Talking Point: What Would Be The Ideal Way To Play DS Games On 'Switch 2'?

I think they should make it single screen at least as an option. Depends on how the hardware works with the Switch 2 screen, however I don’t think said console will have 2 screens.

I keep wanting them to release a new joy con grip that has a touch screen on it so they can have DS and 3DS on NSO. Kinda like the other N64 controller or something of the like. I just think to cut costs if they make it a grip people would only be buying the screen?

I don't know if it'll ever happen but as a 3DS fan, I'd totally buy that.

Before attempting to bring any DS game, I'd rather see the Game Cube library available.

I really like the idea of the controller working in portrait mode, and the joycons attaching that way. The stacked images are how it works on my emulator, and it works really well

I like the TV-as-a-second-screen approach, but making this the sole way to play DS - a handheld device - games seems counterintuitive. So maybe that could be an option when you play it "docked." Did the Wii U require using the television to play DS games? I can't remember.

I also think double screens would probably make the device so expensive, no? Particularly if they are trying to increase the power capabilities of the next console. That sounds like a tough balance.

The accessory option sounds nifty. Though those would have to also be pricey. And it would probably limit support. Not to mention, they could then be like the NSO controllers that I think are often out-of-stock?

The attachable screen idea sounds cool, but I'm more intrigued if Nintendo is willing to make other stuff that connects to that extra USB C port

I'd love if they could somehow have a retractable second screen that could be pulled out when you need it like one of those phones with the keypad you can conceal. Not sure how it would work in practice, though.

I've also seen someone speculate how a two-screened Switch could have really interesting applications in tabletop mode where you could put them back-to-back with a player on each side like a game of Battleship. For something like ARMS, you'd be actually throwing your punches toward each other, which would make for a more immersive experience. It would work great for card games and the like as well.

If this second screen was detachable and you could use it as a makeshift GamePad while the other screen is in the dock to replicate the asymmetrical multiplayer of Wii U, then it'd be perfect. Also, I want them to include a stylus holder like the DS, and move the IR camera from the bottom to the top of the Joy-Con between the R and ZR buttons and put an IR sensor built into the dock to get the precise Wii motion controls. The bezzle above the screen should also have an IR sensor for when you're playing in tabletop.

Those features, coupled with the inevitably improved graphics (4k docked, 1080p handheld) and already confirmed backwards compatability, would make Switch 2 my absolute dream console.

The only thing that would sweeten it even further is if they brought back social features like StreetPass and Miiverse, offered more streaming platforms like Netflix and Disney+, and released some kind of peripheral you could attach like a screen protector that all of a sudden makes the Switch 2 capable of glasses-free stereoscopic 3D. Since it would be an optional feature sold separately, it wouldn't drive uo the cost of the main unit for what some see as a "gimmick." I know that's a pipe dream that likely won't happen, but man, if only...

Id prefer a detachable second screen, but I'm ok with whatever as long as it doesn't break. They're gonna do something about it anyway, knowing how much they used this mechanic over the course of 15 years, as well as how much fans are clamoring for literally every Nintendo game to be available on modern hardware.

I’ve actually had an idea for a while on how it could work. Basically have the top screen be the main one with the bottom screen being displayed in a Picture in Picture style.

What sets it apart is that you would be able to move the bottom screen around with the right stick, and pressing it in would switch which one is bigger.

It’s not perfect, but I actually think it could work really well for games where the bottom screen is just complimentary for the top one. Additionally, touch controls would be handled with the gyroscope and the trigger button when in TV mode.

I want an attachable second screen. The Nintendo Super Switch with the Super DS add on for $99.

An official attachment for the sideways display would do well, I think. Even if they just sell it from their store like the console controllers.

They were close to being perfect on Wii U, just wished we had more control over the screen sizes or layout. Also hated that the stacked layout you were forced to have the screens be small, ugh.

I think adjust the Wii U setup for DS games to have more control over the size and location of the screens. Also it would be wonderful if you could use your Switch 1 like a Wii U Gamepad for Switch 2.

I think a mixture of Tate mode if you wanna play in handheld mode, and dominus if on the big screen, then some games cam be recommended to tate mode (maybe in case of very touch heavy games like Spirit Tracks), is the best option. Maybe if they change some games to have movement done with analogue instead of touch (PH and ST). Although that's a lot more work, and I doubt they'd do that last idea for many or any games.

To keep the most true DS set up, I would say WiiU asymmetric play, but this won’t work with the current cradle set up. Also it won’t work for people who want to play on the go, so will probably need some second screen access when paused set up.

I actually think it will be very difficult without some modification to the base game to be honest

When emulating on a deck or similar, you can switch between screen layouts at the touch of a button. Would work, especially for games where one screen is the main one for most of the game. Even the side by side option on a 7" screen like the OLED gives more screen real estate than a DS. Keep it simple, and don't design a new console around DS emulation.

Spin round into Tate and flip screen! Handheld foldable screens are much more common thanks to those phones, that way you can transport it easier if it’s foldable.

I remember Damo was all in on Tate mode for awhile. Whatever happened to grandpa, he hide away in a corporate corner office somewhere? If anyone sees him tell him rjejr wishes him well. 😁

I really like a 2 screen clamshell design, I’m all about using the bottom screen for maps and inventory management. The New 2DS XL, not the original junkie one, the new NEW 2DS XL was just about a perfect design to me. Basically all of the hardware is in the bottom so the top just has to be a screen. Really feel like Nintendo is missing out by not having Switch 2 be the Switch 2DS instead. No 3D, that ship has sailed.

Make the top screen 1080p OLED, bottom can be some old 640x480 touchscreen junk they find laying around. It’s not about the 2nd screen adding a lot of cost, the top screen is the main screen, that cost is going to be there anyway, the 2nd screen is the smaller one on the bottom, probably not adding much to the cost at all. Just have to figure out how not to have the thumb sticks scratch up the screen, done.

Nintendo should release a line of NinTelevisions: various sizes of 4K TVs that can easily be rotated on their stands to Tate mode.

I jest… mostly… but it’s the only perfect solution.

This is why the detchable screens patent is so genius, and why I've been gunning for that as the direction for Switch 2 even before that patent was made public. That's the best way to solve the dual screen issue. It gives you a DS/3DS style dual screen setup in handheld mode and then in docked mode you dock one screen and leave the Joy Cons attached to the other screen and then you have a Wii U style setup. That would be most similar to what those past handhelds and consoles actually did.

The obvious solution is to glue your Switch 1 to the bottom TotK style; 50% more processing power, 100% more battery life, and infinitely more stickiness.

I would love for them to add both a tate mode and Have wii U style functionality. That would be great. But no forced Wii u style game play please.... That's it's what ruined Star Fox for me.

@JimNorman I love those mockups, good sir!

The only way it would work for me and even feels comfortable to my eye lol.
Is in portrait mode and they split the screen that way.

Best way? A 3DS. Still using it more than Switch 😅.

If they have to make a bunch of specialized changes for each DS game, it'd probably take just as much time and effort to make Remasters that use most of the same coding with minor changes and new graphics, like BDSP. But there's a lot of DS and Wii games and IPs we just won't see again because the hardware was so unique.

DS compatibility is very far down my list of Switch 2 features that I'm hoping for

I think Nintendo could get away with with creating a peripheral that attaches around the "switch 2" that adds another screen. This would allow them to do DS, 3DS and Wii U.

Get an N3DSXL and sodtmod. It's never going to get better than that for these games. Playing them in the Wii U is a fun novelty, I pull out the Castlevania and HeartGold every once in a while, but even that which should be the ideal way to play them is not as great as having both screens in the clamshell on dual IPS. No amount of tinkering and configuring on a single screen will do it justice.

@Coalescence unless they do the connected dual screen again. You never know with this company.

When I had my Deck I barely did any DS emulation. Switch the screen back and forth sucked, idc what anyone has to say.

Obviously a second screen attachement would be cool, but it’s not needed. I’d go with the “Tate” style, Nintendo could release a grip to work with that style through NSO.

In all honesty - and admitting I wasn't ever as big into DS as some others were - DS games have aged slightly worse than N64 games visually and without that stylus interface don't feel the same. To be more than just a pure nostalgia attack those DS games need to be remade/remastered to some degree to work in an acceptable format on a modern system.

There's plenty of games for which that would make sense - ranging from the basic "we've got a nice emulator and we've dealt with the minor touch screen elements" (Dominus Collection) through "we've made it single screen and made more in-depth changes to the game to reduce the reliance on the touch screen/dual screen gimmicks" (TWEWY) through to "ok this is the same core game but with completely redone assets and on a single screen" (Pokemon Diamond/Pearl).

Of course not all of the many many many DS games will ever get that attention but then most of them are likely in licensing hell forever and won't see a re-release on any service or any form.

My personal feeling - the best way would be a "DS Classic edition" pre-loaded with 20ish key games.

I don't know what sort of form the successor to the Switch will take, but if there is one game for the DS that I would love to finally see a Western release, it's ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat. I was really interested in playing it after reading about it in Nintendo Power and seeing screenshots of the game, but it was never released outside Japan. Really hoping it will be remastered and released to all regions. Hopefully it will see more success today than it did back then.

u cant really beat the feel of a 3ds, so I dont care if it comes to switch 2.

All these comments, and no one said the obvious answer told to us by the one true god, Rusty.

The 4DS, duh.

That's the next system. It will handle TV mode, handheld mode, VR mode AND Travel Thru Time mode.

Buckle up boys and girls.

@batmanbud2 true. And that would get an instant buy in from me.

Tate mode or Wii U style would probably be the best and least clunky design imo, for both DS and 3DS games. But, for it to work properly, the handheld screen really needs to have stereoscopic 3D just like on 3DS imo.

Maybe the screen can fold like some samsung screens can

@XCWarrior The Nontendo 4DS needs to exist for real one day.

as much as id love more than anything to have ds and 3ds games, i dont believe this will happen at all to be honest. gamecube games also will not happen i think unless the switch 2 has analogue triggers. these things arent realistic.

@spottedleaf pretty sure only Mario Sunshine used the analog triggers, and. . .well. . .3D Allstars. . .

If only there was a Nintendo-made peripheral that weighed only 8 ounces, supported all DS games natively, had a nice resistive touchscreen, and was so popular that Nintendo shipped like 130 million of them, so they’re easy to find everywhere. Oh yeah, that’s the Nintendo DS.

Play your DS games on DS, people. It’s a comfier and more portable handheld than the Switch anyway. A new “Nintendo Classics” DS mini product would be preferable to all the compromises listed here, but even that I think is wasteful and too soon.

Add an option to use your smartphone as the second screen, with an accessory to attach it to the Switch 2.

Honestly with emulation you get options....two side by side or a button to swap between screens, or like using cemu on pc i can have a lil pop up screen for the second screen where i can place and resize.... I dont know why they need to reinvent the wheel when the community has done so much to deal with stuff like this ... Or like many games that have been ported to switch they do a work around, and any game that heavily uses the stylus...like phantom hourglass are better left to the past... I still have a 3ds thats modded and with a ds cartridge that has hundreds of games.... Alot of the ds and 3ds library is nonsense like cellphone type games, shovelware or whatever which also can be left in the past

the implementation of Dominus Collection is almost perfect. It's a little clumsy to make precise touchscreen inputs with the analogue stick, which is fine for this collection because it is rarely necessary in the game (and the magic seals that required precise inputs were reworked to use buttons anyway). It wouldn't work so well for Rhythm Heaven for example that requires a very specific flick action. For a game like that, it'd make more sense to remake it entirely rather than emulate. That's the tricky thing about DS touchscreen usage - it was so versatile, any modern ports are gonna have to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

I like the concept of Nintendo simply releasing a joycon grip for using the tablet section vertical. A good easy low cost solution that could work for anyone.

@swoose that'll be $150 for Pokemon HeartGold, sir.

Also, I've found my Switch Lite to feel better than my 3DS XL (which already felt fine).

They should hire the entire Citra mod team. It's perfect, customizable and aside from a very few awful outliers like Kid Icarus, doesn't force full time dual screen use with touch.

The screens on the DS were 3" 4:3 screens. Which means that two DS screens stacked ontop of each other is 9.2cm. So in order to replicate the DS on a 16:9 screen without rotating you only need a screen that has a 7.4" diagonal

The Switch 2 is rumoured to be around 8". That means it can support the DS screen setup natively without rotating the screen. I don't think this is an issue

All they need to do is support a handful of different layout options and they're good. Side by side, top/bottom, single screen and TATE. Done

@batmanbud2 the controls in super mario sunshune in 3D all stars were completely bespoke to that release, really the controls in super mario sunshine were not truly analog per se, but rather had two states, "partially pressed" and "fully pressed" which could be mapped to the bumpers. thats not applicable to other games which may depend on actual analog input

Just play them on DS.

@spottedleaf again, though, I'm pretty sure Sunshine was the only first party game to use them, and every third party game that used them also uses them on other non Nintendo consoles.

@batmanbud2 super smash bros melee, luigi's mansion, metroid prime and 2 used them and f zero gx used them for precision steering from a quick google search

@spottedleaf then explain Luigi's Mansion 3DS and Metroid Prime Trilogy and Remastered.

None of those games need analog (even a racing game such as Fzero GX), even if they did, Nintendo could just include analog triggers on their next controllers, especially with all the pressure from their community and competitors.

I don't even need it to play Switch 2 games. I just want it to play Switch games super smoothly, and also have a port for physical 3DS and DS games ^_^

İ do not want a handheld mode from Nintendo Switch 2. İ only want home console like N64 or the Nintendo Gamecube. The controller must be like Nintendo Switch pro controller. That controller is so good. DS games yess İ want them if it is possible but İ want them to play on the tv on the big screen.

They work fine on my phone. Usually play with one screen much larger than the other with a button to switch between the two. Sometimes one screen full screen if you dont need to see the second one. Sometimes half and half in vertical if both screens need attention.

Its pretty game specific.

I still go back to the wii u reveal trailer where it had a auto rotate mode on the gamepad which never came into fruition.

A thing that hasn't been replicated for me on consoles outside of the DS is how information is presented on the second screen. In a game like Chinatown Wars, it was presented so seamlessly that it helped to immerse me in the game's world. I'd go for a second screen attachment, please. If for no other reason then to have my Switch looking like a Swiss Army knife, a la my old Gameboy.

a VR setup for the main screen (you can look around and stuff) but for the "second screen" have it be the TV you play Non VR games on
(this is from the future)

Unless the game didn't require touch controls the vertical switch layout is gonna be the way to go. I doubt that's what we're gonna get if they ever do DS games online. Expect butchered port-jobs.

@batmanbud2 the "explanation" is that like i said before these games had bespoke controls programmed into them and were not just emulated raw. luigis mansion 3D is a remake. im not saying that they couldnt theoretically be reprogammed for different control schemes but that would fundamentally be a modified game. you couldnt just throw them all into an app as is and they wont just work with a switch controller the way its designed, to say nothing of the download and storage space burden

its far more realistic, and lucrative for the effort, to do exactly as youve alluded to: port them, do very slight remastering as in sunshine and pikmin 1+2 or metroid prime trilogy, or remake altogether as in luigis mansion or paper mario ttyd, etc, and sell these individually for a retail price point.

They've done quite well at giving different setting options for the Game Boy app,
so I think they could just give a number of choices.

I always envisioned the dock having enough power to be able to receive signal from the Switch 2, allowing for full access to Wii U style games, if desired. So the top screen and Switch could be respective screens for DS or 3DS emulation in a ‘home mode’, or standard dual screen design in the handheld mode.

The dock having a beefier brain could also allow for solid asymmetric gameplay as well, such as several switches being able to connect to a single dock, simulating the GBA to GC connectivity concept.

Just a dream, sure, but I feel like it would be a blast to get multiple switches to enjoy a TV as a hub for gameplay together.

I keep having fantasies about a dual-screened Switch 2, because man oh jeez I would love a DSwitch. I don't even care about playing DS games on it. I mean, there are SO MANY DS games that I loved, but I already have enough games to play without replying the old ones, and I would love to have new games in a dual-screen format. If there's some way to play handheld+TV like WiiU, only less annoying... then holy crap I'll buy 11 of them day 1. Or, more realistically, 1 of them on day 11.

I think the obvious answer is that there isn't really a good way. Short of releasing a clamshell version of the Switch 2 which I don't think is going to happen, none of the possibilities mentioned really work.

Tate mode is probably the best idea but Nintendo aren't going to run with that, it's not really practical. An optional second screen would probably give the best user experience, but that's too niche and costly. One screen on tv and the other on the Switch like the Wii U is a bit too jarring.

So I think for the time being DS and 3DS are better left to being played on original hardware which isn't that difficult to come by.

There's absolutely a way to have a screen that slides upwards to reveal a second screen underneath. Wouldn't need to be really thick with today's tech either, just look at the phones which do it. This way the console could act as a DS style dual screen handheld when on the go, or you can have a Wii U style TV and controller dual screen when at home. Having seen the apparent leaks for the new console I'm slightly disappointed they've gone with a single screen device. The big "innovation" over the current Switch really should have been a return to dual screen gaming picking up the idea that the Wii U failed to sell, but with the added advantage of the Switch back catalog being compatible and not being tied to playing it in the same room as the console, which was one of the big drawbacks the off-TV play on Wii U had.

I'd like more games to be properly ported to a single screen.

@Not_Soos Completely agree; the precise idea you described is something I have been dreaming of for years. That being said, with the potential extra costs I feel Nintendo's best move for DS virtual console is Tate Mode/side by side support with the second screen available as a peripheral for the mad men like ourselves who miss the true Dual Screen days.

@Arehexes Very good point. The touch screen of DS, DSi and 3DS are passive and the feedback is completely different than Switch.

Built in support for TATE mode would be amazing, could finally stop using the 3D printed grip that holds my joycons on each side of the vertical screen (though that works great for pinball games, and I'd imagine also DS games)

Hopefully it's a 3D screen. So each eye can be a different screen.

Or simply make the Super Switch foldable like the Moto Razr.

But really, wouldn't it make the most sense to show the second screen on the TV? Maybe the Super Switch dock will have the ability to output an independent view, similar to the Wii U.

What I think is more important is will they release a stylus? Multi-touch displays don't quite work the same way a DS touch screen does, so I hope they developed a screen in mind with a smart stylus (similar to an apple pen).

The problem is that, while the Switch has a touch screen, it doesn't have a good touch screen. In fact from my experiences typing on its on-screen keyboard I'd say it's the worst I've ever seen aside from airline in-flight entertainment systems and old Chinese knock-off iPads. Plus the stylus touch technology itself is just way way way more accurate than even the best capacitive touch screens.

If it's going to be strong magnets, perhaps they've set it up so you can attach the magnets vertically as well?
Or at least in some orientation that would make vertical play possible.
Along with that perhaps it'll work similar to WiiU and you can have 2 screen that way?
It always baffled me why they didn't do DS games on the Wii U... It was the perfect device for them

Make a separate screen attachment for the top, kinda like the one seen on the right half of the cover image for this article

Allowing users to decide between Dominus-style layouts and TATE mode with an extra accessory seems best to me