Wishing A 4K Switch Into Existence.

You'd think it'd stop after a while.

Nintendo has denied for the better part of a year a 4k switch version. The media at large got egg on their faces when the OLED was announced, no more than a Switch with a new screen type. That seemed to be the end of it all, but no, someone has to keep the fire burning.

This time, it seems to be beyond the putrid bottom of the barrel that is gaming media. The newest contender? Bloomberg, who claims that 4K dev kits have already been sent out to developers. Surprisingly, it seems that Nintendo saw fit to reply formally to this nonsense on their Twitter account.

A news report on Sept. 30, 2021(JST) falsely claims that Nintendo is supplying tools to drive game development for a Nintendo Switch with 4K support. To ensure correct understanding among our investors and customers, we want to clarify that this report is not true. We also want to restate that, as we announced in July, we have no plans for any new model other than Nintendo Switch – OLED Model, which will launch on October 8, 2021.

That is perhaps the most definitive smackdown of this rumor, or perhaps any rumor, I've seen. And quick, too. You'd think this would have stopped by now. However, it seems that speculation, not facts, are what move the needle. Why is it that this continues to be a rumor? Because the Switch doesn't perform as well on western-developed 3rd party games? Those aren't exactly going to be on Nintendo hardware that much anyway. While Japanese 3rd parties seem to be making a home on the Switch more and more with every passing year (owing as much to Japanese commuter culture as anything else), western developers haven't given Nintendo systems all that much thought in the last 20 or so years. I mean, yeah, we had that brief moment of Wii shovelware, but the lion's share of development has been on Sony and Microsoft's consoles, and t here's nothing to suggest that Nintendo joining the arms race would remedy that situation.

However, I think we all know the real reason for this rumor. The internet has turned media into a cesspool of click-chasing. Who cares if it makes sense, if it would help Nintendo in their business, or even if it's just straight up untrue? "Nintendo Switch 4K coming!" makes for great clickbait. Engagement is the name of the game, even if you're hated.

And the sad part? When the inevitable next Switch console comes out, these tools will feel vindicated, and we'll likely see "[New Nintendo System] 8K coming!" within months of the new system coming out. Taking advantage of the inevitability of new hardware is a great way to never be seen as "technically" lying, even while media's lying their asses off.

Strap yourselves in, people. It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

Forget a 4K Switch, it won’t happen. It will need a massive CPU upgrade, a huge battery and therefore a gigantic price hike.

And yes the media lies…more clicks, more adverts, more money!

They need that money to fund the free canteen in the office, yep Bloomberg reporters eat lunch for free.

@kadin_kai: Seriously? They eat lunch for free over there? Damn, that's a hell of a racket if you can get into it.

@YukoAsho: Yup and the canteen is excellent! But you have to pass the psychometric tests before the next six stages.

Oh I just checked they moved to a new premises in 2017 and got rid of the canteen.

Ah shame…

Nintendo is developing a 4k console, it just won't be the "Switch."

Anyone who believes otherwise is just being silly.

I really don't care for 4K in general like that. I do have a high-end PC that's capable of playing 4K games but I'm always gonna be a fan of 1440p/60fps+ and more performance is more important to me than raw graphics but that's besides the point. I never thought about 4K Switch model like at all, I want better performance on the next-gen Nintendo console but yeah, the media will take any rumors and gush it into making it click-bait article is what you will see but always take ever rumor with a grind of salt and always lower your expectations.

Not even the Steam Deck isn't capable of a 4K handheld so that says something if anyone thinks a 4K Switch is happening.

Every one of the console makers is working on the next generation as soon as the previous is coming out. That's obvious.

HOWEVER, I'm not entirely convinced Nintendo wants to hop onto 4K just yet. They're not in the business of $400+ machines, and it wouldn't really help enhance the sorts of games they make. If they move beyond 1080p for the next console, I'd not be surprised if they focused more on 1440p/60.

Don't need 4K.

1080p/60 fps OLED display with docking for 1440p/60.

4K/60 would be nice, but it'll never happen.

Not until 2034, by then the PS7 will have 16K/60 or 8K/240

4K gaming is still pretty much a gimmick. Just because you spent over a grand on a new TV doesn't mean console makers have to revise their hardware so you won't feel like you got ripped off. Even the 4K you get in PS5 and XSX is just upscaled anyway.

Things I'd rather have before 4K:

• More frames
• Stable frame rate
• Further draw distances
• More details
• Higher-quality models
• Better lighting, ray-tracing

4K is such a waste of compute resources. We're talking about a budget tablet... 4K can get fucked. Use DLSS or your display's internal upscaling. I don't need to look at 8M pixels if they're gonna be low-quality bc the dev follows dumb trends by trying to max resolution.

Obv the Switch successor should support 4K as an output resolution, but the notion of running games at that resolution is laughable and I hope they don't get caught up in the marketing BS we are all forced to endure.

Yup, these people who bought into the hype without putting much thought into it fail to realize that to increase resolution, you have to decrease all of that. Most new releases are already only 30FPS on 4K. Draw distances, detail, etc will be reduced. They're promoting last gen graphics with more pixels than next gen graphics with fewer. Anyone who tells you they're getting a screen door effect with 1080P is talking out their ass as well.

Well there's your problem. You're paying less for your TV than I spend on a gaming monitor. If you didn't go for the lowest, bottom barrel quality in a TV set you wouldn't have issues. And if you're only spending $250K on 4K, I doubt you spent that much more on 1080p. So as per usual, you're making up nonsense to protect your ego from realizing you fell for marketing.

@eoten: Stupid question, what is a "screen door effect"?

When you're close enough to the screen to see the spaces in between pixels. And no, the space between pixels usually doesn't get larger as screen size gets larger either. It'd be very hard to notice on any television of any size unless your face is right up to it, or of a very, very, low quality. You hear about it most with VR where your eyes are an inch or two from the LCD. In fact, it just goes to show he who claims to see a screen door effect on his 1080p television is just full of shit, or at best, doesn't know what he's talking about.

A 4K Switch would go against what Nintendo is aiming for. My opinion is that it would also be extremely unnecessary.

Hopefully they don't target 4K with their next machine.

Aah, more proof he's making shit up. Just because the per pixel size of a 1080P monitor is larger for a given screen size doesn't mean the spacing in between each pixel is going to be any larger. He assumed everything is just scaled up and that would be a valid point to make, but it just shows how completely ignorant he is on the topic. Unless he was sitting about 6 inches from a 40+ inch screen, he isn't seeing the spaces between pixels. There are over 2 million pixels on a 1080P display.

Another point to high light he's talking out his ass is 4x is only a 2x integer upscale of 1080p. That means a 4K pixel is only going to be half the height or width of a 1080P pixel. The differences between both images in the image he just posted is significantly greater than that.

This highlights how credulous the people who bought into 4K marketing actually is. Besides, even PS5 and XSX aren't rendering in 4K, they're rendering at lower resolutions and then upscaling (stretching) the image so people who spend only $250 on a TV won't have to suffer from significant display lag from having their TV's bargain bin internal upscaler to the stretching for them.

The 4K fanboys out there trying to force this crap on the rest of the gaming community should at the very least learn the difference between render resolution and scaled output.

You lost this one. And what a pixel looks like under a microscope isn't even remotely relevant unless that's how you prefer to view your screens. You bought into marketing. There's nothing wrong with that, many people do. The shame is in doubling down to try to protect your ego and score a W.

Until they release graphically superiour switch that will have exsclusives (it doesn't have to be called switch), I won't be replacing my first version switch anytime soon.

Agreed. So well said. Also, 4k seems like such a waste when half the time you're using a tiny screen.

1080p@60 would be enough.