Tuesday, February 13th 2024

Nintendo Switch 2 Could Retain Backward Compatibility with The First-Gen Console

Reports are circulating online that Nintendo's upcoming successor to the Switch console, tentatively referred to as the "Switch 2," will offer backward compatibility for physical game cards and digital purchases from the current Switch library. While Nintendo has yet to officially announce the new console, speculation points to a potential reveal as early as next month for a 2024 launch. The backward compatibility claims first surfaced last year when Nintendo America President Doug Bowser hinted at supporting continuity between console generations to minimize the sales decline when transitioning hardware. New momentum behind the rumors comes from gaming industry insiders Felipe Lima and PH Brazil, who, during recent podcasts, stated the Switch 2 has backward compatibility functionality already being shared with game developers.

Well-known gaming leakers "NateTheHate" and others have corroborated that testing is underway for playing current Switch games on new hardware. If true, this backward compatibility would be a consumer-friendly move that breaks from Nintendo's past tendencies of forcing clean breaks between console ecosystems. While details remain unconfirmed by Nintendo, multiple credible sources point to the upcoming Switch successor allowing gamers to carry forward both their physical and digital libraries to continue enjoying this generation's releases. If the compatibility remains, the hardware platform could stay in the playing field of the same vendor—NVIDIA—who provided Nintendo with Tegra X1 SoC. The updated version of the SoC could use a fork of NVIDIA's Orin platform based on Ampere GPU with DLSS, but official details are yet to be seen.
Source: via HardwareLuxx
Add your own comment

32 Comments on Nintendo Switch 2 Could Retain Backward Compatibility with The First-Gen Console

#26
ratirt
TranceHeadAm I missing something?
I played GC games on my Wii
I played Wii games on my WiiU
I played DS/DSi games on my 3DS

Where is this past tendency for clean breaks between generations.
And I play all games from all of those platforms on my PC but still I'm getting switch 2 instead of a new GPU.
Posted on Reply
#27
friocasa
TranceHeadAm I missing something?
I played GC games on my Wii
I played Wii games on my WiiU
I played DS/DSi games on my 3DS

Where is this past tendency for clean breaks between generations.
We can go further away: GBA games worked on DS, GBC games worked on GBA, GB worked on GBC...

Backwards compatibility on Nintendo over the years has been the norm, not the exception
Posted on Reply
#28
TranceHead
friocasaWe can go further away: GBA games worked on DS, GBC games worked on GBA, GB worked on GBC...

Backwards compatibility on Nintendo over the years has been the norm, not the exception
Exactly, i really don't get what he means by
Well-known gaming leakers "NateTheHate" and others have corroborated that testing is underway for playing current Switch games on new hardware. If true, this backward compatibility would be a consumer-friendly move that breaks from Nintendo's past tendencies of forcing clean breaks between console ecosystems.
Posted on Reply
#29
Mawkzin
TranceHeadAm I missing something?
I played GC games on my Wii
I played Wii games on my WiiU
I played DS/DSi games on my 3DS

Where is this past tendency for clean breaks between generations.
Well GC, Wii and Wii U use the same CPU (no new ISA or evolved ISA) with the Wii U they made it a 3-core but it's the same core from previous console.
Posted on Reply
#30
SOAREVERSOR
The article is deadly wrong about some things. What is this "break from the past with non compatibility" as that's flat out just wrong. Plenty of Nintendo systems have had backwards compatibility. The most famous and obvious one being that you could run GBA games on the DS. This was so much a feature that they included a physical slot for the GBA games as the carts did not use the same form factor as DS carts. The GBA could also play GB and GBC games with no issues.

So backwards compatibility for at least the last generation is more the norm for Nintendo than an outlier.
friocasaWe can go further away: GBA games worked on DS, GBC games worked on GBA, GB worked on GBC...

Backwards compatibility on Nintendo over the years has been the norm, not the exception
Yeah it's very odd people are viewing this as a change on the part of Nintendo. They tend to like backwards compatibility and push it for a few generations. You can gripe all you want about their refusal to lower their asking cost for their first party titles but they are pretty good at transitiong people through the generations. Let's also not forget that the GB went through several revisions and they kept selling them straight into the DS era. The GBA also did the same. They don't like hanging their customers out to dry which is one of the reasons people like them.
MawkzinWell GC, Wii and Wii U use the same CPU (no new ISA or evolved ISA) with the Wii U they made it a 3-core but it's the same core from previous console.
It goes beyond that when you look at their entire product stack outside of the NES, SNES, N64 sessions they've always had backwards built into it. It's one of the reasons people like and trust them they don't screw their customers and while they still keep high prices on their IP generally they are extremely good at making generational switches as painless as possible.

Shit even the fucking SNES could play gameboy games via a Super GameBoy adapter.

They've had their share of asshole moments and flops but the reason people like Nintendo is it just works. And unlike apple they don't hang people out to dry.
Posted on Reply
#31
Hyderz
ilyonThis one will be the most powerful consoles of all and all time, due to RTX™ and DLSS™.
Posted on Reply
#32
TranceHead
MawkzinWell GC, Wii and Wii U use the same CPU (no new ISA or evolved ISA) with the Wii U they made it a 3-core but it's the same core from previous console.
And?
So is it, or is it not backwards compatible?
This is the current topic.
The fact is, nintendo are generationally friendly when it comes to backwards compatibility. That section of the article is nonsensical
Posted on Reply
Add your own comment
May 21st, 2024 09:10 EDT change timezone

New Forum Posts

Popular Reviews

Controversial News Posts