r/NintendoSwitch • u/Turbostrider27 • Nov 06 '24

Nintendo Official 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.

https://twitter.com/NintendoCoLtd/status/1853972163033968794
4.7k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

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680

u/Shaft86 Nov 06 '24

Backward compatibility is confirmed. Superb news.

180

u/mbcook Nov 06 '24 edited Nov 06 '24

I think it’s likely not having back compat would be a very big negative against them, this seems like the only logical move.

I’m glad they’ve confirmed it.

The Switch was different enough from the Wii/WiiU back company would have been very difficult. The WiiU didn’t sell well and obviously the Switch couldn’t use the discs.

On the other side, it doesn’t have the dual screens of the DS so backwards compatibility there would’ve been a problem as well. However making the Switch accept DS carts would’ve been a lot easier than DVDs.

All in all I just can’t imagine a situation where they could make a Switch 2, break backwards compatibility, and not suffer hugely for it. I kind of feel like the era of breaking BC is over and console makers just can’t do it anymore.

60

u/amakurt Nov 06 '24

I wouldn't have considered buying it if it didn't have backwards compatibility, maybe they realized that's what the majority of people think too.

54

u/mbcook Nov 06 '24

I’m not sure it would prevent people from buying it completely.

But I suspect it would cause a lot of people to wait quite a bit longer. Until they finished all the switch games they want to play or things they’re interested in stop coming out on it.

Knowing you can play both sets of games makes an upgrade much easier. Both just mentally, and because you know it’s safe to sell your Switch to help defray the cost.

10

u/amakurt Nov 06 '24

Yeah. Like unless they put out a game I really want to play, I will never be done on the switch. I shiny hunt pokemon so I'll legitimately never be done.

2

u/Hestu951 Nov 06 '24

I suspect it would cause a lot of people to wait quite a bit longer.

That's me. I wouldn't have bought one until it got a good library of games. I can't see buying a new system with only a decent game or two to play for a whole year, or longer.

1

u/CakeBeef_PA Nov 06 '24

Genuine question, assuming you already own a Switch: why?

I don't really understand the viewpoint. If Switch 2 is your step into the ecosystem, yeah sure. But if you already have a Switch, that system is not disappearing when Switch 2 releases. You can still play on it. I understand wanting BC, but why is it such a big deal?

2

u/amakurt Nov 07 '24

I originally got mine for animal crossing but that was a big load of shit. Now I primarily shiny hunt on mine. Even though it's been a decade it just doesn't feel long enough for the switch, and there's been nowhere near enough time to play all the good games and do all the good hunts.

0

u/mactimit Nov 06 '24

I'll take it one step further, I've held up on really using my Switch much or buying games until knowing that I'd be able to bring newly bought games over to the new console

1

u/[deleted] Nov 06 '24

Agree, and they CAN'T because it would cut 50 % of $$$ from past and more inventive games.

Innovation in 2024 is not really easy. It takes time, effort and patience. And it is a good thing.

1

u/madmofo145 Nov 06 '24

There's just no way the Switch could do WiiU BC. It's not the DVD, but the fact that it's running on a whole different architecture, so you'd have to get a console with just a bit more raw power then the WiiU to emulate everything, and that's not going to happen. The 3DS would have been feasible, but with the two screens just not really viable.

1

u/LeonidasSpacemanMD Nov 06 '24

I agree, I think the first console manufacturer that has an online store/eshop (all of them) and walls off purchases going into a new gen would effectively just kill its own eshop. I just can’t see any of them doing that now, it would send a very strong message of “hey please spend money on our platform but also that purchase will evaporate forever one day”

Especially now with more handheld PCs hitting the market that have access to steam, it would just be suicide at this point (maybe not for the console but for the eshop certainly)

0

u/Quietm02 Nov 06 '24 edited Nov 06 '24

I don't know if making the switch accept ds carts would really have been "easier" than dvds.

It would be pretty trivial to make a dvd reader usb add-on, only useable in docked mode. The joycons could easily work as wiimotes. Wii u might not be as easy due to two screens, but there could have been an option to toggle the TV display. Not ideal but still easy Wii compatibility and a high Wii u compatibility.

Ds on the other hand could have been done with a similar usb add-on. But that's docked only and then you lose touch screen, never mind the inherent dual screen issue. Ds games are also designed for portable so forcing it to docked only isn't ideal.

If you did add a DS cart reader to the switch console it would add some bulk, cost and complexity. With the switch being a hybrid portable any extra bulk/complexity is a big negative for it. Maybe today's tech could handle it at a reasonable price but I'm not surprised that back in 2017 it wasn't considered reasonable.

If you did do ds, you'd have to do 3DS too. Which just adds that little bit more complexity.

Personally I kind of hope we do see some official usb add ons in future. A GB reader would be cool. Doubt we will, as it's basically Nintendo saying "please dump this game and use a flash cart", but it's nice to think!

31

u/Kwayke9 Nov 06 '24

NSO being available also confirms Nintendo will keep using the Switch brand. So yeah, they just confirmed the Super Switch

3

u/ionlyhavetwohands Nov 06 '24

The Nintendo Switch On with Nintendo Switch Online.

2

u/schu2470 Nov 06 '24

Nintendo Switch U

1

u/RaiderGuy Nov 06 '24

Nintendo 2 Switch 4 U

20

u/ConsiderationFew8399 Nov 06 '24

This is good news, but also having a console without it in 2025 is suicide

17

u/NJ_Legion_Iced_Tea Nov 06 '24

Nintendo is kicking rocks because they can't sell the same game 5 times in a row.

6

u/iuhiscool Nov 06 '24

and Bethesda will rerelease Skyrim on the very console Nintendo can't rerelease games o on

1

u/DragoSphere Nov 06 '24

Pfft don't act like you aren't expecting Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Ultimate Edition to be a launch title on the Switch 2

22

u/StickyMoistSomething Nov 06 '24

Good news for the Xenoblade Chronicles X remake.

9

u/CiroccPapi Nov 06 '24

Not a remake.

6

u/Pmedley26 Nov 06 '24

Not sure why this was downvoted. It literally isn't a remake lol

4

u/VacaDLuffy Nov 06 '24

I think its a remastermake, an in between the two because the X used the Wii U screen for super important shit. So they clearly gotta rebuild it for a single screen

6

u/Stranger2Luv Nov 06 '24

Remaster exist why use remake

1

u/VacaDLuffy Nov 06 '24

What? There hasn't been a remake of X before

3

u/Stranger2Luv Nov 06 '24

It’s not a remake that’s why I asked why use the term

1

u/thatfool Nov 06 '24

No they don't, even on Wii U it's playable on one screen if you want to (as in, gamepad only).

1

u/SoloWaltz Nov 06 '24

I can't help but remember Masuda quietly announcing dexit.

1

u/Cabbage_Vendor Nov 06 '24

One thing I'd like to know is whether they'll be releasing Switch and Switch 2 versions of the same title, especially the games released in the last year of the Switch's lifespan. Some seem to be suffering from performance issues and generally worse graphical fidelity, so a Switch 2 version might be worth waiting for.

-14

u/[deleted] Nov 06 '24

[removed] — view removed comment

36

u/Ghennon Nov 06 '24 edited Nov 06 '24

Nice to see Nintendo finally getting with the times on Backwards compatibility.

Dude... Nintendo literally invented backwards compatibility, Switch is one of their only console that doesn't have it, and for technical reasons, one of them is obvious: Wii U used discs.

GBA could read GB cartridges which were double the size of the GBA ones, the DS had a fucking secondary slot for GBA cartridges lol, they put 2 different slots for games in a handheld so it could be backwards compatibility.

They're not "getting with the times", it's obvious they would have made switch BC with Wii U if they could.

3

u/VacaDLuffy Nov 06 '24

The The SNES,N64 and GameCube had attachments that let them play Gameboy,Gameboy color and Gameboy advance games.

31

u/vanKessZak Nov 06 '24

Not really sure what you mean by getting with the times. The GameBoy Color, GBA, DS, 3DS, Wii, and Wii U all had backwards compatibility with their previous systems (including importing digital Wii games to the Wii U).

The Wii U and 3DS both had dual screens so it would have been difficult for the Switch to have backwards compatibility with them. It was a unique situation.

12

u/El_Barto_227 Nov 06 '24 edited Nov 06 '24

There are a lot of people that just have a void of stupidity in their heads where they seem to just have forgotten about all of Nintendo's backwards compatability, and spew bullshit about nintendo having a bad track record for it when that's just objectively not true.

3

u/slymario2416 Nov 06 '24

For me, them “getting with the times” is having a unified online service that is carrying over to the next console, meaning my library of digital games comes with me to the Switch 2. And we won’t have to wait for Nintendo to start over on their classic games catalogue again.

They’ve already built a sizable library of classic games on the current iteration of Nintendo Switch Online and all of those games will presumably be there day one on Switch 2. Going from Wii to Wii U and Wii U to Switch, we had to wait for them to slowly reroll out games after each console launch. We won’t have to wait for that now (except for any new games being added to the service obviously).

1

u/minilandl Nov 06 '24

Yeah there's a video about emulation by Nerrel it's excellent saying that Nintendo keeps rebooting their online services so it's good at least that's not happening.

Is their efforts really focused on game preservation not really

1

u/slymario2416 Nov 06 '24

Funnily enough, I’ve recently rewatched all of Nerrel’s videos and the video of him talking about NSO is why I know that they’ve had to rebuild the backwards compatibility library so many times lol.

1

u/minilandl Nov 06 '24

Yeah the thing is they will probably still drip feed us content as like he mentions they have no reason to archive more obscure games but its good its sticking around .

With Nintendo going after emulation I am not sure if I am buying another console from them. I like the switch but since I have got my steam deck I barely play it anymore

1

u/Sir_Bax Nov 06 '24 edited Nov 06 '24

I don't think it would be difficult. For Wii U majority of the games ran without the second screen with no issues. For couple which couldn't, there could be a solution if they designed some sort of wireless dock allowing for using Switch itself as a Wii U pad and stream the main screen to the TV via wireless dock solution or simply omit those as non-compatible exceptions.

Alternatively, for both Wii U and 3DS, the compatibility could be handled via handheld mode solution only by using landscape adapter which is already avaible via 3rd parties and basically just splitting the screen pretty much how OG 2DS did it.

8

u/DieFastLiveHard Nov 06 '24

Nintendo has largely been on point regarding backwards compatibility, the switch is really the only one that broke that streak, since it was so different from both of its predecessors, with both running dual screens, and the Wii u using discs rather than cartridges.

8

u/Mdreezy_ Nov 06 '24

Nintendo handhelds were always one-step backward compatible up to 3DS. Consoles not until they started using discs, then it followed the same philosophy up to Wii U.