It sounds like the eventual successor to the Nintendo Switch could contain a feature that fans have been making known for quite some time they want to see in Nintendo’s next console. With the transition from the Wii U to Nintendo Switch, one of the biggest things that was lost was the ability to natively play games from previous platforms. While Nintendo ended up porting a number of titles from Wii U to Switch, the Switch itself didn’t contain any backward compatibility functions. Luckily, based on new comments from one boss at Nintendo, it sounds like there’s a good chance this won’t end up happening again with Switch 2.ย
As mentioned in a new Q&A, longtime Nintendo director Shigeru Miyamoto talked about backward compatibility and how easy it is to include with video game consoles nowadays. Although Miyamoto himself didn’t confirm that backward compatible functionality will be present in all of Nintendo’s future platforms, the ease with which he said it can now be implemented makes it seem likely to be present in the Switch’s follow-up console.ย
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“In the past, we provided a service known as the ‘Virtual Console’ that allowed users to play older video games on new consoles with newer hardware. As long as the hardware remained unchanged, those games could continue to be played,” Miyamoto said in a quote translated by VGC. “Of course, video games developed for dedicated consoles were created in different development environments for each console. As a result, when the hardware changed, the development environment could not necessarily be reused, and so the video games that had been released on older consoles could not be played on newer consoles without additional modification. Recently, however, the development environment has increasingly become more standardized, and we now have an environment that allows players to enjoy older video games on newer consoles more easily than ever before.”
Again, while Miyamoto never outright talked about Switch 2, or whatever the next Nintendo console might be called, the fact that he pointed out how easy it is for backward compatibility to now be added makes it sound likely that this is something Nintendo is exploring for its next hardware. What remains to be seen, though, is when that future hardware could be revealed. Currently, the Nintendo Switch continues to sell incredibly well, which makes it seem unlikely that a Switch successor will come about soon. Perhaps within the coming year, we’ll start to learn more about what Nintendo could look to do next.ย
Do you believe that the Nintendo Switch 2 will be backward compatible with the current Switch? And what else are you hoping to see from Nintendo’s next video game platform? Be sure to let me know either down in the comments or message me on Twitter at @MooreMan12.
