The Nintendo Swap 2 might need an AI characteristic you did not see coming

A brand new

AI
-based upscaling system has been patented by

Nintendo
, as spotted by business insider Laura Kate Dale on BlueSky (via Kotaku). Reportedly, this patent was first filed again on July 13, 2023, however has solely simply been revealed in a public method as of December 31, 2024.

Filed within the US below the doc titled ‘Systems and Methods for Machine Learned Image Conversion,’ the patent particulars using neural networks to robotically improve software program visuals utilizing AI algorithms.

AI online game upscalers have grown in style in recent times, as they’re capable of generate further frames of element and determination with out the necessity to closely tax the system’s

graphics processing unit
(GPU). Sony’s

PS5 Pro
comes with its personal proprietary

PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution
(PSSR) tech, and Microsoft’s Auto Super Resolution gives an identical answer for the

Xbox
.

It is fascinating to see Nintendo flirting with the prospect of using AI on this vogue. The flexibility to upscale visuals with out the necessity for brute pressure processing is definitely compelling, as is the potential to make use of the tech to maintain recreation file sizes compact and straightforward to suit on (dear) flash recreation playing cards.

“Maybe essentially the most fascinating piece of this, after a prolonged learn, is that one instance use case given is explicitly to cut back general recreation sizes, to suit a contemporary recreation onto ‘smaller capability bodily media,’ e.g. Swap carts, which get exponentially dearer for bigger cart capacities,” says Dale in a latest BlueSky thread.

Elsewhere, Nintendo has been extra conservative in its method to machine studying than a few of its friends, notably in regard to generative AI. The truth is, the corporate

has explicitly come out in opposition
to the tech getting used for sure recreation growth functions.

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Nintendo Swap

Nintendo’s flagship two-in-one hybrid recreation console, the Swap incorporates a large catalog of first-party, third-party, and indie recreation titles, all in a handy and novel kind issue.

With the Swap successor console nearing launch, Nintendo has its work lower out for it

The Nintendo Swap has confirmed a convincing success, however it’s unclear whether or not the corporate can catch lightning in a bottle but once more

In hindsight, Nintendo’s choice to consolidate each its handheld and its residence console gaming divisions below one roof was a stroke of genius. The corporate has been capable of double down on crafting a single, unified leisure platform, and lifetime sales metrics converse for themselves.

With the successor to the Nintendo Swap, the Japanese gaming large definitely has its work lower out for it. In contrast to with the unique Swap, the corporate now not has a big again catalog of underappreciated

Wii U
titles to make use of as padding throughout content material droughts. What Nintendo does have this time round, nonetheless, is a pre-established on-line storefront within the type of the digital

eShop
.

So as to preserve costs at a palatable degree, in addition to to take care of a considerably cheap battery life metric, I count on the Swap 2 to ship with comparatively modest technical specs. Reportedly, the

Nvidia
Tegra 239 system on a chip (SoC) will function the brains of the operation, which might put the console’s energy output someplace within the ballpark of Sony’s

PlayStation 4 Pro
.

As a compromise, it makes all of the sense on the earth for Nintendo to show to AI-based upscaling tech to boost its next-gen gaming expertise. The corporate has been working intently with Nvidia for a few years now, and so it would not be shocking to see a Swap 2 with, say,

Deep Learning Super Sampling
(DLSS) assist out of the field.

It is unclear whether or not this specific AI upscaling patent is a completely in-house Nintendo know-how, or whether or not it’s going to ever come to fruition in a transport product. In any case, new particulars will seemingly be revealed when the Nintendo Swap successor console is formally introduced before the end of March 2025.

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