It's finally 2025 and Switch 2 speculation is hitting a new fever pitch. A new patent published this week shows how Nintendo could use AI-upscaling to make new games look better without taking up tons of space, while loading -continues to debate how powerful the new hardware could be leaking onto the motherboard.
The US patent for “Systems and methods for machine-learned image conversion” filed by Nintendo back in July 13, 2023, but released this week and seen by gaming consultant Laura Kate Dale. The lengthy technical document describes a process for AI enhancement that could be used to improve image quality using software rather than raw processing power, similar to DLSS used by Nvidia GPUs for PC gaming, as well as PSSR which it was recently introduced by Sony for the Games for PlayStation 5 Pro.
Dale also points out another potential use for the technology: keeping game file sizes small. Nintendo's first-party releases on the current Switch are infamous for their quality. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Realm the company's biggest game on the platform and it's still only 18.2GB. Higher resolution textures and other enhanced assets can greatly enhance that digital footprint, however.
The patent describes an example where a native 4K texture could limit a game's installation size to 60GB, while a native 1080 version using upscaling could get away with just 20GB, which is still less than ' current 32GB cap on existing Switch cartridge memory sizes.
News of the patent comes on the heels of further alleged leaks regarding the Switch 2 hardware itself. After a recent influx of first-look images of the console's possible updateyes now possible pictures of the actual hardware motherboard Navigating online. This has led to some debate about which semiconductor manufacturing process was used to create the Switch 2 chip and so how powerful it could be.
Ultimately, though, it's impossible to know how powerful the Switch 2 will be compared to the existing, seven-year-old hardware. , so that we can get a sense of the complete list of decisions that Nintendo has decided once it reveals the official. list of specifications and features. If the Current switch has proved anything, namely the Mario a maker knows how to squeeze great results out of more accessible technology.
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