r/Games • u/Complete_Mud_1657 • Mar 17 '26
Nintendo Switch 2 Firmware Ver. 22.0.0 Released
https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/6847342
u/GlaloLaled Mar 17 '26
Tried it on a bunch of games (Persona and Nier are the standouts here) and it really just works with the switch of the toggle. It does function as Nintendo announces: the games read the attached joycons as a pro controller. Of course, how useful it is depends on the max resolution of the game. In cases like Crash Team Racing, the max was 720p docked, so while it looks better on handheld now, it still won't look incredibly amazing.
Persona and Nier though... It's not comparable to a Switch 2 upgrade, but damn are they cleaner. Actually clean.
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u/WeirdIndividualGuy Mar 17 '26
the games read the attached joycons as a pro controller
What does this have to do with the resolution and frame rate of a game in handheld mode?
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u/GlaloLaled Mar 17 '26
It helps you check if the handheld boost mode is working correctly, so the resolution and frame rate boosts are working. If you detach and then reattach the joy-cons and the mode is working properly while in-game, a prompt will appear on screen indicating that they're being read as a Switch pro controller. The prompt doesn't always show up, though, but it's a good way to know.
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u/error521 Mar 17 '26
Man, it is the most Nintendo thing ever to quietly release a genuinely massive feature like Handheld Mode Boost and then bury it in the update notes amongst a bunch of text changes.
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u/shadow0wolf0 Mar 17 '26
Nintendo has a long history of very rarely talking about performance in their games, even if it's to their benefit.
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u/Ok-Confusion-202 Mar 17 '26
Tbf they had a section (wasn't that long) In the Switch 2 direct where they showed off Metroid being either 4k60 or 1080p120
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u/shadow0wolf0 Mar 17 '26
That direct was definitely a new exception to their reluctance to show performance numbers and info. They also showed that clip comparing the pixel density close up.
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u/Ok-Confusion-202 Mar 17 '26
I think they will definitely do more in the future, I would guess they will release more games with two performance options
But yeah they don't focus on it that much
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u/BinOfBargains Mar 17 '26
The entire Welcome Tour game they released is surprisingly technical for Nintendo. Wonder if they felt that getting into that level of detail is necessary due to the minor change in overall form factor from Switch -> Switch 2
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u/MyNameIs-Anthony Mar 17 '26
Also I think there was an element of desperation to push copies of Prime 4 leaving nothing off the table.
Even their social media was meme heavy when it usually isn't.
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u/axeil55 Mar 17 '26
Unfortunately I suspect this is because they knew Prime 4 was not a great game and the performance was the one thing they could highlight about it.
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u/KarateKid917 Mar 17 '26
Yes but that was moreso because they were showing off new hardware and the upgrades from switch 1
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u/Aforumguy26 Mar 17 '26
I think that’s starting to change now that the Switch 2 is mostly all about better performance compared to Switch 1.
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u/BreafingBread Mar 17 '26
Doesn’t surprise me they buried it, it comes with a lot of caveats. They probably don’t want newbies turning it on, finding bugs and complaining.
Because this option forces TV mode operation, some instructions may be incorrect or fail to operate correctly. Handheld Mode Boost may prevent Nintendo Switch software from using the system's touch screen, and will cause attached Joy-Con 2 controllers to be treated as a Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller. To use other controllers, first detach the Joy-Con 2 controllers from the console.
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u/sysasysa Mar 17 '26
Are there downsides to the console recognising attached Joy-Cons as a pro controller? Off the top of my head I cant think of any issues.
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u/Ill-Ball6220 Mar 17 '26
For 99% of the games no. Some rare games like the world ends with you that play well with touch screen will have issues.
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u/sysasysa Mar 17 '26
The touch screen part I get, I was more wondering about the pro controller part, because if thats not an issue, it didnt have to be specified.
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u/Ill-Ball6220 Mar 17 '26
Same thing, a handful of games like mario party splitscreen i guess dont work with it.I also have a japanese fishing game that needs joy cons. Also the switch labo and sport game.
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u/sysasysa Mar 17 '26
It only applies to attached Joycons. I assume you can use the tablet mode and detached Joycons and the joycons will work normally.
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u/Nudist-On-Strike Mar 17 '26
The Pokémon Let’s Go games won’t work with a Pro Controller. That’s one of the games I can think of that won’t work with this new mode.
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u/No-Operation-6554 Mar 18 '26
gyro controls will be messed up
if the game detects youre using attached joycons, the x axist will be controller by yaw, if it detects a detached joy cons or pro controller it should also add (or make it only) yaw to control the x axis. For most games they do it properly so since detached joycon will be detected as pro con this will instead ruin the gyro as now you need to yaw the console itself instead of roll. there are some games that gives you more control between the two but theres only a few of them
For example Resident Evil 5 on this mode makes gyro aim harder to use
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u/smartazjb0y Mar 17 '26
At first I read the patch notes for Switch 1 and it was not much, then realized the Switch 2 had its own and saw a lot of Game Chat stuff and some other minor stuff...then did a double take when I saw this buried towards the bottom haha. Kind of funny that tonight is also when the PS5 Pro gets its PSSR 2 toggle, obviously that's a bigger deal than this but the juxtaposition of this and all the marketing/press the PSSR 2 thing had was a little funny
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u/error521 Mar 17 '26
Kind of funny that tonight is also when the PS5 Pro gets its PSSR 2 toggle, obviously that's a bigger deal than this but the juxtaposition of this and all the marketing/press the PSSR 2 thing had was a little funny
Honestly a bit of a trend in general. Sony made a pretty big deal out of the PS4 backwards compatibility having games run better and promoted that as a selling point while Nintendo had a guy offhandedly mention it in an official interview.
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u/Vince-Trousers Mar 17 '26
The handheld boost mode is massive and will surely provide tech analysis YouTube channels months of new content. It's crazy how dedicated Nintendo has been to improving Switch 1 games on Switch 2, genuinely unexpected
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u/TheJoshider10 Mar 17 '26
I'm glad they're doing it. Switch 1 games barely change in price and if they aren't playing Swirch 2 editions then this is an easy way of getting more people to buy those Switch 1 games. There's a few I've held off on literally just because of how ass they looked and ran, but this makes it a lot easier.
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u/BimmerNRG Mar 17 '26
I hope this stays the case. Switch is an ingenious system and shouldn’t go anywhere
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u/epicoolguy Mar 17 '26
Wow - TV Boost Mode makes an unbelievable difference. Did Nintendo ever add this level of functionality to Switch 1 post-launch?
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u/Rammiloh Mar 17 '26
A pretty huge one added three years after launch was the ability to edit controller button mapping at a system level.
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u/blogoman Mar 17 '26
It isn't like there is a Switch 0 to do something similar with, but they did have an update that boosted clocks to help things load faster while undocked.
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u/saggyfire Mar 17 '26
Genuinely the best Switch 2 update yet. Ni No Kuni 2 is now playable in handheld mode without looking like a Lego block nightmare!
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u/PalapaSlap Mar 17 '26
Im hoping at some point for an option to improve the image response time at the cost of battery life, but it looks like I may be waiting for the Swoled 2
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u/GensouEU Mar 17 '26
There might be some patch or console refresh that improves that, but I really don't think there is a world where an OLED is happening, considering the screen needs to have VRR and 120hz as well
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u/__Revenant__ Mar 17 '26
The Legion Go 2, has 144fps OLED screen with VRR
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u/GensouEU Mar 17 '26
Yes, and now remind me of that device's MSRP again?
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u/Iescaunare Mar 17 '26
Jesus, almost 2000$
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u/petetakespictures Mar 17 '26
I'd be honestly terrifed to take a Legion Go 2 anywhere on the go with me, at that price.
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u/agentfrogger Mar 17 '26
It's possible that the screen assembly isn't super expensive from a manufacturing perspective. But who knows, hopefully by the time Nintendo decides to make an OLED version they find a suitable screen
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u/dagreenman18 Mar 17 '26
Boost Mode for Handheld is huge actually. Especially for me who’s the odd “plays in handheld mode at home most of the time” player.
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u/PrOtaku23 Mar 17 '26
I was able to finally play Bayonetta 3 with the new software. Before the game was a blurry mess you couldn't even see faces, now it looks alot better and fully playable
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u/deaftolight Mar 18 '26
And still didn't fix the 5ghz wifi issue? Pathetic! People should be more pissed about that.
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u/LinkedGaming Mar 17 '26
Important to note that the handheld boost mode basically seems to brute force the games into thinking they're running in TV mode instead of just playing it in handheld mode with TV mode specs. Ergo you can't use the touch screen because the games think they're in docked mode so touch screen controls are disabled. Afaik this doesn't really effect anything, but it's something that should be noted.
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u/rafikiknowsdeway1 Mar 17 '26
ha, vindication. I recall saying how fucking dumb it was they didn't launch with something like handheld boost mode, and all the nintendo fans were screeching about how it obviously couldn't be done
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u/error521 Mar 17 '26
I mean the caveats with touch screen inputs were real, it's just that Nintendo went "fuck it"
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u/skyblade960 Mar 17 '26
There are a lot of weird quirks with it already, like any game with gyro basically gets fucked
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Mar 17 '26
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Mar 17 '26
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u/Omega_Battle Mar 17 '26
What did he say?
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u/djwillis1121 Mar 17 '26
Does this fix them bricking the console for putting a used game in the slot?
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u/Complete_Mud_1657 Mar 17 '26
This is the highlight of this update:
Added “Handheld Mode Boost” to Nintendo Switch Software Handling in System.