Nintendo Switch Pro Console
To quote seminal movie classis Bad Boys 2, 'this s**t just got real'. That's because what is being reported as a verified ResetEra insider has just spilled the beans on the Nintendo Switch Pro, with gamers referring to it on Reddit as the 'Super Nintendo Switch'.
The revelations come courtesy of the ResetEra forum, which were then surfaced in a Reddit thread, where a user that goes by the handle of 'z0m3le', who is considered a legitimate insider and rated by the forum's notoriously strict moderators, spoke about the Nintendo Switch Pro's capabilities.
And, excitingly for gamers the world over, z0m3le's conclusion is that the Super Nintendo Switch Pro is going to be as powerful as a PS4, come with a native resolution of 1440p and that, thanks to its adoption of Nvidia's DLSS 2.0 technology, it is going to be able to use AI to artificially upscale that resolution to 4K.
Nintendo Switch Problems
Writing in the forum, z0m3le states that:
One of the more common rumours regarding the Switch Pro is that the system will offer 4K visuals – a seemingly outlandish claim given that the current model often struggles to hit 1080p with some. Wireless Pro Controller for Nintendo Switch/Switch Lite, Remote Pro Controller Gamepad Joystick with Dual Vibration, Gyro Axis, Adjustable Turbo and Motion Support Wake Up and Screenshot Functions. 4.4 out of 5 stars.
'As for the Switch model incoming, we should just treat it like a PS4 with DLSS and a more capable CPU. That's plenty to get an idea of what it should be capable of IMO. A decade of GPU advancements and a raw performance on par with PS4 is just something we can all be happy and excited about.'
The core of this leak appears to come from data mined information from a Nintendo Switch game that reveals a profile for a 1440p resolution system. z0m3le explains that, 'the game has the current model's profile render resolution set to 720p and a new Switch profile (it specifically says switch for platform) with a render (render not just output, so not DLSS) resolution of 1440p.
'It wasn't found by me or anything, it was found by a data miner and shared with someone on Nintendoera, so it's this community's information, I just happened to catch it there and bring it up here in the thread.'
The information tallies with what z0m3le has heard Nintendo is working on, though, and especially so in the sense that the BigN has been tipped to be utilising DLSS 2.0 on its next console, which is a smart AI tech from Nvidia that uses a deep learning neural network to boost framerates and upscale resolutions.
With DLSS turned on, for example, a game can be running at a native 1440p resolution, like the rumored Super Nintendo Switch, and then that can be upscaled to something higher, even up to 4K, without a performance hit on framerate. DLSS 2.0 is the very latest version of that technology, and it is currently improving the performance in AAA games like Cyberpunk 2077.
Indeed, as z0m3le notes, thanks to these leaks he believes 'we can say with some confidence that [the Super Nintendo Switch Pro] is a PS4 with DLSS and a better cpu'.
Here at T3 we think that a new Nintendo Switch console is definitely coming, and the information in this latest discussion of a 'Super Nintendo Switch' makes sense to us up to a point. We can totally see a new Switch coming with a 1440p native resolution, and we can also see it make use of DLSS 2.0, too, as Nvidia's graphics tech powers the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite.
Whether or not DLSS 2.0 will ramp a 1440p resolution up to 4K, though, remains to be seen. And naturally, despite how verified an insider may thought to be, until any hard evidence breaks cover then we're definitely still operating firmly in rumor territory right now. As such, we definitely think gamers should take this information with a pinch of salt.
Nintendo Switch Pro 2021
All that said, though, there's no doubting that a Super Nintendo Switch Pro console, kitted out as discussed here, would be a brilliant experience for gamers. And it would properly open the console up to full-blown open world games like Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Cyberpunk 2077, which right now the Switch family simply cannot achieve.
Just imagine hanging out with Johnny Silverhand on the commute to work, or flying high over Hyrule in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 in 4K? Truly a mouth-watering proposition. Hopefully we will hear something concrete from Nintendo soon, as right now the Super Nintendo Switch Pro hype train is accelerating at a rapid speed.
As to what the Super Nintendo Switch Pro console could look like, right now nothing is known, however a recent video gives us our best idea yet at what might be incoming.
- These are the best Nintendo Switch games