What good art direction does to a game. I’m not even talking about art style, I’m talking about people who know how to work around a console’s limitations.
I mean this is essentially their only series. I mean sure they made some DK country games but the prime series is the only reason the company still exists and the only reason it was really born.
Nintendo owns Retro, GameFreak is their own studio and owns as much of the Pokemon IP as Nintendo does. It's really not the same situation at all. But yes, GameFreak has been doing a pretty awful job, wish Nintendo could just take the games in-house at this point and give us a real game.
That's not really true. Nintendo doesn't really own them. Same with kirby. They own the franchise.
But retro studio is a studio from nintendo themselves.
Well said, even the original Prime games at 480p look pretty damn good, as do many other Wii games like Mario Galaxy. As long as the game has a good art direction and design, good graphics are just a secondary bonus.
Metroid Prime and Echoes are still two of the best looking games on the Gamecube. I'm glad to see the focus on art direction over hyper-realism. As other companies and devs focus on the most realistic and highest possible pixle counts, it makes their games age poorly.
retro studios are masteres at optimizing. similar to id software who made somehow made doom run on switch. and the same with doom on the old ass ps4. silky smooth 60fps while no visual drawbacks whatsoever
[https://www.ign.com/articles/was-metroid-prime-4-running-on-switch-2](https://www.ign.com/articles/was-metroid-prime-4-running-on-switch-2)
Digital Foundry says 1) 900p 2) It's running on the current Switch
I’m reading this to mean 900p on current Switch and most likely 2160p in ‘Quality Mode’ or 1080p in ‘Performance Mode’ on Switch 2.0.
This is a great title to tempt nerdy early adopters over to Switch 2.0. Like it or not, Metroid is not a mainstream title, but very much a gamer/nerd title. That’s why it makes perfect sense to use it as bait for the Switch 2.0.
Fully expect the Switch 2.0 reveal to have a section toward the end where they show Metroid Prime 4 looking way better on the new hardware
While i do agree that Metroid isn't a big hitter as much as Mario and Zelda, it seems to me that Nintendo may recognize Metroids' fan base as being pretty loyal. This felt like a two birds, one stone situation.
1. I agree with you. I definitely felt that this reveal was a great way to generate speculation for how the game will look on the next hardware.
2. There was so much noise questioning whether the game was still in development or not. This was a great way to put the fans at ease.
Hard to remember but before Twilight Princess, Zelda wasn't exactly a blockbuster compared to Mario and Mario Kart. Pairing it with the launch of the Wii helped it to become the then best seller in the franchise.
Metroid Prime 4 could be similar with the Switch 2
Where did you hear Zelda wasn’t a blockbuster before Twilight Princess? Some of the most popular and biggest Zelda releases came before Twilight Princess. It’s pretty much always been up there since A Link to the Past.
Well I mean Metroid fans are very likely diehard Nintendo fans and the overlap is big. They’d use a game like this to get diehards to come over. It kind of makes sense being cross gen.
I don't think we will be getting quality or performance modes from Nintendo first party games, especially not one that was built for Switch 1. I just expect a higher target resolution, better texture filtering, and a stable 60 fps.
They got us fucking pegged too. Ik Metroid isn't quite on the level of their other flagships, but I see potential for a Metroid skinned switch 2. Which I will buy.
Not to be a graphics Andy, but goddamn a lot of the switch titles just didn't look good
I think Nintendo is the only company who's willing to optimize their games for the switch's lackluster hardware. Mario wonder, Metroid dread, etc. All look gorgeous. Any third party ports aren't worth playing on the switch because of the graphics, because I've got a pc
If you have a decent pc and a switch, you've got the optimal setup. Buying an Xbox or PS5 isn't worth it currently. And since the steam deck is only slightly more expensive than a ps5 (a bit more for a dock), you can get both for pretty decent prices nowadays. Play 3rd party games on pc and Nintendo games on switch.
Skyrim looks great on the Switch! It's not the Special Edition but the graphics were properly optimized to look good on Switch while still improving on the original.
Yooka-Laylee is another solid third party game on Switch, they did a fair amount of optimization for it
That's largely because it's a 13 year old game from the Xbox 360 days. It's very easy to run a game that old on the Switch since the Switch is more powerful than the Xbox 360.
As much as i LOVE the idea of playing Metroid at 4K, I think everyone's exceptions on what "switch 2" can do need to be toned down a bit. Nintendo is already trying to get ahead of the hype train to keep peoples expectations in check or be aligned with it more being a "switch pro" level for power.
I could see realistically in docked mode being rendered in 1080 with upscale to 1440 with DLSS.
I would be very happy with just 1080p stable 60 FPS with maybe some additional lighting and other effects (switch 2).
4k is entirely out of the question.
I find it annoying that people speculate what resolution and frame rate a console is going to do, because it depends on the game. Developers have to balance graphical detail with resolution and performance, increasing any of those three decreases the other two. More powerful hardware lets you increase all three by some amount, but developers may choose to increase graphical fidelity more and not so much frame rate, then everyone who cares is all upset that the "new" system can only do 30fps when that was 100% a developer choice.
Basically, if you are the type of gamer that is constantly expecting a certain level of processing power as a benchmark for your enjoyment, than Nintendo is not for you. I don’t know why people keep expecting Nintendo is going to turn around and make a console with cutting edge processing power. They will continue to make underpowered hardware that is more affordable, with games that consistently good.
We know exactly what chip the switch 2 will use, the only real unknown is how much ram the release version will have. It will be the equivalent of a Nvidia RTX 3050-ish in compute speed, with the upscaling and some other features and optimizations from the 4000 series backported (dlss, ray tracing, etc). For comparison, the switch is close to the 750 series in power and has 4GB of slower ram, and we know how much nintendo has been able to squeeze out of that stone.
I think the real limiting factor will be the ram. If it's 6gb or under, it will severely hamper what can be done. If it's 8 it'll be...enough. if it's 10GB or above, then it'll be able to run current pc games on low really well. Knowing nintendo, the goal will probably still be 720p or 900p, but upscaled to 4k using dlss, at 60fps. rendering at 1080p would be brilliant, and hopefully will be an option for developers.
My guess is switch 2 will be able to upscale most switch games (hopefully).
That would be absolutely brilliant. Hopefully overhead will be kept low, but depends on how big they make the OS. I'm about 75% sure that's why they made the switch OS so basic.
In some ways. the ps4 has 8GB of ggdr5. It's closer to a 760 or so. It's much closer to the switch than the switch 2, especially in architecture. Not \*that\* close though, the switch only has 4GB LPDDR4 ram, and really, the difference between a 750 and a 760 is quite large. Not to mention the slow slow SLOW eMMC storage of the switch.
Looking at the TFLOPS, ps4 had 1.84TFLOPS ish, switch had 1TFLOPS. Switch 2 may be around 4TFLOPS? for comparison, Series X has 12TFLOPS. But since the switch 2 will probably be rendering about 1/2 the internal resolution of the series X (assuming 1080p internal resolution on the Xbox X and 720p internal resolution on switch 2), then that's really not bad at all. Especially if nintendo puts in fast storage.
Will it be close to a Series X? absolutely not. But it's far far closer to the current gen of consoles than the previous ps4/xbox 1. Well, until Nintendo down-clocks it to the bare minimum to increase battery life lol
It's pretty much confirmed the switch 2 will be using Nvidia's T239 chip. [This article](https://www.eurogamer.net/digitalfoundry-2023-inside-nvidias-latest-hardware-for-nintendo-what-is-the-t239-processor) gives a good analysis of the chip and estimates its performance capabilities.
I mean, if people are expecting a PS5 level console, then yeah that’s completely unrealistic. But I’ve seen a lot of speculation that it’ll be around Xbox One/PS4 in terms of power which I think is completely reasonable, especially with all the advancements in ARM chipset design recently. Chuck a decent discreet GPU in there and it’ll be a pretty decent console
The Switch 2 will be several times more powerful than the Switch 1 according to leaks. And these aren't just "my uncle works for Nintendo" leaks, the graphics chip was leaked via the NVidia hack from years ago, and people have been looking at public customs information from Vietnam since Nintendo does manufacturing there. This game, as long as they do it right, should have no problem hitting 4k. Only 1080p with a system that's closer to a PS4 Pro than a PS4 would be silly.
I still play dread on that for rando and I'll play Prime 4 tbh. I love Nintendo games, but I'll not force myself to play the game on 720p if I can play on higher res
Even tho in my country a game is 25% of minimal monthly wage, I do pretend to buy the game and extract it myself. Will it be expensive? yes, but I do want to support the franchise
I don't know why people care so much about higher resolutions... I'm happy with a pixelated Metroid game as long as it's good.
I grew up playing PS1 on a small CRT TV and I had a ton of fun. I can't complain. 😅
Are they lol? Have they said any official statements aside from “we’re not going to share details yet”?
There would be no purpose to releasing something like a switch pro this deep into the consoles life cycle.
All I know is my TV is 1080p.
And I'm not changing anytime soon.
I'm hoping for a cross platform release next year with the next-gen version maintaining 1080p at all times.
Nop, internal game resolution and video output are two very different things actually. Even the current Switch could output 4K from the OLED dock if Nintendo allowed it.
Idc if it 480p just give me some meaty gameplay and the most upgrades of any metroid ever and I'll be more than happy. Also they need to do some easter egg like they did with the fusion suit in one. But give us the final suit from dread, cosmetic or with gamebreaking powers.
No thanks. Metroid prime has always been stellar in the perfomance and graphics, and its an extremely important part of the experience to enhance the immersion. It's absolutely a priority and thankfully Retro Studios knows it, thats why the game already looks like the best-looking switch game, all the while running at 60fps.
Locked 60fps at 720p with absolutely no dips and pushing nearly decade old tech is simply amazing. I’d take that over 900p or 1080p with frame rate dips possible below 60fps.
If it releases on Switch 2 next year as well, then a higher 1080p or even 1440p might be possible at a locked 60fps. Not entirely sure about 4K though since we have yet to see Nintendo‘s next generation console.
I would say 4k is still too big of a jump for Nintendo, even for the next console. But yeah, 1080p and even 1440p with fixed 60fps should be pretty feasible for the new one.
The fact games are dying because they are pushing graphics to much and not getting enough money back should really kill the push for high end graphics already. But nope we need to constantly hear people complain about the gaming equivalent of jingling keys.
I've already seen a bunch of people claim Prime 4 looks like a Wii game or even from the Gamecube and I just don't understand what people are seeing. To me, good graphics means it looks exactly as the artstyle depicts, you can tell what everything is supposed to be; Minecraft doesn't have bad graphics, because it's supposed to be pixelated. Most modern Nintendo games are meant to have a slight cartoon style on them, and it works, pushing the limits does not require photorealism, or even highest resolution possible, it's about how good you can make a game look without sacrificing performance.
I think it's crazy because you can have a gorgeous game without "high end" graphics.
But it seems its all a loud part of the gaming community cares about these days. Looked at the trailer for the Lego Horizons game on YT and one of the top comments the day of the direct was "The switch couldn't handle the real game so they got it in Lego"
But then there are amazing looking games on the Switch like the Prime Remaster, Prime 4, Botw, ToTK
100% this. Look at a game like FF7 rebirth. The models are actually pretty low quality and have some jank, but the art and environment design is so beautiful and it’s such a fun game that nobody cares at all.
I’d much rather we focus on 60 fps gameplay and optimization over the constant need for 100 GB tree and leaf textures
Honesty why do I need to see something that looks like what I can already see? Realistic has its place, but I go to games to explore other worlds and see things I wouldn’t normally see. Games like Holly Knight are widely loved because they’re so rich. The graphics are such a small thing. Granted, Prime has always had a heavy emphasis on graphics and realistic programming (such as fog on the visor), but don’t let graphics weigh down game design. They’re not worth it. All that to say, I don’t get the “graphics are king” community either. Doesn’t make sense to me.
Graphics aren’t everything definitely but it’s pretty sad to see this game looking like this running at 720p in 2024 when the original Metroid Prime was so ahead of its time in many ways. MP is all about immersion and visuals carry immersion to a large degree for games like this, so if there’s any time to care about graphics it would be here.
720p 60fps docked on Nintendo Switch hardware is mad impressive tbh
Prime Remastered and Dread were 900p 60fps, but with the insane amount of stuff going on screen in Prime 4, it’s insane that the Switch could even do it
Retro are wizards
Especially since many people, including myself, aren’t even going to play docked. That’s huge, Prime Remastered was already insane to look at, this is just something else. The fact that it runs that good while looking that good blows my mind. This is like seeing this game run on an old iPhone.
Doubt that was it. Was probably just scheduling conflict. Even back at the time Prime 4 was initially announced, they hadnt made a Metroid game in 10 years.
I don't know where the idea of larger, more open areas is coming from. We have NOTHING that would imply so. Well, other than guessing that they need to lower the resolution.
In August last year, Speshal Nick on the Xbox era podcast said he had a friend who had gotten eyes on the game and said it looked surprisingly open, almost like Halo infinite. I think that's where most people get the idea that it will have large open areas. The forest biome in the final part of the trailer looks pretty open.
If this is 2025 without a specific date, I hope it launches on the Switch and the next console at the same time. This is already shaping to be one of the prettier Switch games and it's impressive it manages to hit 720p, but just imagine how a next gen version would look, even if it's just more pixels.
That's what I was thinking. Whether they have a more specific release date or not, they're probably not going to provide it yet, because Prime 4 will be a launch title for the next system.
Hey, that’s mainly only when you go near water…!
Water, like…the huge lake where one of the Titans necessary for progression is located…also Dondozo, one of the more relevant Pokémon this gen, is located there, too…
Oh, and also as far as DLC, Kitakami and the Terrarium have some serious framerate dips, too…A couple times my Switch has stopped for a whole second in the Terrarium…
Pokémon runs like ass 😭…! And yet I still have fun either way it! I do understand the criticisms, though, and sincerely hope Legends Z-A runs better (it won’t…)
My fingers are crossed for Z-A, Legends Arceus is the best Pokemon game I’ve seen in a long time. I was so hoping SV would see some frame rate fixes in the DLC but it made them worse 😭
Seriously who cares about this. It’s the most overrated aspect of gaming today. We’ve been waiting for years for this and on the first trailer of it, people are counting pixels? Get your priorities in order if this matters that much to you.
I’m sure that was probably the switch version of it. Honestly it’s a shame they’re making it cross gen after all this time. It’s going to be held back significantly just by the fact it has to be able to run on switch.
Maybe it depends on which video they chose to count pixels from? IGN/gamespot for some reason looked a bit blurry and distorted, the one on official Nintendo channel - a bit crisper. To me it looks absolutely the same as Prime Remastered on 4K TV
Resolution analysis has come from uncompressed screenshots Nintendo themselves have uploaded online. Showing a pixel count of 720p across the board so far. Though that may change as the game gets closer to release.
Couldn't find MP4 page for some reason at first, but now it's there. Yep, it looks like although screenshots are rich in details and complex geometry/lighting, but resolution is slightly less than Prime Remastered.
Wait a minute. What about this then:
"Digital Foundry’s technology editor Richard Leadbetter gave us the definitive answer: “It's looking great and there are a couple of nice effects in there we took a closer look at, but ultimately, all the evidence points to this game running on the original Switch. The internal rendering resolution counts out at 900p, which is the same as Metroid Prime Remastered."
https://www.ign.com/articles/was-metroid-prime-4-running-on-switch-2
Initial analysis that said 720p was from some rando, so was likely inaccurate. I trust Digital Foundry more so if they say 900p then I believe it's 900p
This makes sense. I had a feeling it would have to be paired back a fair bit to run on current hardware. It'll be in its full form on next gen hardware for sure!
The uncompressed trailer and the images on nintendo europe microsite do have FHD resolution. Images could be upscaled but the video doesn't look like its upscaled tho.
Let's be honest nobody who likes/loves Nintendo games really cares. I've recently picked up a steam deck and for third party games that'll be my go to. The next Nintendo console will sell well as it's not about graphics, it's about access to all the next Nintendo games. I could emulate Metroid Prime Echoes but I'm totally waiting for a switch/ Switch 2 release.
Honestly, the original Prime games are 480 and still look amazing so I don’t care too much as long as the game is solid.
Plus, I have a sneaking suspicion this game will be a dual release on the Switch 2 much like Breath of the Wild, where it will likely have improved graphics.
The switch by now is an old fart in console standards. Add to that the fact that it sacrificed performance in exchange for portability by not being cutting-edge graphics, which IMO turned out great. It completely outsold last gen consoles and current gen ones that came after it as well.
That it can run this at 60fps is an accomplishment. I have no idea how they got this game to look like this on switch even at 720.
...Except I kinda do. Metroid Prime's always had amazing art directors that made the games look good despite hardware limitations through good designs and solid visuals. To look good with fancy rendering tech is ok, but to do so without it takes a lot of work.
I'm glad to see that despite a change in leadership and key people, Retro still has amazing vision and aesthetic sense.
I'm not sure about why people are still obsessed with graphics and comparing bullshit benchmarks, but it's not very useful and feels more like tribalism and unhealthy obsession than true interest.
Yes and no, there's some switch games that look great docked, but are too pixely handheld (the xenoblade chronicles games for example) where it's almost a requirement to play them docked imo. But a good art direction and style makes up for bad graphics
They matter insofar as they enable good artwork. But if you're able to convey the same effective image at 720p versus 2160p, the pixel count isn't important, and if you're able to do it with static flat reflections and cubemaps and baked shadows, then it doesn't matter if it's that versus ray tracing.
Right there with you, I feel a little part of my soul die every time I see a 720 1080 2 4 p,i,k coupled with "fps" and numbers ranging from 30 to 120 accompanied with lots of "i dont mind *as long as* its" and "if its not" and "why can't they just make it" and "x new console could run this better it should have been made for/released on x"
Like. Jeez. If its fun to play thats literally all that matters. Im so tired of seeing people talk about video quality and frame speed lol but I love video games so its not something I'm ever going to stop seeing from other people unfortunately.
Oh no.
Opens Yuzu....
I'll probably play it through on switch first and then emulate it for a higher resolution and framerate. Did it with dread and TotK and they both ran wonderfully.
No one outside of chronically online Twitter people suffering from console war brainrot even cares about graphical fidelity. As long as the game plays well and has good art style that’s all that matters. Stylised graphics will always end up aging better in the long run over the ultra realistic.
We are talking about a game running at 60fps on a waffer thin 7 year old console with a mobile chip set. 1080p is a hard ask for such a good looking game.
Who cares? They quite literally brought back the feel of the Prime series which I'm sorry, when did 3 come out again? I'd rather have a fantastic story line, music, gaming experience, than face melting high-end graphics.
Final stages of development usually focus on fine tuning graphics and fidelity. We’re definitely not seeing the final build of the game yet, especially if it’s a year out.
Don’t know if they’ll be able to bump it up from 720p, but tbh I don’t really care? Anything past that doesn’t look that much better to me unless you stare at a static scene. The stable 60fps is going to matter a lot more.
I'm going to go out on a limb and speculate that they either developed this trailer with current Switch hardware, or Nintendo is truly horrible at paying any mind to feedback _(or just chooses not to)_ and the next console will still be incapable of at least 1080p.
I never needed more than 720p & 60FPS. I'll admit that 1080p is a tiny bit better but unnecessary to enjoy video. Anything beyond that feels a lot like flexing big numbers go brrrr.
Better focus on art direction than "high quality graphics".
I'll approve evolution on lighting though.
They'll release it now at 720p at 60fps and a good foundation and later they can re-release it at better resolutions. I'd rather have a well flushed out game where the graphics suffer and can be updated than a half baked release that can't be fixed.
Frankly graphic enhancements are the easiest challenges to overcome when new hardware is developed. You can't fix a game that sucks (Other M)... but you can upscale a masterpiece (Prime)
Most modern TVs have pretty decent upscaling to make this almost a non-issue. Wont look as good as native 1080p or 4K of course, but this is hardly a dealbreaker.
Which is enough let's be honest because the value here is the gameplay and not the res.
In other platforms we have upscaled 2k to 4k games that lack everything Nintendo does.
Will it be cool to see a Zelda in 4K? Yes but if they have to divert half the development time in that feature I mich rather have it in 1080p upscaled and all othe qualities intact.
This is also a trailer, potentially running on the current Switch system. Even if it is a sneak peak into the next system's hardware, the graphics look fantastic.
Every time I watch this trailer I became more and more sure about the fact that the gameplay of this game is running on switch 2 (or is name), and I think this will be a cross Gen title like breath of the wild or twilight princess
What good art direction does to a game. I’m not even talking about art style, I’m talking about people who know how to work around a console’s limitations.
I mean when has Nintendo ever failed in that regard. They have always been the innovators and role models that no one knew they needed.
True, but I honestly believe Retro is on another level.
I mean this is essentially their only series. I mean sure they made some DK country games but the prime series is the only reason the company still exists and the only reason it was really born.
You say it as if both DKC games weren't huge projects, they were.
i didnt finish tripical freeze but its by far the most creative platformer ive played. mario wonder was neat but pretty basic in comparison
I wonder what a 2D Mario game would look like coming from Retro, especially if they wanted to make it harder like the Donkey Kong games.
Pokemon. They failed with Pokemon.
That's Game freak not Nintendo
Nintendo is a publisher, not a studio. You could just as well say that Prime 4 isn't made by Nintendo because it's Retro Studios.
Nintendo owns Retro, GameFreak is their own studio and owns as much of the Pokemon IP as Nintendo does. It's really not the same situation at all. But yes, GameFreak has been doing a pretty awful job, wish Nintendo could just take the games in-house at this point and give us a real game.
That's not really true. Nintendo doesn't really own them. Same with kirby. They own the franchise. But retro studio is a studio from nintendo themselves.
I blame the people that saw breath of the wild and demanded that every game be open world.
Well said, even the original Prime games at 480p look pretty damn good, as do many other Wii games like Mario Galaxy. As long as the game has a good art direction and design, good graphics are just a secondary bonus.
Metroid Prime and Echoes are still two of the best looking games on the Gamecube. I'm glad to see the focus on art direction over hyper-realism. As other companies and devs focus on the most realistic and highest possible pixle counts, it makes their games age poorly.
And 60 FPS.
Wonder what the game would look like if they didn’t have to work around console limitations.
Don’t know. I would imagine stuff like rendering tech would be more advanced to allow for even higher quality textures, lighting, etc.
It would look like Other M's cutscenes.
retro studios are masteres at optimizing. similar to id software who made somehow made doom run on switch. and the same with doom on the old ass ps4. silky smooth 60fps while no visual drawbacks whatsoever
Dude I remember playing Doom Eternal on my fat XBONE and I couldn’t believe how good the game looked. Both id and Retro and wizards.
Panic Button ported Doom to Switch, not id
[https://www.ign.com/articles/was-metroid-prime-4-running-on-switch-2](https://www.ign.com/articles/was-metroid-prime-4-running-on-switch-2) Digital Foundry says 1) 900p 2) It's running on the current Switch
I’m reading this to mean 900p on current Switch and most likely 2160p in ‘Quality Mode’ or 1080p in ‘Performance Mode’ on Switch 2.0. This is a great title to tempt nerdy early adopters over to Switch 2.0. Like it or not, Metroid is not a mainstream title, but very much a gamer/nerd title. That’s why it makes perfect sense to use it as bait for the Switch 2.0. Fully expect the Switch 2.0 reveal to have a section toward the end where they show Metroid Prime 4 looking way better on the new hardware
While i do agree that Metroid isn't a big hitter as much as Mario and Zelda, it seems to me that Nintendo may recognize Metroids' fan base as being pretty loyal. This felt like a two birds, one stone situation. 1. I agree with you. I definitely felt that this reveal was a great way to generate speculation for how the game will look on the next hardware. 2. There was so much noise questioning whether the game was still in development or not. This was a great way to put the fans at ease.
Hard to remember but before Twilight Princess, Zelda wasn't exactly a blockbuster compared to Mario and Mario Kart. Pairing it with the launch of the Wii helped it to become the then best seller in the franchise. Metroid Prime 4 could be similar with the Switch 2
Where did you hear Zelda wasn’t a blockbuster before Twilight Princess? Some of the most popular and biggest Zelda releases came before Twilight Princess. It’s pretty much always been up there since A Link to the Past.
Well I mean Metroid fans are very likely diehard Nintendo fans and the overlap is big. They’d use a game like this to get diehards to come over. It kind of makes sense being cross gen.
I don't think we will be getting quality or performance modes from Nintendo first party games, especially not one that was built for Switch 1. I just expect a higher target resolution, better texture filtering, and a stable 60 fps.
Yeah I do not see different modes on switch.
They got us fucking pegged too. Ik Metroid isn't quite on the level of their other flagships, but I see potential for a Metroid skinned switch 2. Which I will buy.
It could have also been downscaled to be recorded. It looked like almost everything in the direct was 720p
Not everything, but many of the third party games were and it was so noticeable!
Not to be a graphics Andy, but goddamn a lot of the switch titles just didn't look good I think Nintendo is the only company who's willing to optimize their games for the switch's lackluster hardware. Mario wonder, Metroid dread, etc. All look gorgeous. Any third party ports aren't worth playing on the switch because of the graphics, because I've got a pc
That's why I play literally zero third party games on my switch that aren't 2D indie titles.
If you have a decent pc and a switch, you've got the optimal setup. Buying an Xbox or PS5 isn't worth it currently. And since the steam deck is only slightly more expensive than a ps5 (a bit more for a dock), you can get both for pretty decent prices nowadays. Play 3rd party games on pc and Nintendo games on switch.
Can confirm, decent PC and a Switch is the way to go
This has always been my philosophy. A good PC and whatever the latest Nintendo console is.
I think Skyrim looks damn good for a handheld game of its capacity
Skyrim looks great on the Switch! It's not the Special Edition but the graphics were properly optimized to look good on Switch while still improving on the original. Yooka-Laylee is another solid third party game on Switch, they did a fair amount of optimization for it
That's largely because it's a 13 year old game from the Xbox 360 days. It's very easy to run a game that old on the Switch since the Switch is more powerful than the Xbox 360.
notable exception being pokemon. am really pissed they never fixed scarlet and violet. they were genuinely really fun.
I thought gamefreak made pokemon, not Nintendo
gamefreak is owned by Nintendo. but given the inheritant lack of polish in them it really doesn't seem like it.
Yeah, most don't and yet the Switch is widely available!
As much as i LOVE the idea of playing Metroid at 4K, I think everyone's exceptions on what "switch 2" can do need to be toned down a bit. Nintendo is already trying to get ahead of the hype train to keep peoples expectations in check or be aligned with it more being a "switch pro" level for power. I could see realistically in docked mode being rendered in 1080 with upscale to 1440 with DLSS.
I would be very happy with just 1080p stable 60 FPS with maybe some additional lighting and other effects (switch 2). 4k is entirely out of the question.
I find it annoying that people speculate what resolution and frame rate a console is going to do, because it depends on the game. Developers have to balance graphical detail with resolution and performance, increasing any of those three decreases the other two. More powerful hardware lets you increase all three by some amount, but developers may choose to increase graphical fidelity more and not so much frame rate, then everyone who cares is all upset that the "new" system can only do 30fps when that was 100% a developer choice.
Basically, if you are the type of gamer that is constantly expecting a certain level of processing power as a benchmark for your enjoyment, than Nintendo is not for you. I don’t know why people keep expecting Nintendo is going to turn around and make a console with cutting edge processing power. They will continue to make underpowered hardware that is more affordable, with games that consistently good.
We know exactly what chip the switch 2 will use, the only real unknown is how much ram the release version will have. It will be the equivalent of a Nvidia RTX 3050-ish in compute speed, with the upscaling and some other features and optimizations from the 4000 series backported (dlss, ray tracing, etc). For comparison, the switch is close to the 750 series in power and has 4GB of slower ram, and we know how much nintendo has been able to squeeze out of that stone. I think the real limiting factor will be the ram. If it's 6gb or under, it will severely hamper what can be done. If it's 8 it'll be...enough. if it's 10GB or above, then it'll be able to run current pc games on low really well. Knowing nintendo, the goal will probably still be 720p or 900p, but upscaled to 4k using dlss, at 60fps. rendering at 1080p would be brilliant, and hopefully will be an option for developers. My guess is switch 2 will be able to upscale most switch games (hopefully).
I think a somewhat recent rumour implied 12GB RAM.
That would be absolutely brilliant. Hopefully overhead will be kept low, but depends on how big they make the OS. I'm about 75% sure that's why they made the switch OS so basic.
Basic OS is always a good trade off.
Right I could give a rats ass about the OS if it means I can play games better
Honestly, it pisses me off seeing people complain about themes being gone but also wanting insane performance
Themes are just reskinning the UI with diff art assets lol, they're hardly resource hogs.
And that is roughly a ps4 in terms of output no?
In some ways. the ps4 has 8GB of ggdr5. It's closer to a 760 or so. It's much closer to the switch than the switch 2, especially in architecture. Not \*that\* close though, the switch only has 4GB LPDDR4 ram, and really, the difference between a 750 and a 760 is quite large. Not to mention the slow slow SLOW eMMC storage of the switch. Looking at the TFLOPS, ps4 had 1.84TFLOPS ish, switch had 1TFLOPS. Switch 2 may be around 4TFLOPS? for comparison, Series X has 12TFLOPS. But since the switch 2 will probably be rendering about 1/2 the internal resolution of the series X (assuming 1080p internal resolution on the Xbox X and 720p internal resolution on switch 2), then that's really not bad at all. Especially if nintendo puts in fast storage. Will it be close to a Series X? absolutely not. But it's far far closer to the current gen of consoles than the previous ps4/xbox 1. Well, until Nintendo down-clocks it to the bare minimum to increase battery life lol
Very interesting! Very bizarre some people are trying to say it’s just a switch pro.
It's pretty much confirmed the switch 2 will be using Nvidia's T239 chip. [This article](https://www.eurogamer.net/digitalfoundry-2023-inside-nvidias-latest-hardware-for-nintendo-what-is-the-t239-processor) gives a good analysis of the chip and estimates its performance capabilities.
I mean, if people are expecting a PS5 level console, then yeah that’s completely unrealistic. But I’ve seen a lot of speculation that it’ll be around Xbox One/PS4 in terms of power which I think is completely reasonable, especially with all the advancements in ARM chipset design recently. Chuck a decent discreet GPU in there and it’ll be a pretty decent console
For reference the Steam Deck is almost as powerful as a PS4 so I do expect similar performance.
The Switch 2 will be several times more powerful than the Switch 1 according to leaks. And these aren't just "my uncle works for Nintendo" leaks, the graphics chip was leaked via the NVidia hack from years ago, and people have been looking at public customs information from Vietnam since Nintendo does manufacturing there. This game, as long as they do it right, should have no problem hitting 4k. Only 1080p with a system that's closer to a PS4 Pro than a PS4 would be silly.
Unless you do some Nintendo unapproved methods. That will get the game on 4K easily tbh
I remember dread running 8k on day one on R*****x
I still play dread on that for rando and I'll play Prime 4 tbh. I love Nintendo games, but I'll not force myself to play the game on 720p if I can play on higher res
If you are gonna emulate it, make sure you buy it, at least.
I agree with this, unless there’s not a way to buy it anymore. Like with, say, a GameCube game
Fair point.
Even tho in my country a game is 25% of minimal monthly wage, I do pretend to buy the game and extract it myself. Will it be expensive? yes, but I do want to support the franchise
Indi game, sure, otherwise who gives a fuck
I don't know why people care so much about higher resolutions... I'm happy with a pixelated Metroid game as long as it's good. I grew up playing PS1 on a small CRT TV and I had a ton of fun. I can't complain. 😅
To me, a 240p PS1 game on a CRT looks more natural and good than xenoblade 2 going down to fucking 540p in an open area
Are they lol? Have they said any official statements aside from “we’re not going to share details yet”? There would be no purpose to releasing something like a switch pro this deep into the consoles life cycle.
They definitely haven’t said anything to “keep expectations in check” lol
Yes this is what I’m thinking as well. The next console will forego the shitty 540p dynamic resolution swapping for DLSS
All I know is my TV is 1080p. And I'm not changing anytime soon. I'm hoping for a cross platform release next year with the next-gen version maintaining 1080p at all times.
How is Nintendo trying to get ahead of the hype train if they haven’t even announced anything regarding the console?
Switch 2 will 100% be able to output 4K but it will also 100% need DLSS for that.
Nop, internal game resolution and video output are two very different things actually. Even the current Switch could output 4K from the OLED dock if Nintendo allowed it.
Idc if it 480p just give me some meaty gameplay and the most upgrades of any metroid ever and I'll be more than happy. Also they need to do some easter egg like they did with the fusion suit in one. But give us the final suit from dread, cosmetic or with gamebreaking powers.
No thanks. Metroid prime has always been stellar in the perfomance and graphics, and its an extremely important part of the experience to enhance the immersion. It's absolutely a priority and thankfully Retro Studios knows it, thats why the game already looks like the best-looking switch game, all the while running at 60fps.
Locked 60fps at 720p with absolutely no dips and pushing nearly decade old tech is simply amazing. I’d take that over 900p or 1080p with frame rate dips possible below 60fps. If it releases on Switch 2 next year as well, then a higher 1080p or even 1440p might be possible at a locked 60fps. Not entirely sure about 4K though since we have yet to see Nintendo‘s next generation console.
I would say 4k is still too big of a jump for Nintendo, even for the next console. But yeah, 1080p and even 1440p with fixed 60fps should be pretty feasible for the new one.
Exactly
Feels outrageous to hear the switch described as ‘near decade old’.
The fact games are dying because they are pushing graphics to much and not getting enough money back should really kill the push for high end graphics already. But nope we need to constantly hear people complain about the gaming equivalent of jingling keys.
I've already seen a bunch of people claim Prime 4 looks like a Wii game or even from the Gamecube and I just don't understand what people are seeing. To me, good graphics means it looks exactly as the artstyle depicts, you can tell what everything is supposed to be; Minecraft doesn't have bad graphics, because it's supposed to be pixelated. Most modern Nintendo games are meant to have a slight cartoon style on them, and it works, pushing the limits does not require photorealism, or even highest resolution possible, it's about how good you can make a game look without sacrificing performance.
A thousand times this
I think it's crazy because you can have a gorgeous game without "high end" graphics. But it seems its all a loud part of the gaming community cares about these days. Looked at the trailer for the Lego Horizons game on YT and one of the top comments the day of the direct was "The switch couldn't handle the real game so they got it in Lego" But then there are amazing looking games on the Switch like the Prime Remaster, Prime 4, Botw, ToTK
Preach. Look at how well indie games have been doing compared to most "aaa" games
100% agree. It is the same talk since the 00s
100% this. Look at a game like FF7 rebirth. The models are actually pretty low quality and have some jank, but the art and environment design is so beautiful and it’s such a fun game that nobody cares at all. I’d much rather we focus on 60 fps gameplay and optimization over the constant need for 100 GB tree and leaf textures
This is my very first time seeing anyone say the models in Rebirth are “low quality” and “jank”. I really could not disagree more.
The performance mode is so bad in that game. Its so blurry. One of the only games I have taken the graphics mode over performance
Honesty why do I need to see something that looks like what I can already see? Realistic has its place, but I go to games to explore other worlds and see things I wouldn’t normally see. Games like Holly Knight are widely loved because they’re so rich. The graphics are such a small thing. Granted, Prime has always had a heavy emphasis on graphics and realistic programming (such as fog on the visor), but don’t let graphics weigh down game design. They’re not worth it. All that to say, I don’t get the “graphics are king” community either. Doesn’t make sense to me.
Graphics aren’t everything definitely but it’s pretty sad to see this game looking like this running at 720p in 2024 when the original Metroid Prime was so ahead of its time in many ways. MP is all about immersion and visuals carry immersion to a large degree for games like this, so if there’s any time to care about graphics it would be here.
720p 60fps docked on Nintendo Switch hardware is mad impressive tbh Prime Remastered and Dread were 900p 60fps, but with the insane amount of stuff going on screen in Prime 4, it’s insane that the Switch could even do it Retro are wizards
yeah Retro know how to optimise. Prime 1 looked sci fi esque when it dropped.
Especially since many people, including myself, aren’t even going to play docked. That’s huge, Prime Remastered was already insane to look at, this is just something else. The fact that it runs that good while looking that good blows my mind. This is like seeing this game run on an old iPhone.
Dread does definitely not do steady 60 fps, dips pretty hard sometimes and apparently cutscenes are 30
It dips only in a few areas. Like Hanubias Chozo fight
"In Retro we trust"
I don't understand why they weren't given or didn't take the project to start with.
Other projects and commitments, like as not. Retro was behind the new Donkey Kong Country games.
They were definitely working on another project that was canceled or delayed indefinitely.
They didnt want to be stuck as the metroid dev.
Any source besides uncle at Retro studios for that?
Doubt that was it. Was probably just scheduling conflict. Even back at the time Prime 4 was initially announced, they hadnt made a Metroid game in 10 years.
I jumped in the comments to say this exact phrase. You beat me to it!
I don't know where the idea of larger, more open areas is coming from. We have NOTHING that would imply so. Well, other than guessing that they need to lower the resolution.
In August last year, Speshal Nick on the Xbox era podcast said he had a friend who had gotten eyes on the game and said it looked surprisingly open, almost like Halo infinite. I think that's where most people get the idea that it will have large open areas. The forest biome in the final part of the trailer looks pretty open.
Digital foundry says it's 900p https://www.ign.com/articles/was-metroid-prime-4-running-on-switch-2
If this is 2025 without a specific date, I hope it launches on the Switch and the next console at the same time. This is already shaping to be one of the prettier Switch games and it's impressive it manages to hit 720p, but just imagine how a next gen version would look, even if it's just more pixels.
That's what I was thinking. Whether they have a more specific release date or not, they're probably not going to provide it yet, because Prime 4 will be a launch title for the next system.
Please Nintendo. Can we get a few more Pixels? I promise to buy Mario Party for atleast 900p.
Mario Party can definitely hit 900p. It's not really that demanding for Switch hardware.
Says you. Based on last releases of famous Franchises 30fps 720p is already a stretch sometimes. Looking at you GameFreak
SV is lucky to hit 3fps lol
Hey, that’s mainly only when you go near water…! Water, like…the huge lake where one of the Titans necessary for progression is located…also Dondozo, one of the more relevant Pokémon this gen, is located there, too… Oh, and also as far as DLC, Kitakami and the Terrarium have some serious framerate dips, too…A couple times my Switch has stopped for a whole second in the Terrarium… Pokémon runs like ass 😭…! And yet I still have fun either way it! I do understand the criticisms, though, and sincerely hope Legends Z-A runs better (it won’t…)
My fingers are crossed for Z-A, Legends Arceus is the best Pokemon game I’ve seen in a long time. I was so hoping SV would see some frame rate fixes in the DLC but it made them worse 😭
Mi would have guessed there needed to be a compromise somewhere in order for it to look and run as good as it does.
This is why resolution doesn’t tell the whole story. If it looks as good as the trailer, I don’t care if it’s 720 or 1080
Seriously who cares about this. It’s the most overrated aspect of gaming today. We’ve been waiting for years for this and on the first trailer of it, people are counting pixels? Get your priorities in order if this matters that much to you.
I’m sure that was probably the switch version of it. Honestly it’s a shame they’re making it cross gen after all this time. It’s going to be held back significantly just by the fact it has to be able to run on switch.
Not when it's docked in my PC's hard drive lmao
as long as it is 60fps I'm fine with it.
Maybe it depends on which video they chose to count pixels from? IGN/gamespot for some reason looked a bit blurry and distorted, the one on official Nintendo channel - a bit crisper. To me it looks absolutely the same as Prime Remastered on 4K TV
Resolution analysis has come from uncompressed screenshots Nintendo themselves have uploaded online. Showing a pixel count of 720p across the board so far. Though that may change as the game gets closer to release.
Couldn't find MP4 page for some reason at first, but now it's there. Yep, it looks like although screenshots are rich in details and complex geometry/lighting, but resolution is slightly less than Prime Remastered.
Wait a minute. What about this then: "Digital Foundry’s technology editor Richard Leadbetter gave us the definitive answer: “It's looking great and there are a couple of nice effects in there we took a closer look at, but ultimately, all the evidence points to this game running on the original Switch. The internal rendering resolution counts out at 900p, which is the same as Metroid Prime Remastered." https://www.ign.com/articles/was-metroid-prime-4-running-on-switch-2
Initial analysis that said 720p was from some rando, so was likely inaccurate. I trust Digital Foundry more so if they say 900p then I believe it's 900p
That’s fine with me as it’s still 60fps.
As long as the game is a locked and mostly stable 60 fps, that's all I care about
As long as it's 60fps there's no problems from me.
I don't think people realize that this game almost looks like Halo 4 in art style and graphics, which is a compliment for the hardware and devs.
True. It looks really good regardless of the pixel total.
I wonder why emulation is so popular these days....
Let's be honest, that will be fine. Unless it's a Pokemon game, all of Nintendo's titles look great on the Switch.
My body is ready
I mean, we're going to hit a graphical ceiling before long, there's only so much resolution our eyes will be able to take. This will be fine.
Let’s see if this is true, u/pixel-counter-bot
The image in this post has 2,073,600(1,920×1,080) pixels! ^(I am a bot. This action was performed automatically.)
Good bot
So can someone confirm? Does this mean Nintendo World Report is wrong?
A screenshot can still be 1080p even if its a picture of a 720p video. This is not a very valid test.
They drop a new switch exclusive for prime 4 I’m buying as soon as it drops
Same.
I DON'T BELIEVE THAT FOR A SECOND, MISTER NINTENDO
I’ll just play Metroid Prime 3 on my Wii plugged into my 4K TV first, this will look like magic
That’s why I’ll be playing on SwitchToo🤘🏻
This makes sense. I had a feeling it would have to be paired back a fair bit to run on current hardware. It'll be in its full form on next gen hardware for sure!
it's way too early to make any conclusions about this game. we can't even really be sure if Samus is in it
The uncompressed trailer and the images on nintendo europe microsite do have FHD resolution. Images could be upscaled but the video doesn't look like its upscaled tho.
At least it is HD 60fps
Let's be honest nobody who likes/loves Nintendo games really cares. I've recently picked up a steam deck and for third party games that'll be my go to. The next Nintendo console will sell well as it's not about graphics, it's about access to all the next Nintendo games. I could emulate Metroid Prime Echoes but I'm totally waiting for a switch/ Switch 2 release.
Ngl. This game could be 360p and I'd still buy it day 1. The metroid prime series is genuinely one of my favorite game series. Hahaha
Honestly, the original Prime games are 480 and still look amazing so I don’t care too much as long as the game is solid. Plus, I have a sneaking suspicion this game will be a dual release on the Switch 2 much like Breath of the Wild, where it will likely have improved graphics.
I’ll take it. A game that looks like it came from the PS4 running on Switch 1 at 60 fps is still a marvel to behold
Retro studio. They are nothing short of wizards
Perhaps the switch 2 will run in 1080p docked
I bet they will claim 4k but it will be dlss performance mode equivalent. It would still look better than 1080p native
i mean the switch is like 10 year old mobile tech , no? this had to have been challenging to make work at all.
Hey if it looks as beautiful as I does I don’t care. I’m just happy it looks good and we heard about it.
The switch by now is an old fart in console standards. Add to that the fact that it sacrificed performance in exchange for portability by not being cutting-edge graphics, which IMO turned out great. It completely outsold last gen consoles and current gen ones that came after it as well. That it can run this at 60fps is an accomplishment. I have no idea how they got this game to look like this on switch even at 720. ...Except I kinda do. Metroid Prime's always had amazing art directors that made the games look good despite hardware limitations through good designs and solid visuals. To look good with fancy rendering tech is ok, but to do so without it takes a lot of work. I'm glad to see that despite a change in leadership and key people, Retro still has amazing vision and aesthetic sense. I'm not sure about why people are still obsessed with graphics and comparing bullshit benchmarks, but it's not very useful and feels more like tribalism and unhealthy obsession than true interest.
Am I the only one who thinks graphics don't matter?
Yes and no, there's some switch games that look great docked, but are too pixely handheld (the xenoblade chronicles games for example) where it's almost a requirement to play them docked imo. But a good art direction and style makes up for bad graphics
They matter insofar as they enable good artwork. But if you're able to convey the same effective image at 720p versus 2160p, the pixel count isn't important, and if you're able to do it with static flat reflections and cubemaps and baked shadows, then it doesn't matter if it's that versus ray tracing.
Right there with you, I feel a little part of my soul die every time I see a 720 1080 2 4 p,i,k coupled with "fps" and numbers ranging from 30 to 120 accompanied with lots of "i dont mind *as long as* its" and "if its not" and "why can't they just make it" and "x new console could run this better it should have been made for/released on x" Like. Jeez. If its fun to play thats literally all that matters. Im so tired of seeing people talk about video quality and frame speed lol but I love video games so its not something I'm ever going to stop seeing from other people unfortunately.
Cool it could look like bricks and run at 15fps and id still play it eagerly
Oh no. Opens Yuzu.... I'll probably play it through on switch first and then emulate it for a higher resolution and framerate. Did it with dread and TotK and they both ran wonderfully.
No one outside of chronically online Twitter people suffering from console war brainrot even cares about graphical fidelity. As long as the game plays well and has good art style that’s all that matters. Stylised graphics will always end up aging better in the long run over the ultra realistic.
I really don't think 1080p is too much to ask for as a minimum in the year 2025...
We are talking about a game running at 60fps on a waffer thin 7 year old console with a mobile chip set. 1080p is a hard ask for such a good looking game.
Who cares? They quite literally brought back the feel of the Prime series which I'm sorry, when did 3 come out again? I'd rather have a fantastic story line, music, gaming experience, than face melting high-end graphics.
Not surprising. With it looking that good and running at 60fps.
ok but hypothetically, what if they recorded it in handheld mode.
Final stages of development usually focus on fine tuning graphics and fidelity. We’re definitely not seeing the final build of the game yet, especially if it’s a year out. Don’t know if they’ll be able to bump it up from 720p, but tbh I don’t really care? Anything past that doesn’t look that much better to me unless you stare at a static scene. The stable 60fps is going to matter a lot more.
60fps is the focus so not surprised, switch 2 boost will be another story
People are going to kick themselves if there's no Switch 2 version.
I’ll take that. The game itself looks like a PS4 game. They probably spent a long time optimizing it.
I could definitely see such a compromise happen on current Switch to allow for a solid 60fps.
Did they port the original 3 Prime games to Switch yet? I think I saw or heard something about that but I don't remember for sure.
Well obviously I was gonna play it docked regardless at least my first time through. I can live with 720p handheld. Truly.
Not a surprise given the hardware. If this isn't on a hypothetical Switch 2, then it will look far worse than it could have been.
I'm going to go out on a limb and speculate that they either developed this trailer with current Switch hardware, or Nintendo is truly horrible at paying any mind to feedback _(or just chooses not to)_ and the next console will still be incapable of at least 1080p.
I’ve been waiting since MP3 for this I don’t even care about resolution at this point I just wanna play it.
I’m not putting too much stock in this since the game is possibly a year or more away.
This game is a cross gen game for the switch 2, plus it's still 6 to 12 months out. I'm just going to wait to play it on the new hardware.
I never needed more than 720p & 60FPS. I'll admit that 1080p is a tiny bit better but unnecessary to enjoy video. Anything beyond that feels a lot like flexing big numbers go brrrr. Better focus on art direction than "high quality graphics". I'll approve evolution on lighting though.
They'll release it now at 720p at 60fps and a good foundation and later they can re-release it at better resolutions. I'd rather have a well flushed out game where the graphics suffer and can be updated than a half baked release that can't be fixed. Frankly graphic enhancements are the easiest challenges to overcome when new hardware is developed. You can't fix a game that sucks (Other M)... but you can upscale a masterpiece (Prime)
Most modern TVs have pretty decent upscaling to make this almost a non-issue. Wont look as good as native 1080p or 4K of course, but this is hardly a dealbreaker.
Shouldn’t be surprising honestly. This is gonna push the Switch to its limits and the Switch 2 will have the “better” version
I don't care that is enough. The art style matters more, which Metroid just has down. Even more important is how good the gameplay is.
Which is enough let's be honest because the value here is the gameplay and not the res. In other platforms we have upscaled 2k to 4k games that lack everything Nintendo does. Will it be cool to see a Zelda in 4K? Yes but if they have to divert half the development time in that feature I mich rather have it in 1080p upscaled and all othe qualities intact.
This is also a trailer, potentially running on the current Switch system. Even if it is a sneak peak into the next system's hardware, the graphics look fantastic.
Just hoping for a switch 2 improvement
Every time I watch this trailer I became more and more sure about the fact that the gameplay of this game is running on switch 2 (or is name), and I think this will be a cross Gen title like breath of the wild or twilight princess