Will the Nintendo Switch 2 be backward compatible?

It has been over seven years since the Nintendo Switch first released. The system is still in production, and new games are still in development. That’s a long life cycle by any console’s standard. However, when the Nintendo Switch was announced in October of 2016, it was far from a certainty that Nintendo’s hybrid system was going to be a success.

In 2016, the big N was trying to deal with how best to discontinue the Wii U, its biggest failure since the Virtual Boy released in 1995. The Switch turned out to be a huge success, surpassing even Nintendo’s estimations, and has sold a staggering 139 million units. That’s more than both the Game Boy (118 million) and the Wii (101 million).

The Switch has done so well without being backward compatible. There are rumors that the Switch successor will indeed be backwards compatible, as many Nintendo system have been in the past. It would be great to be able to load games that we already own like Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey, and Smash Ultimate into the Switch “2.” We delve into the systems that have been backwards compatible, from a variety of console developers, and assess whether backwards compatibility is a major factor to a console’s success, or if it matters as little as Mario’s costume choice in a game of Smash.

Home consoles started using interchangeable cartridges in the early 1980s with consoles like the Atari 2600. From this time onwards, when a new machine released from a console manufacturer, the public would often complain that the game from old machines were now useless because the new machine used a different format. Companies like Sega decided that backwards compatibility would be an important feature toward keeping customers happy.

Interestingly, the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis was backwards compatible with the Sega Master System, making Sega one of the first companies to implement backwards compatibility. This meant that the Megadrive was able to play the whole Master System library. The Master System itself was moderately successful, so games like Golden Axe: Warrior, R-Type, and Phantasy Star were playable on the Mega Drive. Nonetheless, a device was needed to adapt the Master System cartridges as they were a different shape from the Mega Drive cartridges.

The phenomenon of the Game Boy is something intertwined with 90s culture that spread from Japan and reached the edges of Europe and the distant shores of South America. The fact that it was relatively cheap and that the battery life was great, was key to the Game Boy’s success.

When the upgrade to the Game Boy, the Game Boy Color, arrived in 1998, almost ten years after the original Game Boy release, the new iteration was of course, backwards compatible. In fact, there were many Game Boy Color games that would work on the original console, but implemented graphical upgrades when played on the new Game Boy Color. The Game Boy Color wouldn’t have been a success if it didn’t play the huge back catalog of the Game Boy. Because of this it is probably the console on this list where backward compatibility was most crucial. Could the Switch 2 be similar to the Game Boy Color in this respect?

Sony entered the video game console scene in 1995 with the release of the PlayStation. The console was a big hit as it was easy to develop for and could be used as a media player rather than just a machine to play games on. Sony then released the PS2 in 2000, and the console was backward compatible and could play DVDs.

Unlike the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, the PS2 didn’t require an add-on for backward compatibility. This was before downloadable games. As such, players only had the options of PS1 or PS2 games, there were no discs that acted as emulation keys for backwards compatibility like some more recent consoles like the Xbox 360. The PS2 was another huge success. However, in this case, backwards compatibility was probably less important to its success than say the Game Boy. The primary reason the PS2 sold so many units was because it also acted as a cheap DVD player.

The PS3 is a strange case in regards to backward compatibility. The console was released at a high price, and didn’t sell well because of this. The early models were backward compatible with both the PS1 and PS2. However, Sony had to remove features in order to cut the price and sell more machines. In later PS3 models, the PS2 backward compatibility was removed. Apparently, the backward compatibility of the PS3 was partly achieved through emulation.

The console began to pick up in terms of sales, after the price was cut. It’s just such a shame that these cool features had to be removed! Because the PS3 didn’t sell when it was fully backward compatible we definitely can’t say that compatibility was a key feature for the console in terms of helping it move units. However, the PS3 did sell an impressive 87 million units before it was discontinued.

The Wii was a phenomenal legacy machine. It was backward compatible with the Gamecube and all models in the first three years could run both Wii and Gamecube games straight out of the box. It also had possibly the best official retro emulation program of any console ever with the Wii Virtual Console. This service allowed players to download games from around 10 different systems, including the NES, SNES, N64, Sega Mega Drive, Sega Master System, TuroGrafx-16, and Neo-Geo.

These games were budget priced and generally ran really well. The libraries of these systems that were available on the Wii Virtual Console was also quite extensive. The Wii was an instant success and sold over 100 million units. The Virtual Console and GameCube backward compatibility has always been a source of praise for the Wii. A ‘family edition’ of the Wii was released in 201, although unfortunately removed GameCube backward compatibility.

With the latest generation of consoles, most games are available digitally with physical media becoming less prominent. In this case, people are downloading games rather than buying physical discs. However, the PS5 is backward compatible with PS4 discs, and amazingly the Xbox Series X (the Xbox Series S is all digital) can play Xbox One, Xbox 360, and original Xbox discs, making is fully compatible with every Xbox mainline console. Nonetheless, the jury is still out on whether the backward compatibility features of these platforms are currently helping their unit sales. With the popularity of digital media this could very well become an impossible question to answer.

The implementation of backward compatibility has evolved from simply inserting a disc or cartridge during the 90s into a more general legacy content service that began with the Wii Virtual Console in 2006. Some of the consoles that implemented backward compatibility such as the Game Boy Color and PS2 relied on it as a core feature in their arsenals. Other systems, such as the PS3 abandoned the feature, which shows that while backward compatibility is a nice thing to have and people often passionately discuss it either positively or negatively, it doesn’t automatically guarantee to move units.

In 2024, retro content is being offered through streaming services and downloads. The Switch “2” is still completely a mystery (I was saying the same thing this time last year!), but if the console is indeed backward compatible it will be a great asset, potentially making consumers happy. However, you can never be sure what Nintendo will do next. With the shadow of the Nintendo Wii U still behind us, a backward compatibility feature could be what makes the new console a success — taking into account of course how and if this will be properly implemented and taken advantage of. Time will tell if the Switch “2” can recapture the magic of its predecessor. In any case, we are ready to be surprised.

Will the Nintendo Switch 2 be backward compatible and does it matter to you? Which backward compatible titles would you want to play on the Switch 2? Let us know in the comments and on our social media!