There have been some suggestions that the rumored Switch ‘Pro’ needs to have slightly improved specifications to ensure it can run certain games and improve existing ones, but is it so necessary? Maybe not, according to an industry veteran.
In a recent interview with Nintendo Everything, the co-founder and vice president of Engine Software, Ruud van de Moosdijk (who has worked on a handful of Switch games, including the recent No more heroes 1 and 2) said that as handsome as it would be, a slightly improved model with a little extra power could be wasted.
As long as it’s part of the Switch ecosystem, that means games still have to (or at least should) run on all systems already available, and for compatibility reasons, performance is based on the lowest specifications. As a result, upgraded systems with additional power are never fully used.
“The truth is that our opinion on this may be counterintuitive to many people, but we’re not big subscribers to the ‘Pro’ model. Of course, it would be nice to have more RAM or GPU / CPU faster compared to before, but yes still considered the same platform, you need to make sure your game runs on all models, so for compatibility reasons, your performance is based on the lowest specifications. We’ve seen with “updated systems “previous that the extra power has never really been used well for that reason.”
On the Nintendo front end, an earlier “upgraded” system that was probably underused was the New 3DS. One of the few games he took advantage of was Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, but beyond that, the developers showed no interest for fear of leaving the rest of the market. Similar situations have also been played on rival platforms.
At best, it looks like a Switch Pro will include a standard revision of slightly improved resolutions and frame rates (as rumored), but it’s much less likely to have “extra power” or an added growl, especially when models current (Switch and Switch Lite) have now sold a combined total of more than 68 million worldwide. This would be a considerable installation base to exclude after all.
You can learn more about the noisy Switch Pro in our full guide. If this device actually exists, what are your expectations? Do you think it should offer much more than improved resolution and frame rate? Tell us below.