With a Switch 2 looming, Nintendo is sending out the original with a bang::With the launch of Super Mario Bros. Wonder on the Switch, Nintendo is capping off an excellent 2023 for the console, just ahead of the rumored launch of the Switch 2.
The Switch 2 will be a day 1 buy if it keeps the hybrid design and has full Switch backward compatibility…
Not holding my breath for the latter, though =/
That will make it or break it for me. If I won’t be able to play my library of games on the Switch 2, I’m not going to bother. I’ll just wait for a new version of the Steam Deck in that case.
I will take a chance here and say that the Switch 2 will 100% have backward compatability.
Many games are sold through the Nintendo Online Store, and they will work.
And they won’t kill the physical “discs”, but the uncertainty comes with keeping them the same size.
Nintendo has made a winner with the Switch. I think the Switch 2 will mostly be a massive upgrade of what it already does perfectly.
As of today, they have a habit of creating a brand new store with every new console, whit no port of your old game to the new one. So I won’t count on that. Still would be nice of them if they do.
Did DS games stay on n3DS? I seem to think they did, and that was technically a somewhat significant shift in hardware.
Wii to Wii U was different iirc, but it’s been a while.
Wii U to Switch for sure did not have any.
GB games could be played on GBA, GBA games could be played on DS up to DSi (I think) and DS games all work on NDS. So it seems like Nintendo gives about 1 generation of backwards compatibility.
This wasn’t possible with the GameCube and N64, but I know the GC and N64 could play GBA and GB games respectively.
Nintendo is generally pretty good with backwards compatibility in my eyes. Better than Sony was with the PS3 for sure.
The 3DS had an ARM9 processor on the board which is what the DS line used so that it could play DS games natively.
The DSi actually has an ARM7 coprocessor (GBA CPU) just like the DS and DS Lite but lacks the physical cartridge slot. You can play GBA games natively on a hacked DSi.
Actually, the 3DS has an ARM7 core too so it can play GBA games natively as well. Either the Nintendo Ambassador titles, or whatever you want if you’ve installed CFW.
This is Nintendo… They’ll make you rebuy everything if you want to play it on the new console.
This really isn’t accurate - Nintendo has been very good about bc traditionally, when bc is feasible with changing form factors. GBA, DS, 3DS, Wii, Wii U all had bc.
And fall into piracy field if you can’t rebuy their games.
Not holding my breath for the latter, though =/
For all Nintendo’s faults (and boy do they have them in spades), Nintendo are pretty good for this.
Gameboy Colour could play Gameboy games
Gameboy Advance could play GB/CBC
DS/DS Lite could play GBA
3DS could play DS
Wii could play GameCube
Wii U could play Wii
To me it’d be very surprising if the Switch 2 couldn’t play Switch games.
Generally unless they want a serious form factor or major architectural change, Nintendo retains backwards compatibility.
Gameboy Color was backwards compatible with Gameboy cartridges. Gameboy Advance could play Gameboy Color games. The DS was backwards compatible with Gameboy Advance. The 3DS could play DS games.
Wii was backwards compatible with GameCube discs. And Wii U was backwards compatible with the Wii discs. The switch form factor didn’t make sense to be backwards compatible with Wii U, and also Wii U was a commercial failure and didn’t sell well, so less people who would be buying a Switch probably didn’t have a Wii U.
I think that if Nintendo has a successful platform, they do try to have the games released on the platform last for about 10 years, so Switch games should hopefully be playable on whatever Nintendo’s current console is in 2027 (10 years after switch launch)
Would nintendo really release something called the Switch 2 when there is a PlayStation 5 out already?
They should call it the Switch 360, or the Switch One, or Switch Series N
Would nintendo really release something called the Switch 2
They released the Wii U
It’s Nintendo, so it will probably be called the New Switch U or something
That would be a pretty bad marketing move given the overall popularity dip that WiiU brought. Stronger option? Switch DS XL…
Super switch
Switch 3D 3DS XL
Super Switch! Switch 64 Game Switch sWIItch
Switcharoo
… announcing the Switch First!
The New Nintendo Switch 3DU
Is Nintendo really going to stop first party Switch releases the moment they announce/release Switch 2? I can see they wanted to drop the Wii U fairly quickly, but for the 3DS stuff like new Mario Party games came out after the Switch release. Metroid 4 is still in development, presumably targeting the Switch.
The 3DS wasn’t meant to be replaced by the switch when it released hence they supported both for a period of time.
The Switch 2 on the other hand is literally meant to be a replacement to the Switch so I wouldn’t be surprised if they dropped first party support when it releases.
Like how they did with the wii U. The only thing that would make me think that they would still support the original switch with releases is that hopefully it’s successor is backwards compatible, a-la GBA -> DS style of support
The problem with the Wii U is that it didn’t sell very well.
I wasn’t talking about how the wii u was failure. Just that their first game for the switch was also their last on wii u simultaneously.
Yes but Switch should have better longevity because the the size of the install base. I’m sure we are saying the same thing.
We are. It’s why I said that it’ll be like how the GBA to DS was due to potential backwards compatability.
Just fix the horrible eshop lag
This is the best summary I could come up with:
While rumors of a Switch successor have persisted for years, recent reports suggest that an upgraded device is not only coming but will be here relatively soon, with a potential 2024 launch.
The last time the company released a major Zelda and Super Mario in the same year was 2017, which just so happened to be when the Switch debuted.
Tears of the Kingdom, in particular, really feels like it’s pushing the upper limits of what the Switch is capable of — just look at some of the physics-defying creations players have come up with inside of its giant open world.
Nintendo built an all-new engine for the game and didn’t give the development team a specific deadline so that they could focus on quality.
After the dark days of the Wii U, Nintendo used the Switch to prove that it could offer a unified version of its console and portable businesses, one that — despite underpowered hardware — could find its niche among bigger, flashier competitors.
Nintendo is in a great spot when it comes to games right now, a process that was a decade in the making after the company merged its development divisions into one cohesive whole focused entirely on the Switch.
The original article contains 806 words, the summary contains 205 words. Saved 75%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
The bombshell you’re not expecting that I am is that this system will be fully backwards compatible with digital games, not physical. They already hinted at this a while back, so I’m unfortunately expecting the carts won’t be backwards compatible.
I’m even concerned it won’t have any physical media.
If I remember correctly they also released a bunch of games in Wii u last year
