Surprised this hasn't been posted, it's already been a few days.
The latest Switch 2 update adds handheld boost mode. Basically Switch 1 games will be forced into docked mode on the Switch 2 handheld mode. It's a toggle so games that have issues can be turned off. Too bad it's a system wide setting rather than per game. https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a...
I tried a few games and they look so much better running at a higher resolution. It's not as good as the free patches that unlock framerate and increase resolution but it's better than nothing, especially 3rd party games that will never be updated for Switch 2.
I remember ages ago hearing one of the guys on the DF Podcast saying how nice it'd be if you could do this. My inner voice was saying 'I bet that never happens'. Well, I was thankfully wrong!
It's a great feature for the many games which won't ever get an update. Fingers crossed we do get more of those though (and not the way Xenoblade Chronicles X did it!).
I hope this gets coverage soon. It;s gone under the radar with DF due to all the hullaballoo about DLSS5, but it's a brilliant feature.
It's also unusual for Nintendo to offer a feature that relies on the audience to understand negative consequences (disabling touch screen, reducing battery life), and have it buried deep down in the settings menu. I think there is residual nervousness, hence why there was no fanfare.
@jubilee64 It is in this week's Direct, though I have not had the time to watch it yet, so that might give a bit of idea of what coverage Oliver might produce for it, as he is the switch man.
Doesn't feel like a particularly useful feature, considering how it only affects the one way of using the Switch where you would value battery life over visuals. If you're at all concerned about image quality you wouldn't even be playing in handheld mode anyway, the Switch 2 has a terrible screen.
Mileage varies, but it can give a pretty nice bump to some third party titles. Between Burnout Paradise, Ezio Collection and RE6, I noticed the latter in particular looking pretty dang nice from what I've tried, (frame rate's still all over the place though).
It does absolutely murder the battery life, but I appreciate having the option there.
@Hustler_One probably to future proof it when the Switch 2 OLED launches in a few years with a bigger battery and more power efficient SOC when Nintendo eventually moves down to Samsung's 4nm or better.
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Topic: Switch 2 Handheld boost mode
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