The Nintendo Switch has 4GB of RAM, which puts it right at the top end of portable devices as far as internal memory goes- but believe it or not, Nintendo originally wanted to put less memory in there. The system was going to be more memory constrained, and the RAM was only increased on Capcom’s request.
A report from GamesIndustry Japan (translated by <em>Nintendo Everything) observes that during the Switch’s development phase, Nintendo sent out the hardware to multiple developers for feedback. A lot of developers noted that its memory was limiting, including Capcom, who said they wouldn’t be able to make the RE Engine work on the system with this memory capacity- and the final memory capacity that Nintendo went with ended up being 4GB, exactly what Capcom had requested.
In the end, it’s good that Nintendo listened- 4GB seems like it’s just enough to run a lot of third party games currently on the market (though obviously not high end ones like The Witcher 3 or Red Dead Redemption). As for Capcom, what games will they be putting on the system? That remains to be seen.
