Nintendo has a new job opening that seems to all but confirm rumors that have been swirling about the rumored Switch 2.
As shared by Youtuber Switchforce, Nintendo of America has a new job opening at their main base at Redmond, Washington.
The job is for a machine learning data engineer. Machine learning is a specific type of AI, based on computer systems that know how to learn from data. This kind of AI has very specific applications, and clearly Nintendo didn’t need to have such an expert until now. And the reason they need it? DLSS.
This goes all the way back to last week’s rumors that Nintendo demonstrated their Switch 2 hardware at Gamescom. The demos that Nintendo showed off were very impressive, and a lot of that was credited to the use of DLSS.
But, what you may not know, is that DLSS is an acronym, short for deep learning super sampling. Yes, DLSS is actually machine learning. And the way Nvidia has designed the technology is technically impressive, because it scales to accommodate both weak and powerful PC builds, as long as the end user has a DLSS compatible Nvidia GPU connected.
The description and details in the job listing also help shed light on what Nintendo is looking for. Here is what Nintendo says they need on the listing:
“We at Nintendo are looking for a Data Engineer to help with integration of machine learning technologies on low-power embedded platforms. You will be working at the intersection of machine learning inference engines and embedded systems, facing challenges that stem from processing and memory constraints and a power budget.
Tasks include, but are not limited to, porting of machine learning frameworks to embedded platforms, evaluation and benchmarking of machine learning hardware solutions, selection and optimization of machine learning models to fit power, memory, and CPU budgets.
DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES:
- Design, develop and maintain a formal framework for validating and benchmarking machine learning solutions.
- Perform evaluations of machine learning hardware.
- Research, evaluate, analyze and optimize machine learning models.”
As you can see, Nintendo is already setting expectations on what their next console will be. While we already expect it to be more powerful than the original Nintendo Switch, Nintendo still describes it as a low-power embedded platform. For those who don’t know, embedded in this context means that the hardware Nintendo is using has been designed for exactly one function. Of course, we know that function will be to game.
Nintendo’s description also hints at work the company will do behind the scenes to balance out optimization of future Nintendo games. In their words, Nintendo wants to make use of the machine learning tech in such a way as “to fit power, memory, and CPU budgets.”
So Nintendo hasn’t changed as a company, but the tech has changed around them to give them a huge advantage. Instead of making games from the ground up to run on Nintendo’s platforms, third parties like Activision can port their games to Nintendo’s platforms properly. These games may still perform better on PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X|S, but they will be actually feasible to port in full to the hypothetical Switch 2.