Smash Bros. Ultimate Switch OLED
Image: Zion Grassl / Nintendo Life

Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Gavin ponders his instinctual desire for backwards compatibility and why, perhaps, it's really not needed this time around...

First things first, I would love 'Switch 2' to be backwards compatible.

In an ideal world, I'd love every new system to be compatible with the last, and prior generations, too. Every time a new console rolls around, my backlog of previous-genners gets buried beneath another layer of digital dust before getting lost altogether in the swell of shiny new games on the shiny new system. There's a huge peace-of-mind benefit to being able to pack up my old console knowing that I can still play all its games on the new hotness.

However, as fresh rumours surrounding the Switch successor emerge freshly churned from the rumour mill on a weekly basis, I find myself realising that Nintendo's next console really doesn't need backwards compatibility. In fact, it needs it less than any previous Nintendo console, and — perhaps — any console ever.

The ability to play GameCube games on Wii, or Wii games on Wii U made upgrading a marginally easier decision, but the reality is that I would have gotten the new systems eventually, regardless. For lifelong gamers, convenience and peace of mind are the two main reasons we care so much about still being able to access previous-gen games on our new systems; the peace of mind that we'll still have direct and immediate access to our existing library, without the inconvenience of digging out the old console or worrying if it still works.

Being able to trade in old hardware for new can be a significant factor in jumping into the next generation, too — I'm certainly not dismissing that, and for big home consoles with a price tag of $500+, it's an even more serious consideration. And that's ignoring the sheer space requirements to keep a PS5 or Xbox Series X set up in your entertainment centre alongside a new system. Those things are bloody enormous.

Nintendo Switch, accessories and games
Image: Zion Grassl / Nintendo Life

However, the more obsessive gamers among us are more likely to keep our old consoles, and keeping your trusty Switch in a state of readiness is an easier ask than those bulky home consoles. I needn't worry about airflow or finding space or connecting cables. Worst-case scenario, I pick it out of the draw and charge it for a while.

From Nintendo's point of view, the benefits of implementing Switch game compatibility, even if the rumoured Nvidia chip onboard the new system makes it feasible and relatively simple, may not outweigh the potential cons. Yes, you get a comforting selling point for the box that'll go down particularly well with parents — all those expensive games you bought still work, no sweat! — but cutting technical ties with the previous platform helps establish the new system as its own thing. Nintendo will be desperate not to confuse people as it did with Wii U.

Perhaps more relevant to Nintendo's bottom line and the firm's overall approach to hackers and homebrew, any potential avenue to piracy will be locked tight with Switch 2. The original Switch that launched in 2017 was replaced by a revision incorporating the updated chip found in the Lite and OLED models due to an exploit discovered by hackers. Essentially an unpatchable vulnerability in the Nvidia chipset itself, the flaw blew the doors off the system's security very early in its lifecycle. The updated SKUs fixed the issue, but the damage was done and videos of Nintendo games running in 4K on PC, sometimes before they're even publicly available on Switch, are now par for the course. If there's any chance whatsoever that backwards compatibility could prove useful to hackers and pirates, Nintendo simply won't include it in the next system.

Astral Chain Nintendo Switch
If I really want to get back to Astral Chain (and I do!)... well, I can just grab my OG Switch — Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life

And then, of course, there's the ability to sell us last-gen games all over again! Hey, it worked for this gen with Wii U games, and Sony did nicely milking The Last of Us three times in nine years, so why not again? In reality, I'm not convinced Nintendo would take this path of diminishing returns. The Wii U ports this generation were a direct result of that console's commercial failure and even the most cynical among us would likely concede that the steady stream of Deluxe upgrades have given new life to games that deserved more attention than they got originally. Sure, Zelda: Breath of the Wild Deluxe on Switch 2 would sell, but it's hardly compatible with the company MO to 'surprise and delight'. And I think we can all agree that BOTW got its dues. It sold over 30 million copies and counting.

With the Switch now over halfway into its seventh year, many of us have upgraded and have multiple Switches in the house. Unlike its bulky home console brethren, the rigmarole and inconvenience of digging one of these out to play some Breath of the Wild is negligible. As great as it would be, I really don't need to be able to play BOTW or Mario Odyssey or Smash Bros. Ultimate on my Super Switch.

I would imagine that the retro games currently accessible through Nintendo Switch Online will transfer over to the new platform in some form, if not in their entirety. I'm sure we'll get a convoluted 'Nintendo-style solution', but maintaining the value of the subscription service will be essential, and that substantial catalogue of retro gems is a simple way to deliver continuity alongside that peace of mind we're all chasing. Albeit via a subscription service which could be shut down at any moment.

Nintendo Switch OLED and Game Boy Nintendo Switch Online
Image: Zion Grassl / Nintendo Life

In fact, perhaps the biggest reason for Switch 2 backwards compatibility is that Metroid Prime 4 runs on the thing, although that's assuming that it's still a Switch project. Personally (and I think many Metroid fans would feel the same), I hope that the project has shifted platforms to take advantage of additional power, BUT there may be Switch owners disappointed that a game announced so long ago isn't coming to the console. Would Switch 2 exclusivity stop Prime fans from playing MP4? Almost certainly not, but having apologised for restarting development, Nintendo has form in delivering big games that bookend a console's lifecycle. And there's nothing to stop both consoles, old and new, from getting a version of the same game without any backwards compatibility. Yes, BOTW, I know. You can stop tapping me on the shoulder.

So, after umming and ahhing, I've come to the conclusion that of all the mainstream consoles from the big three manufacturers, 'Switch 2' is the one that makes the least compelling case for really requiring backwards compatibility. Who can say what's in store — and I'd love to play all my current games on whatever the new system ends up being, and with a modest resolution and frame rate bump to boot — but if Switch 2 doesn't play Switch games, it's less of a deal-breaker than ever before.