Nov 062024
Although the successor to the Nintendo Switch has yet to be unveiled, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa confirmed that it will be able to play Switch games, something fans have been wondering about for quite a while.
He followed up with a link to the translated presentation material, which covers that and more.
Backward compatibility is far from new for Nintendo, particularly for their handhelds. The 3DS can play DS games, the DS can play Game Boy Advance games, and so on. Meanwhile, the Wii U can play Wii games and the Wii can play GameCube games.
Between that and the Switch’s success, it felt pretty likely that the next console would be backward compatible. Still, it’s nice to have confirmation.
Now, some fans are still arguing that he didn’t specifically say it applies to both digital and physical games, so it might only apply to digital games. However, without any distinction being made, it’s reasonable to assume he meant both. (No, saying “software” does not imply only digital games. Physical games are still considered software.) If he specifically meant one or the other, he likely would have said so.
This announcement also confirmed that Nintendo Switch Online will be brought to the next console.
I love the Nintendo Switch, and I still have a ton of Switch games in my backlog. Knowing the successor will be able to play them makes me that much more likely to get one at or near launch.
How do you feel about the Switch 2 (or whatever it will be called) being confirmed backward compatible?
Very glad it will be backwards compatible. Helps me feel okay still buying Switch games now. Still curious how they will keep it fresh and give a good reason to get the new one. Maybe finally fix the joy-con drift?
I’d be happy if the main draw is the new games and everything else is just a bonus. I assume joy-con drift will be fixed, though (isn’t it already fixed for later joy-cons?) and of course it’ll be more powerful.