Following Nintendo’s recent Corporate Management Policy Briefing, the company took to Twitter to share some exciting news: games from the Nintendo Switch will also be playable on its upcoming console, widely rumored to be called the Switch 2.
The detailed briefing, which you can dive into over on Nintendo’s official website, outlines the company’s current standing in the console market. It celebrates a remarkable milestone with the Switch Family, hitting 146 million units sold. Moreover, it boasts that more software titles have been engaged with on the Switch than on any previous Nintendo system. A comprehensive 59-page document gives a deep dive into sales figures and insights, reassuring fans that services like Nintendo Switch Online will be available when the Switch 2 is launched.
For those familiar with Sony and Microsoft’s strategies for console compatibility, this announcement might seem like a natural progression. Microsoft, for instance, has excelled in backward compatibility with added features like FPS Boost and resolution enhancements for older games on the Xbox One and Series S/X. Sony’s track record has been somewhat varied with its PlayStation line—while the PS5 supports most PS4 titles and even some gems from the PS1 and PS2 era through emulation, PS3 titles rely on cloud streaming, which hasn’t been met with universal enthusiasm.
Looking back at Nintendo’s journey with backward compatibility, it’s been a fairly smooth ride until the advent of the Switch. The Wii U, for example, could run disc-based games from both the Wii and GameCube, and offered a Virtual Console service covering many older titles. The handhelds, like the 3DS, allowed players to enjoy DS games, although they didn’t support Game Boy Advance titles.
However, with the Switch, Nintendo broke away from the norm by combining their handheld and home console lines and opting for Arm CPU cores over PowerPC. This move meant ditching backward compatibility from the previous generation, but it looks like the success of the Switch has encouraged Nintendo to continue down this path, now promising that today’s Switch purchases will work seamlessly on the Switch 2.
Fingers crossed, this could mean that titles previously limited by the Switch’s hardware, such as “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom,” will benefit from better performance on the new system. And while Nintendo has been working hard against emulation software—since successful emulators for the Switch might also handle the Switch 2—this commitment to backward compatibility might win over many fans.
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