Author Topic: Nintendo Announces Full Backwards Compatibility And Retention Of Nintendo Switch Online For Successor  (Read 1192 times)

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Offline Shaymin

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You know, if you want to remove the asset flips and AI generated stuff, that'd be swell.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/69038/nintendo-announces-full-backwards-compatibility-and-retention-of-nintendo-switch-online-for-successor

Nintendo has dropped some big news for the successor to the Switch today.

At their Corporate Management Policy briefing today following the release of the company's Q2 2024-25 results, it was confirmed that the Switch's successor console - whatever it may be - will feature "full support" for Switch software, as well as Nintendo Switch Online carrying over.

"This is Furukawa. At today's Corporate Management Policy Briefing, we announced that Nintendo Switch software will also be playable on the successor to Nintendo Switch. Nintendo Switch Online will be available on the successor to Nintendo Switch as well. Further information about the successor to Nintendo Switch, including its compatibility with Nintendo Switch, will be announced at a later date.: - Nintendo Co Ltd Twitter post

Whether this will be strict digital backwards compatibility or the new console will have support for Switch physical software (such as the 3DS's cartridge slot supporting DS games) will presumably be announced at the later date.

Donald Theriault - News Editor, Nintendo World Report / 2016 Nintendo World Champion
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Offline Ian Sane

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The ambiguity about if physical releases are included here is annoying but I'm still pretty happy about this.  I felt like this was a litmus test if Nintendo had gone off the deep end or not.  If they didn't have it all that would not bode well for the Switch successor.  Nintendo can do really strange things but this is something very conventional and if the Switch 2 can play Switch 1 games then you know the Switch 2 is still somewhat of a conventional video game system.  I think of how Nintendo really pushed the 3D aspect of the 3DS and that didn't really catch on but the guts of the DS were still in there so it still worked well as DS successor even if it's big gimmick didn't take the world by storm.

But there was a part of the briefing that isn't as notable but combined with this makes me feel quite confident in the Switch 2.  Nintendo emphasized their third party relationships.  I love my Switch but my library is not predominantly first party.  Now that Nintendo has great third party support again, my library more closely resembles what my SNES library looked like with a lot of third party games and Nintendo having no real prominence over other publishers.  So I'm glad that they regard third party support as important and as something to maintain with the Switch successor.  And third party support plus backwards compatibility means that the Switch 2 is not going to be some insane wacky system that misses why the Switch was successful.

Though I really want physical backwards compatibility and I'm a little on edge until that's confirmed.  But they very well may have a digital-only model and a physical model, following current trends.  It would seem odd for them to have a version that supports physical media but then have it be completely incompatible with existing Switch carts.  Just to maintain the portable nature of the system you figure they would stick with the carts.  They're not going to switch to optical discs or anything like that.