The Nintendo Switch Pro is the console that is making headlines right now, with a series of highly detailed leaks pointing towards a more powerful system loaded with an upgraded OLED display, advanced new Joy-Con controllers and a redesigned docking station.
The Nintendo Switch Pro is also set to deliver 4K graphics when in docked mode, which is something that is coming courtesy of advanced new Nvidia graphics tech capable of both DLSS (Deep learning super sampling) and real time ray tracing.
With both of these technologies at its disposal the Switch Pro will be able to display games in higher resolutions and with better lighting, reflections and shadow-casting effects.
And now we've just got our best look yet at just what classic Nintendo games could look like running on Nintendo Switch Pro equipped with real time ray tracing capabilities, as a very talented modder has hacked ray tracing into the PC port of Super Mario 64. And, well, it looks stunning. Check out the video below:
Pretty impressive, right? This is the work of DarioSamo, who announced that he was opening up his work to the public in early May on Twitter. This means that this version of Sumer Mario 64 with ray tracing is actually available to download and run. You've got to have a PC with a graphics card cable of ray tracing of course, but really other than that anyone will have a system capable of running the 25-year-old platformer.
Apparently, in order to get this to work Dario had to custom add new light sources to the game in order to get the dynamic ray traced lighting to work as the original didn't have them at all. That means that the sun is now an actual light source, a long with things like torches and lamps.
“You can try it out for yourself, but keep in mind this is in a very early state and you'll likely encounter plenty of visual and performance problems,” stated Dario on Twitter, who then also placed the caveat that “I don’t consider this project finished at all, I’d just like to see if more people are interested in contributing.”
Here at T3 we'd love to see this project completed and a full version of Super Mario 64 with real time ray tracing enabled graphics released on PC. However, what we would love to see even more is for an official version of Super Mario 64 with ray tracing released on Nintendo Switch Pro – so let's hope the Japanese gaming firm is working on something similar.
Sure, seeing better lighting in new games on Nintendo Switch Pro would be excellent, and ray tracing in, say, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 would awesome. But equally Nintendo has a huge back catalogue of quality games that would also benefit from improved lighting, shadows and reflections, and a Switch Pro could unlock that.
Fingers crossed then Nintendo is paying attention, and that we get the Nintendo Switch Pro sooner rather than later.
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