Despite improved Nintendo Switch 2 specs, video captures are still limited to 30 seconds

Bolstered Nintendo Switch 2 specs should lead to improved performance in games. Unfortunately, some capabilities haven't matured since the original handheld. A new Nintendo Today video revealed that video captures are still limited to 30 seconds. Among other drawbacks, the restriction makes creating gameplay guides for fellow players difficult.

The latest clip in the Nintendo Today app focused on Home Menu sound effects. However, viewers also caught a glimpse of how gamers will capture screenshots and videos. From the brief help menu, it appears that the process is virtually identical to the experience on the Switch. To take a screenshot, gamers press the capture button on the Joy-Con. Holding the same button saves a clip of the last 30 seconds of gameplay. Then, players can shorten the video further before saving it in the Nintendo Switch Album.

Nintendo's previous console continuously stores 30 seconds of video in the background. The process uses a ring buffer, which holds the data in the console's RAM. Content creators would often turn to a Switch capture card to create longer videos. The length of the recordings was partially due to how Nintendo divided system resources. With the Switch 2 specs including a faster processor and more RAM/storage, some gamers hoped to avoid additional costs.

Recently, buyers learned that the Switch 2 would ship with 12 GB of LPDDR5 memory. That's a massive improvement from the 4 GB of RAM the original handheld offers. On the other hand, the latest console devotes 3 GB of its memory to its OS. The obvious culprit is GameChat, which may take up much of the remaining memory. Video recording, another helpful feature for sharing gameplay experiences, will also have to compete for resources.

What's unclear is the quality of the Switch 2 screenshots and video clips. It would lessen some disappointment if it's higher than the first console's 720p limit.