Such a weird article from Nintendo Life trying to defend the Switch 2 over the Steam Deck. And it’s so cringe.
First let’s talk about the contention that the Switch 2 has better value because it’s comes with a dock.
Look, I can hook my Steam Deck up to my TV using a USB-C to HDMI adapter and use the Steam Deck itself as a controller. As for a dock itself, sure the official Steam Deck Docking Station costs C$109. However, I can buy a 3rd party docking station off Amazon for C$40. So that’s not much of an argument.
The Switch 2 has a bigger screen that runs at 1080P. That great. But the Steam Deck has an OLED panel which the Switch 2 does not.
In terms of performance, the Switch 2 probably has a better GPU. However, it lacks the Steam Deck’s CPU power. And it only has 12GB of RAM compared to the Steam Deck’s 16GB of RAM. Will games look better on Switch 2? Only if CPU and RAM don’t serve as bottlenecks.
The next thing: Switch 2 is supposedly better because a joy-con can act as a mouse. But they’re really grasping at straws here because I can use an actual Bluetooth mouse with the Steam Deck—one which is more ergonomic too. Oh, and unlike the Switch 2, I can also use a Bluetooth keyboard too with a Steam Deck.
Apparently, the Steam Deck’s touchpad so “too awkward” compared to the Switch 2’s mouse. But you don’t use a mouse in handheld mode—no one does. Touchpads, on the other hand, do work in handheld mode. And I find them much more suitable for FPS and RTS games than an analog joystick.
Now for the article’s final point: the Steam Deck can’t play Switch 2 games. This is actually the most legitimate point. However, it cuts both ways too. Switch 2 can’t play decades of PC games, all which are accessible on Steam Deck. And I should know because I’m able to run literally thousands of games on my Steam Deck—many which don’t even run on Windows anymore without lots of modding.
Can Switch 2 play F.E.A.R. without needing to jailbreak and emulate it? Nope—so in terms of game library, Steam Deck has the win.
But ultimately, this is a silly comparison because the Steam Deck is already three years old at the moment. Of course the Switch 2 will be able to do some things better than Steam Deck. It should—it’s the newer piece of hardware.
However, when the Steam Deck 2 comes out—probably next year—how will the Switch 2 compare? I don’t know, but it will likely have all the advantages that the Steam Deck still has but with giant generational leap in terms of performance.
Right now, if I wanted to, I could get a Lenovo Legion Go S. And it would be leagues better than a Switch 2. It has a AMD Ryzen Z2 Go APU, 32GB of RAM, and 1 TB of storage—which absolutely wrecks the Switch 2 in terms of raw performance.
But the reason I’m holding off is because I think the Steam Deck 2 will be even better.
This doesn’t even touch about many points that makes the Steam Deck just plain better. The games are cheaper. You don’t have to pay for online multiplayer. You have access to multiple storefronts like GOG or itch.io. You can use it as a PC in desktop mode. I can go on.
Now do I think the Switch 2 is totally lacking in value? No. If I had a young child, I’d probably get them a Switch 2 simply because it’s more kid friendly.
However, I’m a full grown man. As for my kid? She’s turning 12-years-old in a few weeks so I think she’ll do just fine with a Steam Deck.
I mean, if that is true, then playing switch 1 games on the 2 wouldn’t be emulated as has been reported. Hopefully it’s the way you think, but I’m not too sure.
Interesting I hadnt heard that till now. And I was just looking into this. Sounds like they might be doing some kind of translation layer like Proton. Switch 1 is ARMv8. And Im guessing that the Switch 2 is atleast ARMv9. So some instructions might have to be emulated. And I imagine they just ship the compiled shaders. Some kind of recompile will probably have to happen for the Switch2. Or possibly could be doing a translation there too. But I would think recompiling the shaders would be the better method but shrugs
I mean, my phone can emulate switch games at a better quality than a switch can play them in docked mode. Considering that when it launched the switch wasn’t it wasn’t top of the line specs, and I don’t expect 2 to be.
Edit: pressed post before I was finished 🤦
Above the line was typed before I got curious about what the actual specs are.
Nintendo states that the CPU/GPU are “Nvidia custom chips”.
The T239 is apparently a variant of the T234, and Nintendo are receiving a further modified version.
T239 likely does run a modified A78C. The T234 is used almost exclusively in automotive infotainment systems. It (T239) supposedly is based off RTX-30 tech, the article(last link in above paragraph) rightly notes that that’s a bit suspect.
This article I keep referencing notes that the hardware in the switch 2, if everything is actually accurate and not a bait-and-switch² (eh? eh? 🤓), would be considered behind the curve…for when the Steam Deck released!
I know we were talking about emulated NS1 games on the NS2…but I fell down a fucking rabbit hole and wanted to drag everyone down with me.
So, compatibility layer minimum for playing NS1 games…might actually be a fiction?
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I mean, if that is true, then playing switch 1 games on the 2 wouldn’t be emulated as has been reported. Hopefully it’s the way you think, but I’m not too sure.
Interesting I hadnt heard that till now. And I was just looking into this. Sounds like they might be doing some kind of translation layer like Proton. Switch 1 is ARMv8. And Im guessing that the Switch 2 is atleast ARMv9. So some instructions might have to be emulated. And I imagine they just ship the compiled shaders. Some kind of recompile will probably have to happen for the Switch2. Or possibly could be doing a translation there too. But I would think recompiling the shaders would be the better method but shrugs
I mean, my phone can emulate switch games at a better quality than a switch can play them in docked mode. Considering that when it launched the switch wasn’t it wasn’t top of the line specs, and I don’t expect 2 to be.
Edit: pressed post before I was finished 🤦
Above the line was typed before I got curious about what the actual specs are.
Nintendo states that the CPU/GPU are “Nvidia custom chips”.
However, this article from 16th of January (updated 24th of March,) references a leak that says the CPU is an Arm Cortex-A78C, a chip from 2020, it’s an ARMv8.2, and the GPU is an Nvidia T239 Ampere.
The T239 is apparently a variant of the T234, and Nintendo are receiving a further modified version. T239 likely does run a modified A78C. The T234 is used almost exclusively in automotive infotainment systems. It (T239) supposedly is based off RTX-30 tech, the article(last link in above paragraph) rightly notes that that’s a bit suspect.
Below is a screenshot of the spec table(again from the final article linked) comparing the T234, T239, and RTX-2050. Link to said screenshot for people on instances where embedded media is broken.
This article I keep referencing notes that the hardware in the switch 2, if everything is actually accurate and not a bait-and-switch² (eh? eh? 🤓), would be considered behind the curve…for when the Steam Deck released!
I know we were talking about emulated NS1 games on the NS2…but I fell down a fucking rabbit hole and wanted to drag everyone down with me.
So, compatibility layer minimum for playing NS1 games…might actually be a fiction?
This is the A57(NS1 CPU) spec write-up on wiki.
And the A78 again.
Below is the spec tables from both wiki pages.
A78, link to screenshot here.
A57, link to screenshot here.
There’s differences, obviously, but…not insanely so?