Hopefully not, too much cartoon for Xeno. Could work for a new Wind Waker.
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StarTopic Future Nintendo Hardware & Technology Speculation & Discussion |ST| (Read the staff posts before commenting!)
- Thread starter Dakhil
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Hopefully not, too much cartoon for Xeno. Could work for a new Wind Waker.
Adulfzen
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bigger battery, cooling, screen availability, maybe even legibility are all decent reasons as to why it might be needed if it's indeed bigger. Maybe they're also reusing the same kind of back stand as on the oled which needed extra space to be implemented.
Truly hard to know until either nintendo explains it or people open up the device themselves.
Concernt
Optimism is non-negotiable
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7.91" would require the device to adopt a new SHAPE, maybe with squared off corners and sides, but it wouldn't actually have to be any taller (and probably wouldn't have to be any wider, maybe by a millimeter or two).
7.91" is basically right at the edge where you can make sure everything is compatible, accessory wise. Any more and you'd be pushing it.
If this really is a custom, 7.91" display, then it's pretty clear that it was chosen to fit with existing... Well, everything.
OctoSplattack
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I can see Zelda doing this, as they'd probably want to give the next installment its own visual identity to separate it from BOTW/TOTK. But I feel like Xenoblade has had a pretty consistent style throughout all its entries, with some tweaking here and there, so I don't see XB4 or XBX2 doing anything radically different on that end.
Thraktor
"[✄]. [✄]. [✄]. [✄]." -Microsoft
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My guess is they believe users prefer a bigger screen. The OLED model has comfortably outsold the base Switch since its introduction, whereas the Switch Lite has remained relatively niche. Of course there are many more differences between these models, but my guess is that Nintendo's done a lot of market research and found that having a bigger screen has been a major factor in people choosing the OLED over the regular Switch and the regular model over the Lite. Hence a bigger ~8" screen on the standard model this time around, and then presumably something around 6.2" on the Switch 2 Lite.
OctoSplattack
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Do we think we'll see a similar cadence for hardware revisions for the Switch 2? That is, a Lite revision two years into the system's life, and a more premium version (OLED) four years in? Or would Nintendo struggle a bit to get a Lite out the door in that timeframe?
tools/engine company Tellusim upgraded their sdk with mesh shading/nanite-like geometry rendering. since they based part of it off of nanite, we can see how it scales down low, to even an Apple M1
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Angel Whispers
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No. Those are examples of newer not necessarily meaning better. A78C is also gaming-specific.
Dekuman
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This has been discussed, but dev kits sometimes is just a box with a dummy terminal or in some of the early DS/GBA prototypes, literally a board with a screen and SNES controllers hooked up.
I do wonder if wires got crossed and Nintendo put in off the shelf 8 inch screens and the final product won't have it. And the resolution spec may be more important than the screen size.
It's oddly specific to mention screen size off of dev kits (unless the source is in manufacturing and not development) but not have details like RAM locked down. I'd imagine that would be more obvious than screen size.
That said, I've always felt the new Switch will just be bigger to allow for better thermals and a larger battery as they will likely be pushing the SoC hard so a larger screen would make sense if they go with a thin bezel similar to OLED. It is however worthwhile to consider if the 8inch info is truly accurate. feels a bit like a red herring perhaps.
I do wonder if wires got crossed and Nintendo put in off the shelf 8 inch screens and the final product won't have it. And the resolution spec may be more important than the screen size.
It's oddly specific to mention screen size off of dev kits (unless the source is in manufacturing and not development) but not have details like RAM locked down. I'd imagine that would be more obvious than screen size.
That said, I've always felt the new Switch will just be bigger to allow for better thermals and a larger battery as they will likely be pushing the SoC hard so a larger screen would make sense if they go with a thin bezel similar to OLED. It is however worthwhile to consider if the 8inch info is truly accurate. feels a bit like a red herring perhaps.
Giancarlo
Nintendo connoiseur
but a 8 inch display for Switch sucessor will look confortable for players that play in handheld mode 90/100% or have big hand, that a consideration Nintendo need to consider, imagine you playing a console with a huge display, after a period of time, they will start feeling uncomfortable
since we're about a year from launch, give or take, they have kits that mimic the retail unit, most likely
Adulfzen
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assuming there is some validity to Nintendo showcasing the hardware behind closed doors to third party partners during Gamescom, it'd seem pretty likely they already have prototype units meant to look close to the final piece of hardware.
D
Deleted member 5146
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From a personal standpoint, absolutely love the notion of a bigger screen, made the jump to OLED purely because of it which itself made a world of difference for the handheld experience, if they're in the 20cm screen size ballpark then that's incredible, would go as far to say that getting into mini-tablet territory of between 25 to 30cm would be peak appeal
If an NG Switch OLED model comes out a couple of years down the line following the base and it's using a 23cm/9" screen, it'll be a day one purchase here
D
Deleted member 887
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To be absolutely clear - I'm not arguing for any of the things on that list as good or likely. I'm simply saying that this thread locked into "pro" thinking and it still crops up.
For example, there is still a "I'll wait to buy Tears of the Kingdom till I can play it at 4k on Switch 2." And maybe that will happen! If I had to bet money, I would bet money on it. But there is a decent chance that we get 6 remastered/HD games from Nintendo in the course of 12 months. That's a Nintendo hard at work on the first year of Next Gen. Nintendo doesn't need to depend on a bunch of 4k patches to sell the next system, BC and launch exclusives would be great.
I already said that I don't think I can change your mind. But I'm not being dishonest. I might be wrong, but I'm not being dishonest.
Obviously reusing proven mass produced parts is cheap. Designing a system that can reuse those parts might be cheap and it might not be.
I was merely suggesting possible changes that might require an altered connector, purely spitballing. I didn't say it mandated any of those things, and I'm sorry I wasn't sufficiently clear.
I like you. I've got no hostility here. I find this particular conversation with you very frustrating, but hey, I've got lots of friends for whom there is one topic that seems to always go off the rails. No beef. I would hope that my behavior so far would indicate to you that I wouldn't be dishonest. Wrong maybe. But not dishonest.
I am not aware of any cases where the IR camera is enabled while attached to the tablet. Maybe there are. That was not my point. My point was that a different set of controller functionality might require a different interface. This happens in technology all the time. I didn't intend to suggest that any of these changes would mandate a new connector. I was suggesting that there might be changes which would require a new connector or rail and that maybe we should consider them rather than dismissing them out of hand.
I was not attempting to suggest that cross-gen needed to die. I was suggesting that this thread needs to kill its legacy assumptions about what Nintendo's approach will be.
This is where this conversation with you gets very very frustrating. Because you are a smart, reasonable person, with a positive disposition and I feel like an absolute asshole when I say stuff like "that's not what the word evidence means."
"Evidence" is not "proof." My home has been robbed several times. The last time, police found "evidence" that they burglar came in through the window. He didn't as it turns out, he was checking unlocked back doors in the neighborhood and hit half a dozen places, the marks on the window were likely a different attempted break in. Life in the city.
I didn't say that the new screen was proof that we'd get a new controller connector. I was saying that the new screen is evidence of a form factor change. The current accessories were developed in concert with the form factor.
And we return to my original statement. The thermal profile will be dictated by more than the SOC. It will also be determined by software (RT runs hotter than rasterization, for example), it will be determined by the physical placement of other components, and it will of course be determined by clocks.
The clock numbers that are bounced around here are based on the launch Switch's power draw. To say that T239 has a thermal profile that looks like the TX1, when placed at clocks that were selected in order to match the TX1 is circular. But more importantly, we're operating on the assumption that the motherboard layout and thus the location of the heat, not it's quantity will be the same.
Scaling up the Switch made sense when were talking about a Pro revision. But the DS was not a 3D GameBoy. I don't believe we're getting a DS like shift. But I'd like to think I'm open minded enough to consider the possibility.
D
Deleted member 887
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The discussed screen isn't off the shelf. Not saying that it's going to be the screen in the final product, but that 7.8 inch 1080p screens don't exist in the wild. There are 15.6 inch 4k screens out there, that Innolux makes for laptops, which would be the right pixel density - basically every laptop screen would become 4 1080p NG screens - but they don't have built in Touch Interface Devices.
If these devkits have 7.8 inch, 1080p touch screens, they are being custom manufactured. If Nintendo is dual sourcing custom screens (Innolux and Tianma) then they are either feeling out manufacturers or they've settled on their final screen, and are purchasing in retail unit quantities. I'm not coming down hard on the idea that this rumored screen is the final screen, but it is 100% not an off the shelf part for a quick and dirty devkit
ika
Moblin
They try yes, but it seems to me that they’re more worried about flashy video sequences and trying to sell to west audiences following current trends (trying to be GOT for example) instead of evolving its own identity. It’s something very subjective and personal but since Sakaguchi left, the series is changing to worse. Not being a fan of Nomura‘s general direction, and the latest changes in fundamental gameplay doesn’t help I suppose.
Shoulder
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My thought is there will be a good 2-3 years of cross gen titles for Switch, and Switch 2, though developers would not be required to do so. If there’s an incentive to do so, it comes down to bottom line, and the massive install base.
Therefore, I believe it’s possible the Switch will either come extrembly close, or outright surpass DS and PS2.
Agreed. Switch is far too successful to just cancel it the moment Switch 2 launches. There will be a transitional period, and could last 2-3 years as I mentioned above in my post.
Potentially. At minimum, it would indicate 8GB, though 12 is possible. I doubt dev kits will surpass 16GB, though if they do then we start thinking about the potential of 12-16GB of ram.
Dekuman
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Thanks for the context. I had assumed 8 inch 1080 screens would be common for GPS and small tablets, i guess not!
TomNookYankees
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There's many possible reasons:
- Some breakthrough occurred which made 8 inch 1080p LCD screens absurdly cheap, which is why not just nintendo, but sony are also spending money on these 8 inch screens
- Switch NG's size had to increase significantly anyway due to the power consumption required for the desired performance, so may as well go for a bigger screen
- Switch NG's size had to increase due to inclusion of new hardware features such as camera, microphone, new kickstand, and/or additional joycon attachment points
- Nintendo is planning for this thing to have more media tablet functionality (streaming apps, social media apps, etc.) and figure that making the screen bigger like a traditional tablet would be preferable
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It really isn't
And that Ford pickup is, like, a normal commuter vehicle around here.
ReddDreadtheLead
#TeamLate2025WithAPotentialForEarly2026
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NGO- Nintendo Gaming Online
Very agnostic.
It’s sorta like a phablet from old if anyone remembers, the ugly ones.
It did not tank and that is not the reason for it to tank. It’s between 2m and 2.4M as of now and it’s limited by supply, not by demand.
Probably because they want a bigger battery or for something in particular that is about their games, hard to say.
Maybe it’s because it’s not as efficient or the chip
Is still too large.
Maybe it’s SEC 5nm and not TSMC, doubtful though since nvidia has nothing on SEC anymore, but whatever.
Maybe it’s TSMC 7nm.
It’s a lot to consider, not a simple answer.
Maybe it’s not the SoC, but maybe it’s the storage that gets hot or maybe the RAM and they need better cooling?
See how it’s hard to really pinpoint?
It should be similar, but I don’t think we should expect it to be the exact same.
It could also change last minute, it’s over a year out and Nintendo can say last minute “mmm, let’s do 16GB and conquer the world through plumbers and mythical creatures that only say their name” or something
Joy-Boy
Bob-omb
Also, a bigger screen is just one more feature they can market and entice people to upgrade for.
It's going to be downgrade from OLED, but if they had to go back to LCD, then a bigger screen is atleast something to convince people to get onboard
As you can see from the replies above, there are many plausible explanations: better thermal, worse process node (big SoC), larger battery, etc. Personally I think that it isn’t that deep. If the Drake model is going to be priced higher, the current models probably will remain for perhaps two more years to satisfy the lower end of the market.
As Furukawa stated in Nintendo’s last Management Policy Briefing, “we will continue to pursue the design and development of unique products […] whose appeal is easy to understand at a glance” (emphasis mine). It can’t be easier to differentiate a product than making it look different. For a more premium product, you go big, not unlike the iPhone Max and Galaxy Ultra.
Switch Lite, $199, 5.5”
Switch (keep red box or OLED; discontinue the other), $299-$349, 6.2”-7”
Switch NG, $399-$449?, 7.9”-8”?
It boils down to market segmentation through product differentiation, and really isn’t that deep. For the same reason, I suspect that the Drake model won’t be named “Switch 2”, because the middle and lower tiered products will be updated later and probably need the “2” and “2 Lite” monikers. So what would the Drake model be called—something like “2 Max” or “2 XL”?
That data was based on a Steam survey, and probably isn’t entirely representative. Some (if not many) Mac gamers simply download from the App Store, and are less likely to take any Steam surveys.
Lelouch0612
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Did anyone listen to the Snitch in his latest podcast ? They talked about the Switch 2
SpaceGodzilla
Did You Get that Thing I Sent You?
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Dark Cloud
Warpstar Knight
People love their Ford trucksIt really isn't
Truno
Koopa
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Imo it’s more reasonable to assume that it’ll look closer to Hi-Fi Rush than Final Fantasy 7 Remake
a lot of panels are custom made I suspect. at 8-inches most tablets are closer 720p
D
Deleted member 5146
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Probably more akin to Tales of Arise, which would feel like the natural evolution of that Xeno anime aesthetic and rich world design, and shouldn't be a problem to run on the next generation hardware
OP
OP
No, since the Cortex-A710 has worse performance/W compared to the Cortex-A78, going by Geekerwan's review.
isn't that only at low clocks? (Which is what Nintendo will use).No, since the Cortex-A710 has worse performance/W compared to the Cortex-A78, going by Geekerwan's review.
If it was worse period, it woudnt really have a reason to exist.
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I don't think we can say that's Pro thinking anymore. That's every full-generation shift that's occurred since Switch.
Kazuyamishima
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I'd argue against that with multiple points,
Bigger = bulkier and less portable
Bigger screen = less ppi
Bigger screen = bigger battery which makes it heavier and less portable
OP
OP
No. Geekerwan said his testing methodology includes low, medium, and high CPU frequencies.
So Geekerwan's chart seems to show that the Cortex-A710 has worse performance/W than the Cortex-A78 regardless of how high the CPU frequency is.
And generally speaking, as the CPU frequency increases, power consumption also increases.
Assuming the rumour that Google's using Cortex-A715 cores (alongside Cortex-X3 and Cortex-A510 cores) for the Tensor G2 successor is accurate, and considering Google skipped the Cortex-A710 (and the Cortex-X2 and the Cortex-A510) in favour of using the Cortex-A78 (and the Cortex-X1 and the Cortex-A55) for the Tensor G2, I think the Cortex-A710's generally worse than the Cortex-A78.
And speaking about CPUs:
Νεφέλωμα
Switch 3 enthusiast
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Sometimes I bring my old ass 8 inch Nvidia Shield tablet to uni. And one of my friends who became interested in the Switch cause of the TOTK hype asked if the Switch had the size of the tablet. He actually was surprised when I told him it was smaller. People want more screen, and now even more with tiny bezels becoming the norm in mobile devices.
SirArthur
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I checked it out. Ill give some highlights of the podcast regarding switch 2
- First part is mostly going over their history/motivation as a leaker. Some funny things about cooperate ninjas lol.
- Around the 45 min they start talking about the switch 2
- The host hints that he has heard murmurs of the date (but wont share) and he's heard that their is a "lineup" but does not know the games.
- The snitch is not privy to any of the information talked about but trusts the reports.
- They are both skeptical on the 512 GB storage talks
Not really anything new, he mostly has retired from leaking and is focusing on his discord and streaming.
10/10 opening of the podcast, using the boss transition music from Octopath lol.
1UpMango
I'm late to Team 2023
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Alkraken
Rattata
I already heard it. There is nothing new
Νεφέλωμα
Switch 3 enthusiast
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ayo that sounds like the infamous Wii U demo
I don't like being contrarian for the sake of it. But I never liked the look of that demo.
Multiverse
Moblin
Steam Deck didn’t penetrate mainstream consciousness. It was a bomb (in that sense). The device remains among the many fisher price looking handheld gaming pcs.
Nintendo isn’t subjected to anything. It‘s not even the same architecture. They’re working with mobile architecture. It is foolish to make things bigger. Their goal is a hybrid console. Portability is still a huge factor. M series MacBooks getting more and more powerful with even more battery life while retaining similar chassises. Subjecting Nintendo to Sony and Xbox design flaw is a bit much. They are way smarter than that. Smart enough to rest their future with ARM.
But here’s the thing like I said, we don‘t need to discuss this. Nintendo knows this already that’s why I’m not believing any rumor saying 8-inch screen. When I say Nintendo knows this, I meant they know what design works. I’m not expecting them to revert back and fall into The Steamdeck/PlayStation Q aesthetic. Those devices are flops just by looking at them. And they are. Why would Nintendo abandon their hugely successful current design philosophy and follow the flops? It don’t make no sense.
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Cuzizkool
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Just an FYI about point #2: If the rumored 8” display is indeed 1080p, then the ppi will be higher than OLED. (210 vs 275)
lemonfresh
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I don't care about resolution/screen size as long as more games run at a constant 60fps or close
Cuzizkool
Shriekbat
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Honestly this talk about bigger = less portable will all come down to two things: bezels and joy con design (and maybe battery density). If the 8” screen is bezel-less, you probably won’t notice much of a difference (in perceived portability). Though if funcle is to be believed, the chunkier joy cons will have the opposite effect.
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