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Switch 2 will be backwards compatible with Switch

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285 points ashitlerferad | 7 comments | 06 Nov 24 14:32 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source | bottom
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dmonitor ◴[06 Nov 24 15:17 UTC] No.42063608[source]▶
This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. Nintendo has had a trend for the past couple decades of releasing "sequel" consoles that are essentially a modernized version of the old one with extra features, compatible with everything that released on the predecessor.

With all three major console manufacturers prioritizing backwards compatibility, and the rise in PC gaming (universally backwards compatible), people are starting to catch on to the fact that old games don't "expire" after 10 years. I wouldn't be surprised if backwards compatibility just becomes the standard for all gaming consoles going forward.

Tangential, but I'm also interested in seeing how games that released on old consoles and are continued to be played, like Fortnite, will support aging hardware. I don't like that Epic can one day announce the game just no longer works on that console, rendering your purchases null and void until you upgrade your hardware, but I can't expect them to update that version of the game forever.

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Taylor_OD ◴[06 Nov 24 16:55 UTC] No.42065199[source]▶
"Nintendo has had a trend for the past couple decades of releasing "sequel" consoles that are essentially a modernized version of the old one with extra features, compatible with everything that released on the predecessor."

Isnt it pretty much just the Wii and Wii U? I guess you could play GameCube disks on a Wii but calling the Wii a modernized version of the GameCube is a real stretch.

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1. red_admiral ◴[06 Nov 24 17:23 UTC] No.42065695[source]▶
GB/GBc/GBa, DS/3DS (we don't talk about DSi) come to mind if you count them as consoles. You can even play GBa in the original DS, but not in the 3DS as far as I know.
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2. tripplyons ◴[06 Nov 24 18:05 UTC] No.42066487[source]▶
The 3DS actually has a GBA CPU that was used when Nintendo gave some free GBA games away to early 3DS buyers after they lowered the price, as a sort of refund for the difference in prices. You can access it now buy jailbreaking your 3DS, but if you have a New 3DS, emulation on the main CPU is more convenient.
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3. jamesgeck0 ◴[06 Nov 24 18:45 UTC] No.42067200[source]▶
Similar situation with the Wii U. It was technically capable of natively running GameCube games, but Nintendo locked out the functionality. It can enabled with homebrew.
4. SkyBelow ◴[06 Nov 24 19:03 UTC] No.42067509[source]▶
>(we don't talk about DSi)

New 3DS crying in the corner because it didn't even get a side mention, which about matches the number of exclusives it had.

5. Lammy ◴[06 Nov 24 19:47 UTC] No.42068219[source]▶
DSi XL (LL) is actually my favorite way to play DS games because the screen is huge (and IPS!) but is in the native DS resolution of 256×192 pixels. DS games on 3DS-derivatives look like blurry garbage because they get scaled up to 320×240px for display on the 3DS's 800×240px (400×240px per eye) panel.
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6. jsheard ◴[06 Nov 24 19:56 UTC] No.42068371[source]▶
If you hold down the start button while booting a DS game then the 3DS will render it with 1:1 pixels instead of ugly scaling, but then you're not using the whole display so a DSi XL is still better.
7. derefr ◴[06 Nov 24 21:26 UTC] No.42069685[source]▶
I'm surprised there isn't a 3DS mod to bodge in a fancy modern panel with enough DPI to hit the lowest common multiple of those screens' resolutions, such that it can pull off a full-coverage integer-scaled mode for both DS and 3DS games. (There certainly exist enough mods that do this for GB/GBC!)