The Nintendo Switch 2 rumor mill has gone into overdrive in recent weeks with near-daily claims about the currently unconfirmed console surfacing from a wide variety of sources.
The latest leaks suggest the Switch 2 will boast full backwards compatibility features, be powered by a custom Nvidia chip and offer up a lineup of excellent Sega games.
According to Universo Nintendo (and spotted by Eurogamer), Nintendo's next console will be backwards compatible with both digital and physical first-generation Nintendo Switch games. Even more excitingly, the same source suggests that developers will be able to “enhance” their games to take advantage of the Switch 2’s increased power.
Rumors via Universo Nintendo:- Switch 2 is gonna have backwards compatibility with OG Switch titles- Both for physical and digital games - Devs can enhance their Switch 1 games to take advantage of the added processing power- Reiterates a Direct is coming next week, and the…February 11, 2024
Considering games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Splatoon 3 suffer from performance hiccups (presumably) due to the OG Switch’s aged internal components, this could be a seriously big selling point for the Switch 2. Imagine being able to play Link’s latest adventure in Hyrule without the framerate dropping to a crawl whenever the action gets too chaotic.
Full backwards compatibility, and a performance boost for some of the best Nintendo Switch games, would mirror features currently available on PS5 and Xbox Series X. Both these consoles are capable of bumping up the framerate and/or image resolution for select titles.
Nintendo is sticking with Nvidia
Another potentially sizeable Switch 2 scoop doing the rounds this week is a report from Reuters claiming that Nintendo’s next console will utilize a custom Nivida chip.
The current Nintendo Switch is powered by a Nvidia Tegra X1 chip, so Nintendo sticking with the manufacturer for its next console isn’t hugely surprising, but there had been some previous speculation the Big-N would make do with a universal chip rather than a custom one.
Reuters refutes this suggestion, stating that "a new version of the Nintendo Switch console expected this year is likely to include a Nvidia custom design”. However, this isn't confirmed, Nintendo declined to comment when contacted by the media outlet.
Sega is betting big on Switch 2
News of backwards compatibility and custom chipsets is exciting, but we also want to know what games we’ll be able to play when we have Nintendo’s next console in our hands — and a social media tipster may have just leaked almost half a dozen Switch 2 games.
Midori (@MbKKssTBhz5 on X, formerly known as Twitter), an insider known mostly for leaks relating to Atlus’ Persona franchise, has claimed that every Sega game showcased at last year’s The Game Awards is set to arrive on Nintendo’s next hardware. Sega announced various remakes at TGA 2023 for some of its classic titles including Shinobi, Jet Set Radio, Golden Axe, Crazy Taxi and Streets of Rage.
The titles at TGA event are coming to next Nintendo hardware.February 7, 2024
Further rumors have indicated that Persona 3 Reload, the recently-released remake of 2006’s Persona 3, is also set to arrive on the Nintendo Switch 2. This feels pretty plausible as the historically PlayStation-exclusive Persona franchise is now playable on Xbox and Nintendo hardware with the release of Persona 5 Royal, Persona 4 Golden, Persona 5 Tactica and more over the past few years.
However, Persona 3 Reload did not hit Switch when it launched last month, which has led to much speculation that Atlus is planning to bring the game to Switch 2 as the current Switch isn't powerful enough to run the visually impressive RPG title.
Nintendo Switch 2 is still unconfirmed
All of the above Nintendo Switch 2 rumors fall squarely into the highly plausible camp, but none of them should be taken as facts. Until we get official word from Nintendo itself take everything you read about the Switch 2 with a large grain of salt.
The repeated suggestion from a large number of sources is that Nintendo is gearing up to launch the Switch 2 later this year, with some indications the console could be announced in March. If that’s the case, it shouldn’t be much longer until we have confirmed details about Nintendo’s plans and we can finally start separating fact from fiction.
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