In a strange turn of events, the latest Nintendo Switch game, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door has seemingly included 4K resolution support in the game files. While the game itself, of course, doesn’t include 4K support, the coding might be prepping for Nintendo’s next-gen device.
Take this with a pinch of salt for now. However, this is the first time Nintendo has included coding in a Switch game to handle a 4K resolution. The coding tells the game which resolution to switch to depending on the video output mode. It includes the 720p handheld mode, 1080p TV docked mode and this new 3480 x 2160 setting.
Obviously, the current Nintendo Switch does not support 4K. The upcoming console, on the other hand, will likely support the resolution. The latest Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door game might be the first title released from Nintendo to hint at a so-called “Switch 2 upgrade”. This update will likely update the game for the new hardware when it arrives next year.
Given that the coding is already in the game, it might actually just load into 4K on the new hardware when docked into the TV.
It is strange for Nintendo to include this sort of information in the game. It is even stranger to have the company overlook something so important to the next console. This is also the first time this 3840 x 2160 reference has been spotted in a new Nintendo Switch release.
At the moment, it is too early to tell if this code confirms a next-gen upgrade for Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. But it is still exciting to see Nintendo look towards 4K for the first time.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is out today on Nintendo Switch. The game is a direct remake of the classic GameCube RPG from 2004. In my review, I praised the title calling it one of the most charming games on the Switch to date.
There seems to be code for handling 4K resolutions in the new Paper Mario TTYD remake. No idea if this is normal for Switch games or not but I thought it was interesting. pic.twitter.com/dVYnXsRUUx
— RibShark (@RibShark) May 22, 2024
