Following a recent Corporate Management Policy Briefing, Nintendo took to Twitter to reassure fans that their beloved Switch games will continue to be playable on what is informally being dubbed as the ‘Switch 2.’
During the presentation, which is detailed on Nintendo’s website, some impressive numbers were revealed. The Nintendo Switch family has sold a whopping 146 million units, beating previous records for Nintendo hardware. The comprehensive 59-page document also dives deep into sales stats and historical data, pointing out that the current Nintendo Switch Online services will carry over to the new system.
For those who’ve followed Microsoft and Sony’s approaches to backward compatibility, Nintendo’s announcement might not come as a shock. Microsoft has consistently impressed with its backward compatibility features, allowing games from the original Xbox and Xbox 360 to benefit from enhancements like FPS and resolution boosts when played on newer consoles. Sony, while not quite as comprehensive since the PS3 era, has still enabled near-complete backward compatibility with PS4 games on the PS5, along with select PS1 and PS2 titles via emulation. PS3 games, on the other hand, are mainly accessible through cloud streaming, which hasn’t been well received by all PlayStation users.
Historically, Nintendo did well with backward compatibility—that is, until the Switch came along. The Wii U could host discs from both the Wii and GameCube and featured a Virtual Console that filled in other gaps. Similarly, the 3DS could run Nintendo DS games, though it lost compatibility with earlier handheld systems like the Game Boy Advance. The transition to the Switch marked a shift as it unified Nintendo’s handheld and home console lines and adopted new hardware architecture, eliminating compatibility with older games. Luckily, as the Switch has thrived with its Nvidia-powered setup, users can rest assured that their current game library will be ready to go on the new system.
This move could also mean smoother performance for games initially constrained by the Switch’s hardware, such as ‘Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.’ Perhaps now these games will run above 60 FPS without the need for third-party emulation software, which Nintendo has been keen on curbing, likely because emulators like Dolphin have enabled older systems to run seamlessly. The threat now is that similar technology could potentially be used to emulate Switch 2 games as well.
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