Despite all the rumors and leaks, the reality is that the Nintendo Switch 2 will hit the market with a lower theoretical performance level compared to the 2021 Steam Deck. In fact, the Nintendo Switch 2 will most likely be “weaker” than the weakest console of the current generation of consoles, the Xbox Series S.
But… In the new world of consoles, that doesn’t mean anything!
Nintendo consoles were never designed to be powerful, being more focused on being “sufficient”, while being super cheap to produce. That said, despite a small change in this strategy, such as the evolutionary leap between Switch 1 and Switch 2, this way of doing things is still very much alive.
Nintendo Switch 2 is weaker than the Steam Deck. Does not matter!
Therefore, in very recent discussions regarding Nintendo’s future in this new world of portable consoles, where not only will it have competition from Valve with Steam Deck, but it will most likely also have to deal with new versions of consoles from ASUS, MSI, Lenovo, etc… It became apparent that despite the very significant increase in performance, the Nintendo Switch 2 is not, at all, a powerful console.
But, as we said above, this doesn’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things.
Because while the Steam Deck, or other consoles, sell what is essentially “half a dozen units”, the Nintendo Switch 2 will most likely break records just like the current Switch. Why break records? Well, because in addition to Nintendo’s own games, the new Switch 2 will receive “tailored” ports of everything that is really important on the market, being a console capable of playing anything and everything.
The Nintendo Switch 2 will have real performance very similar to that of the last generation PS4 or Xbox One.
However, with a lower resolution, and a SoC capable of supporting NVIDIA’s latest graphics features. The sky is the limit for Nintendo’s next generation console. Especially because in the battery field, as performance is theoretically lower, the console will be able to offer more hours of autonomy. Something that… Despite being almost always ignored, it is a key factor in any “mobile” product.
The Nintendo Switch 2 has not yet been announced, and may even be postponed until 2025. However, everything indicates that the launch is still scheduled for the summer of 2024, to take advantage of this year’s Christmas season.
