Activision: Nintendo's next console is close to PS4/Xbox One in terms of power

[John Elden Ring]

More juicy information has emerged from the FTC v. Microsoft courtroom battle, with Activision boss Bobby Kotick sharing some tidbits about Nintendo’s next-gen console.

It’s no secret that a new Nintendo platform has been in the works as the company isn’t going to sit on Switch forever. According to Kotick, it will be close to Gen 8 power – or the PlayStation 4 / Xbox One, in other words.

Kotick has been having email exchanges with Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa. In one message, Kotick mentioned that the Switch successor has “closer alignment of Gen 8 platforms”.

This came about during courtroom proceedings over whether Call of Duty could be ported to Switch or the next Nintendo console. Kotick said in response:

“Given closer alignment of Gen 8 platforms and our previous offerings on PS4 and Xbox One, it’s reasonable to assume we can make something compelling for NG [next-gen] Switch as well.”

Kotick was also asked if Activision would release Call of Duty games on future Nintendo hardware if the Microsoft acquisition deal falls through. That prompted him to say that “it’s possible” and the company would “consider the specs.” Kotick would go on to say that Activision would need detailed specs to consider future plans. Few details from the emails between Activision and Nintendo were made known, so it’s unclear how much was shared between the two about the Big N’s next-gen platform.

 

[Alabtrosmyster]

This is a pretty wide range of performance.

I hope it does well.

 

[KnittedKnight]

Was hoping for Xbox Series S type of attempt. Meh.

 

[Airbus]

This is pathetic and laughable from nintendo if this leak is true

 

[flaccidsnake]

It's obvious that the next switch will be a fair bit lower than PS4 performance. If Steam Deck is comparable to PS4, the Switch 2 will be significantly smaller, with double the battery and far lower cooling requirements. We're looking at probably a 10w chipset.

Even with Nvidia and ARM efficiencies it's not going to be PS4 performance. With modern upscaling it'll be close enough, still a big upgrade. But people are setting their expectations way too high.

 

[Swift_Star]

Don’t care as long as games are good looking and run well. Or at least that devs optimize and develop the games properly for it.

 

[Systemshock2023]

Seems good enough to me. But they need to pair it with system wide DLSS3 and 16 GB of memory.

I'd argue everything else it's what's hard to guess. BC program? Controller? Screen? That's as important as power to me. Xbox and PS controllers are great out of the box while Nintendo makes you buy a "pro" controller if you want to do something crazy like playing a fighting game.

 

[Entropi]

Not bad for a 7W device I think.

 

[Danja1187]

That's perfect actually. PS4 was already the sweet spot graphically...

 

[Zzero]

I've been arguing this for years. Its just like how the Wii was a better Xbox and the Wii U was a better 360. Sadly, with portability and price as factors, and a change in the required input to get specs, we'll probably have to settle for a worse PS4 rather than a better one.

 

[Swolf712]

Massive disappointment, but it's Nintendo, so I'm not surprised.

I still remember when so many people were insistent on the new Nintendo console (which wound up being the Switch) matching the Xbox One X in power, doing 4K gaming, leaving the PS4 Pro in the dirt. Boy, did everyone pull a 180 once the actual specs dropped.

 

[PlacidusaX]

Not a trustworthy leaker.

 

[Muddasar]

This is pathetic and laughable from nintendo if this leak is true

Steamdeck power range.

 

[Vertigo]

Not surprising. It’s a handheld. I’ll take it. Zelda would look great with hdr and better res. I’m fine with a switch performance bump.

Don’t really expect much. It’s Nintendo.

 

[Hezekiah]

Truly pathetic. They'll probably charge £350 and suckers will still line up for it.

 

[Vertigo]

Truly pathetic. They'll probably charge £350 and suckers will still line up for it.

Those same idiots will tell you that it’s actually the start of the next gen too. Because Nintendo.

Meanwhile it’s gonna be an underpowered handheld a decade behind in gaming technology.

 

[Shmunter]

Not as a handheld it won’t be. Battery reality is a bottleneck

 

[Vertigo]

Not as a handheld it won’t be. Battery reality is a bottleneck

Fair enough. I don’t use it as a handheld. It’s more a super gameboy for me.

it would be nice if they had a home version this time… I don’t need a handheld so that’s an extra waste of money. The controller gimmicks etc have never been a good excuse.

 

[Alabtrosmyster]

Not as a handheld it won’t be. Battery reality is a bottleneck

Hopefully they'll offer a living room variant this time around. I never got a switch because it became too expensive for what it is when you account that you need a pro controller and extra storage from the get go.

Nvme drives are a dime a dozen these days, so put a decent amount of memory in the console.

 

[Shmunter]

Fair enough. I don’t use it as a handheld. It’s more a super gameboy for me.

it would be nice if they had a home version this time… I don’t need a handheld so that’s an extra waste of money. The controller gimmicks etc have never been a good excuse.

I agree, or at the very least have the dock be an egpu or something.