Was Nintendo right to opt out of the graphics arms race?

[Chrkeller]

Soundwave said:

Chrkeller said:

Fidelity output isn't much beyond the ps4 pro.  It isn't.  Check out cross gen games.  In terms of resolution and fps, the S2 is much closer to the ps4 pro than the ps5, just like I predicted.  My original prediction years ago was ps4 to ps4 pro.  And ps4 pro is a fair tier.  

The problem is you have never taken the time to understand what people were actually saying.  Remake on the ps5 is 1620p and 60 fps.  Is the S2 getting this?  Nope.  It is getting a port that is striped back in resolution and fps.  All their ports are stripped back, because it is mid tier hardware.  It isnt cheap hardware and it isnt premium either, hence mid tier.  

I always have and always will be in the camp anything can be ported.  Just a matter of sacrifices, like Cyber having a massive reduction in NPCs.

The S2 is a bit stronger than I expected, but it is a ps4 pro with some bells/whistles.  But you foolishly act like it blows the ps4 pro out of the water and it doesn't.  

Now I will concede it is getting more ports than I would have thought, but the S2 is not massively more powerful than most of us predicted.  It is a 900-1080p at 30 fps, which is ps4 tier. 

The people who thought the S2 was going to be a 4k system?  Go ahead and list all the S2 titles (e.g. not S1 ports) that are 4k..  oh wait, there are none.  

For the record ps4 games are still gorgeous.  I'm playing Tsushima on PC, gsme looks great.

I will never understand why ps4 tier is considered an insult.

In terms of being the first portable to play AAA..  one it isnt, the steam deck has been out for years.  Two, game engines weren't scalable back in the day like they are today.  

Edit

Best example is elden ring.  30 fps on the ps4.  60 fps on the ps5.  What is the S2 targeting?  30 fps, e.g. closer to the ps4 than the ps5.  And that should be expected.  The S2, a great system, simply doesn't have the bandwidth to target high resolution and high fps...  lol.  

I also said storage was going to be a weakness.  How you enjoying those key cards?  

You said FF7 Remake Intergrade wouldn't be possible on the system at first and basically no PS5 tier games would be possible. 

Then it moved to "well things like Ratchet & Clank on PS5 will clearly be beyond the system" or some such thing and that also today looks very, very wrong. 

When the Matrix demo rumors were out there you also scoffed at that notion, today most people would probably admit that Matrix demo likely can run on the Switch 2. 

You moved the goalposts about 50 different ways and also said 8nm would cripple the system's performance and this, that, and the other. 

You were wrong, just move on already. You based your arguments essentially on nothing more than "well in the past few hardware cycles Nintendo made underpowered hardware so that means Switch 2 will be underpowered too" and basically nothing else beyond that. You didn't look at things like 1536 CUDA cores sitting in the hardware leaks for the system and properly account for that. 

The Switch 2 has far better performance that most of the nay-sayers (a crowd of which you were one of the most loudest and frequent posters here) claimed and it is a significant achievement in video game hardware to have a mainstream portable console that can run all/most of the top 3D games of its time. Previous "high end" portables like the Vita and PSP were not able to do that. 

Yes.  Rift Apart, as is, isnt possible on the switch 2.  It isn't touching 1600p at 60 fps.  Plus lighting and volumetric would need to be cut back. 

Could the game be cut back for a port?  Sure, most anything can be ported.  But as is, no it isn't running on the S2 without massive downgrades. 

I dont know what else to say that hasn't already been said.  You seem shocked games are scalable and you have this odd view that hardware is the same if a game plays on both..  which is silly given a gtx 1660 plays 99% of what a 5090 plays..  despite s 5090 is damn near 500% more powerful.

The S2 sits very close to the ps4 pro in power...  and is massively behind the ps5.  And portables have been playing modern games for years before the S2 launched.

Only thing that surprised me about the S2 is how many ports it is getting, far higher than I would have guessed.  Also I am shocked at how piss poor the screen is.  

Last edited by Chrkeller - on 11 January 2026