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

[D36]

I've already said this, but it's kinda weird that Furukawa has yet to deny anything regarding future hardware, that says to me that we're likely to see it come out this fiscal year. Though with Nintendo's 15mil forecast (how many times have I bought that up), I have my doubts that it'll come out in March 2024. I've also said this before pages ago, but a March 2024 release would, imo, necessitate that it would be revealed at the earliest, October and at the latest, January. One is right before the Holiday season and the other is right after, both times are problematic and could get in the way of fulfilling said forecast. The only way I could see that work is if that goal is met during the Holiday season, while banking on whatever they have for that period, but that's cutting it waaayyyy too close. That's not even mentioning that Drake wouldn't be ready for Holiday 2023 for Spring to be a possibility and if our Funcles are to be believed, it could go either way.

As we now know that new hardware wasn't mentioned during Nintendo's sales forecast, I would argue that Drake's sales would be apart of or be independent of however the Switch performs this coming year, which is to say...... my confidence in a Holiday 2023 release is even stronger than before. I thought the report didn't change my perspective all that much, but upon rereading it, my stance has been more than reassured. Now, I could be wrong, but we'll have to wait until June for that, as that will be the moment of truth.

 

[Look over there]

UFS 3.1 can hit 2 GB/s read speeds....but for how long? Xbox Series X|S and PS5 I/O is sustained with no real thermal throttling (MIcrosoft has been very explicit about this). Even if Drake has UFS 3.1 (a big "if"), are those speeds really going to be something that can be sustained over the course of a play session wiithout the drive heating up and throttling?

If UFS 3.1 can do its thing at just under 1 watt per Micron (presumably under 'typical' operating conditions, aka ~25 Celsius), thermal throttling should not be an issue. For comparison, you should expect eMMC going at full speed to be about half a watt (per Samsung at least).
If we are to believe that a device with the Switch's form factor can handle eMMC going full blast with zero issue, an additional half a watt shouldn't be enough to change the situation.
(another comparison is that UHS-I SD cards are actually in between 1 and 2 watts...)

And even if the difference between 1 watt and 0.5 watt were to be critical, you can always just run UFS 3.1 at less than max speed. ~1 GB/s is still plenty (and should roughly match UFS Card 3.0)

 

[ILikeFeet]

I can't even begin to make a correlation between Drake/T239/REDACTED from a delay. I don't believe for one second that new hardware is coming before the FY 23/24 is done, and certainly not this year.

I'm not correlating the delay with drake. I'm correlating WB's interest in getting this port out with their interest in the next system. it's easy for WB to kill this port because the game already was a big success, but they seem to be throwing weight behind it. combined with their previous releases and future ones (MK1, Wonder Woman), they seem to be banking on having more successful outings on Nintendo systems

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Regarding the "no new or upgraded hardware is part of our forecast" thing, I was curious when previous announced next generation hardware started being part of the forecast. Seems like that either happens the last forecast before launch, or maybe not even until after launch.
*July 2004 forecast, no mention of DS. It does make the November 2004 forecast, from 4 days after U.S. release.
*October 2006 forecast, Wii is included.
*January 2011 forecast, no mention of 3DS, which went on to ship 3.6m through March.
*October 2012 forecast, Wii U is included.
*January 2017 forecast, no mention of Switch, which went on to ship 2.7m through March.

It's possible forecasts for other upcoming stuff is hidden away elsewhere in the financial releases, but I just beelined for the familiar graph of shipment/forecast numbers found each quarter.

 

[ReddDreadtheLead]

I think we have to consider too that, well, 1GB/s is probably enough for the envelope that the device should be targeting.

Series S|X and ps5 target a scope that would be 2-6x the perf of Drake

 

[ShadowFox08]

There is zero indication that Prime 4 is being made for the Switch 2. None of the people who reported info on Prime Remastered before it was revealed have made any indication that Prime 4 is for anything other than the Switch. No matter how great it would be to see what Retro can do with PS4/Pro level performance.

And there's zero indication that it's not being made for Switch 2. We have zero footage of the game, and the MP games are known to be technical marvels on the consoles they were released on.

The absence of evidence does not mean evidence of absence. Nintendo is strict as ever with NDAs... For their games and Switch 2, but especially the latter. Why would devs risk losing their business with Nintendo, let alone potential lawsuits and prison time? Second, many decisions, are made over the years and information easily becomes outdated on the regular for "insiders." It's very much possible that development of MP4 on Switch 2 is fairly recently as well.

While not guaranteed, I think it's pretty much a shoe-in that MP4 will in some form will show up on Switch 2 (and enhanced). It doesn't make sense to make it only for Switch at this point in its life cycle. Especially when it can make so much more and showcase/flex Switch 2's muscles.

I would also expect a decent (or at least a handful) amount of legacy switch games to get a performance boost via patch or a remaster as well. The switch will continue to be supported for years to come, and Switch and Switch 2 will probably share the same 1st party games for some time.

 

[ShadowFox08]

I've already said this, but it's kinda weird that Furukawa has yet to deny anything regarding future hardware, that says to me that we're likely to see it come out this fiscal year. Though with Nintendo's 15mil forecast (how many times have I bought that up), I have my doubts that it'll come out in March 2024. I've also said this before pages ago, but a March 2024 release would, imo, necessitate that it would be revealed at the earliest, October and at the latest, January. One is right before the Holiday season and the other is right after, both times are problematic and could get in the way of fulfilling said forecast. The only way I could see that work is if that goal is met during the Holiday season, while banking on whatever they have for that period, but that's cutting it waaayyyy too close. That's not even mentioning that Drake wouldn't be ready for Holiday 2023 for Spring to be a possibility and if our Funcles are to be believed, it could go either way.

As we now know that new hardware wasn't mentioned during Nintendo's sales forecast, I would argue that Drake's sales would be apart of or be independent of however the Switch performs this coming year, which is to say...... my confidence in a Holiday 2023 release is even stronger than before. I thought the report didn't change my perspective all that much, but upon rereading it, my stance has been more than reassured. Now, I could be wrong, but we'll have to wait until June for that, as that will be the moment of truth.

Yep. If he flat out said it won't be released this year, and then went back on his word, then it would be legal trouble for Nintendo from investors. So he's wording it carefully for sure.

I do hope it gets released this holiday though. I keep thinking what would Nintendo do?

 

[LitKai]

Xenoblade exists though.

Yes, and after the "failure" that was Xenoblade X, Monolith Soft had to give Nintendo more than 50% of its employees to help them in BotW. And Xenoblade 2 was made in 3 years and was rushed. Xenoblade still exists because of the success that was Xenoblade 2 and not because of Xenoblade X.

And also Drake's target sales is about 10x Deck's, which means:

• They get larger bulk discounts, and can get a better node and/or bigger* chip for similar prices
• They can invest a lot more money on R&D while keeping the cost per chip low
• They're significantly more important to NVidia than Deck is for AMD.

*CPUs and GPUs have specific clocks they are more power efficient, doubling the number of cores at those clocks will get you the same theorical power as doubling the clocks but with significant power savings.


Monolith are very good with ambitious projects on a budget.

Also, Xenoblade X was Nintendo's most ambitious project before Zelda, likely their most expensive at the time as well. It wasn't a new IP, but Xenoblade wasnt even a million seller, let alone a guarantee for sales.

You said it yourself, would Nintendo let them make a new ambitious IP after the "failure" that was Xenoblade X?

I mean they said it themselves

They never said new IP. "That differs from Monolith Soft's brand image" means "no Xeno". It could also mean "medieval" and "M-rated".

 

[Mr Doggo]

There is zero indication that Prime 4 is being made for the Switch 2. None of the people who reported info on Prime Remastered before it was revealed have made any indication that Prime 4 is for anything other than the Switch. No matter how great it would be to see what Retro can do with PS4/Pro level performance.

im sorry, did you mean exclusive for the next console? then yes i would agree, i dont think mp4 would be a exclusive. But if you meant that mp4 wont be a crossgen game i heavily disagree.

And about the monolith new ip thing:

1 - it doesnt exists.
2 - I doubt nintendo would blame monolith for the failure of a game released on the wii u. Not that im implying that X would sell 5 million copies on the Switch (despite everything it doesnt strikes me as a multi million seller despite how much money went into it, bizarre)
3 - It doesnt exists but if it did i'd hope it's good cause we need some new ips for the hardcore crowd.

 

[D36]

Yes, and after the "failure" that was Xenoblade X, Monolith Soft had to give Nintendo more than 50% of its employees to help them in BotW. And Xenoblade 2 was made in 3 years and was rushed. Xenoblade still exists because of the success that was Xenoblade 2 and not because of Xenoblade X.

You said it yourself, would Nintendo let them make a new ambitious IP after the "failure" that was Xenoblade X?

They never said new IP. "That differs from Monolith Soft's brand image" means "no Xeno". It could also mean "medieval" and "M-rated".

Where did you get that first part from?

 

[ReddDreadtheLead]

Yes, and after the "failure" that was Xenoblade X, Monolith Soft had to give Nintendo more than 50% of its employees to help them in BotW. And Xenoblade 2 was made in 3 years and was rushed. Xenoblade still exists because of the success that was Xenoblade 2 and not because of Xenoblade X.

wat

 

[RennanNT]

You said it yourself, would Nintendo let them make a new ambitious IP after the "failure" that was Xenoblade X?

After Xenoblade X, Nintendo used their experience with HD open worlds to help with BotW. They were so happy with BotW success that Monolith went into a hiring spree since. In May 2017, it was already bigger than it's previous peak during XCX dev. Nowadays they're over twice that, so even giving half for Zelda, they're still bigger than in XCX times.

Also, XC2 and XC3 are both ambitious games funded by Nintendo, even if not as ambitious as XCX was, and these 2 games wouldn't have sold significantly less without the Xenoblade brand either. So, yes, Nintendo would let them make a new ambitious IP.

And as someone else pointed out, if they are recruiting for an ambitious project, then there's no question... Nintendo is already letting them make it. Nintendo owns 96% of the company, anything they do has been approved and will be funded by Nintendo.

 

[Mr Doggo]

Yes, and after the "failure" that was Xenoblade X, Monolith Soft had to give Nintendo more than 50% of its employees to help them in BotW. And Xenoblade 2 was made in 3 years and was rushed. Xenoblade still exists because of the success that was Xenoblade 2 and not because of Xenoblade X.

that doesnt makes sense! Retro failed multiple times at making their own ips but nintendo never demanded them to help on ead's projects.

 

[ILikeFeet]

Yes, and after the "failure" that was Xenoblade X, Monolith Soft had to give Nintendo more than 50% of its employees to help them in BotW.

can you stop making up shit? Monolith was always a major part of Zelda since their acquisition, starting with Skyward Sword. they worked on BotW's environment design because Nintendo was very impressed with Xenoblade X

 

[eye0h]

They never said new IP. "That differs from Monolith Soft's brand image" means "no Xeno". It could also mean "medieval" and "M-rated".

Monolith have been making Zelda since skyward sword. Zelda is a part of their brand image. The quote from them is "An ambitious project that differs from Monolith Soft's brand image" That means not Xenoblade and not Zelda (because they make Zelda). Considering it's a job listing and not a reveal, they are targeting people who are familiar/researched on what monolith soft had developed. The job listing for Zelda went up at around the same time too and they're separate. I get that you want them to churn out more zeldas but it's highly unlikely.

 

[Boxle]

Yes, and after the "failure" that was Xenoblade X, Monolith Soft had to give Nintendo more than 50% of its employees to help them in BotW

 

[Machrider]

I think the Sharp LCD screen thing probably tells you when the Switch 2 will launch .... next fiscal year.

I feel it's pretty likely the "new console" they are supplying screens for is Switch 2. They have a long standing relationship with Nintendo.

A Switch 2 launch at some point after March 2024 to holiday 2024 seems like the target window.

 

[LitKai]

Where did you get that first part from?

?

After Xenoblade X, Nintendo used their experience with HD open worlds to help with BotW. They were so happy with BotW success that Monolith went into a hiring spree since. In May 2017, it was already bigger than it's previous peak during XCX dev. Nowadays they're over twice that, so even giving half for Zelda, they're still bigger than in XCX times.

Also, XC2 and XC3 are both ambitious games funded by Nintendo, even if not as ambitious as XCX was, and these 2 games wouldn't have sold significantly less without the Xenoblade brand either. So, yes, Nintendo would let them make a new ambitious IP.

And as someone else pointed out, if they are recruiting for an ambitious project, then there's no question... Nintendo is already letting them make it. Nintendo owns 96% of the company, anything they do has been approved and will be funded by Nintendo.

The only year they did not give the numbers of employees they have was in 2015 (I wonder why); and between 2014-2016 there was a decrease in their number of employees. In January 2017 they put up the recruitment page for the action game so it makes sense the increase in employees.

And I know Nintendo must approve the project so they can start developing it. Takahashi said that only Xenoblade was approved in recent years.

Monolith have been making Zelda since skyward sword. Zelda is a part of their brand image. The quote from them is "An ambitious project that differs from Monolith Soft's brand image" That means not Xenoblade and not Zelda (because they make Zelda). Considering it's a job listing and not a reveal, they are targeting people who are familiar/researched on what monolith soft had developed. The job listing for Zelda went up at around the same time too and they're separate. I get that you want them to churn out more zeldas but it's highly unlikely.

I want a new IP lol, but if it's a Zelda with an epic story like Xenoblade then I will take it. Action game recruitment page announcement - Zelda recruitment page announcement.

 

[LitKai]

I think the Sharp LCD screen thing probably tells you when the Switch 2 will launch .... next fiscal year.

I feel it's pretty likely the "new console" they are supplying screens for is Switch 2. They have a long standing relationship with Nintendo.

A Switch 2 launch at some point after March 2024 to holiday 2024 seems like the target window.

The Wii U and Switch launched 1 year after the last Zelda was released, so I would say May 10, 2024.

 

[Machrider]

The Wii U and Switch launched 1 year after the last Zelda was released, so I would say May 10, 2024.

The wild card is the software, which no one really has anyway of knowing unless they are inside Nintendo's Japanese studios.

So I think the launch could be anywhere from April to November 2024.

I wouldn't mind seeing a return of the August/September launch window ... it's so much nicer going out for a midnight launch when the weather is still nice outside and outside of the holiday rush/craziness.

It's vitally important that Nintendo have a slam dunk launch + post launch (yes post launch is just as important) line up though, so that has to be the priority, not just having a date for the sake of having a date.

 

[Dakhil]

I think the Sharp LCD screen thing probably tells you when the Switch 2 will launch .... next fiscal year.

I feel it's pretty likely the "new console" they are supplying screens for is Switch 2. They have a long standing relationship with Nintendo.

A Switch 2 launch at some point after March 2024 to holiday 2024 seems like the target window.

As I've mentioned before, I think there's a possibility Nintendo could be using LCD for a Lite model equipped with Drake, especially if Nintendo wants to continues to offer an affordable model (after Nintendo clears off enough inventory for the Nintendo Switch (2019), the Nintendo Switch Lite, and the OLED model), and if there's a possibility LCD is cheaper than OLED for <6" displays.

 

[Machrider]

As I've mentioned before, I think there's a possibility Nintendo could be using LCD for a Lite model equipped with Drake, especially if Nintendo wants to continues to offer an affordable model (after Nintendo clears off enough inventory for the Nintendo Switch (2019), the Nintendo Switch Lite, and the OLED model), and if there's a possibility LCD is cheaper than OLED for <6" displays.

I think it is Switch 2. It lines up with too much and Sharp mentions they were actually involved in the R&D of this "new game console".

Although I'd be curious if Sharp actually explicitly said LCD display or if this was just assumed, because Sharp has actually started making OLED displays themselves also.

LCD is probably cheaper though, so that could also be a factor, Nintendo may feel like go with the cheaper display now and you can always charge more for an OLED model later, which worked well enough on Switch, so it may be a "if it ain't broke, why fix it" situation.

 

[RennanNT]

In January 2017 they put up the recruitment page for the action game so it makes sense the increase in employees.

For them to put up a recruitment page it requires Nintendo to want them to expand first, since they will be the ones paying the salaries. That in turn means they're satisfied with what Monolith accomplished and have positive expectations from the expansion. And if we look at the timeline:

2015 - XCX was released and they started working on XC2
E3 2016 - Nintendo shows off BotW beyond teasers and get an extremely positive reception.
January 13th, 2017 - Pre-order starts for Breath of the Wild, Nintendo gets a better idea on how much the hype will convert to sales.
January 16th, 2017 - 3 days later, Monolith posts a recruitment for an ambitious new project.
March 2017 - BotW launches with a 102% attach rate and 3.82 mi copies sold in the first month.
May 2017 - Monolith reports record headcount and keep recruiting more and more.
December 2017 - XC2 is released and sells 1.06 mi in its first month and slowly sells another million across several years.

XCX and XC2 were too far away to be the trigger for the mass hiring and it wasn't caused by the Kyoto branch either (the studio which helps other 1st party games besides Zelda), since it didn't grow much.

 

[Dakhil]

I think it is Switch 2. It lines up with too much and Sharp mentions they were actually involved in the R&D of this "new game console".

Although I'd be curious if Sharp actually explicitly said LCD display or if this was just assumed, because Sharp has actually started making OLED displays themselves also.

LCD is probably cheaper though, so that could also be a factor, Nintendo may feel like go with the cheaper display now and you can always charge more for an OLED model later, which worked well enough on Switch, so it may be a "if it ain't broke, why fix it" situation.

I think a Lite model equipped with Drake does technically count as a new video game console.

The Bloomberg article mentioned that Sharp plans to launch pilot LCD panel production lines this fiscal year for the new video game console according to Sharp CEO Robert Wu.

And I don't know if Nintendo's really saving money by going for LCD vs OLED for a ≥7" display since most devices using a ≥6" display seem to be using OLED vs LCD.

 

[Machrider]

I think a Lite model equipped with Drake does technically count as a new video game console.

The Bloomberg article mentioned that Sharp plans to launch pilot LCD panel production lines this fiscal year for the new video game console according to Sharp CEO Robert Wu.

And I don't know if Nintendo's really saving money by going for LCD vs OLED for a ≥7" display since most devices using a ≥6" display seem to be using OLED vs LCD.

I don't think a Lite model for the Switch 2 is happening any time soon to be honest.

Nintendo is going to want the fatter profit margins that come with a "base model" first, a lower cost budget variant happens later when the price of the chipset has probably come down and maybe a die shrink has happened to increase battery life.

I think the current Switch Lite will be sold for cheap for several more years to boot.

To be honest I wouldn't be all that surprised if Nintendo holds to a similar release pattern as the Switch ... launch unit at a higher price, die shrink a couple of years later with a portable only model + better battery life performance ... though in this case they may offer the OLED model/better display model at this point.

 

[eye0h]

I want a new IP lol, but if it's a Zelda with an epic story like Xenoblade then I will take it. Action game recruitment page announcement - Zelda recruitment page announcement.

The only zelda game we can confidently say they were making is tears of the kingdom I don't understand your confusion? Unless you're trolling me idk

 

[TLZ]

I understand, but is it okay if I don't give two hoots that I'm not playing it in 4K?

I mean, it'd be nice I guess, but my fun isn't hinging on more powerful hardware.

Why do you sound offended by that harmless post?

 

[Armoured_Bear]

I don’t really get how defensive some people become when others dare to care about modern visuals in gaming.

 

[ReddDreadtheLead]

I don't think a Lite model for the Switch 2 is happening any time soon to be honest.

Nintendo is going to want the fatter profit margins that come with a "base model" first, a lower cost budget variant happens later when the price of the chipset has probably come down and maybe a die shrink has happened to increase battery life.

I think the current Switch Lite will be sold for cheap for several more years to boot.

To be honest I wouldn't be all that surprised if Nintendo holds to a similar release pattern as the Switch ... launch unit at a higher price, die shrink a couple of years later with a portable only model + better battery life performance ... though in this case they may offer the OLED model/better display model at this point.

But this is pilot production, this isn’t for any device anytime soon.

Maybe 2025.

 

[BowserIsMyFather]

Why do you sound offended by that harmless post?

I don't know, I wasn't lol.

 

[BowserIsMyFather]

I don’t really get how defensive some people become when others dare to care about modern visuals in gaming.

It's not defensive to be unbothered by 'modern visuals', and FWIW I feel like people become more rattled by those who's experience isn't affected to the degree of others.

 

[Sin Drive]

I don’t really get how defensive some people become when others dare to care about modern visuals in gaming.

If you cared that much, I don't know why you landed on getting a tablet lol.

 

[TSR3]

The time between the release of a Nintendo console and the latest Zelda is 0 or 1 year. If the Switch U launched before May 10, 2024 then it would be better for me lol.

• Twilight Princess (GameCube, Wii) - Wii = 0
• Skyward Sword (Wii) - Wii U = 1 year
• Twilight Princess HD (Wii U) - Switch = 1 year
• Breath of the Wild (Wii U, Switch) - Switch = 0
• Skyward Sword HD (Switch) - Switch U = 1 year
• Tears of the Kingdom (Switch, Switch U) - Switch U = 0
• Tears of the Kingdom (Switch) - Switch U = 1 year
• Monolith Soft's action game "Zeldablade" (Switch U) - Switch U = 0

I actually don't know if Zeldablade will be a launch title because the Wii U didn't have a Zelda as a launch title; but in 2025 they will release Xenoblade X so I don't think they would also release Zeldablade the same year.

OK, I totally get that Zelda has often been used as a cross-generation game (your 0 year), and that's a deliberate strategy by Nintendo. But couldn't the 1 year gap just be a coincidence of development cycles? Of the historical examples you've given above, only Skyward Sword is an original game, and was a holiday season release, just like the WiiU.

 

[Kise Ryota]

15W in handheld mode?

Oh God no, please. This isn't the Steam Deck.

It really isn't. Steam deck on 15W is just for the SoC. The total power consumption is ~28W.

I would like to see a switch 2 with 15W of system draw, even if they would need to make the console a bit bigger and heavier.

 

[Armoured_Bear]

It's not defensive to be unbothered by 'modern visuals', and FWIW I feel like people become more rattled by those who's experience isn't affected to the degree of others.

Repeating that you don't need new hardware/are a gameplay purist who is above such trivialities as a non-blurry image etc. in a thread on FUTURE hardware is very much defensive. If you don't care about better hardware and won't have more fun or enjoyment from what that brings, why even be in the thread?

It's such a weird mentality, I loved the shit out of SMB on my NES, doesn't mean I have been "unbothered" by Super Mario Odyssey just because the older games were fun.

 

[Armoured_Bear]

If you cared that much, I don't know why you landed on getting a tablet lol.

As much as I think the hybrid nature of the Switch is a wonderful selling point, I'm a couch/big TV gamer so I'd rather have a Gamecube type powerful cute box but if I want to play Nintendo games, a hybrid is the only way.

 

[LitKai]

For them to put up a recruitment page it requires Nintendo to want them to expand first, since they will be the ones paying the salaries. That in turn means they're satisfied with what Monolith accomplished and have positive expectations from the expansion. And if we look at the timeline:

2015 - XCX was released and they started working on XC2
E3 2016 - Nintendo shows off BotW beyond teasers and get an extremely positive reception.
January 13th, 2017 - Pre-order starts for Breath of the Wild, Nintendo gets a better idea on how much the hype will convert to sales.
January 16th, 2017 - 3 days later, Monolith posts a recruitment for an ambitious new project.
March 2017 - BotW launches with a 102% attach rate and 3.82 mi copies sold in the first month.
May 2017 - Monolith reports record headcount and keep recruiting more and more.
December 2017 - XC2 is released and sells 1.06 mi in its first month and slowly sells another million across several years.

XCX and XC2 were too far away to be the trigger for the mass hiring and it wasn't caused by the Kyoto branch either (the studio which helps other 1st party games besides Zelda), since it didn't grow much.

They started working on Xenoblade 2 in 2014, before the release of Xenoblade X and we can assume that the ambitious project already started in 2016.

 

[LitKai]

OK, I totally get that Zelda has often been used as a cross-generation game (your 0 year), and that's a deliberate strategy by Nintendo. But couldn't the 1 year gap just be a coincidence of development cycles? Of the historical examples you've given above, only Skyward Sword is an original game, and was a holiday season release, just like the WiiU.

Yes, it could be a coincidence. But there is at least 1 year difference between a Nintendo console release and a Zelda.

 

[Josh5890]

I don't think a Lite model for the Switch 2 is happening any time soon to be honest.

Nintendo is going to want the fatter profit margins that come with a "base model" first, a lower cost budget variant happens later when the price of the chipset has probably come down and maybe a die shrink has happened to increase battery life.

I think the current Switch Lite will be sold for cheap for several more years to boot.

To be honest I wouldn't be all that surprised if Nintendo holds to a similar release pattern as the Switch ... launch unit at a higher price, die shrink a couple of years later with a portable only model + better battery life performance ... though in this case they may offer the OLED model/better display model at this point.

Imo, we get the [Redacted] Lite when a next gen exclusive mainline Pokemon game is on the immediate horizon.

 

[CypressFX]

I'd be surprised by any official comment/statement regarding hardware made this year. It's not an impossibility but I'm not expecting any such action.

I'm not anticipating any official public communication until next FY -- once mass production nears or begins (April to June 2024 window).

I'll welcome a surprise.

The question always remains IF you are just speculating or adding (at minimum some small one digit percentage) of insider knowledge to it.


One idea: You should always start with Speculation 100% Knowledge: 0% or so

Just kidding, I really hope we will be surprised sooner than later!

 

[Thraktor]

UFS 3.1 can hit 2 GB/s read speeds....but for how long? Xbox Series X|S and PS5 I/O is sustained with no real thermal throttling (MIcrosoft has been very explicit about this). Even if Drake has UFS 3.1 (a big "if"), are those speeds really going to be something that can be sustained over the course of a play session wiithout the drive heating up and throttling?

Peak power draw is a little under 1 Watt, so I'd be surprised if thermal throttling would be an issue, but I'm sure Nintendo could accommodate it in the cooling design of the new model if they were particularly concerned (similar to how the LPDDR4(X) is actively cooled in current models even though that's not strictly necessary).

 

[D36]

I don’t really get how defensive some people become when others dare to care about modern visuals in gaming.

Who's being defensive? Are you referring to people who aren't as hung up on the issues as others are? Because if so, I don't see why that's a problem; some people have a higher threshold for certain things and some just don't care.

 

[D36]

Repeating that you don't need new hardware/are a gameplay purist who is above such trivialities as a non-blurry image etc. in a thread on FUTURE hardware is very much defensive. If you don't care about better hardware and won't have more fun or enjoyment from what that brings, why even be in the thread?

It's such a weird mentality, I loved the shit out of SMB on my NES, doesn't mean I have been "unbothered" by Super Mario Odyssey just because the older games were fun.

Not everyone is anticipating future hardware just so they can have better performance. Sometimes the prospect of a new device is exiting in and of itself. Besides, specs and performance aren't the only things we discuss in this thread, so I don't know where you're going with this.

 

[JesusSaves7]

I would be super stoked that, when Drake does get released, it will be able to play current Fromsoft games. Eldin Ring and Armored Core would be pretty darned cool!

 

[Hermii]

Peak power draw is a little under 1 Watt, so I'd be surprised if thermal throttling would be an issue, but I'm sure Nintendo could accommodate it in the cooling design of the new model if they were particularly concerned (similar to how the LPDDR4(X) is actively cooled in current models even though that's not strictly necessary).

This, and imo it doesn't need to be able to sustain peak performance imo. Most devs would be very happy with 1GB/s.

 

[Dakhil]

I don't think a Lite model for the Switch 2 is happening any time soon to be honest.

Nintendo is going to want the fatter profit margins that come with a "base model" first, a lower cost budget variant happens later when the price of the chipset has probably come down and maybe a die shrink has happened to increase battery life.

I think the current Switch Lite will be sold for cheap for several more years to boot.

To be honest I wouldn't be all that surprised if Nintendo holds to a similar release pattern as the Switch ... launch unit at a higher price, die shrink a couple of years later with a portable only model + better battery life performance ... though in this case they may offer the OLED model/better display model at this point.

Just to be clear, I don't expect Nintendo to release a Lite model equipped with Drake until Nintendo clears inventory of the Nintendo Switch (2019), the Nintendo Switch Lite, and the OLED model, which probably won't happen when Nintendo's new hardware equipped with Drake is launched.

I don't think that's always necessarily true. Nintendo mentioned that the OLED model had a lower profit margin than the Nintendo Switch (2019) and the Nintendo Switch Lite. (I think the higher quality materials used on the OLED model (here and here) compared to the Nintendo Switch (2019) and the Nintendo Switch Lite contributed to the lower profit margin compared to the Nintendo Switch (2019) and the Nintendo Switch Lite.) And of course, the Nintendo Switch's estimated bill of materials, as well as Nintendo mentioning that Nintendo's not planning on selling the Nintendo Switch at a loss, I think implies that the Nintendo Switch initially had a small profit margin.

So I think there's a possibility Nintendo could be ok with a small profit margin when launching Nintendo's new hardware initially.

I think whether or not there's going to be a die shrink of Drake depends on what process node Nintendo and Nvidia decide to use for fabricating Drake. I don't really expect a die shrink of Drake if Nintendo and Nvidia decide to use TSMC's 4N process node to fabricate Drake.

And I think whether or not a Lite model equipped with Drake comes equipped with an OLED display depends on if price wise <6" OLED displays are on par or cheaper than <6" LCD displays. Outside of the Aya Neo Air and Aya Neo Air Pro, I don't really see any devices using a <6" OLED display. And I don't really expect a Lite model equipped with Drake to use a 1080p display regardless of the type of display (LCD or OLED).

 

[Thraktor]

This, and imo it doesn't need to be able to sustain peak performance imo. Most devs would be very happy with 1GB/s.

Yeah, 1GB/s would be plenty, given the asset quality will obviously be lower than PS5 and Series X. My point is more that hitting around 2GB/s isn't even a stretch for Nintendo given current technologies and costs. They may even end up with storage capable of operating at close to 2GB/s even if they don't need it, because UFS 3.1 ends up being the most power- and cost-efficient option. It's worth noting that the 300MB/s eMMC modules Nintendo used in launch Switch units were the fastest embedded storage option they had, as TX1 didn't support UFS. They couldn't even utilise anywhere near that speed because of CPU limitations, but if they can get decent performance for a low cost they're not going to turn it down.

Edit: Just to expand on this, when Switch launched, the fastest storage used in a shipping phone was, as far as I can tell, the Galaxy Note 7 which hit 485MB/s sequential read speeds. Switch's 300MB/s eMMC was capable of around 60% of that. The current peak is the Vivo X90 Pro, which hits 3,866MB/s. If Nintendo were to use UFS 3.1 storage capable of 2GB/s, it would be further from the state of the art than Switch's storage was at release.

 

[BowserIsMyFather]

Repeating that you don't need new hardware/are a gameplay purist who is above such trivialities as a non-blurry image etc. in a thread on FUTURE hardware is very much defensive. If you don't care about better hardware and won't have more fun or enjoyment from what that brings, why even be in the thread?

It's such a weird mentality, I loved the shit out of SMB on my NES, doesn't mean I have been "unbothered" by Super Mario Odyssey just because the older games were fun.

I almost never say anything about it, lol.

It's a current system game, which may or may not come to a next gen system, that I am enjoying very much in the here and now without having to watch people play it on emulators. If that's your thing then cool, but I'll stay in the present with TotK. It's amazing on Switch, I don't need it to be better.

I'm not having a dig at people who are enjoying looking forward, more questioning if it's acceptable to enjoy a current gen title without fawning over things yet to come. It's kind of a buzz-kill.

 

[Mr Swine]

I can see Nintendo target storage speeds be between 500MB/s to 1GB/s depending how expensive they want it to be.

Also does anyone know if OC Switch will alleviate TOTK slowdowns?

 

[eye0h]

I can see Nintendo target storage speeds be between 500MB/s to 1GB/s depending how expensive they want it to be.

Also does anyone know if OC Switch will alleviate TOTK slowdowns?

Only OC switch video I've seen: