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[Gamerman1]

Not shocking its at 60fps. Mario games tend to have simple geometry overall with well done textures to make it look nice.

 

[Gaiaknight]

Nintendo really don't care about 1080p.

ARMS, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe are 1080p, Splatoon 2 even hits 1080p at times.

 

[Cow Mengde]

Looking good.

I haven't seen the video yet, but I wonder if the 2D segments run at 1080p? That would be funny.

 

[Polygonal_Sprite]

Visually pleasing and visually demanding are two completely different things

That's why I said visually pleasing and not visually demanding

Totally agree but thought this seemed like a pretty low estimate. Just did the math and the OG PS4 is actually just over 13x the size of the Switch!

I was including the dock even although it's mostly an empty shell but sure I guess 12x smaller than PS4 just counting the tablet and tiny motherboard inside the dock.

Pokken Tournament DX though... They could have gone 900p on docked with improvements to fidelity.

I'm not really into fighting games so haven't been paying too much attention to it but if the game renders at 720p in handheld mode and 720p in docked mode with no visual upgrades then I would guess it was down to time constraints or man power not able to optimise docked mode. When docked the Switch GPU doubles in clock speeds meaning a minimum of dynamic 900p should be well within reach unless they've went crazy with added effects and improvements in docked mode instead of a resolution boost.

Don't follow. If those consoles are struggling to pull of 900p/30fps or 900p/60fps, then how do you think the Switch would perform then with the same games? Look at Doom. 720p/30fps on Switch vs 1080p/60 on consoles. That's a big difference. There may not be many 60fps games on consoles like the PS4, but that's due to developer design choices. Nintendo just prefers 60fps and will sacrifice what they have to, to get there.

I wasn't talking specific games, more calling out the bs of people moaning about 900p/60fps when they're happy playing games at 900p/30fps on PS4 which is 13x the size with 4x the overall computational power of Switch.

As someone else pointed out DOOM is also dynamic 900p with major framerate drops from 60fps on Xbox One. The fact it's running at 720p/30fps is testament to how much more powerful Switch is than people give it credit for.

I'm not sure about the "much better CPU".

The Switch CPU has roughly 50% the performance of PS4's 8 core Jaguar CPU -

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=238264443&postcount=450

 

[Dash Kappei]

900p is dissapointing but at least it's 60 fps.

I know right? After all 1080p60 is the norm for PS4 and especially Xbox One' open world games! Soooo disappointing.

 

[Si2k78]

60 fps is the star of the show here. Just to teach this fucking 4k industry thay what matters is 1080p 60 fps. Not higher resolutions with frame rate drops.

Yup.... I just feel that the ps4 pro, and xbox one x is so misguided...

 

[Refreshment.01]

But that's the design they chose to go with so the question is always "is it worth the compromise?"

Personally, I'm more upset about the lack of D-Pad on Joycons. That's a compromise that doesn't payoff, IMO. The novelty of sharing JoyCons and playing MP with the kickstand is not worth the loss of a precision input device for 2D games (especially fighters and future VC) in handheld mode.

Why are you singling out the sharing of Joycon to Table Top mode? Basically the device supports local multiplayer out of the box for TV play also. SO it's kind of a big deal to have control parity as much as possible.

Many 2D games, like platformers, play fine with either the separated Dpad or the Thumbstick since it has less travel than the ones we see in bigger controllers.

Well we have to depend on Nintendo to solve this problem. They might think it's not an issue and never make a different Joycon. It would be great if third parties had the rights to make Joycons. They would be much faster than Nintendo.

Nintendo can add a cheap Dpad to every right Joycon so there's no need to redesign to offer this input method. The device has the technology to support it. It could even be included with a game for a marginal increase of cost.

ON TOPIC:

Odyssey is the most technically advanced Switch game so far. Personal favorite of mine was ARMS as an overall package when considering the technical side and visual design but this one goes further.

900P at 60 fps, is impressive for a Switch game this complex so far... say comapre that to Rabbids which runs at the same res an can go below half the frame rate.

However i have to ask why not dynamic resolution? There are various instances, like inside small rooms or the void surrounded areas where the game has enough power to spare to bump it up to 1080P.

It was instanlty apparent in this last wave of previews that the IQ got a very appararent bump so it's nice to have confirmation from Digital Foundry.

 

[Cerium]

According to old leaks by Laura Kate Dale or Emily Rogers, it is actually a transferred Wii U project. Who knows how accurate these leaks are though.

Source? I don't remember this ever being said.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

Awesome. 900p is the bar I was looking for. It'll be a nice noticeable improvement over the Wii U's graphics.

 

[Neoweee]

According to old leaks by Laura Kate Dale or Emily Rogers, it is actually a transferred Wii U project. Who knows how accurate these leaks are though.

At this point, they would have abandoned hope on a Wii U release like 24 months before its now release date. Any semblance of the Wii U constraints are likely long dead.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

Koizumi was heading Switch development. Why would he be caught off guard by the Switch and move a game there

 

[guybrushfreeman]

720p60 portable is very impressive. It must’ve taken some crazy work to reach that lock in portable mode

 

[Nanashrew]

According to old leaks by Laura Kate Dale or Emily Rogers, it is actually a transferred Wii U project. Who knows how accurate these leaks are though.

You might want to back this up with something cause I can't find anything.

 

[Si2k78]

That's why I said visually pleasing and not visually demanding



I was including the dock even although it's mostly an empty shell but sure I guess 12x smaller than PS4 just counting the tablet and tiny motherboard inside the dock.



I'm not really into fighting games so haven't been paying too much attention to it but if the game renders at 720p in handheld mode and 720p in docked mode with no visual upgrades then I would guess it was down to time constraints or man power not able to optimise docked mode. When docked the Switch GPU doubles in clock speeds meaning a minimum of dynamic 900p should be well within reach unless they've went crazy with added effects and improvements in docked mode instead of a resolution boost.



I wasn't talking specific games, more calling out the bs of people moaning about 900p/60fps when they're happy playing games at 900p/30fps on PS4 which is 13x the size with 4x the overall computational power of Switch.

As someone else pointed out DOOM is also dynamic 900p with major framerate drops from 60fps on Xbox One. The fact it's running at 720p/30fps is testament to how much more powerful Switch is than people give it credit for.



The Switch CPU has roughly 50% the performance of PS4's 8 core Jaguar CPU -

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=238264443&postcount=450

Thanks for the detailed post. I'd love to know if Nintendo is holding back the switch hardware at all or if it's operating at max potential already. I remember hearing that the xbox was upclocked prior to launch, and was upclocked further when they removed the kinect. It would be a pleasant surprise if a future firmware update could increase the gpu output in docked mode.

 

[whyreggielie]

Nintendo really don't care about 1080p.

ARMS, MK8D, and Splatoon 2 (Dynamic) say otherwise. Open world games like BoTW and SMO are not 1080p and for good reason as they restrict the resolution for added features instead of just upressing to 1080p. When you have closed games like ARMS and dont have to contend with view distance and LOD like an open world game then a simple upres to 1080p makes a lot more sense.

This is why Nintendo seems to have a formula and a good one at that. I would rather they improve and add graphical features to an open world game with a reasonable bump to resolution than them simply upres the game from a 6 inch screen to my 60 inch and say fuck features like view distance, LOD, and shadow quality in an open world game.

 

[Eyothrie]

Can't wait. Game looks so bonkers I can't really even wrap my head around it. Glad it's a locked 60fps. Art looks great!

 

[BigEmil]

That's why I said visually pleasing and not visually demanding

I wasn't talking specific games, more calling out the bs of people moaning about 900p/60fps when they're happy playing games at 900p/30fps on PS4 which is 13x the size with 4x the overall computational power of Switch.

Those people don't complain about 900p 60fps is because usually those games are usually very visually demanding like Battlefront for example big maps, 40 players at once with chaos all over accompanied with great high fidelity visuals at 900p 60fps on consoles that's when it's more rightly deserved not to complain about considering what they achieved with all this high demanding stuff, if it's a game where there's not much excuse that it's 900p 60fps on the other console when it's not really demanding that's when they usually get more flak as it should as it shows either lack of optimisation or not using the hardware well enough.

Mario Odyssey now clearly shows it fully utilises the Switch hardware at 900p 60fps and has some visually demanding stuff too which is impressive especially considering the form factor, people shouldn't complain about this resolution it's amazing what they achieved especially raising from 720p to 900p

 

[Thebullfrog]

You might want to back this up with something cause I can't find anything.

Nah, I remember it being said too, but I can't be assed to dig it up. It isn't really relevant anyway. In an interview, Aonuma said they had to scrap the gamepad features from BOTW relatively early on for the Switch version, and I doubt that Odyssey was very far into production at that point. Probably pre-production or still doing prototyping in all likelihood, when you consider how long BOTW was in the oven. Odyssey may have been planned for the U when it was conceived, but if I had to bet money, I'd say there was likely never any version of the game actually built for it.

 

[PeterGAF]

Nintendo really don't care about 1080p.

I'm really glad they usually prioritize frame rate over pixels. It's for the better.

 

[flipswitch]

Has it been confirmed that New Donk City is running at a lower resolution? Did DF test that level?

This is the only world that seems to suffer the most in terms of jaggies/image quality. Some people are saying it’s running even lower than 900p. I think it’s the city environment because of the buildings/ power lines and lack of decent AA shows in this situation. See DriveClub.

I’ve seen plenty of videos of the different worlds, they all look beautiful and artistic it can’t be faulted - and we’re getting that at 60fps and now 900p. Big change from 720p, so I’m really pleased they managed a decent upgrade. I’m not expecting any more at this time but maybe they’ll manage 1080p dynamic?

For what’s going on screen, 60fps and remembering this is essentially a tablet that uses 14watts of power and being a first generation game, it’s a good showing.

 

[Gaiaknight]

Has it been confirmed that New Donk City is running at a lower resolution? Did DF test that level?

This is the only world that seems to suffer the most in terms of jaggies/image quality. Some people are saying it's running even lower than 900p. I think it's the city environment because of the buildings/ power lines and lack of decent AA shows in this situation. See DriveClub.

I've seen plenty of videos of the different worlds, they all look beautiful and artistic it can't be faulted - and we're getting that at 60fps and now 900p. Big change from 720p, so I'm really pleased they managed a decent upgrade. I'm not expecting any more at this time but maybe they'll manage 1080p dynamic?

For what's going on screen, 60fps and remembering this is essentially a tablet that uses 14watts of power and being a first generation game, it's a good showing.

Back at E3 New donk city was running at 720p but so was the whole game its more than likely it now runs at 900p would make no sense to just have one world run lower than the others. Dont expect dynamic i have a feeling the version DF got to play was the final build seeing as there is alot about the demo that the press cant mention like the opening cutscene to the game.

 

[Hero]

Nah, I remember it being said too, but I can't be assed to dig it up. It isn't really relevant anyway. In an interview, Aonuma said they had to scrap the gamepad features from BOTW relatively early on for the Switch version, and I doubt that Odyssey was very far into production at that point. Probably pre-production or still doing prototyping in all likelihood, when you consider how long BOTW was in the oven. Odyssey may have been planned for the U when it was conceived, but if I had to bet money, I'd say there was likely never any version of the game actually built for it.

So you have nothing to back up this claim but you're going to make up bullshit reasons to support your own belief?

 

[Nanashrew]

Nah, I remember it being said too, but I can't be assed to dig it up. It isn't really relevant anyway. In an interview, Aonuma said they had to scrap the gamepad features from BOTW relatively early on for the Switch version, and I doubt that Odyssey was very far into production at that point. Probably pre-production or still doing prototyping in all likelihood, when you consider how long BOTW was in the oven. Odyssey may have been planned for the U when it was conceived, but if I had to bet money, I'd say there was likely never any version of the game actually built for it.

They actually never said such a thing about Mario though. Miyamoto even pointed out the next Mario would be on the next system several times. Rumors on the next 3D Mario was that they were near done with development, then to be confirmed in January http://nintendoeverything.com/super...ent-is-considerably-finished-various-tidbits/

And it made sense too because the release of Mario this year lines up with their development cycle on 3D Mario titles and how they typically do 1 Mario a generation from the main team.

 

[Thebullfrog]

They actually never said such a thing about Mario though. Miyamoto even pointed out the next Mario would be on the next system several times. Rumors on the next 3D Mario was that they were near done with development, then to be confirmed in January http://nintendoeverything.com/super...ent-is-considerably-finished-various-tidbits/

And it made sense too because the release of Mario this year lines up with their development cycle on 3D Mario titles and how they typically do 1 Mario a generation from the main team.

Oh that's right, I do remember the original rumor being that it was basically finished before the Switch launched now, which, yeah, apparently not. Unless they did a lot of rebuilding for the Switch version, which again, I doubt.

 

[mavo]

Koizumi was heading Switch development. Why would he be caught off guard by the Switch and move a game there

Yeah, the rumor doesn't make any sense at all, why would Nintendo greenlight such an ambitious Mario game when they already knew the Wii U flopped.

 

[spad3]

Then why are they the last 5 instead of the top 5?

save the best for last

 

[Hermii]

You might want to back this up with something cause I can't find anything.

Source? I don't remember this ever being said.

I can’t find it either. It was an old tweet from either lkd or Emily Rogers. Maybe I remember wrong. Doesn’t really matter anyway.

Thanks for the detailed post. I'd love to know if Nintendo is holding back the switch hardware at all or if it's operating at max potential already. I remember hearing that the xbox was upclocked prior to launch, and was upclocked further when they removed the kinect. It would be a pleasant surprise if a future firmware update could increase the gpu output in docked mode.

Any upclock would go at the expense of battery life, so I doubt it. There is already boost mode.

The only theoretical possibility as I see it, would be to free up more cpu usage and memory from the OS. Not holding my breath.

Koizumi was heading Switch development. Why would he be caught off guard by the Switch and move a game there

Good point

 

[FunkyDealer]

Any upclock would go at the expense of battery life, so I doubt it. There is already boost mode.

The only theoretical possibility as I see it, would be to free up more cpu usage and memory from the OS. Not holding my breath.

Not that I expect Nintendo to make any further improvements, but he's referring specifically to docked mode. In which battery-life is not a concern. It's probably doable, if the fan can keep up.

 

[SinCityAssassin]

Pokken Tournament DX though... They could have gone 900p on docked with improvements to fidelity.

We don't have a real clue if they could considering it was namco developing it.

 

[Lonely1]

I know right? After all 1080p60 is the norm for PS4 and especially Xbox One' open world games! Soooo disappointing.

Yeah, all those millions PS4 plataformer fans are gona be so dissapointed after the smooth 1080p gameplay of Crash and R&C.

 

[Zedark]

Not that I expect Nintendo to make any further improvements, but he's referring specifically to docked mode. In which battery-life is not a concern. It's probably doable, if the fan can keep up.

I doubt it's possible tbh. Tests with the Nvidia Shield show that that device overheats if it runs at clocks higher than Switch docked, and has to throttled to Switch clocks, so Switch would likely overheat if upclocked further in docked mode.

 

[Dark Cloud]

Yeah, all those millions PS4 plataformer fans are gona be so dissapointed after the smooth 1080p gameplay of Crash and R&C.

Don't forget Knack 2.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

According to old leaks by Laura Kate Dale or Emily Rogers, it is actually a transferred Wii U project. Who knows how accurate these leaks are though.

Probably not all that accurate. Miyamoto stated back in 2014 that the next major Mario title was likely destined for Nintendo's next piece of hardware.

 

[Hermii]

Not that I expect Nintendo to make any further improvements, but he's referring specifically to docked mode. In which battery-life is not a concern. It's probably doable, if the fan can keep up.

There is a reason the gpu is exactly 2.5 times faster in docked mode (difference between 720p and 1080p), and cpu clocks needs to be the same in both modes for game logic.

I’m not sure what the gou difference between boost mode and docked is, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it matches up with the pixel count difference between 720p and 900p.

 

[Lonely1]

Probably not all that accurate. Miyamoto stated back in 2014 that the next major Mario title was likely destined for Nintendo's next piece of hardware.

One big 3D Mario per gen. Why would that change for the WiiU, of all consoles? Well, there's SMG2, but that not a rethinking of the formula like the others.

There is a reason the gpu is exactly 2.5 times faster in docked mode (difference between 720p and 1080p), and cpu clocks needs to be the same in both modes for game logic.

I'm not sure what the gou difference between boost mode and docked is, but it wouldn't surprise me if it matches up with the pixel count difference between 720p and 900p.

The reasons is that the Shield down clocks to exactly those clocks when under stress.

Don't forget Knack 2.

Omg, how could I!?

 

[Imp the Dimp]

60 FPS is all I care about. Looking good.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

One big 3D Mario per gen. Why would that change for the WiiU, of all consoles? Well, there's SMG2, but that not a rethinking of the formula like the others.

The dream is Super Mario Odyssey 2 in 2020.

 

[Oregano]

The dream is Super Luigi Odyssey in 2020.

FTFY

Spoiler

Also El Capitan Todd 2

 

[boneyjangles]

If only Digital Foundry were around for the Mario franchises formative years, with their jewelers eye loupe to hand, we could have had a much more accurate grasp on the quality of those titles.

 

[Branduil]

SMO is definitely using some basic form of post-AA. I figure it's the exact same AA used in BotW. Funnily enough DF also mistakenly said Zelda had no AA in one of their earlier analyses.

Not sure why they said BotW has no AA when docked, it's really obvious when compared to the handheld mode, which has no AA whatsoever.

 

[GiantBreadbug]

The dream is Super Mario Odyssey 2 in 2020.

I somehow didn't even think of this until now

huh

 

[LiamR]

According to old leaks by Laura Kate Dale or Emily Rogers, it is actually a transferred Wii U project. Who knows how accurate these leaks are though.

Not sure where you got this idea, but neither of them ever said this.

 

[Sygma]

Given how bloom is usually a screen space effect and cannot tell the difference between a pixel respresenting a 3m radius light that is 2km away vs a pixel representing a 2cm light that is 2m away, I am inclinded to think the lack of bloom on those light posts far away that Tom mentions, are actually just a culled 2D billboard which fakes the light corona. Either that, or they are so small, that they alias in and out of existence due to how low resolution the bloom becomes when in portable mode.

I wish Nintendo would focus on perhaps reducing the graphical quality in other areas just so the game had TAA, it would look fantastic with this art as Rabbids shows.

Problem is that rabbids has insane looking everything, while not being consistent in terms of fps which are definitely not reaching 60, let alone a stable 30

That being said its still kinda awesome that Snowdrop is running on Switch.

 

[Xun]

I was initially excited for this game, but 900p? In 2017?

You've lost yourself a customer Nintendo. How sad.

Spoiler

/s

I can't believe some actually give a shit about the resolution, it looks fantastic and will look fine on a 1080p+ set.

 

[FunkyDealer]

I'd rather have 900p with better shadows, draw distance and lighting, than just 1080p.

 

[Peltz]

We already have quite a few 1080p games on the system, including one built from the ground up for switch by Nintendo called ARMS

Arms has smaller environments though. Fighting games always have the best graphics.

Smash on Wii U was 1080p too.

 

[Oregano]

Arms has smaller environments though. Fighting games always have the best graphics.

Smash on Wii U was 1080p too.

ARMs runs at a higher resolution than Tekken 7. It's undocked resolution is the same as the XBO version of Tekken.

 

[Kilrogg]

We already have quite a few 1080p games on the system, including one built from the ground up for switch by Nintendo called ARMS

Arms has smaller environments though. Fighting games always have the best graphics.

Smash on Wii U was 1080p too.

Also, ARMS drops to 900p outside of single-player (i.e. 2, 3 or 4P).

Not that I care. Super Mario Odyssey looks gorgeous either way, and 900p didn't bother me in Zelda. But then, I find 4K to be extremely overrated, so what do I know.

One interesting note though: back when Snake Pass came out and DF did a comparison, they found out that the Switch version runs at a higher resolution than the Xbox One version for some reason lol.

 

[Hermii]

Not sure where you got this idea, but neither of them ever said this.

I think it was the “Mario may be a launchgame” comment which somehow translated in my mind to this started on Wii U. Sorry.

 

[tzare]

wouldnt it be possible to be 720p downsapled from 900p when undocked but connected to a power supply?

Game looks really nice for a portable game, for sure. Not outstanding, but artstyle makes it appealing.