There have been some suggestions that the rumors that Switch ‘Pro’ should have absolutely slightly improved specifications to ensure that it can execute certain games and improve existing games, but is that just necessary? Maybe not, according to one veteran in the industry.
In a recent interview with Nintendo Everything, founder and vice president of Engine Software, Ruud van de Moosdijk (who worked on a handful of Switch games, including recent ports from No more heroes 1 & 2) said ‘nice’ as it would be, a slightly improved model with a little extra power could possibly go to waste.
As long as it is part of the Switch ecosystem, it means that games should still (or at least should) work on every system already available, and for compatibility reasons, performance is shown to the lowest specifications. As a result, upgraded systems with extra power are never really ‘utilized’.
“In fact, our opinion on this may be very intuitive for many people, but we are not big subscribers to the ‘Pro’ model. It would certainly be nice to have more RAM or faster GPU / CPU compared with before, but if it’s still considered the same platform, make sure you run games on each model. For compatibility reasons, your performance is evaluated according to the lowest specifications. We’ve seen with previous ‘upgraded systems’ never really used for this reason. ‘
On the Nintendo front, the New 3DS was one of the previous ‘upgraded’ systems that was probably underutilized. One of the few games that took advantage of it was Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, but in addition, developers have not shown interest in fear of abandoning the rest of the market. Similar situations also played out on competing platforms.
At best, it turns out that a Switch Pro will feature a standard version of slightly improved resolutions and frame rates (as rumors do), but ‘additional power’ or ‘additional grunt’ is much less likely – especially than current models ( Switch and Switch Lite) have now together sold more than 68 million worldwide. That would still be a substantial installation base to exclude.
You can learn more about the rumored Switch Pro in our extensive guide. If this device does exist, what are your own expectations? Do you think it should offer much more than improved frame rates and resolutions? Tell us below.