Donkey Kong Bananza doesn't use Switch 2's frame rate-boosting DLSS tech, joining Mario Kart World in dodging what we thought would be one of the console's defining features
One of the biggest Nintendo Switch 2 features announced in the run-up to the system's launch was its support for Nvidia's DLSS upscaling technology, promising "10x the graphics performance" of the previous console. But while you normally expect first-party games to offer the best showcase of console-defining features, it seems Nintendo is content to let third-parties make the most of DLSS, because the tech is nowhere to be seen in Mario Kart World or the impending Donkey Kong Bananza.
"The Switch 2 supports technologies such as DLSS, and we've seen them in numerous games," as Digital Foundry's John Linneman says in a tech analysis of Donkey Kong Bananza. "But Nintendo does not take advantage of it at all. Instead, we simply have this combination of AMD's FSR1 with SMAA, a post-process anti-aliasing. I'll admit it, the image quality is decent. But seriously, FSR1 again? Come on, Nintendo, we can do better than this."
We've got a big breakdown for you if you need AI upscaling explained, but the basic idea is that the console renders a low-resolution version of the game with improved performance, and that render is then upscaled to a higher resolution through a separate technology. In an ideal situation, you might get the smooth performance of running a game at 1080p combined with the visual detail of a native 4K image.
DLSS uses specialized hardware for upscaling in one of the rare useful applications of AI tech. FSR1 is hardware agnostic - in fact, it even worked on Switch 1 - and as a result, produces far less impressive results. Linneman notes that in DK Bananza, the FSR1 and SMAA combo still has a fair bit of visual noise, which DLSS likely wouldn't have produced.
I'll admit that I took absolutely no notice of any visual issues while playing through the game for our Donkey Kong Bananza review, but I have to wonder if DLSS might have also helped clean up the frame rate issues that I did find distracting. Both Mario Kart World and DK Bananza started life as Switch 1 games, which may explain why they've each got a foot in the technological past, so I hope Nintendo's future first-party titles can take a bit better advantage of Switch 2's new features.
Dig into the best Switch 2 games out there.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 minutes ago
- Yahoo
China summons chip giant Nvidia over alleged security risks
Chinese internet authorities summoned Nvidia on Thursday to discuss "serious security issues" over some of its artificial intelligence (AI) chips, as the US technology giant finds itself entangled in trade tensions between Beijing and Washington. Nvidia is a world-leading producer of AI semiconductors, but the United States effectively restricts which chips it can export to China on national security grounds. A key issue has been Chinese access to the "H20", a less powerful version of Nvidia's AI processing units that the company developed specifically for export to China. The California-based firm said earlier this month that it would resume H20 sales to China after Washington pledged to remove licensing curbs that had halted exports. But the firm still faces obstacles -- US lawmakers have proposed plans to require Nvidia and other manufacturers of advanced AI chips to include built-in location tracking capabilities. And on Thursday, Beijing's top internet regulator said it had summoned Nvidia representatives to discuss recently discovered "serious security issues" involving the H20. The Cyberspace Administration of China said it had asked Nvidia to "explain the security risks of vulnerabilities and backdoors in its H20 chips sold to China and submit relevant supporting materials". The statement posted on social media noted that, according to US experts, location tracking and remote shutdown technologies for Nvidia chips "are already matured". The announcement marked the latest complication for Nvidia in selling its advanced products in the key Chinese market, where it is in increasingly fierce competition with homegrown technology firms. - Nvidia committed - CEO Jensen Huang said during a closely watched visit to Beijing this month that his firm remained committed to serving local customers. Huang said he had been assured during talks with top Chinese officials during the trip that the country was "open and stable". "They want to know that Nvidia continues to invest here, that we are still doing our best to serve the market here," he said. Nvidia this month became the first company to hit $4 trillion in market value -- a new milestone in Wall Street's bet that AI will transform the global economy. New hurdles to the firm's operation in China come as the country's economy wavers, beset by a years-long property sector crisis and heightened trade headwinds under US President Donald Trump. Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for the country to enhance self-reliance in certain areas deemed vital for national security -- including AI and semiconductors -- as tensions with Washington mount. The country's firms have made great strides in recent years, with Huang praising their "super-fast" innovation during his visit to Beijing this month. ll-pfc/mjw/fox Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
CNBC
5 minutes ago
- CNBC
OpenAI spearheads one of Europe's biggest data centers with 100,000 Nvidia chips
OpenAI on Thursday said it is launching a Stargate-branded AI data center in Norway, marking its first foray into Europe with such a project. British firm Nscale will design and build the site as part of a 50-50 joint venture with Norwegian energy infrastructure firm Aker. OpenAI will be a so-called "off-taker" in the project, meaning it will effectively buy capacity from the data center. The site aims to deliver 100,000 NVIDIA graphics processing units (GPU) by the end of 2026, "with the intention to expand significantly in the years ahead," OpenAI said in a press release. The companies said the data center will run entirely on renewable power and have 230 megawatts of capacity, making it one of the biggest in Europe. Nvidia's GPUs have become the de facto choice of chips for data centers because of their ability to handle large AI workloads. For the Norway project, Nscale and Aker have each committed around $1 billion to the initial 20MW phase of the project. The site will be located in Kvandal, just outside Narvik in northern Norway. The companies said the region is characterized by "abundant hydropower, low local electricity demand, and limited transmission capacity." Stargate was initially launched this year in the U.S. as an infrastructure project between OpenAI, Oracle, Japan's SoftBank, and the UAE's MGX. The project aims to invest $500 billion over the next four years, building out AI infrastructure. OpenAI has looked to take this initiative globally. In June, the company and its partners announced plans to build a Stargate campus in the UAE. Europe has meanwhile been pushing the concept of "sovereign AI," requiring data centers and AI workloads to be located and processed on European soil. Companies like Nvidia and OpenAI have also been touting their ability to deliver sovereign AI as they look to expand their businesses. In a trip to Europe this year, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang urged the continent to build more AI infrastructure. French AI company Mistral announced plans to use Nvidia's GPUs in a new data center planned for France.
New York Times
5 minutes ago
- New York Times
China Summons Nvidia Over ‘Backdoor Security' Risks of A.I. Chips
China's internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China, announced on Thursday that it had summoned Nvidia to explain security risks associated with one of its artificial intelligence chips developed for the Chinese market. The regulator said it had requested that Nvidia explain 'backdoor security risks associated with its H20 computing chips sold to China and submit relevant supporting documentation,' citing information it said had been revealed by 'U.S. artificial intelligence experts' that the company's chips could be shut down remotely or used to track a user's location. The H20 has been at the center of the increasingly heated contest between the United States and China for primacy over artificial intelligence. Earlier this month, Nvidia's chief executive, Jensen Huang, persuaded the Trump administration to lift an earlier ban on sales of the chip to China, in a remarkable reversal of a yearslong effort by officials in Washington to slow Beijing's technological and military progress. Mr. Huang met in recent weeks with senior officials in both Washington and Beijing, where he repeated his argument that American technology companies must do business in China to stay competitive. Former top officials in the administration of President Joseph R. Biden Jr. have warned that allowing Nvidia to sell the chips in China could set Chinese companies up to gain an irreversible dominance over artificial intelligence. The H20 is not Nvidia's most powerful chip, but it is coveted by Chinese companies for use in artificial intelligence systems. The reversal comes at a crucial time when Chinese A.I. companies are working to improve their technology and catch up to American rivals. China accounted for $17 billion of Nvidia's revenue during its last fiscal year, according to the advisory firm Bernstein Research, and Mr. Huang has previously said that the company expected to sell billions of dollars of chips in China this year. In Beijing earlier this month, Mr. Huang declined to estimate exactly how many H20 chips would now be sold in China. Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Siyi Zhao contributed research from Beijing.
