An indie game developer with extensive experience creating Switch titles has offered compelling evidence suggesting the Switch 2 boasts significantly enhanced processing power. This conclusion stems from a close analysis of the recently released Mario Kart 9 trailer.

Nintendo's official Switch 2 reveal, while impressive, remained notably vague regarding the console's technical capabilities. While upgrades like new Joy-Cons and a refined design are evident, concrete performance details remain scarce.

However, Jerrel Dulay of Sungrand Studios, a developer with a proven track record on Nintendo platforms including the Wii U and 3DS, provides insightful commentary in a new YouTube video (via GamesRadar). He argues the brief Mario Kart 9 footage offers strong hints about the Switch 2's capabilities.

Mario Kart 9: A Technological Glimpse

25 Images

Dulay highlights the use of "physically-based shaders" in the trailer, impacting textures and responding to lighting and reflections. This, coupled with reports from Digital Foundry (late 2023) suggesting an Nvidia T239 ARM mobile chip with approximately 1536 CUDA cores (compared to the original Switch's Tegra X1 with 256), points to a substantial increase in processing power. This aligns with leaked Switch 2 motherboard images indicating an 8nm chip.

The sheer number of high-resolution textures and the implementation of complex shaders, which severely impacted frame rates on the original Switch, strongly suggest a significant leap in processing power. Dulay emphasizes the high-resolution ground textures and the number of unique textures used, demanding both increased RAM and faster processing speeds.

The rumored 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM in the Switch 2 (compared to the original's 4GB), potentially running at speeds up to 7500MHz, further supports this claim. This increased RAM capacity and speed would drastically improve texture loading times and overall performance.

Further bolstering his argument, Dulay points to the use of "true volumetric lighting" and far-distance shadows in the Mario Kart 9 footage. Both are computationally expensive, and their inclusion indicates a considerable increase in graphical capabilities. The high polygon count of the characters and real-time cloth physics on the flags also contribute to this assessment.

What do you think of the Nintendo Switch 2 reveal?

I love it and am absolutely buying that consoleIt was a little tame but I'll still buy the Switch 2I liked it but need to see more before I make a decisionIt was a little underwhelming so I'm not really botheredThe reveal was pretty iffy and I don't care for the console eitherSomething else!AnswerSee Results

In conclusion, Dulay's analysis provides a compelling argument for a significant power increase in the Switch 2, offering valuable insight into the console's potential graphical capabilities. Further details are expected in Nintendo's April Direct.