The rumour mill continues around the successor to the Switch, but is this one the one? According to Video Games Chronicle, and corroborated by Eurogamer, Nintendo is likely to release its next-gen hardware in the second half of 2024. VGC's sources, which include "multiple people with knowledge of Nintendo's next-gen console plans", claim that the device will be useable in handheld mode and support physical cartridges like the Switch. However, backwards compatibility remains unclear.

The next-gen hardware will also apparently sport an LCD display, instead of an OLED one, in order to keep costs low while packing higher storage for higher fidelity games. Dev kits of the system are also with key partners, according to the report.

Of course, take this report with a grain of salt as these are unofficial news and rumours around a Switch Pro or Switch 2 have been around for a while. But eventually, we will get a successor to the Switch in one form or another; and whether it will replicate the latter's success remains to be seen.

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[Xzi]

That’s not necessarily true provided they choose to spring of custom (well, semi-custom, like everything else) silicon. Apple has shown the world that you can create highly performant machines on ARM, so it’s not at all out of the question that they’ll stick around with a more mobile-friendly architecture.

True, but Apple is the polar opposite of Nintendo in terms of hardware pricing. Also if they're sticking with ARM, they're probably sticking with Nvidia too, which has fallen way behind the curve on mobile chipsets.

Not to mention Apple is making the push for gaming support about twenty years too late, and Linux has already overtaken Mac OS on Steam thanks to Deck as a result.

 

[TomSwitch]

True, but Apple is the polar opposite of Nintendo in terms of hardware pricing. Also if they're sticking with ARM, they're probably sticking with Nvidia too, which has fallen way behind the curve on mobile chipsets.

Not to mention Apple is making the push for gaming support about twenty years too late, and Linux has already overtaken Mac OS on Steam thanks to Deck as a result.

Nvidia is doing just fine with their mobile chip set, while they are making big bucks elsewhere, there is nothing wrong with what they made for laptops. I am using one to type this message and the games are silky smooth. Just can't be on battery power for long and nothing can today.

 

[Xzi]

Nvidia is doing just fine with their mobile chip set, while they are making big bucks elsewhere, there is nothing wrong with what they made for laptops.

By "mobile" I mean ARM. No chance Nintendo pays to stick the equivelant of a laptop GPU in the next Switch, lol.

 

[TomSwitch]

By "mobile" I mean ARM. No chance Nintendo pays to stick the equivelant of a laptop GPU in the next Switch, lol.

If you say mobile phone then you are correct.

Nvidia's consumer product can be broadly divided into mobile and desktop. The mobile version have the same technical challenge everyone have yet to solve. AMD is no better at it than them. AMD may have more focus as a percentage of the company's resource. Absolute wise I have no idea who invest more.

 

[tabzer]

It's never too late to support gaming, unless you think gaming has a shelf-life.

AMD may have more focus as a percentage of the company's resource. Absolute wise I have no idea who invest more.

I've always chosen NVidia GPUs, but lately I've been partial to AMD due to Vulkan.

 

[Xzi]

If you say mobile phone then you are correct.

Nvidia's consumer product can be broadly divided into mobile and desktop. The mobile version have the same technical challenge everyone have yet to solve. AMD is no better at it than them. AMD may have more focus as a percentage of the company's resource. Absolute wise I have no idea who invest more.

It's because of Nvidia's dominance in the desktop GPU market that they aren't really focused on mobile (or small) chipsets. AFAIK the X2 chip is still the best/newest they've got, and that was already available in 2017 when Switch launched. AMD is the clear leader when it comes to portable x86 hardware, which is why Steam Deck can run next-gen games for $400.

It's never too late to support gaming.

Assuming Apple actually puts anything back into the industry, sure. I get the feeling they're just happy to leech off of others' hard work instead, as Proton is largely responsible for the increased game compatibility MacOS is now seeing.

 

[tabzer]

They can use Proton and still leech off of others' hard work.

 

[Xzi]

They can use Proton and still leech off of others' hard work.

Same thing. They're taking the work others did on Proton and using that as a base to build compatibility for MacOS. If Apple wants Mac to be taken seriously as a gaming platform though, they'll have to do some cross-promotion and/or invest in the development of some games. If all they do is push for more exclusivity instead, they're gonna run into a whole lot of hostility.

 

[tabzer]

I said it without the sarcasm. Valve also profits off of the efforts of a largely volunteer-based community.

Apple and "walled garden" has been synonymous for as long as they have been a company. Where is this "new" flack going to come from? Hostility coming from people who don't buy mac products? Free publicity.

 

[ertaboy356b]

If Nintendo ever consider that they will wake up before they made that mistake. They have nothing without Switch compatibility. They will be totally fucked.

There are good reasons why mobile phones are all based on ARM64. Why do you think Apple dropped Intel.

Post automatically merged: Aug 3, 2023

A gaming laptop from 2023 would have also about 1 hour battery life

A gaming handheld like ROG Ally won't be much better too when you push it.

You can watch video for many hours at max brightness ha ha. Not sure which one will win at watching video.

Except you get a Celeron because performant low wattage stuff did not exists yet. So yeah 1 hour on a celeron with your plant vs zombie game, a really good buy ain't it?

 

[Xzi]

I said it without the sarcasm. Valve also profits off of the efforts off a largely volunteer-based community.

And everybody's cool with that because they put a ton back into the gaming industry/community in terms of both software and hardware.

Apple and "walled garden" has been synonymous for as long as they have been a company. Where is this "new" flack going to come from? Hostility coming from people who don't buy mac products? Free publicity.

More likely it would come from people who know how to reverse-engineer their compatibility layer, so that would probably be enough of a deterrent. If they wanna fully fund an in-house development studio and make those games exclusive, however, I couldn't care less.

 

[osaka35]

It's because of Nvidia's dominance in the desktop GPU market that they aren't really focused on mobile (or small) chipsets. AFAIK the X2 chip is still the best/newest they've got, and that was already available in 2017 when Switch launched. AMD is the clear leader when it comes to portable x86 hardware, which is why Steam Deck can run next-gen games for $400.


Assuming Apple actually puts anything back into the industry, sure. I get the feeling they're just happy to leech off of others' hard work instead, as Proton is largely responsible for the increased game compatibility MacOS is now seeing.

X2 is about 2 or 3 generations behind. the X1 (which is in the switch and nvidia shield) and the X1+ i think are one generation as they both use maxwell. X2 was on the Pascal architecture. They then had Xavier on the volta architecture, then Orin on Ampere, and the latest one is Thor which is on ada lovelace. I'm not 100% sure if it's been released yet. I kinda don't keep track too terribly much. [after checking, it comes out in 2025 lol and Orin came out last year through this year so...probably too new for nintendo :'( looks like Xavier for us, which is really sad]

X1 has 256 cuda cores, same as X2, and Xavier has 512. But Orin has 2048. Not sure about thor. So fingers crossed it's at least Orin. quite a nice bump in ability. On paper, anyway.

 

[Xzi]

X2 is about 2 or 3 generations behind. the X1 (which is in the switch and nvidia shield) and the X1+ i think are one generation as they both use maxwell. X2 was on the Pascal architecture. They then had Xavier on the volta architecture, then Orin on Ampere, and the latest one is Thor which is on ada lovelace. I'm not 100% sure if it's been released yet. I kinda don't keep track too terribly much.

X1 has 256 cuda cores, same as X2, and Xavier has 512. But Orin has 2048. Not sure about thor. So fingers crossed it's at least Orin. quite a nice bump in ability. On paper, anyway.

See I had no idea any of those existed, probably because there are no notable devices utilizing them like there was for X1 with the Shield TV.

 

[tabzer]

Gatekeeping gaming is not good for gaming.

People angry about Apple providing more support for gaming is not going to deter people from gamming on Apple products more than it is going to provoke interest and draw a greater audience.

Example:

Mac users: We are resolved to not value gaming.

You: It is absurd that Apple would integrate Proton gaming on Apple products without donating x billion dollars to Gabe Newell.

Everyone else: Mac supports gaming now?

 

[Xzi]

Gatekeeping gaming is not good for gaming.

Exclusivity is gatekeeping. It's also in its final days, though, whether Apple tries to swim against the current or not.

 

[tabzer]

"Exclusivity" where nothing previously existed is still a net positive. You are going to have to point out where they deprived someone of something.

 

[Xzi]

"Exclusivity" where nothing previously existed is still a net positive.

It really isn't. EGS' very existence is a net negative on the gaming industry, and their exclusivity deals combined with a lack of visibility for reviews encourage developers to put very little effort into their games.

You are going to have to point out where they deprived someone of something.

This is all just hypothetical at the moment, and I'm playing devil's advocate in part. Utilizing Proton for exclusivity would be moronic and not viable for an extensive list of reasons. Nintendo gets away with it only because their hardware is bargain bin priced and easily emulated, whereas Apple hardware is ten times the price and not at all optimized for gaming.

 

[osaka35]

Gatekeeping gaming is not good for gaming.

People angry about Apple providing more support for gaming is not going to deter people from gamming on Apple products more than it is going to provoke interest and draw a greater audience.

Example:

Mac users: We are resolved to not value gaming.

You: It is absurd that Apple would integrate Proton gaming on Apple products without donating x billion dollars to Gabe Newell.

Everyone else: Mac supports gaming now?

Well, they released the "game porting Toolkit" for their Metal API, which I don't think is a layer of compatibility, it's just a "here's how to talk to our chipset" guide for developers. and it also includes something about an emulation environment to help developers work on mac ports while in windows? Also something for helping shaders work on Mac Metal as well? But developers still have to, like, develop specifically for it, which isn't a given. I have no clue what the added development cost are for developers, though.

This is my understanding, but could be off. Maybe there is a layer of compatibility like proton? Not from what I've read, but i'm not quite yet a developer. Either way, it's nice Apple isn't snubbing the gaming community like they usually do. Fingers crossed something will come from it.

 

[tabzer]

Downplaying any progressive step just because it isn't "good enough" to you is still a form of gatekeeping. Maybe reconsider your approach and make open suggestions how you'd like them to embrace gaming; I'm sure they'd be happy to have you as a customer. The EGS situation is a good example of where exclusivity can deprive people of something. Hopefully their supposed exclusives (your claim) would proportionately uplift developers and unique titles.

I'm not the one who suggested that they'd use Proton for exclusivity or do exclusives at all, btw.

 

[Xzi]

Downplaying any progressive step just because it isn't "good enough" to you is still a form of gatekeeping.

Wanting everyone to have access to every game regardless of platform is the opposite of gatekeeping. A pro-exclusivity stance is a pro-gatekeeping stance. For once just admit you're wrong instead of wasting time trying to spin a negative into a positive.