"Mario Kart 9 Glimpse Hints at Significantly More Powerful Nintendo Switch 2, Developer Says"

The recent grand unveiling of the Nintendo Switch 2 has left fans buzzing with excitement, yet the silence around its technical capabilities has been palpable. While the new Joy-Cons, a revamped kickstand, and a larger form factor have been showcased, the actual power of the Switch 2 remains a mystery—until now. A brief glimpse of Mario Kart 9 in the reveal video has sparked speculation, and indie developer Jerrel Dulay of Sungrand Studios, known for his work on the Wii U and 3DS, has provided insights into what this means for the Switch 2's performance.

Mario Kart 9 - First Look

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Dulay analyzed the Mario Kart 9 footage shown in the Switch 2 trailer, suggesting that it hints at the console's advanced capabilities. He noted the use of "physically-based shaders" on cars and other textures, which enhance realism through reflections and lighting effects. According to a late 2023 report by Digital Foundry, the Switch 2 is rumored to house the Nvidia T239 ARM mobile chip, boasting 1536 CUDA Cores—a significant leap from the original Switch's Tegra X1 with only 256 CUDA cores.

"Every single piece of geometry I see here is using physically-based rendering for the shaders," Dulay remarked. He highlighted that such complex shaders strained the original Switch's hardware, often leading to drops in framerate. Additionally, the Mario Kart footage showcased material reflections from the ground and other elements, further demonstrating the Switch 2's enhanced capabilities.

Dulay also pointed out the high-resolution ground textures, which are demanding on system resources. "Ground textures, because they take up so much space, they are something that will have to be high-resolution," he explained. The original Switch's 4GB of RAM pales in comparison to the rumored 12GB in the Switch 2, supported by leaks showing two SK Hynix LPDDR5 modules. Although the specific speed of these RAM modules remains undisclosed, they could potentially operate at speeds up to 7500MHz, offering a substantial increase in efficiency over the original Switch's 1600MHz when docked.

This increased RAM capacity and speed suggest that texture loading in the new Mario Kart could be significantly faster, allowing for a higher number of unique, high-resolution textures. "It’s not that they’re just high-resolution, but there’s a high number of unique textures being used," Dulay added, indicating that the Switch 2 could support visually richer games.

Dulay also identified "true volumetric lighting" in the Mario Kart teaser, a feature that's notoriously demanding on GPUs. "It takes into account the distance, the height, you can have certain areas be more dense, you can have light rays," he explained. The inclusion of volumetric lighting at a smooth 60 frames per second in the trailer underscores the Switch 2's advanced capabilities.

"This is a massive deal, this is the most important part of the reveal trailer to me," Dulay emphasized, noting that volumetric lighting was a significant challenge on the original Switch. He also observed shadows at far distances in the trailer, another computationally intensive feature that was limited on the original console due to hardware constraints.

The combination of the Switch 2's enhanced CUDA cores, increased RAM capacity, and faster RAM speed seems to alleviate these challenges, allowing developers to push the boundaries of what's possible on Nintendo's new console. Dulay highlighted the onscreen textures, high poly-count characters, and real-time cloth physics on flagpoles as evidence of a substantial power increase over the 2017 Switch.

As anticipation builds for more details on the Nintendo Switch 2, Dulay's analysis provides a fascinating glimpse into its potential graphical prowess. Nintendo has scheduled a dedicated Direct in April to showcase more about the Switch 2, and until then, you can stay updated with all of IGN’s Switch 2 coverage right here.