If the latest reports and analysis are accurate, Nintendo Switch 2 may come with some unexpected and unwelcome backwards compatibility problems.
Nintendo’s next console, possibly the Nintendo Switch 2, could be a very serious backward compatibility nightmare if recent reports are believable. Despite the current Switch hardware showing its age, the next step up from the hybrid gaming console may be an even bigger problem than the limited power of the model that it would replace.
It’s no secret that the Nintendo Switch is designed to be mobile, docking and undocking from a cradle that happens to power its TV output capabilities. However, that flexibility is also its biggest weakness, as it sacrifices raw power in order to pull this off.
But judging by new information, a Nintendo Switch successor could be even worse for gamers with large Nintendo Switch game libraries. The problem is the alleged system’s choice of processing power – Nvidia’s Tegra X1. Because the chipset was originally designed for even older devices such as the Nvidia Shield, it cannot stand to match either Sony or Microsoft in raw numbers.
Worse yet is that the chipset would likely either have to be emulated or built in as a coprocessor, both of which have their issues and limitations. Having to recompile the games could mean Xbox-style limitations on backward compatible game selection, and the other case would involve hardware design provisions that would have to be factored into the market cost. As explained in a recent YouTube video from ModernVintageGamer:
“If Nintendo is to move away from the Tegra X1, which we all feel strongly that they will probably do, current Switch games won’t work on new hardware, that is without recompiling the games to target that hardware.”
Current Nintendo Switch models are already showing their age, and a number of games haven’t come to the system due to the differences in power compared to Xbox and PlayStation. If future consoles can’t play older games, it may be bad news for those with significant progress in games like Splatoon 3 or Super Mario Odyssey. Not to mention that Nintendo Switch owners have long been hoping for at least an Switch Pro or similar incremental upgrade for quite some time to catch up with the upgraded models of prior generation hardware from Sony and Microsoft by now.
But sometimes better doesn’t always mean the best possible thing, and for current Switch owners who may be considering a move to more powerful hardware this could be a Wii U level of let-downs, even sans the marketing confusion of the latter device. This is something that Nintendo can ill-afford to do twice over with a merged product line, as it no longer has the safety net of a handheld division to counterbalance judgmental errors in its set-top division.
