I'm not sure what are you arguing here if the best case Switch 2 in dock will be subpar Xbox Series S, which is already 900p console,
and in early UE5 game it struggles to sustain 720p. For multiplatform games, Switch 2 in dock will be 1080p console after DLSS, unless developers will sacrifice fidelity for bigger resolution for some reason.
How do you imagine Switch be comfortable with 1080p in portable mode in multiplatform titles specifically if 4TF desktop machine can't handle those games in the same resolution?
Games which cannot manage a native looking presentation in docked mode will not manage a native looking presentation in handheld mode. So how is a 900p Series S game in anyway relevant to what resolution the Switch 2's handheld mode should look like?
But if a game
does manage a native looking presentation in docked mode - well, ideally it would look native in handheld mode, at comparable settings. Thraktor's well argued point is that a 1080p screen is probably the sweet spot there.
If you're saying that no games will manage native looking presentation in docked - well, then does it matter what resolution the screen is? If a game is 900p on Series S, then do you think it will somehow achieve 720p in Switch 2 handheld mode? Probably not. And if a game is going to run subnative, then you at least want to reduce the ugly scaling artifacts. The way to do that is have a higher resolution screen, where the smaller pixels will be scaling artifacts take up less physical space.
ay-and-date multiplats with current gen Playstation and Xbox consoles represents a vanishingly small slice of the expected Switch 2 library. I think most consumers expect something along the lines of the Switch library - Nintendo games look great, last gen ports that look as good or better as the originals, and a few current gen miracle ports will be extremely cut down, but it will be amazing just to play them both on your TV and in your hand.
I don't think that the screen should be optimized for those few games.
Soooo, XSS will have higher settings and lower resolution, but Switch 2 lower settings and higher resolution? not sure if this makes sense from developer and consumer standpoint.
That's not what ILikeFeet is saying - they're saying that the games won't have the same settings, so why is setting the expectation around resolutions based on the Series S relevant?
But I'd also say, why is that confusing from a developer or a consumer standpoint? There are already dozens of cross-gen games that do this -
Elden Ring, Callisto Protocol, Witcher 3 - all offer higher resolution on the Pro last gen consoles, with lower settings, while the Series S has high settings, closer to the Series X, but a lower max res.
Developers are pretty used to tuning settings independent of resolution - open up a PC game and note the resolution slider all by itself. But also, most consumers aren't paying attention to resolution, and the ones who do, for the most part understand that resolution isn't the only factor on game quality. Is any consumer going to just Not Buy a game because they can't tell which version to buy based on resolution alone?
Because this is how technology works. Machines are not identical - NG will likely have superior RT performance to the Series S, less CPU performance, and access to DLSS - so of course games will vary in how they look and behave. Consumers will buy the games that look good on the machines they own.
