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Rumor: Switch developer information leaked. Reveals A TON incl. hardware specs

pswii60

Member
Imagine Super Switch or Switch Pro with PS4 performance in 2021 on 7nm using Nvidia's Volta architecture, 512 Cuda cores.
In 4 years? Either Switch will be a massive success in which case we'll be getting a Lite or subtle 'New Switch' style upgrade... or it'll be a failure in which case you'll be seeing a 4DS which will be smaller and therefore not having anything like that amount of power.
 

routerbad

Banned
This is why I was excited to see an Nvidia Tegra X1 in this system! The K1 was able to pull off 1TFLOP of performance at full power with proper cooling and bare metal. The X1 was supposed to be nearly double that in those conditions.

The Nvidia Shield systems are running Android, which are prone to severe overhead as the OS wasn't meant to be bare metal. You're getting raw performance from the Switch. At those clock speeds, the docked Switch should be VERY comparable to the Xbox One. When undocked, the CPU isn't underclocked, so game logic won't be a big deal, it would be all about lowering graphical settings. While PS4 and Xbox One are indeed close to bare metal, I've been hearing around that games still don't properly distribute workload evenly between cores in the SoC they're working with. I think NVN is supposed to make this much easier and more manageable. On a 720p display with a very high pixel density, rendering a game at 600p or even 540p would be like looking at a 900p game on a 40-60" 1080p screen. Most PS4 and Xbox One gamers are used to this. Devs can just compress textures, current systems I think try to go for uncompressed or nearly lossless, to fit the RAM requirements. Xbox One I think only has 5GB available for applications, and textures take up a surprisingly big amount of space.

Keep in mind the devkits that were available in July (these, supposedly) and the dev kits available in November, were different. They were upgraded somehow, we just don't know how. It could have been that they kept the maxwell GPU and threw in Cortex A72 or A73's. This would still be great.
 
Me too, glad we have variety in gaming hardware and not just 3 consoles doing the same thing.

I'm actually a little baffled people want a Nintendo branded PS4, we already have that machine, why have another one that also plays Nintendo games? 50m+ people have a PS4 and a large chunk also have an Xbox One, few would buy another one.
 

Astral Dog

Member
Both PSP and the Vita would disagree with you.

It is Nintendo, they haven't prioritized processing power in the long time.

The Switch is no different.
Don't see everything in Black and White,Nintendo wanted a reasonably powerful sistem that could run their Wii U games without problem,and be enough of a jump with modetn architecture.
Swutch is also an Nvidia product we can say Nintendo didn't deliverately gimped the sistem this time.

A Sony handheld wouldn't be four to five times the Switch,no way
 
Oh sweet, it has Miis!
I completely missed the memo that this console would still have them during all the hubbub in January, but considering they can be created on the 3DS I shouldn't have thought otherwise.
I guess they're here to stay.
Hmmm...
Considering it's success, I hope they're planning on creating Tomodochi Life's equivalent of Super Mario 3D World on the Switch.
If they're not willing to do that, a Wii Sports 3 (with light life-simulation elements, possibly?) in everything but name would be much appreciated.
However, considering the portable nature of the console the former idea might work better for a hybrid. :p
 

Griss

Member
I mean, I don't know what else to say. Essentially all of your statements are incorrect.

He's right about the OLED. That was a cutting edge killer feature back in the day, and one they ended up removing, presumably because it was too expensive.

Still love my OG Vita because of the screen.
 

Astral Dog

Member
In 4 years? Either Switch will be a massive success in which case we'll be getting a Lite or subtle 'New Switch' style upgrade... or it'll be a failure in which case you'll be seeing a 4DS which will be smaller and therefore not having anything like that amount of power.
There is a strong rumor going on they are preparing a dock with a more powerful GPU tobupdcale games up to 4K
 
Oh sweet, it has Miis!
I completely missed the memo that this console would still have them, but considering they can be created on the 3DS I shouldn't have thought otherwise.
They're here to stay as far as I can tell.
Hmmm...
Considering it's success, I hope they're planning on creating Tomodochi Life's equivalent of Super Mario 3D World on the Switch.
If they're not willing to do that, a Wii Sports 3 (with light life-simulation elements, possibly?) in everything but name would be much appreciated.

I think Tomodachi Life is definitely happening at some point. MiiTomo was basically an entry in that franchise, so they're clearly interested in keeping it around. If Nintendo's promise at Tomodachi Life's release wasn't untrue, then we could expect gay marriage in this iteration.
 
Not entirely sure, I would think holding the home button might do it but to my knowledge we don't know.

I've wondered this too.

But I can't imagine Nintendo would release a console you'd have to get up and walk over to to switch on. Not in 2017, not even for Nintendo.
 
Not entirely sure, I would think holding the home button might do it but to my knowledge we don't know.

Cool, thanks :)

I'm going to look through the documents to see if I can find anything out. I might also ask this weekend at the Chicago Switch Event... but I don't expect much in terms of new info from that.
 

Razgreez

Member
I mean, I don't know what else to say. Essentially all of your statements are incorrect.

So OLED was not "Cutting edge" at the time of the vita release?

The vita was not (one of) the first consumer device to have SGX543MP4+? Even though it still ended up being too little to drive the native resolution required by many games

The iphone 6s is not more powerful than the switch?

Linear actuators are not currently available in phones and smart watches?

I mean come on throw me a bone here I've put in some speculation but where I have I have used similes so there can be little to no confusion
 

routerbad

Banned
I've not watched the video yet (will watch it shortly) but based on what you've said above, all that says to me is Splatoon 2 is running with a 720p native framebuffer and is then output at 1080p while docked and 720p while portable.

It's like a PS4 or Xbox One game, they all have native framebuffers, some are 900p for example, that is fixed. The only thing that changes is what resolution your console outputs at and therefore the resolution the hardware scaler scales the image to.

edit: Just watched that digital foundry video where he states the game is at 720p, and then goes on to say that they might be able to get to 900p or even 1080p while docked.

To me he's talking about the framebuffer, not the output. Splatoon 2 docked technically outputs at 1080p right now, but looks like ass because of the 720 framebuffer.

Remember the Xbox tweet Aaron Greenburg said something like "You realize you will see every game in 1080p as your output right?" Yes ofcourse tehncially the console is outputting 1080p resolution.

But the issue with the jaggies and looking worse on a 1080p tv is splatoon is using only a native framebuiffer of 720p hence why it looks bad.

If you took a game with a framebuffer of 900p and 1080p on Xbox One and PS4 respectively even with both consoles outputting 1080p the PS4 version would look "better", despite the fact both consoles our outputting 1080p.

Spawn Wave uploaded a video today about his experience with it. He asked a Nintendo rep about the build versions of the games and got confirmation that none of the game demos are running the final builds of the software. They are all still being polished. SM:O for example is "practically done" but still being polished for a holiday release. Given their proclivity toward "special demo versions" recently with MH, Pokemon, Splatoon2, etc, maybe we'll get a special demo of that as well. Probably not, but I can dream.

Also, he pointed out that even in undocked mode the fans in the system were actively cooling it. Take that for what it is.
 
My pixel is more powerful than the switch. The switch is a mobile device. I'm sorry the facts out there hurt but it's the truth.

How much do you pay for your pixel?
How long can you play intensive games on it?



People will compare it to phones till the end of time don't they?
 

Matt

Member
So OLED was not "Cutting edge" at the time of the vita release?

The vita was not (one of) the first consumer device to have SGX543MP4+? Even though it still ended up being too little to drive the native resolution required by many games

The iphone 6s is not more powerful than the switch?

Linear actuators are not currently available in phones and smart watches?

I mean come on throw me a bone here I've put in some speculation but where I have I have used similes so there can be little to no confusion
No, your conclusions are what is lacking. What hardware do you think an MS or Sony Switch would be running?
 

pswii60

Member
There is a strong rumor going on they are preparing a dock with a more powerful GPU tobupdcale games up to 4K
Combine that with them unlocking the second and third secret GPUs in the joycons and Switch has teraflops coming out of its bottom.
 

Oregano

Member
How much do you pay for your pixel?
How long can you play intensive games on it?



People will compare it to phones till the end of time don't they?

Also how long can the pixel maintain performance before throttling.

The other point is that Vita was massively underclocked just like Switch is. Sony just hid that fact better.
 
Comparing the dev Nintendo Switch Pro controller (left) to the final version (right).

C4kIdaBWIAIo1sT.jpg

What the. Transparent plastic?? It looks like a MadCatz controller. Nintendo's design on everything about the Switch has been really off. I guess their design A-team is designing their QoL product or something, because the Switch hardware ranges from generic (the console) to tacky (this controller) to just bad design (the logo). Look how cramped the logo is on this controller right next to the buttons. It gives me design hives.
 

Matt

Member
My pixel is more powerful than the switch. The switch is a mobile device. I'm sorry the facts out there hurt but it's the truth.
What does your phone have to do with anything?

And please don't presume to lecture me about "the truth."
 

Astral Dog

Member
I'd argue the contrary. E.g. even though the vita was under-powered on the CPU side it at least had extra GPU cores to make up for that deficiency. It also had a "top of the range for its time" OLED screen. It was, at least in some ways, cutting edge tech.

Take for example that image of the iphone and switch. I find it entirely amusing since the iphone, which I presume to be an iphone 6s, is more powerful than the switch. And even were it underclocked and given a large enough battery to last as long as the switch it would still be more powerful and likely not require active cooling to boot.

The switch is just quite a lot of money for mostly old tech. And we can now even tell that the "HD Rumble" is nothing but your standard linear actuator which is found in most recently released phones or smart watches. No, I'm afraid that, like the wii U, the switch is underpowered and expensive. The difference here is that because Nintendo did not learn from MS and Sony about getting into bed with Nvidia, it's likely costing them more to produce the switch than they had expected and they're having to pass that cost on to the customer through their pricing strategy
Vita was top of the line for its time and price (!) but it was marketed as a portable PS3 and that is nowhere close to being true.

Iphone 6s is much more expensive and not designed for gamming.there were many people complaining it had a higher resolution screen and so Switch was outdated trash,when the games it pushes are nowhere NEAR as complex as Breath of the Wild or even Mario Kart 8.

Get away with this bullshit,Smartphones serve different markets than a dedicated gaming device
 

Maxrunner

Member
My pixel is more powerful than the switch. The switch is a mobile device. I'm sorry the facts out there hurt but it's the truth.

Who care's since you haven't played anything resembling even 3ds like games on it.
Also since when did VITA was top tech?compared to what?
 

Hoo-doo

Banned
There is a strong rumor going on they are preparing a dock with a more powerful GPU tobupdcale games up to 4K

I bet it's the secret dGPU that's hidden in the power brick.

They'll unlock it soon. Get hype.

This is how you sound right now
 
I'd argue the contrary. E.g. even though the vita was under-powered on the CPU side it at least had extra GPU cores to make up for that deficiency. It also had a "top of the range for its time" OLED screen. It was, at least in some ways, cutting edge tech.

Take for example that image of the iphone and switch. I find it entirely amusing since the iphone, which I presume to be an iphone 6s, is more powerful than the switch. And even were it underclocked and given a large enough battery to last as long as the switch it would still be more powerful and likely not require active cooling to boot.

It's not in actual game performance and it's completely disengenious to claim otherwise.

The iPhone 6S will never run a single game that even approaches Breath of the Wild in terms of scope, polygon count and effects on display.

Theoretical triangles and whatever peak performance you can squeeze out of it before the software throttles the clock speeds across the board are horseshit measures.
 
What the. Transparent plastic?? It looks like a MadCatz controller. Nintendo's design on everything about the Switch has been really off. I guess their design A-team is designing their QoL product or something, because the Switch hardware ranges from generic (the console) to tacky (this controller) to just bad design (the logo).

The pro controller, yeah whatever. But these two points are crazy! I think the logo is the best logo Nintendo has had in some time, it's instantly recognizable, iconic, and communicates something about the device.

The system itself is gorgeous too, especially in Neon. How ya gonna come in here and tell me this shit looks generic?

Pft.

PFFT.

nintendo-switch-nintendo-switch-carrying-case-with-screen-protector-neon-blue-limited-edition-switch-.jpg
 

Matt

Member
"All of your statements are incorrect" to "It's your conclusions that are wrong" is one hell of a jump, man.
I mean it's just a lot of words leading to no accurate conclusion. What does the quality of the Vita's screen have to do with the original question?

But ok, maybe I should have phrased that better. It was just such a silly post.
 
What the. Transparent plastic?? It looks like a MadCatz controller. Nintendo's design on everything about the Switch has been really off. I guess their design A-team is designing their QoL product or something, because the Switch hardware ranges from generic (the console) to tacky (this controller) to just bad design (the logo). Look how cramped the logo is on this controller right next to the buttons. It gives me design hives.
The logo is brilliant, you're trippin'.
 

Cartho

Member
My pixel is more powerful than the switch. The switch is a mobile device. I'm sorry the facts out there hurt but it's the truth.

What a dreadful post. Who cares? Your Pixel costs vastly more money, for starters, and it has nothing which can even begin to compare to games of the complexity, scale and scope of what Switch will have.

Show me Zelda Breath of the Wild on Pixel. Show me Xenoblade 2. Show me Splatoon. Show me Mario Kart 8 deluxe.

IOS / Android phones and set top boxes like the ouya have proved one thing in the last few years: power means fuck all of you don't have anything good to show it off with. Switch is looking like one of the best handheld gaming devices ever made from a hardware POV. Your Pixel might have better specs, but if they're just gonna be used playing some shit mobile game with awful controls, poor graphics and art design, weak stories and more rough edges than an angle grinder then what is the point?
 
My pixel is more powerful than the switch. The switch is a mobile device. I'm sorry the facts out there hurt but it's the truth.

Pixel is:
-Twice as expensive
-Smaller battery
-Not a gaming device
-None of that power will be used for gaming
-Not going to have the long-term commitment compared to a gaming device.
I'm sorry the facts are out there, but it's the truth.
 
Show me it running a game like Breath Of The Wild.

If he cools his Pixel C with liquid helium while it's connected to a power outlet, it'll score bigger numbers in a synthetic benchmark than the Switch for the 5 minutes it can keep the clocks that high !

See, he is technically correct, the best kind of correct !
 
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