After years of being behind Sony and Microsoft in terms of hardware performance, Nintendo is finally catching up. The Nintendo Switch 2 is finally out, and it has been a massive hit. But did you know that Nintendo has put the time and effort this time around to make a console that’s stronger than ever?
With the release of the Switch 2, we’ve gotten a console that developers say is closer in power to the Xbox Series S than the PlayStation 4. For the first time in over a decade, Nintendo fans may no longer need to pick between portability and performance.
Nintendo has finally caught up to current-gen gaming with the Switch 2
According to Wild Hearts S producer Takuto Edagawa, the Switch 2’s raw computing power is closer to the Xbox Series S than to the PlayStation 4. That’s a remarkable statement considering past Nintendo hardware consistently trailed behind the competition in performance. Maybe we’ll actually get third-party games on it this time.
-Switch 2 screen is 1080p, up to 120fps
-LCD screen with HDR support
-Joy-Cons magnetic
-Bigger SL/SR buttons
-Larger control sticks
-Mouse Controls confirmed for each Joy-Con
-Improved speakers/clearer audio
-Built in mic (noise cancelling tech)
-3D Audio
-New Stand… pic.twitter.com/QhGB6RxC2K— Wario64 (@Wario64) April 2, 2025
Speaking to Wccftech, Edagawa was careful to say that power comparisons are complex. But he made it clear that Nintendo’s new console is not the underdog this time. When the original Nintendo Switch launched in 2017, its portability came at a cost. It was much weaker than the PS4 and Xbox One. But now the gap is much closer.
Part of this performance boost is thanks to the custom Nvidia GPU powering the Switch 2, which includes dedicated RT Cores and Tensor Cores. As you’d expect in a 2025 device, this means that the new handheld has features like ray tracing and DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling). The first time for a Nintendo console.
#NintendoSwitch2 has sold over 3.5 million units worldwide in its first four days, becoming the fastest-selling Nintendo hardware ever globally. pic.twitter.com/JNrl3Z92pv
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) June 11, 2025
The most important result of this new advancement in hardware is the fact that more third-party developers can treat the Switch 2 like an actual current-gen device and develop games for it without sacrificing as much as they had to with the original.
But it’s not like Nintendo needed good specs to sell a console anyway
Historically, Nintendo has always been the one to trade raw performance for unique concepts. We’ve seen it in many forms over the years. It was motion controls on the Wii, second-screen gameplay on the Wii U, or the hybrid model of the original Switch.
It may or may not be due to these new specs, but the Nintendo Switch 2 has already found huge success. Within just four days of launch, the Switch 2 sold over 3.5 million units globally, making it the fastest-selling Nintendo console of all time. For comparison, the original Switch only sold 2.74 million units in its entire first month.
With the Switch 2, Nintendo has kept everything that makes a Nintendo console. But the company has also come the closest ever to Microsoft and Sony in terms of technical power. As more developers join and design their games with the Switch 2 in mind, we might be looking at a huge library.
Have you gotten a Nintendo Switch 2? What are your thoughts on it so far? Let us know in the comments!
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
