Switch 2 can never be as powerful as your other consoles, and it’s ok

The Switch 2 can be the modern iteration of Nintendo of its game equipment, but a pocket computer is always a pocket computer. In any case, a mobile design will lead to compromises. You cannot expect PlayStation 5 performance from a pocket computer, at least not as light as Switch 2 and for $ 450. The games that work well on Nintendo’s Switch 2 have less to do with its equipment and more to do with the way developers create games to adapt to the unique design of Nintendo.

The Gamescom conference last week was assailed by players hoping to take some switch 2 ports to come for a turn. The first on the list for many was Elden ringAnd it didn’t take long to make users crazy. Many players have started to flood social flows with news that the game did not work well on Switch 2 in portable mode. Nintendo Life and IGN, who had been practical with the game, still fueled the cells with less claims Elden ringopen areas. Nintendo and Software developers did not allow anyone to take images of the game played.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtcatdtuk1c

Do not worry, because the videos end up fleeing the walls of the Château de Nintendo. Youtuber MDEE14 broadcast Elden ring Played on the 2 switch in moored Fan Expo Canada mode. The game seemed to work a little better with the additional fans of the Dock Switch 2, although it is difficult to analyze the image frequency from a video of a screen. Finally, Sunday, a separate youtuber abandoned the gameplay of Elden ring In portable mode, saying that the frequency of images was “horrible”, although it is almost impossible to judge simply by video.

The clamor only developed more with reports than the Switch 2 version of Borderlands 4 was supposed to work badly. All the players’ anxious people come from a single tweet by the Epicnng user on X. The player published a video, explaining that they were not allowed to show game images of the event. Epicnng added that it was clear that the developer, Gearbox Studios, probably did not present the last versions of the game. This does not mean that there is no concern that the game may not be up to the release of October 3. We just don’t know what the case will be closer to the exit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDA2V7B-D4C

Players have the right to worry not to get such a good experience with their games as other consoles. However, so far, most Switch 2 ports have proven to be playing. Other future ports seem that they have not faced these same performance dilems. Foundry Digital recorded the gameplay of Final Fantasy VII Remake Interrograde And called it “the most beautiful thing I saw on Switch 2.” Examination He first struck the scene in 2021, and it seems that the current version plays at least 40 IPS on the Nintendo laptop, according to people who have gone by hand to Gamescom.

Current constructions of Elden ring On Steam Deck can strike around 40 IPS with the compound parameters, it would therefore be logical that switch 2 could at least reach a certain level of frequency of playable images. Cyberpunk 2077 Switch 2 manages to press the image frequencies between 30 and 40 IPS, depending on your choice of graphic parameters. CD Projekt Red developers have specifically worked directly with Nintendo on the port. A video by Digital Foundry shows how developers have managed to get better image frequencies by limiting unnecessary background details and based on Nvidia DLSS scaling. What leads to the persistent question: if Square Enix and CD Projekt Red can develop quality portable ports, why can’t other developers do the same?

The devil is in detail. The switch 2 system on a chip, or SOC, was manufactured in partnership with NVIDIA. This t239 chip is built with eight Cortex A78C cores. The fact that these are arms storms means that the portage of games to the Switch 2 is not as simple as it may seem. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are built using X86 chips manufactured by AMD. It is a set of instructions that you see on most Modern Intel and AMD processors for PC. Arms conceptions work on a completely separate set of instructions which uses a RISC microarchitecture (or a set of reduced instructions). These chips are specially designed for the type of system itself, which helps reduce energy consumption and save on battery life.

The portage of X86 games to Arm is not necessarily a massive company, but this shows the quantity of specific platform that Switch 2 can be. The developers must understand the material and the design of the Switch 2. Nintendo would have offered development kits to the teams that seek to make games that emphasize the most unique features of the Switch 2. This puts even more jobs on the developers to work within the limits of the design of Nintendo, probably more than any other platform.

If you could compare Switch 2 to other consoles, it has similar graphic capacities just beyond the original PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It still doesn’t tell the whole story. The Nintendo device in portable mode will have to operate at lower clock speeds and TDP, or to thermal design power. This prevents the device from overheating or dying too quickly. References show that switch 2 can meet or beat other pocket computers such as the OLED steam bridge at the same TDP in portable mode. At the upper TDP, the steam bridge can always be superior, as it is necessary for any device that can overclocker at any measurement. The developers have the difficult task of ensuring that the games correspond to the design of Nintendo, not to mention how to distribute a title. Inevitably, we will find better examples or worse ports. This is the compromise to be able to take your games with you wherever you go.