The missing pieces of the puzzle did eventually come into view through software development material being leaked shortly before Switch 2's launch date.  The GPU is clocked at 561Mhz in portable mode, delivering a theoretical 1.7 Tflops of shader performance.  In docked mode, the clock speed increased to 1Ghz, delivering a theoretical 3.1 Tflops of shader performance.  As was the case with measuring performance by bits in the early days of consoles, comparing flops performance between different GPU's is not a one to one comparison, but should be treated as a ball park approximation for performance.  The CPU turned out to be the ARM A78C variant with eight total cores clocked at 1Ghz.  On paper, this could be raise some of eyebrows as it offers double the CPU cores as the Tegra X1, but running at the same low 1Ghz clock speeds as the A57 CPU cores in the Tegra X1.  The performance is not simply a 2x thanks to twice as many cores, but thanks to the increased IPC (instructions per clock), each A78C is roughly twice as performant as the A57 CPU cores.  Resulting in roughly a 4x increase in CPU performance over the original Switch.  Thanks to the much faster 12 GB of LPDDR5X memory coupled to a larger 128bit memory bus compared to the 64 bit memory bus on the Tegra X1, memory bandwidth limitations are far less severe.  

DLSS, a well established and respected upscaling technology developed by Nvidia created a lot of buzz for Switch 2 leading up to its full reveal.  Would DLSS be the magic bullet that has Switch 2 games running in 4K?  The short answer is no.  The rendering cost of DLSS is real and this wasn't something that was well understood early on.  Digital Foundry put out a video detailing just how demanding DLSS can be for a low spec Ampere based GPU all the way back in November of 2023.  Reality quickly set in, DLSS would not offer a free lunch and using DLSS to scale all the way to 4K seemed unlikely.  Switch 2 supports two different versions of DLSS, the CNN model commonly used on PC and a custom variant commonly referred to as DLSS Lite.  DLSS Lite is inferior to DLSS CNN, but requires roughly half the rendering cost of the CNN model.  The primary blemish for DLSS Lite is a notable amount of aliasing for objects in motion.  DLSS Lite does seemingly still outperform AMD's FSR2 and FSR3 which tend to resolve with more artifacting and ghosting.  DLSS, CNN and Lite, are terrific tools for developers that allow them render at low resolutions and still deliver good image quality.  However, its not the 4K magic bullet that some were expecting or hoping for.  1080p and 1440p will be far more common resolutions for DLSS on Switch 2.  

VRR is currently only supported in portable mode, implementing NVidia's Gysnc.  This is a terrific feature that allows games with a variable framerate (40-60fps standard VRR range) to look far smoother with less judder.  Without VRR, many users would prefer a consistent 30fps update rather than a variable one that floats in the 40s and 50s, but thanks to VRR, developers can choose to leave it uncapped offering increased responsiveness without the off putting judder.  Switch 2 does not currently support VRR in docked mode, but thanks to some experiments that have been done with Steam Deck using the Switch 2's dock, we know that its technically possible.  Hopefully this is implemented in a future firmware update.    

Switch 2 does come equipped with Ray Tracing cores  in the GPU, however, there is a very limited number of them.  I do believe we will see some games utilize them for hardware accelerated ray tracing, but expect it be very sparingly.  Its unclear if Star Wars Outlaws uses these RTU cores for the ray tracing and it may all be done in software.  Regardless, I do not expect broad support of ray tracing in Switch 2 games.  

Switch 2 comes equipped with a 256GB SSD drive.  While it certainly isn't nearly as fast as the drives in the PS5 and Series consoles, it is roughly ten times as fast as the internal storage in the Switch or PS4.  This not only improves loading times, but also allows developers to leverage this speed to stream assets in and out of memory.  Games such as Star Wars Outlaws were designed with fast memory and the developer claims that it is crucial for their game to run properly.  

In conclusion, the features built into the Switch 2 were very forward thinking.  Features like DLSS, VRR and fast internal memory make it far more palatable for developers to include the Switch 2 for multi platform game development.  Raw performance may land slightly below a PS4 when in portable mode and docked mode seems to sit comfortably ahead of the PS4 but well below the Series S.  It really is the modern features that help establish Switch 2 as a current gen console rather than raw performance.    

removed link

<a href=" removed link " target="_blank" rel="noopener">Web Archive of initial TNE forum thread that started this particular year. 

Please remember to type out your game title as Insert Game(Platform Abbreviation) (example: Mega Man 5 (NES))
Also, a game that is rereleased on a later platform (as in, Virtual Console or what have you) is counted as the platform the game was rereleased on. So Ocarina of Time on the Wii VC is counted as 'Ocarina of Time (Wii)' instead of 'Ocarina of Time (N64)'

A game that releases on both the XB1 and the XSX needs to have the "Optimized for XSX" Tag on it for it to count as XSX. (you can filter for this in your "My Games and Apps" tab) A game that releases on PS4 as well needs to have the "PS5" tag (they're separated in your library as well) to count as the PS5 version. These are not counted as rereleases so they don't fall under the rule above.

PSNow or other streaming games are counted as the platform you played them from

List of participants and their game completions:

Crysis 2 Remastered * (XSX)
Crysis 3 Remastered (XSX)
Superliminal (X1)
The Pedestrian (XSX)
The Gunk (XSX)
Aliens vs Predator (2010) (X1)
Tales of Arise (XSX)
Gears of War 4 (X1)
Kirby's Dream Land 3 (NS)
Kirby's Epic Yarn (Wii)
Kirby's Dream Land 2 (Wii)
Team Sonic Racing (X1)
Sonic Adventure (PC)
Kirby and the Forgotten Land (NS)
Kirby Planet Robobot (3DS)
Saints Row The Third: Remastered (XSX)
Sniper Elite 4 (X1)
Unpacking (X1)
Dodgeball Academia (X1)
Fallout 3 (X1)
Saints Row IV: Re-Elected (X1)
Alan Wake Remastered (XSX)
Max Payne (PC)
Alan Wake’s American Nightmare (X1)
Halo Reach (XSX)
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (PC)
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (XSX)
Halo 4 (XSX)
Psychonauts (X1)
Quantum Break (X1)
TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge (X1)
Dead Space * * * (X1)
Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course (X1)
Conker: Live & Reloaded (X1)
Later Alligator (NS)
Klonoa: Door to Phantomile (XSX)
Metro: Last Light Redux (X1)
Bright Memory: Infinite (XSX)
Xenoblade 3 (NS)
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (X1)
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (X1)
Haven Park (NS)
Dead Space 2 (X1)
Doom (2016) (X1)
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (DS)
Pumpkin Jack (XSX)
Castlevania: Bloodlines* (PS4)
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2* * * * (PS4)
Midnight Fight Express (X1)
Gears 5 + Hivebusters (XSX)
Dead Space 3 (XB1)
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS4)
A Plague Tale: Requiem (XSX)
Control + The Foundation + AWE (XSX)
Kamiko** (NS)
Prodeus (XSX)
Final Fantasy XIII-2 (X1)
Castlevania: Dracula X (NS)
Devil May Cry 5 (X1)
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (NS)
Tinykin (XSX)
Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)
Bioshock (PS4)

Skyrim: Anniversary Edition (PS5)
Pokemon: Brilliant Diamond (NS)
Star Wars: Bounty Hunter (GCN)
Pokemon Legends: Arceus (NS)
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD (WiiU)
Touhou: Luna Nights (XB1)
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (NS)
Elden Ring* (XSX)(PS5)
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin (PS5)
Bloodborne + The Old Hunters DLC (PS4)
Halo Reach (XSX)
Forgive Me Father (PC)
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (DS)
Nirvana Pilot Yume (NS)
Butcher (NS)
Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles (PS5)
Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes* (NS)
Live A Live (NS)
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (NS)
Fatal Frame V: Maiden of Black Water (PC)
Soul Hackers 2 (PS5)
Castle Walker (XSX)
Overlord: Escape from Nazarick (PC)
Devil May Cry 3 (NS)
Metal Hellsinger (XSX)
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence (PS3)
Castlevania Chronicles (PS3)
Babylon's Fall (PS5)
Resident Evil 2 (XSX)
Dead Space 3 (XB1)
Dead Space 2 (XB1)
Bayonetta 3 (NS)
Dead Space (2008) (XB1)
God of War: Ragnarok (PS5)
Pokemon Scarlet (NS)
Callisto Protocol (XSX)
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate (3DS)
Gotham Knights (PLT) (PS5)
Sonic Frontiers (XSX)

Endless Space 2 (PC)
Pokémon Legends Arceus (NS)
The Silver Case (NS)
Kirby And The Forgotten Land (NS)
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (NS)

Cybershadow (NS)

Pokemon Brilliant Diamond (NS)

A Short Hike (NS)
Metroid Dread (NS)
Transiruby (NS)
Super Metroid (NS)

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (NS)
Bayonetta 3 (NS)

Final Fantasy X HD (PS3)
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Redux (PC)
Terminator: Resistance (PC)
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (PC)
Portal RTX (PC)

The games with the most completions is a two way tie with five playthroughs
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2
Dead Space (2008) 

Platform completions
1: (GCN)
1: (WiiU)
2: (3DS)
2: (Wii)
3: (DS)
3: (PS3)
8: (PS5)
10: (PS4)
11: (PC)
26: (XSX)
32: (XB1)
34: (NS)

The move from N64 to GameCube was once again pretty straight forward, not to dissimilar from the transition from NES to SNES.  Nintendo does finally ditch cartridges and moves on to optical media with propriety mini DVD's, but this is really just Nintendo playing catch up and modernizing their media.  GameCube by in large was a direct evolution of the N64.  3D gaming was still very much the focus and Nintendo's IP's that moved into the 3D space with the N64 were simply improvements over what they could do with the more limited N64 hardware.  Nintendo was creative with the button layout, but it was still primarily an improved N64 gamepad.  Most of the features are exactly the same albeit with the C button being replaced by a C stick and with a few additional buttons added.  

I'm not going to spend too much time on GameBoy, but this was probably the most iterative product Nintendo ever produced.  GameBoy Color is a unique platform over the original GameBoy seeing as how it had exclusive games that were not playable on the original GameBoy.  Hard to be more iterative than a revision of the GameBoy pocket that is equipped with a color screen and slightly more performance.  GameBoy Advance adds a couple of shoulder buttons and far more performance, but is otherwise a straightforward improvement over the GameBoy Color.   

As a result of waning success of Nintendo hardware over the years, Nintendo pivoted and took some chances on some very unique hardware.  The Nintendo DS and the Wii shifted focus and set out to deliver novel gaming experiences.  DS with its dual screen gameplay and Wii with its motion controls.  Even though Nintendo did bring themselves into the HD era with the Wii U, the focus of the console was still on asymmetrical gameplay and motion controls.  In a way, blending the ideas of the DS and Wii.  Ultimately this resulted in one of Nintendo's biggest failures, but I believe it was a bridge to the hybrid console setup with Switch.  In 2017, Switch took the world by storm offering AAA gaming that could be played anywhere.   

Is the Switch 2 a very iterative and "safe" console release for Nintendo?  Yes, without question.  Is it unprecedented for Nintendo to roll out new hardware in this fashion?  Not at all.  The NES to SNES has far more in common with Switch to Switch 2 than it does with GameCube to Wii.