Nintendo's next console might offer backward compatibility, according to some newly surfaced evidence. Though similar rumors of a backward-compatible Switch successor have popped up in the past, they were mostly based on insider reports and not Nintendo's own disclosures, as is the case this time around.
While the Switch ended up being one of the best-selling consoles of all time, it managed that feat while breaking with Nintendo's long-standing tradition of offering backward-compatible systems. In contrast, the Wii U was capable of playing the entire Wii library, and the Wii itself was downward-compatible with the GameCube. Similarly, the 3DS could play DS games, while the DS could run Game Boy Advance titles.
The Switch marked a surprise departure from that trend, but its follow-up might not necessarily follow suit, as suggested by a newly surfaced job listing for a technology engineer at Nintendo European Research and Development (NERD). The recently unearthed posting highlights "cross-platform development" geared toward "current and next-generation Nintendo platforms" as a key focus of the advertised role, which at the very least implies that Nintendo's not planning to stop making Switch games in the foreseeable future.
While a backward-compatible Switch successor dovetails with some previous rumors about Nintendo's next console, it's also possible that the job listing is referencing NERD's research and development efforts to bring Nintendo Switch Online to the company's next system. Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto hinted as much when commenting on backward compatibility, confirming that this functionality very much remains on the company's radar. The legendary game director posited that contemporary efforts to standardize development environments made backward compatibility easier than ever, thus giving a strong indication that the next Nintendo console will take advantage of this state of technology.
In the meantime, the NSO library did attempt to cater to gamers looking to experience older classics on the latest hardware, although its catalog is still fairly limited. That notwithstanding, the number of available Nintendo Switch Online games keeps growing on a regular basis, so it's plausible that the company is keen on maintaining that momentum with its next console.
A number of past reports suggesting the next Nintendo system will use an Nvidia-made chipset also increase the likelihood that the upcoming console will offer backward compatibility, not least because the Switch is powered by Nvidia's Tegra X1. So having its successor use a system-on-chip from the same company would plausibly alleviate many architectural challenges in delivering downward-compatible hardware. For clarity, backward compatibility can also be achieved through software emulation, but doing so is a far cry from the "high-performance implementation" of cross-platform gaming that NERD's newly surfaced job listing is talking about.
Source: Resetera
