Endless Ocean Luminous – it definitely doesn’t run at 240fps (Nintendo)
A mysterious change to one of Nintendo’s graphics engines includes features the Switch can’t even use – but what about the Switch 2?
Although there’s still no official information about Nintendo’s next console, nicknamed the Switch 2 by fans, there are two upcoming events that may provide the first clues as to what it really is.
Nintendo hasn’t confirmed it yet, but it’s very likely they’ll have their traditional not-E3 Nintendo Direct in June and then even if that doesn’t happen there’s the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) on June 23 – where they’re likely to give at least some hints as to their future plans.
In the meantime, all there is rumours, although since this one is based on information datamined from the recent Endless Ocean Luminous it’s not so much a question of whether it’s true but what exactly it means.
Datamining – i.e. going through a game’s code to look for secret references – is a tried and tested method of getting advance information and is what most leaks for live service games like Fortnite are based on, which is why they always turn out to be true.
In this case though it was the recently released Endless Ocean Luminous which revealed unexpected secrets, in its new version of Nintendo’s popular Bezel Engine – which is used for both first and third party games on the Switch.
The Bezel Engine tends to get used on lower tech games, such as Mario Party and WarioWare, so it’s not exactly a rival to Unreal Engine, but dataminers have found that the new version of the engine used in Luminous now includes support for frame rates up to 240fps and VRR (variable refresh rate).
This is peculiar because the Switch only supports up to 60fps and even if some programming wizard did manage to get it a bit higher, no current game has ever approached 240fps.
The new version of the Bezel Engine shows that support for higher frame rates is only possible once the frame rate is change from fixed to variable, which is not something the engine used to allow. But since it’s still not something the Switch can take advantage of the obvious assumption is that it’s actually intended for the Switch 2.
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It is possible that this is a version of the engine that was originally intended for the supposedly cancelled Switch Pro.
However, those rumours would have had the upgrade console being released several years ago and yet this new version of Bezel Engine has only appeared now – just months before the supposed launch of the Switch 2.
Assuming that is what the changes are being aimed at, what that implies about the potential power of the new console is very encouraging. Especially since Bezel is a purposefully low-fi graphics engine and it’s likely that other engines, for Nintendo’s more high priority games, will be even more advanced.
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