Effortlessgamer

@Itachi2099 right? Oh well, takes my mind off the "emotional mess" that I very clearly am 😁

@DaniPooo I can agree with that.

One other thing I'd say that's slightly off topic, but it's makes me kinda mad that Nintendo could (and will one day) just turn off nso services and we will all lose access to these games.

@Jiggies resorting to personal insults? Really?

Kate is not talking about emulation in this article, which I'm assuming you haven't actually bothered to read. She's talking about backwards compatibility, not emulation. Emulation provides a way to play older games on a different system, yes, but it's functionally different to true backwards compatibility, which would rely on hardware or a compatibility layer.

For example, if you run a ROM on a laptop, you're not making it "backwards compatible", it's not suddenly a Nintendo laptop. You're just telling a machine to run a program that can read the ROM and output the data accordingly. Functionally, the laptop is still a laptop. It's still incompatible with Gameboy games. It just has a program that can run the code from a ROM file.

As a programmer for over 15 years, I really don't know how much clearer I can make it; emulation is not true backwards compatibility.

And as I've mentioned several times, Wii, Wii U and DS games are all fundamentally different to the Switch and games would need to be heavily modified to work on Switch, either via emulation or otherwise.

Can the Switch run GameCube games via emulation? Yes. Obviously. But that's not what the article is about.

@Jiggies SIIIIIIIIIIIGH!
That's not "backwards compatibility" that's emulation. You have no idea what you're talking about and that's not what this article is about either!🤦🏻‍♂️

But sure, I'm being obtuse. Good grief, chief...

@Azuris

No, backwards compatibility is not the same at all to digital distribution of media.
Especially when talking about GameCube era games as Kate references in this article.

To be clear, we need to identify what's classed as backwards compatible. Yes the Xbox can run physical and digital releases of games from a previous generation. That is backwards compatibility. It's also hardware, not software emulation. Right? So the hardware can A. natively run the same programs as the previous gen and/or B. Has an optical drive that can read disks from the previous gen.

You can't however, have a Switch that's backwards compatible with Wii U games. The hardware is completely different, even before we talk about the fact that the Wii U has a second display in the game pad. And that's just 1 generation. Kate is talking about compatibility with 20 year old games that predate their digital remakes and counterparts. That's 3 generations of consoles.

Of course the Switch is capable of playing previous games, but not natively in their current form. Wii U games, for example, would need to be modified to be compatible, removing game pad functionality, etc. Which means the games would technically be a port, which is not the same as backwards compatibility.

@Doctor-Moo once again, digital copies and backwards compatibility are NOT the same thing.

Further, they couldn't just allow the Wii U port to work on the Switch. They'd have to change things to compensate for the lack of a second screen.

If the game has to be modified in order to work properly on a newer console, then by definition, doesn't that mean that in it's current form, it is not compatible with the Switch?

@Mgalens yes but retro collecting is an option and a (admittedly expensive) hobby of mine.

But what are we actually talking about here? Backwards compatibility from what to what?

Again, were not talking about virtual console or digital versions. The headline specifically says "backwards compatibility". That involves hardware.

My argument is "what's the solution?"

It's alright to have an opinion, even if it is a daft one. But yeah, what's the solution? Make every console backwards compatible to the one previous? The one before that? The one before that? Where does it end?

And in this specific example she's mentioned Wind Waker on GameCube. So we shouldn't have a remake or remaster, we should have a console that plays physical copies of 20yo games as well as modern games?

Come on.

@john_lennon999 "digital versions" is not the same as backwards compatibility.

How far backwards does she want to go? Does she want a Nintendo 64 cartridge slot? Gameboy? A holder for a deck of cards?

This "article" is the most 1st world, entitled whinge I've read in a very long time.

Yeah because the switch should have a GameCube disk drive built in, right Kate? Seriously... 🤦🏻‍♂️

Frogun is clearly mostly inspired by chameleon twist, and I can't believe more people haven't noticed!

@Jordium_Z "objectifying men as tools as wars..." I have no words. I am speechless at the stupidity of this comment.

Also, I'm aware of the cartoon girls are not real. But it normalizes the idea that it's ok to think of women as nothing but objects for men to enjoy. And that is harmful.

@PtM uh huh. Sure. If you say so...

@PtM cool story?

@Tobiaku so what you're saying is that you're a fan of games that dehumanize, devalue and objectify women and teenage girls. Gotcha...

Another game that dehumanizes women, turning them into objects for perverts to gawk at. Gaming is so close to being art and shaking it's "basement dwellers only" stereotype and trash like this is what's holding it back.

Comparing the objectification women and violence in videogames is like comparing kiddie p*rn to a Martin Scorsese movie. And that justification just doesn't hold up.

Also NL mods are Nazis and continue to ban me. So feel free to do so again. Whatever infinitesimal modicum of power makes you feel important.

@Bizzyb except on your phone on Android or iOS? Uh.....