Why That Brief Look at Mario Kart 9 Suggests Nintendo Switch 2 Is 'Significantly More Powerful' Than the Original — According to a Developer

An indie game developer with extensive experience creating titles for the original Nintendo Switch has offered compelling evidence suggesting the Switch 2 boasts significantly enhanced processing power. This conclusion is drawn primarily from analyzing the brief, yet revealing, glimpse of Mario Kart 9 showcased in the recent Switch 2 announcement video.

Nintendo's official specifications remain scarce, although upgrades like improved Joy-Cons, a redesigned kickstand, and a larger console are confirmed. However, the visual details in the Mario Kart 9 footage provide strong hints about the Switch 2's capabilities.

Jerrel Dulay of Sungrand Studios, a developer with a history of working on Wii U and 3DS titles, highlights the use of physically-based shaders in the Mario Kart 9 footage. These shaders, impacting reflections and lighting, were computationally expensive on the original Switch, often resulting in frame rate drops when used extensively. The seemingly seamless implementation in the Mario Kart 9 trailer points to a substantial performance increase.

Further bolstering this claim are reports, including a Digital Foundry analysis, suggesting the Switch 2 utilizes an Nvidia T239 ARM mobile chip with approximately 1536 CUDA cores. This represents a significant jump from the original Switch's Tegra X1 chip, which had only 256 CUDA cores. This increase, coupled with rumors of a 12GB LPDDR5 RAM upgrade (compared to the original Switch's 4GB), would drastically improve texture loading speeds and overall graphical fidelity. The high-resolution ground textures and numerous unique textures visible in the trailer support this.

The presence of volumetric lighting and far-distance shadows, both computationally intensive effects, further underscores the Switch 2's enhanced power. These features were significant challenges for developers on the original Switch. The inclusion of real-time cloth physics on the flagpoles also adds to the evidence of a substantial leap in processing capabilities.

In summary, while official specifications are pending, the visual details in the Mario Kart 9 trailer, analyzed by an experienced indie developer, strongly suggest the Nintendo Switch 2 will offer a significant performance upgrade over its predecessor. A dedicated Nintendo Direct in April is expected to provide further clarification.

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