this post was submitted on 22 Mar 2024
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Gaming
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That's so weird. This isn't about Nintendo hardware sucking: it's running on an actual Nintendo Switch, except instead of it using the Switch's OS and it running the game, it goes Linux -> Emulator (yuzu) -> game (running from an actual cart through a dumper) and somehow that's faster.
It's a software issue.
Is it the Nintendo Switch OS which is needlessly bloated? It does nothing, how can it be heavier than an actual Linux Distribution?
I'm not familiar with how the Switch works, but the dumper has a FPGA for decoding the cartridge. Is this something that the Switch has to do in real time in software, and maybe that's where the performance loss comes from? It seems unlikely but I know nothing of the Switch's internals or software. In fact let's just say I know nothing at all, I'm just an idiot.
PS: Everyone who buys used Switch games should see this until the end. The dumper allows you to extract a certificate file from a cartridge. Basically, someone malicious could buy a new game, dump it including the certificate file, clone it, and resell the game. Then they would be able to play online with it. If you buy the original copy afterwards and play online, you are likely going to be the one whose certificate is flagged as fake, leading to you being banned.
Also, they could just sell multiple copies of cloned games and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference... Except for the certificate, which would be the same and would signal Nintendo that you (and like 10 other people) are playing a fake game, unbeknownst to you.
The switch natively can tune the performance, which you might notice going from docked to handheld mode and seeing the quality dip.
The emulated setup is probably bypassing some of this, which would likely have a "safety" zone it never leaves to make sure the performance is always smooth and the battery isn't being drained too fast, and it's likely pretty conservative.
The Quest 3 does the same thing and using some tools, you can adjust the hidden visual settings of a game to make it look better or run faster at the cost of some more heat and battery usage. Natively, it really holds back what it will allow the software to do with the hardware because it's focused more on battery life, and cranking up, say, Wrath of Asgard 2, you might only get an hour of battery but it looks and runs way better.
Yeah, the switch has an entire core locked off and everything is downclocked to improve battery life and control temperatures. No doubt this emulation gives everything more clock cycles (and perhaps an extra core?). Probably very short on battery and possibly very hot too.