Why An Upgraded Nintendo Switch Might Not Happen

One of the topics that has surrounded the Nintendo Switch for as long as the console launched has been "when will we see a more powerful version of the Switch?". The hybrid console is powered by NVIDIA's Tegra X1, which isn't as powerful as the base PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The X1 in the Switch, which has better RAM and is easier to keep cool, is fully optimized exclusively for game development. It's why a lot of the Nintendo Switch's ports of high-end games like Doom and its sequel Doom Eternal, while not on par with the other platforms in terms of performance, is optimized so impressively

In an interview with NintendoLife, developer Engine Software, who's worked on some great ports for the Switch like the No More Heroes games, Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch, and the recently re-released Scott Pilgrim vs The World, was asked about the prospects of a Switch with greater RAM and processing power (a "Switch Pro"), and co-founder and vice president of Engine Softworks, Ruud van de Moosdijk, had an interesting insight on why it's unlikely those rumors will come to fruition.

Truth be told, our opinion on this might be counter-intuitive for a lot of people, but we are not large subscribers of the “Pro” model. Sure, it would be nice to have more RAM or faster GPU/CPU compared to before, but if it is still considered the same platform you must make sure your game runs on every model. So, for compatibility reasons your performance gets benchmarked on the lowest specifications. We have seen with prior ‘upgraded systems’ that the additional power never really got utilized well for this reason.

I feel many other developers share this mindset, as with the mid generation upgrades the PS4 Pro and the Xbox One X boasted better specs than their vanilla counterparts, and improved performance, reports of games' abilities to run at the advertised high level demands were few and far in between. The Nintendo Switch may be behind the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S in hardware prowess, but its convenience, combined with the conventional novelty of being a portable console has made its demand a hot commodity and still sought-after four years into its lifespan.

There wouldn't be much of a need for Nintendo to divide its consumer base, at least not until they feel it's time for them to announce new hardware, which could likely be a new version of the Switch with perhaps backwards compatibility. According to some datamined info revealing the codename "Aula", that's something very likely in the works, and could feature an improved dock, 4K support, better cooling, and an upgraded screen. How many more years of the base Switch we'll see remains to be seen.

SOURCES: NintendoLife, WCCFtech

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