Nintendo is well known for keeping their cards close to their chest when it comes to new hardware. But despite the not-too-long-ago release of the Switch OLED, rumours are swirling around new hardware, including Nintendo Switch 2 DLSS capability.
Today. we'll explain a bit more detail about those rumours, along with everything else we know about the possible Nintendo Switch 2. Let's get going.
Will The Nintendo Switch 2 Have DLSS?
Let's start by discussing the source of these rumours. A recent hack on NVIDIA led to over 1TB of confidential information being obtained by hackers. Some of that information is believed to include data on upcoming products.
Most crucially for the purposes of this article, is an interesting leak regarding something listed as NVN2. This is believed to be a successor to the NVN API that is currently used for Nintendo Switch games.
Why does this matter? Well, people who have been trawling through the files believe that this NVN2 API is intended to work with NVIDIA's Ampere GPU architecture. This would mean it can support high-quality graphical features such as ray tracing and DLSS 2.2.
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What Is DLSS?
DLSS is the abbreviation for deep learning super sampling. Without getting bogged down too much in technical terms, it is a rendering technique that is intended to improve framerates. It does this by rendering frames at a lower resolution. It then uses machine learning to upscale them back to the expected resolution.
This could, for example, render a game at 1080p, but output it at 4k instead. And because DLSS utilises machine learning, in theory it gets better over time, as more and more games make use of the technology. The reason this is so interesting is that it will require more powerful hardware than the current Switch or Switch OLED provides. Hence why people are making the leap to this being a strong indication of a Switch 2 in the pipeline.
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Anything Else Worth Knowing?
Nintendo has confirmed that they are at least thinking about a new next-gen device. But given the popularity and success of the Switch, we wouldn't expect this to be charging over the horizon any time soon. In the same Q&A, they did also hint at backwards compatibility on a new device, which would be a welcome addition to any new Nintendo console.
As we said earlier, Nintendo is not in the habit of giving away an awful lot of information. If this leak has been interpreted correctly, then it points towards a new Switch console being in the works, with more powerful graphical capabilities than anything Nintendo has produced before. Which is nothing more than you'd expect. But the prospect of playing Breath Of The Wild 2 in 4K? Yes, please.
As always, we'll keep a close eye on developments with the possible Switch 2.