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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Could the Xbox Series S be the Bridge for Switch 2 to have more Last Gen Games?

hinch said:

I can see the Switch 2 (in terms of power) ending in the way of how the Switch is positioned currently, and what porting situation is going to be like.

Going by Nintendo's previous choices in SoC's. They'll choose an existing off the shelf product and work around that. And assuming that dev kits have been rolling out since last year and rumors are true.. the latest SoC I see Nintendo building upon for the next console is going to be based on Nvidia's Tegra - Xavier. Which is Volta based architecture. This architecture is two generation behind current gen and in a SoC similar envelope (10-15W) would most likely place this below a Steam Deck. Even if we consider Nintendo requesting the new custom silicon to be built using the latest node by TSMC/Samsung.

So much closer to the last generation consoles than the newer ones in capability and raw compute.

Unless Nintendo plans to release the Switch relatively soon, there is no way they are going to choose Xavier for their chip. Personally, it seems like Nintendo will be targeting a 2024 release date unless 2022 drops off a cliff. By 2024 Xavier would be four years old, and that's just too old at that point to put into a console. 

Instead, they are likely going to use Orin which will come out this year, which would put it at two years old by the time Switch 2 comes out (same time difference from X1 to Switch). In addition, Orin can have a lower TDP (as low as 5W), greater ability for DLSS, and has headroom to be downclocked in order to preserve battery without sacrificing visual fidelity. If they use Xavier we won't be receiving graphics that hold up to Xbox One S standards due to them downclocking the GPU in order to reduce power draw. It just wouldn't be worth it. 



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Pemalite said:

In this context... Teraflops is a useless metric.

For starters, it's theoretical not real world... Secondly, more to rendering a game than the amount of single precision floating point math that can be done via compute.


8GB is is fine if they keep the OS slim (Unlikely) and only target 1080P or less. (Likely.)

The era of fully custom chips has come to an end I am afraid... Far to costly and complex now... Nintendo is about keeping hardware costs low.

But I think a modified Xavier or Orin in order to retain full backwards compatibility is highly likely.


I think one of my biggest hopes is for an increase to the Switch cart size and performance.

Yeah, I understand is not equivalent but is an easy way to compare Old Switch vs Posible New Swith Graphical power.

For a custom chip I was referring to a Modified Orin or even an Orin+ in a way that help the most for a portable console, like Oculus Quest 2's Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 chip.

Yes, we need bigger and better Carts, maybe new Storage Expansion Cards?

What is your Launch Price for the next Switch?

Last edited by eddy7eddy - on 10 January 2022

The Switch 2 would have to be twice as powerful as the Steam deck. In reality, if it's released in the next two years, it'd most likely match the Steam deck. We're talking 8th gen console performance (PS4pro at best), a few years into the 9th gen (similar to what the Switch did).



Doubtful to be honest, I don't see the Switch 2 being much more powerful then the steam deck. Nintendo isn't known for choosing cutting edge technology for a long time now. Also the series S probably will not be the main focus platform for many developers. The PS5 will most likely be the focus platform for many Devs. With ports to a more powerful and less powerful system. The latter already running at 1080p in practice and not always at the same frame rate as PS5 or Series X. To port it from that to the Switch 2 will be quite the task. Also Series S and PS5 will have more in common than Switch 2 and PS5. So I don't think Series S is too relevant for the Switch 2. After all it's just powerful enough to run next gen games at 1080p or sometimes 1440p and usually with some (easy) cutbacks.



Please excuse my (probally) poor grammar

eddy7eddy said:

Yeah, I understand is not equivalent but is an easy way to compare Old Switch vs Posible New Swith Graphical power.

No it's not.

If the new Switch has Tensor and Ray Tracing cores... Then flops doesn't account for that.


eddy7eddy said:

For a custom chip I was referring to a Modified Orin or even an Orin+ in a way that help the most for a portable console, like Oculus Quest 2's Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 chip.

Makes sense.

An enhanced/modified Xavier or Orin seems to be the general consensus I think.

eddy7eddy said:

Yes, we need bigger and better Carts, maybe new Storage Expansion Cards?

What is your Launch Price for the next Switch?

If you want more bandwidth... Then MicroSD cards can only take you so far.
But it depends if that's the path Nintendo intends to go down though... If they are content with the current performance profile, then they may just bolster capacities of their ROM rather than speed.



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aTokenYeti said:

A switch successor targeting the Series S would be ideal. And if it’s targeting a 2024 launch, that should be more than possible. I don’t think people realize just how far mobile processing technology has come since the mid 2010s, and the Switch was using a generation out of date graphics architecture when it launched.

If the Switch successor targets a current-for-2024 gen graphics and CPU architecture, getting Series S performance out of a handheld form factor should be achievable and desirable.

It is theoretically doable right now. The problem is the cost, and Ninty's reluctance to lose money on hardware.  It is not going to be possible to deliver Series S performance in a reasonably sized handheld, with at least 2.5 hours of battery life, for $300-$350 (or even $400), at break even or better, in 2024.  



While Nintendo is getting harder to predict with each year, expect a generational power leap from the Switch 2. I don't see Nintendo doing another incramental specs leap for a new platform, not this soon.
GameCube to Wii: Refresh specs
Wii to Wii U: Generational
Wii U to Switch: Refresh specs
Switch to Switch 2: Generational (prediction)
Switch 2 in docked mode will be Xbox One-level specs at worst, between a PS4 and PS4 Pro at best.
Xbox Series S will likely still be getting a lot of third-party support in 2024 or so. I suppose it will make things potentially easier than they are for Switch right now.



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PS5: 115 million (was 105 million) Xbox Series S/X: 57 million (was 60 million, then 67 million)

PS4: 120 mil (was 100 then 130 million, then 122 million) Xbox One: 51 mil (was 50 then 55 mil)

3DS: 75.5 mil (was 73, then 77 million)

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