The latest chatter (with admittedly nebulous sourcing) that is being virally debated on social media is that the Nintendo Switch will run at PS4 Pro levels of power, a significant leap from its current capabilities, which are stuck in the PS3 era.
The catch, however, is that the mode most people play the Switch in, handheld, would not have these same capabilities.
The PS4 Pro idea is for the Switch when it is docked, not when it’s in handheld mode, and that’s close to base PS4, allegedly.
There is no reason to imagine that the Switch 2 will not be a massive hit at really any somewhat significant power upgrade level.
I think the only issue might be if Nintendo fails to differentiate it from the current system, running into a Wii/Wii U problem if they just call it the New Nintendo Switch Plus or something confusing.
Throughout the year, Nintendo has gleefully refused to provide any information about the Switch 2, consistently stating that it would not discuss it in any upcoming presentations. It goes without saying that there have been countless leaks about its appearance and functionality.
The latest rumors (with admittedly hazy sources) that are going viral on social media claim that the Nintendo Switch will have PS4 Pro-level power, which would be a huge improvement over its current PS3-era capabilities. Even though the Pro is ten years old, that would still be incredibly impressive considering how the performance gap has closed between console generations. Of course, that is still a generation behind.
However, these same features would not be available in the handheld mode, which is where most people play the Switch. The PS4 Pro is designed to work with the Switch when docked, not in handheld mode, and is purportedly similar to the original PS4. This isn’t bad, despite what some people say. Additionally, it disregards what we just saw for the entire console generation.
When it comes to certain third-party ports or things like the Pokemon series not even trying to look good on the Switch, the power of the device has come into play. However, the Switch’s stylized graphics in primarily first-party games have made power irrelevant. Because of this, the “underpowered” Switch has sold 146 million units, making it the third best-selling system ever, only 14 million units behind the PS2 at 1.
The Switch 2 will undoubtedly be a huge success at any level of power upgrade that is even remotely significant. The only potential problem, in my opinion, is that Nintendo might encounter difficulties with the Wii/Wii U if they simply refer to it as the New Nintendo Switch Plus or something similar. All it would require is a full-on push that makes it obvious that, after almost ten years, this is a completely new system for a completely new console generation.
Even if these reports are false and the capabilities are “just” PS4 level, we have seen that the transition from PS3 to PS4 was more significant than the transition from PS4 to PS5. And as has been the case with practically every Nintendo system for the past four generations, there are only so many ways to argue that the Switch’s success is independent of power.
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