Ahead of the Switch 2’s launch this week, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang reflected on the first Switch console in a new video. As Huang explained, Nintendo had an ambitious goal to create a gaming device that was “powerful enough” to run first-party games at home and still be small enough to be used while on the go.
“We’ve worked with Nintendo for more than a decade, drawn together by a shared belief that technology should serve creativity, and that joy is worth engineering for,” Huang said in a Nintendo Creator’s Voice video, while also reflecting on late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata’s vision for the system.
“I still remember the day Iwata shared his dream with us. He wanted to create something no one had seen before: a console powerful enough for big cinematic games, but small enough to take anywhere. It sounded impossible, but that vision became the original Nintendo Switch. We lost Iwata before the launch, but his clarity, his purpose, it still inspires our work every day.”
According to Huang, the Nvidia Tegra X1 chip for the Switch took over “500 engineer years” to develop, and the company had to “reinvent everything” for the Switch 2. Huang added that it achieved three major breakthroughs on the Switch 2: full-hardware ray tracing, dedicated AI processors, and “ultra low power” through optimized semiconductor process technology for high performance. The Nvidia CEO claims that this has led to the most advanced graphics ever seen in a portable device.
The Switch 2 represents a major step forward for Nintendo in terms of graphics, as the hybrid console is capable of rendering games at up to 4K resolution and 60fps when docked. This means that some good-looking games will be coming to the console, like Cyberpunk 2077. CD Projekt Red recently revealed that bringing the game to Switch 2 wasn’t actually as much of a challenge as anticipated, as modern technologies like Nvidia’s DLSS helped make the port easier.
While other graphically impressive third-party games like Elden Ring and Final Fantasy 7 Remake are headed to Switch 2, several first-party Nintendo titles will also be upgraded on the system. These include paid-for upgrades in titles like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, while smaller free updates for games like Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will also be available.
