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| curl-6 said: I mean, yes the Switch 2 has several advantages over the PS4 (DLSS, hardware raytracing, more RAM, fast I/O) and as such is a more capable system overall, that much is true. At the same time, the Switch 2 is still Nintendo staying out of the graphics race just by the fact that it's a portable device, and that it's a $450 mass market machine. It's still a capable piece of kit for the price, but it's not a high end machine, and that's a good thing because if it was it would cost a fortune and sell poorly. |
This is really getting into just semantics and how you label things.
The Switch 2 is quite powerful and was expressly designed as such, in an interview with lead designers of the Switch 2 they mentioned that while the Switch 1 had an OK chip for its time, they weren't satisfied with its graphics capability of the Switch 1 and wanted better. And the Switch 1 wasn't like some terrible chip it could even run some PS4 tier games, most notably DOOM, Witcher 3, etc. The fact that the Tegra X1 didn't satisfy the new heads of Nintendo's hardware department tells you right there this ain't the old guard of Nintendo to begin with.
If you have a hardware that can run the modern third party games, you are by default "in" the modern gaming cycle anyway, that is a huge distinction with the Switch 2 and say the Wii or Wii U or DS or 3DS. The PS2 didn't have the best graphics of its product cycle or time period, not even top 2. Games like Resident Evil 4 had to have its settings reduced to run on it, is it also a "budget console" for the early 2000s? No, I don't think anyone would label it that way.
Nintendo would be fully within their rights to sell the Switch 2 for more money, it outputs visuals on par with more expensive handhelds in a thinner, smaller form factor, they would entirely reasonably within their rights to sell this for $550-$600 even if they wanted to, that is about an average range for a lot of PC handhelds and Switch 2 performs as well or better than those. Generally you have to go into the $800 range to get a notable improvement over the Switch 2, and even then not all the time, Switch 2 holds its own even against those devices in some cases.
Nintendo obviously won't price that high as they have a broader mass market they want to sell to, but in terms of the game performance the machine provides, there's no reason they couldn't justify it. Comparable devices with similar/worse performance that are bulkier and heavier sell for $550, $600 easy. This thing runs games like Star Wars Outlaws better than a $550 Steam Deck, and it's thinner and lighter than that and yet they are charging significantly less for it.
The net end result machine even though some people will never admit it or only admit it through gritted teeth is beyond expectation and a very promising start for Nintendo's new hardware division heads. They cooked with this kit, I have full confidence in them for future hardware. This for sure a new chapter in Nintendo hardware eras. Pretty much everything I wanted from this chip they basically delivered and even then some, I don't know how they got this kind of performance from 8nm and a battery that small, only sipping 10 watts for undocked ... it's crazy. They should get a raise.
Last edited by Soundwave - on 13 January 2026
