According to rumors, the Nintendo Switch 2 is anticipated to incorporate NVIDIA DLSS, with speculation suggesting that the majority of games will utilize this upscaling technology. As mentioned in a recent video by Moore’s Law is Dead, citing NVIDIA sources, DLSS is expected to be widely adopted by Switch 2 games, although it won’t be mandatory. This upscaling feature from NVIDIA is seen as a solution to address certain technical constraints of the console’s chip, which, as per credible insiders, may not match the performance capabilities of even the least powerful current-gen system, the Xbox Series S.
It’s not particularly surprising that the Nintendo Switch 2 will have somewhat outdated technology, whether it launches this year or the next. Reportedly, NVIDIA presented Nintendo with several options for the system’s System on Chip (SoC), including one based on the Ada Lovelace architecture, the same architecture found in the RTX 4000 series graphics cards. However, Nintendo opted for a cost-optimized version of the Orin chip, which is powered by the Ampere architecture. This decision seems sensible, especially if Nintendo wasn’t aiming for top-of-the-line handheld performance. Despite this, certain features from the Lovelace architecture have been incorporated into the chip, such as efficiency enhancements. It will be intriguing to observe how the console performs in comparison to similar off-the-shelf hardware.
Even though it seems the Nintendo Switch 2 has been prepared for release for some time, there is scant information available about it at present. Reports from last year suggest that the console will feature NVIDIA DLSS support, along with Ray Reconstruction support. This inclusion would position it as the top ray tracing-capable gaming system of the current generation.