
Nintendo this week put the rumours to rest (well, kind of) with the announcement its Switch "successor" would support backwards compatibility. So, how are third-party partners reacting to this?
GamesIndustry.biz asked Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick what he thought and he's all for it:
"Backward compatibility is good for our catalogue, and we think we have the highest selling catalogue per SKU in the business."
As for how he expects the Nintendo Switch successor to perform, he noted how he "never" counts Nintendo out. In 2025, Take-Two will release games like Civilization 7, Borderlands 4 and Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto 6.
Nintendo highlighted multiple third-party relationships earlier this week during its latest financial results, including its partnership with Take-Two. This follows a rumour Nintendo could lean heavily on third-party support for the Switch in 2025.
Company president Shuntaro Furukawa has also mentioned how "further information" about the Switch successor's compatibility with the existing model will be announced at a "later date".
What's your reaction to Nintendo's backwards compatibility announcement this week? Are you expecting the Switch 2 to be a huge success when it's finally released? Give us your own thoughts in the comments below.
[source gamesindustry.biz]
Comments 33
It would be awesome if they remastered the GBA (GTA Advance), DS (Chinatown Wars), and PSP versions (Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories) of GTA games for Switch or Switch 2. Those games are fantastic and more fun than most of the mainline ones to me. I would gladly play those many times over.
I’m glad they’re going the backwards compatibility route. My only fear is that it won’t bring any improvements to older games. One thing I love about PS5 and Xbox backwards compatibility is that it often adds graphical improvements and my favorite: fps bumps. Not that they’re essential, but they’re nice. Imagining Breath of the Wild, Tears, and the Xenoblade games with those improvements, gets my hopes pretty high.
İ think Nintendo will keep there word.
İ go in that direction. İ believe in Nintendo.
That is so awesome playing old Nintendo Switch games on Nintendo Switch 2 will be a incredible thing. You can play it again and there are still many Nintendo Switch games that İ have not played so İ can play it on the Nintendo Switch 2.
@Serpenterror they need to give us 4 and 5 first.
@JDCII It’ll be awesome if it can at least increase the resolution and framerate.
@SilentBluntman Unfortunately DLSS isn't just "plug and play". It needs to be implemented by a patch because internally it requires motion vectors in addition to the image itself. That said, I do hope they give developers the opportunity to patch older Switch titles for Switch 2. But in the worst case scenario, Switch 2 should have more than enough raw power to increase the framerate in games that currently struggle.
@JDCII It should inherently improve the frame rate of games that currently struggle to hit their target and improve resolution on games that have dynamic res. Anything else will need a specific patch to improve performance but unless Nintendo do something weird I can’t see why there won’t be automatic improvements for a lot of games
@Serpenterror Chinatown Wars is incredible. Still play the PSP version on my Vita.
"we think we have the highest selling catalogue per SKU in the business"
LMAO ... how full of yourself ... 🤣
Fingers crossed we'll see this and other third parties continue releasing their games also on Switch's successor other than their games already on Switch (and upcoming ones)!
@SilentBluntman
Thats my wish also.
The fact that its backwards compatibel is for me a big win.
Second wish is that older games will get patches to make use of the upscaling tech on the new device.
‘Never count Nintendo out’ was a common refrain from pubs after the Wii U era.. strange..
@JDCII My hopes for that are high too. I don't have any of the other consoles but I know I would appreciate my games getting a boost , particularly 1st party games.
@NinChocolate It is a strange thing to say after the enormous success of the Switch.
@Serpenterror chinatown wars is my fav single player gta too.. great game
If it has backwards compatibility, does that mean the Eshop will likely carry over too?
On the PS5 and XSX, can you access the stores from the previous consoles?
"I never count Nintendo out" seems like a patronizing thing to say when Nintendo are currently the most successful video game company. I've heard almost identical quotes from other Western devs over the years which were just as eye rolling. They're seen as lesser just because they most of the games they make are family.
The bloody thing hasn't even been officially announced and already we get talk of regurgitating old games. And they wonder why the industry is on the decline!!
@OorWullie It wouldn't make much sense if it had backwards-compatibility and the eShop didn't carry over. One of the selling points of the idea of backwards-compatibility is a new Nintendo user being able to access older titles on the most current-gen consoles.
The question is how much of the eShop will carry over. I was able to access my copy of Nier-Automata, Batman, and Dragon Age: Inquisition (all purchased on my PS4) on the Playstation store via my brother's PS5 (and I finished Nier Automata on the PS5 last year)
Xbox is trying to change the way we pay for gaming. Playstation is hell bent on selling us high priced tech we probably don't need that isn't supported properly. Lots of people who like that sort of gaming are considering in moving from console to PC. The concept of live services is a bad taste in everyone's mouths.
In the meantime Nintendo are reassuringly stuck in their ways as just making fun little games that distract us from reality for a bit.
I also never count Nintendo out. I don't count console manufacturers.
You would have to be a complete moron 3rd party to write off Nintendo again right out the gate for over half the gen
Switch 2 Boost perfomance Graphic Driver / Battery Life / Back Button support / Keep the same Design
At least GTA 6 avaible run on it ( future i will shout this too )
In Nintendo's past consoles, whenever backwards compatibility was a feature, there was usually a pretty significant change to the hardware/controller, as in a new "gimmick". For example:
GBA->DS / Dual Screen
GC-> Wii / Motion Controls
DS->3DS / Stereoscopic 3D
Wii->WiiU / Tablet
There was no "upgrade" or "enhancement" for the BC titles on the newer console. Ie, motion controls weren't implemented on GC titles, etc... This allowed Nintendo to re-release BC titles as a "new" game with the new console's gimmick, rather than just updating the BC titles.
All that to say... I don't think Switch 1 games will get a "resolution boost" or "FPS boost" in the same way Sony and Microsoft do. I also don't think we'll see games release on Switch 1, but also give consumers the option to "spend $10 to get the Switch 2" version, like Sony does with cross gen games. I also don't think Nintendo will make many cross gen games.
They'll focus entirely on making Switch 2 and Switch 2 software the thing to buy.
@nin10doom
The reason why there was no FPS or resolution improvement in past backwards compatibility consoles is because the hardware was found inside the new one. For example, the 3DS had the DS chip on the inside. It was not emulated.
The reason why people keep discussing the possibility of improved FPS and Res is because it is expected that the Switch successor has the same architecture. For example, people are expecting the performance boost of 3DS titles that occurred with the use of the "New" 3DS.
AMD has an FSR equivalent to support older games or just games that don't implement it, called Radeon Super Resolution (RSR). Even do Sony & Microsoft don't make use of it I think Nvidia could push something out the Switch could use, it's never going to be as good as the game specific version, but decent upscaling of older games with low resolution targets could really benefit.
I already have this vision on my mind, like when you inserted a DS card into a 3DS. The screen was bigger than the DS game. Of course, today’s technology doesn’t allow that, so it won’t happen, right?
Otherwise, I’m glad that backwards compatibility is here. I can’t throw away my Splatoon 3 story mode progress RIGHT NOW.
@nin10doom agree. You think Nintendo will update the software? Instead of the minimalistic design which is right now (which I like, but I still glare angrily at my Switch whenever I see a theme on my 3DS 😆)
@splatoonaddict Well, if the Switch 2 is set to have more power than the Switch, they might be able to make a new UI that actually allows for more themes (+ UI music) like the 3DS
If they did that with the original Switch, its UI would be lagging due to the Switch being underpowered
@splatoonaddict I definitely miss the themes from the 3DS...And Street Pass! I think Nintendo will make some updates to make the OS feel new and fresh, but still be as quick as possible, so it may be minimal.
@nin10doom Like will anything change with the Switch 2 UI, like the eShop also now being fixed by being app-based instead of web browser-based so it can run smoother and work better
@MrCarlos46 I think they'll definitely change the Switch 2 UI, just to freshen things up and make it feel new and improved. I'm sure there's ideas they've held onto for Switch 2, rather than using them on Switch 1. Themes could be introduced, or something entirely new. Exciting times!
@nin10doom UI music could also be added
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