The Xbox Series S, which was once dubbed the "sluggish" quality of next-generation games due to its performance limitations, has now unexpectedly received new evaluations. The well-known technical analysis media Shumaoshe recently expressed the view that this lower-performance model owned by Microsoft actually laid an important foundation for the porting of third-party games to Nintendo Switch 2.
Digital Foundry's Oliver Mackenzie explained in the latest podcast that developers have to make many image quality and performance compromises and adjustments in order to make AAA masterpieces run smoothly on Xbox Series S. These honed optimization skills are highly consistent with Switch 2, which has similar hardware characteristics.
He used "Final Fantasy 7 Remake" as an example, pointing out that the graphics presets and performance configurations used by the Switch 2 version of the game are very close to the Xbox Series S version. Digital Foundry even admitted that they often refer to the performance of a certain game on Xbox Series S to estimate its potential to be ported to Switch2.
However, this comparison is not absolutely accurate. Digital Foundry also pointed out that Switch2 is equipped with NVIDIA's DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) technology, which brings it advantages. Even though the overall hardware performance is still weaker than that of Xbox Series S, with the support of DLSS, Switch2 can show better image quality in certain scenarios.
For example, when comparing "Resident Evil: Requiem", Digital Foundry found that the Switch 2 version has a clearer picture, while the Xbox Series S version can run a higher frame rate and has better smoothness.
The Xbox Series S has long been considered a development "nightmare", but its "restrictions" have objectively served as a "training ground" for developers to adapt to low-end hardware.