Topic: If it's a successor to the Wii U- will we have backwards compatibility?

I can completely agree with this. Every now and then a big Steam Sale comes along or there's some insane deal with a Humble Bundle or similar. You find yourself grabbing decent games for your library because why not right? Not unlike how when Nintendo has a decent deal on a Wii title or an old VC title on the eShop. Like the deal Nintendo had with the Metroid Prime Trilogy a little while ago. It's cheap, you've never played it, you've heard decent things about it and it's $10 or less.

I didn't build a new PC just to play Arkham City. But I wanted to build one for some newer games, like GTA5 for example. But the fact that you can sometimes get games like Arkham City for $5 each and still play them? Why not? Backwards compatibility is far from a bad thing.

They would have to port the games. I would suspect they'd go through the effort of making sure that the VC still worked so in that respect it wouldn't be a huge deal. But for Wii U, Wii, WiiWare and eShop titles? Some might be worth it but most wouldn't be. And I mean worth it in the "will we get a return for our effort" sense.

I think there's something a lot of people are missing here. The PS3 and 360 had very long lives before the PS4 and XBone were released. I think the PS4 and XBone would have benefited from backwards compatibility (I planned to buy an XBone till they said no backwards compatibility), but in their case at least the PS3 and 360 had long successful lives beforehand so the games had been played. Since the NX is being released mid-generation, it has even more of an imperative to include backwards compatibility than its competitors. If they don't, it'll stunt the audience for all games released for Wii U since the console didn't sell well and will be replaced early.

Just consider Super Smash Bros 4. Without backwards compatibility, that game will never even be tried by most gamers because the Wii U sold poorly and because the NX replaced it. That means the latest iteration of an iconic — possibly the most iconic — Nintendo game series will fail because it'll be quarantined to an unpopular, obsolete system.

That would be tragic.

Maybe they can re-release SSB4 for NX. But they'd have to keep identical gameplay mechanics, and probably make it able to play w/ Wii U users online to avoid dividing up the user base.

Full Wii U backwards compatibility would be best, but a re-release of SSB4 and perhaps select other titles could be a workable plan B. In my mind, if they do neither of those, the NX is dead on arrival.

Hoping for BC, but could live without it. Without it though, I will probably wait a few years into the new system to get it. I have working consoles for all of Nintendo's line, but to save space I have a Retron5, Wii with Game Cube compatibility, and a Wii U in the living room. Was hoping the next console would be BC to Wii U and then I would remove the WiiU from the cabinet, put the new console in, and add to the # of available generations without running out of space in the cabinet.

Tops, I'm with you that they definitely shouldn't include a Wii U gamepad with the NX. I know a lot of rumors have been that the NX will include a handheld console, either bundled or as an add-on. If that's the case, I think the handheld could function as the Wii U gamepad for backwards compatibility.

If not, I still think backwards compatibility would make sense at least for games that don't require the gamepad. It seems to me most Wii U games don't require the gamepad, because they support multiplayer and only one player can use the gamepad. So Mario 3D world, New Mario Bros U, SSB U, ... don't need the Gamepad. I don't have a Wii U, so correct me if I'm wrong.

They're rumors of this? Holy crap! This better not happen

Yeah, there have been a lot of rumors that the next console will be a combination home console and handheld device, and allow Nintendo to develop first party games and have them inherently compatible with both home device and handheld. Basically, there's been speculation about the NX having a handheld similar to the Wii U gamepad but that can play games away from the home console.

If they do such a thing, I hope the handheld is an optional extra. Otherwise the cost would eat into the console's graphics budget. Also, I wouldn't want them to make all games cross compatible, as it could limit the scope and depth of home console games. Of course, it's a rumor, so the NX could end up with nothing of the sort.

Rumour is a strong word, it's more like speculation. People are looking at how Nintendo's software is split between portable and non-portable. They think there needs to be a "solution", which would be nice. Automatically conclude they must therefore be working on a device that's somehow both......

Ignoring the huge challenges such a device would face and the fact that it'd basically be a portable console. Also ignoring the potential to partially solve the problem in software. By making the two platforms closer to each other for easier porting. But hey, the idea gets people talking so lets keep pushing it!

I find it puzzling that nobody is even considering the possibility that the NX is the next-gen handheld and not the successor for the Wii U. By the time it would release the 3DS would be 6+ years old. The Wii U would be less than 5 years old. I'm just pointing out that it's more likely that the 3DS will be replaced before the Wii U because I doubt the 3DS can hang on for another 4+ years if they decided to replace the Wii U early.

Well not nobody. Nobody who writes for any of the popular gaming media maybe but not nobody. I've been banging on about this since the announcement. Doesn't seem to be the popular view though so... I guess we should just roll with these bad theories. Watch it play out. Say "I told you so" when the NX turns out to be a "4DS"

I agree with Skywake, it will probably be a handheld system. I just find it more fun to speculate about a home console instead lol

Yep this. If you ask me, the writing is all over the wall that this is a handheld.

The 3DS is a market leader. The Wii U is not. I think it'll be a home console (or some kind of crossover system).

The GB was a market leader, the N64 was not... they still released the GBC
The GBC was a market leader, the N64 was not... they still released the GBA
The GBA was a market leader, the GC was not... they still released the DS
The DS was a market leader, the Wii was no-longer... they still released the 3DS
The PS3 was a market leader, the PSVita was not... they still released the PS4

When you're the market leader in a category you don't just sit on your hands and do nothing. You need to keep ahead because that's the place where you're making the profits. So you release new hardware, you keep it new, you maintain dominance. The 3DS is an old piece of hardware, there's no way they can keep people interested forever. Hell I'm a god-damn fanboy and even I'm not as interested in new 3DS content anymore. Lately I've only been playing the Streetpass games and Pokemon Shuffle....

If they will still continue to do portable. They might go for smartphone/console next time around. Remember, Nintendo is a quite small company. They don't have infinite resources.

You realise that they announced the NX specifically to counter this point...

But look a little closer at the 3DS in terms of it's sales over time. Sales and software lineup peaked in 2013 and have been steadily declining since. This happens for almost every single console on the market, and the decline tends to signify a new system coming in. Look at the 3DS's latter half of 2015 in NA. It's embarrassingly small.

As small as the Wii U's sales are, the system is hitting a peak in terms of it's sales and software lineup, which tends to mean that the system has some life ahead of it.

Game systems are expensive to make, so companies try to maximize the benefit from each, which generally means keeping a system around through its peak.

edit: grammar

@iKhan
Couldn't have put it better myself

If they added backwards compatibility, that raises the price of the system up more...I think this may also go with the controllers and accessories...plus, if it's Wii U compatible, it would have to be Wii compatible too...since many of the Wii U games uses the Wii controller scheme. If nintendo wants to compete with PS4 and XONE, it would have to be cheaper and have the same power as those two systems...especially to gain third party support back, which they need no matter what fans like myself state. But, with PS4 and XONE coming up to 2 years old, possible 3 by the time the NX comes out, If the NX is more than $300, sony and microsoft will be coming close to cutting the price of their systems, and what nintendo probably wouldn't want, is the competition with the other two being close to the same price.

Now you're assuming that nx already definitely is a portable. It's likely to be, yes, but it's not confirmed what it is. I think the quote was meant to be about nintendo having a console and smartphone, while not having a handheld anymore. That would still make the nx dedicated gaming hardware, just not the portable. All we know is that NX was announced to assure nintendo is still making dedicated gaming systems. The nature of that system is unknown.

Although I agree it is most likely something portable, I also think we can expect tighter integration towards the console future, if any. That's why people keep mentioning some form of hybrid - at some point people expect tighter integration.

The most likely scenario would be a handheld that features the same architecture as the console future so it's almost always dual release (monster hunter, smash bros) without a fuss - maximum reach for the developers with minimum costs. Downscaling into the portable with ease? Lots of developers would love that.

Just remember nintendo could also think of the portable hardware as a losing game against ubiquitous smart devices and go all in on portable gaming on other hardware, while nx could even be something entirely different from what we understand gaming consoles to be today.

Point is, we don't know. But nintendo was between a rock and a hard place the past few years, so I expect them to innovate more than just the default assumption of releasing another portable and console next to each other. Then again, innovating in the portable space itself is also still possible, so who knows.

Nintendo's portables history is largely defined by the GameBoy, DS and 3DS. All have sold well. As such I'd be surprised if they walked away from that sort of device completely. I'm expecting more of a 3DS/smartphone hybrid.