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With a Switch 2 looming, Nintendo is sending out the original with a bang
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this post was submitted on 20 Oct 2023
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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.
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)