
the 3DS launched with pilotwings and fucking steel diver, let’s not pretend that nintendo only ever launches hardware with big system-selling games

(yes i know the 3DS launch wasn’t exactly successful but still. the wii launched with excite truck! it seems like they often try to pair a “big game” with one or more “little games” for launch. i’m telling myself this because i’m trying to convince myself that chibi robo will be a thing.)
Pikmin 4 and

NINTENDO SWITCH
Motorsports


for launch, let's gooo
 
I love Pikmin, but we both know people won't buy a system for it. I think it would be an excellent title to be launched a month or two after Drake comes out.
Its funny how people are acting as if this device is gonna need a specific system seller to sell at launch xD
In this case the software is gonna benefit from launching along side the new device - so even smaller games like Metroid, Pikmin etc. will benefit from launching in the first year.

Zelda, Pokemon and co. will sell whenever they are released.
 
Reminder to self: it's ok to be bored, good things may come from it.

That thread asking whether anyone would buy a Switch for 499 might not be far off from reality if the specs are indeed for a new Switch? Different times... Of course it would be less but I believe it will be significantly more expensive than OLED, I just don't believe in goodwill prices for new products especially seeing how they position rtx 4000 in the current market.

I mean, the device will be significantly (?) more powerful than a Steam Deck.
 
Reminder to self: it's ok to be bored, good things may come from it.

That thread asking whether anyone would buy a Switch for 499 might not be far off from reality if the specs are indeed for a new Switch? Different times... Of course it would be less but I believe it will be significantly more expensive than OLED, I just don't believe in goodwill prices for new products especially seeing how they position rtx 4000 in the current market.

I mean, the device will be significantly (?) more powerful than a Steam Deck.
They are still gonna sell the Switch Lite and SWOLED Switch, so people who want Premium Next-Gen Switch are gonna pay a Premium price for it.
 
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Reminder to self: it's ok to be bored, good things may come from it.

That thread asking whether anyone would buy a Switch for 499 might not be far off from reality if the specs are indeed for a new Switch? Different times... Of course it would be less but I believe it will be significantly more expensive than OLED
The thread was asking about if the Switch was $599. It’s not going to be $599.

The general consensus is that the new hardware is going to be more expensive than the OLED, though. And that’s fine, they’ll still have at least two cheaper options on the market for people who want a more affordable Switch. At the risk of putting the cart before the horse, it…seems like they’re going to sell all the new hardware they can possibly produce in the first year, anyway, even if the price is a little higher than we expect.
 
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Its funny how people are acting as if this device is gonna need a specific system seller to sell at launch xD
In this case the software is gonna benefit from launching along side the new device - so even smaller games like Metroid, Pikmin etc. will benefit from launching in the first year.

Zelda, Pokemon and co. will sell whenever they are released.
It absolutely will need to launch with a title to showcase the hardware and that has mass appeal, especially if this is a successor and not a revision.
 
It absolutely will need to launch with a title to showcase the hardware and that has mass appeal, especially if this is a successor and not a revision.

First customer crowd to get this are enthusiasts. You don't "need" an universally favorable title.

They can use Metroid Prime Remake and also showcase and announce for Drake launch Pro-patches for Smash, Mario Kart and other evergreens.
 
Switch 2/ Drake doesn't need any software at launch. It will be sold out everywhere day one.

If anything, Nintendo need to launch it ahead of TotK so the install base is as high as possible.

Backwards compatible or not, there's no way I am buying TotK on the OLED if there's a new Switch around that I haven't managed to get. I will wait. Impatiently!

Besides, a more powerful Switch opens up a ton of 3rd party possibilities that would do the job just fine... GTA V, Batman Arkham, Assassins Creed, Tomb Raider, FF7 Remake... Nintendo have a decent relationship with all of those developers and publishers. I wouldn't rule out any of those.
 
Having worked in mid level management for electronic retail for 30+ years, I have seen the Switch and its games kind of sell themselves at this point.

I think the only practical reason that the next Switch would need Zelda TotK(or vice versa) would be if the economy REALLY took a dive, then I can see Nintendo wanting to package the two together as a way of showing essential value and a way to say to customers: “want the new Zelda? then you really need to get it with the new console”

Of course the current gaming industry(a bit like the shoe fashion industry) is more resilient to recession etc, but the current situation is a perfect storm of unpredictability and soaring expenses for everyone, public and business alike.
 
Switch 2/ Drake doesn't need any software at launch. It will be sold out everywhere day one.

If anything, Nintendo need to launch it ahead of TotK so the install base is as high as possible.

Backwards compatible or not, there's no way I am buying TotK on the OLED if there's a new Switch around that I haven't managed to get. I will wait. Impatiently!

Besides, a more powerful Switch opens up a ton of 3rd party possibilities that would do the job just fine... GTA V, Batman Arkham, Assassins Creed, Tomb Raider, FF7 Remake... Nintendo have a decent relationship with all of those developers and publishers. I wouldn't rule out any of those.
They could always launch with Skyrim a second time! That ultimate edition (or whatever) is already rated right?
 
It absolutely will need to launch with a title to showcase the hardware and that has mass appeal, especially if this is a successor and not a revision.
Right. But that could be, like, Resident Evil 4, or Diablo IV, or Assassin’s Creed Mirage. Or an enhanced port of Elden Ring. If the system launched March 24 with RE4 and got some of those other games in April and then got TotK in May, would that really be disastrous? Just because TotK wasn’t there day one?

I’m not saying Nintendo will only launch the system with third party games. I’m just suggesting that the Nintendo title that showcases the hardware might, in Nintendo’s mind, be something more like Nintendogs or Everybody’s 1-2-Switch than a big “gamer” game.

We’re all very focused on the SoC, because that’s what we know about. But there’s going to be more to the new hardware than just that. Nintendo’s going to want the new hardware to support new ways to play and new methods of making connection between users. It’s going to have some new features (what people sometimes call gimmicks) and they’re going to show off those new features in games.

A hardware launch affects more than just Nintendo. The first Switch launched with, what, five retail games? This time I suspect things are going to be quite different. They can try and make the stars align and release TotK and the new hardware on the same day but if, say, the hardware was planned for March but TotK needed more time, it might not make sense to delay the hardware and fuck over all the partners introducing products for the end of their fiscal years or quarters.
 
Listen to Miyamoto before it is too late.

unknown.png
The funny thing is they are literally doing the opposite by making it basically a 3rd person game. But I guess we don't really know it is the main way to play the game.

Miyamoto made it sound like it was tho.
 
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