Last Christmas for the Original Nintendo Switch?

PhilipMarc I didn't realise used Switchs went so cheap but as ever prices will vary. I'm still amazed how much they go for new considering how weak the hardware is. I'm not expecting the new Switch 2 to be that much more powerful, the original Switch is a very low power version of the chipset it is based on to provide good battery life and I expect the Switch 2 will be an underclocked version of the newer chipset to give good battery life. There is talk that it will use clever upscaling rather than native rendering to give the effect of higher resolution. I've seen people stating it will be as powerful as a PS4 as a portable but I suspect it will be more like as powerful as the PS4 when docked and considerably less powerful as a portable maybe 1/3rd the power perhaps as a portable around Switch docked performance level. I remember all the nonsense about the wii u and how it had a GPU around 350 gflops but in the end it was found to be 176 gflops half that it was just the later architecture and extra fast memory helped it punch a bit above ps3 and 360 in some titles but many titles had inferior frame rates on wii u compared to 360 and PS3 because of the poor CPU performance. It also had inferior 2 channel sound and more limited colours despite the wii u being much later hardware.

BonzoBanana we have a switch and my daughter wants the handheld one for Christmas too it's great for her she loves it as she did with the wii either way they are great for kids or teens to do some exercises instead of being sat down all the time

Leannexxx If you enjoy a product and make good use of it then its a great product for you. Whether this Christmas is a good time to buy is another matter. Even android tablets now are emulating Switch at full speed admittedly those are fairly high end tablets. When the Switch 2 launches there will be a glut of Switches on the secondhand market which will lower prices. The Switch 2 is expected to launch in March 2025 but it could be a bit earlier or a bit later. Originally it was expected to launch this year.

jms19 Definitely out by next Christmas probably only a few months away. Developers have had dev kits for other a year I think. Nintendo has stated original Switch releases up to March which makes it seem like March will be the launch date. I'm assuming no new Nintendo titles for the original Switch after March but third party titles will still launch. The Nvidia T239 chipset I think its based on is capable of up to 1.6 Terra Flops but I would imagine Nintendo will have a cut down cheaper and slower implementation so I would guess around 1.2 Terra Flops docked and perhaps 700 gflops in portable mode. The original Switch is 230 gflops in portable mode and about 390 gflops docked so we are looking at least at 3x the power I would say but nothing more than that to enable decent battery life. It's being fabricated with an ok 8Nm process so not state of the art, a slightly cheaper mid-range fabrication process today. I've got a Doogee tablet that has a 6Nm fabrication chipset slightly more advanced than the Switch 2. However graphically it is only about 300-400 gflops so about the same graphic power level as the original Switch although much more powerful in CPU performance.

The Switch 2 will have very good upscaling to give fake higher resolutions so could render at lower resolutions and still look very good on a small screen in a much improved way to the original Switch.

Obviously with Nintendo hardware it is always about the games not the hardware and 3x the power with Nintendo developing amazing software for it will be a must have console. However original Switch software often runs better on PC with people running the games with 4K graphics and other enhancements plus much smoother frame rates.

martinlufc5637 I would guess £350-380 in the UK but disposable incomes are lower at the moment in many countries so I guess something like a £300-330 price is possible. There may be multi-tier models i.e. some with more or less storage and perhaps an included game or a special launch console.