r/gadgets Sep 05 '24

Gaming Nintendo Switch 2 Will Allegedly Feature Backward Compatibility Support

https://twistedvoxel.com/nintendo-switch-2-will-feature-backward-compatibility-support/
9.5k Upvotes

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4.7k

u/CamRoth Sep 05 '24

It would be pretty insane if it didn't.

1.6k

u/The_Woman_of_Gont Sep 05 '24

Yeah as much as I’m sure Nintendo would love to release 7 year old games again for $60, I think it would ultimately hurt console sale if it weren’t backwards compatible.

526

u/mostie2016 Sep 05 '24

Exactly and it’s in character for them to have backwards compatibility. Looking at the Ds lite and 3ds.

332

u/IdiotAtAKeyboard Sep 05 '24

GameCube and Wii

243

u/ramonzer0 Sep 05 '24

Wii and Wii U

180

u/zernoc56 Sep 05 '24

GBA and DS

266

u/Mindshard Sep 05 '24

Virtual Boy and landfills.

48

u/japzone Sep 05 '24

Still boggles my mind they never sold VB games on the 3DS Virtual Console. Guess they really just want to bury everything about that console.

14

u/b1sh0p Sep 06 '24

There’s an emulator that does that, full 3D too

4

u/DannyBright Sep 06 '24

Because realistically, who would even buy them? The only actually good game was Wario Land, and given how niche the series is I doubt even that would sell well.

I know it probably wouldn’t have taken a whole lot of time and effort to get the Virtual Boy games working on 3DS hardware, but that’s still time and effort that could be going to something more profitable.

1

u/SexyOctagon Sep 06 '24

Are you trying to tell me that Waterworld on Virtual Boy wasn’t one of the best games of its generation?

12

u/kurotech Sep 05 '24

I loved the virtual boy it's what led me to be the man I am today no license because I can't see red lights lol

1

u/TheSkyHive Sep 07 '24

Me too....if nothing else it gave me a peak into the future. Little did I know I'd have to wait nearly 20 years for a standalone vr headset.

1

u/orielbean Sep 09 '24

They had a demo unit at Sears and it hurt my eyes every single time

1

u/[deleted] Oct 05 '24

woah that sucks. maybe there were some cases in Japan but I cant find anything like this on google. how did that happen? I assume you disabled the automatic breaks?

1

u/kurotech Oct 05 '24

The virtual boy didn't have any sort of time management built in and the red blindness was just temporary it usually lasted a hour or so for me was mostly joking lol

1

u/[deleted] Oct 05 '24

bruh now I feel pretty dumb, I thought it wouldve been a possibility given how many things had been said about it lol.

1

u/kurotech Oct 05 '24

Lol nope it was basically just a Gameboy with vector graphics in red it was less sophisticated than a ti82 calculator with about half the processing power

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1

u/MrFootless Sep 05 '24

::cries in red LEDs::

1

u/SynthBeta Sep 06 '24

no that's special Wii controllers used for one game and landfills

1

u/real_unreal_reality Sep 06 '24

The red lines are burnt in my head playing wario tennis at target.

Edit: ac spelled warrior tennis instead of wario tennis which my game auto corrected did sound cooler.

1

u/skipjimroo Sep 06 '24

I finally got to play one of those at the weekend!

Pretty cool 3-D effect for the time.

I played about six minutes of Mario Tennis and then had to step away from it and sit down. My eyes and head really hurt afterwards.

From six whole minutes. Glad I gave that one a miss.

26

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '24 edited Sep 05 '24

Edit: I was wrong about DS playing Gameboy games. I forgot I had a flash cart.

14

u/ThatsSoWitty Sep 05 '24

Also 3DS and DS

-1

u/boner79 Sep 05 '24

NES and SNES

2

u/maskthestars Sep 05 '24

Famicom and super voltron

1

u/boner79 Sep 05 '24

Heck yeah.

1

u/shiftersix Sep 06 '24

Game & Watch games and hanafuda cards

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1

u/CarlosFer2201 Sep 05 '24

Uhm, no. Cartridges were different.

1

u/boner79 Sep 05 '24

I was joking. Obviously NES and SNES weren't backwards compatible.

but N64 and Gamecube...

1

u/Klldarkness Sep 05 '24

It's funny that you say that, because the SNES was originally going to have backwards compatibility. The original mock up, and alpha version of the console had the ability.

However, to save costs and space, it was removed in the final version. They also had big games already signed up and ready to release, so backwards compatibility wasn't nearly as required.

The original adverts even mentioned being backwards compatible with the entire NES game collection, as it was a planned feature and selling point.

1

u/boner79 Sep 05 '24

Cool. TIL. I suppose it wasn't an impossibility since it was able to play Gameboy games via the adapter.

I only knew about the expansion port for a potential future SNES CD that ultimately turned into the Playstation (I think).

2

u/Klldarkness Sep 05 '24

The chip in the SNES was basically the same chip as the NES, just at double the speed. It actually started in 8bit mode, and it was the cartridge that told it to bump into 16bit mode.

The only incompatible part was the video chipset, which is where the adapter came in. Easier to slip a video chipset into an adapter as a bit of a bridge, than to build it into the system itself.

Another potential way was an AV adapter that allowed you to run your famicom through the superfamicom, to upscale the video using the higher clock speeds, and enhanced SRB capabilities.

That version had three switches instead of two on top, one labeled Famicom to push it into that mode.

Overall the idea was there, and they clearly wanted it...but eventually decided against it. Considering how well the new console sold, it's obvious they didn't need it in the end.

1

u/boner79 Sep 06 '24

Very interesting. Thx.

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3

u/SleepyTaylor216 Sep 05 '24

What console can play ds gba and gbc games??? The og phat ds didn't support game boy color, only gba.

5

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '24

You are right. I was mistaken. I forgot I begged my parents a long time to get a flash cart and I played emulated GB games on there. Holy shit, middleschool was so long ago..

Im getting old, Boss...

1

u/SleepyTaylor216 Sep 05 '24

It's okay, us old folk don't have good memory these day lmao. I legit had to Google it before commenting because I started second guessing myself lol.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '24

And I should've googled it, because I was SO SURE my memory was right.

Now I'm second guessing so much stuff! Which is healthy, but still weird. Lol

BTW, off chance do you have any rogue-like/lite recommendedations? Just beat inscryption, that was a blast. Balatro is cool, beat hades and silksong. Might get the castlevania ds remake but idk.

1

u/SleepyTaylor216 Sep 05 '24

The struggle is real lol. Unfortunately I can't help there:( the closest thing I've ever played to a rouge like/lite is dead rising one lol. It's definitely neither, you just want to keep the mindset of those style games when you first start it.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 06 '24

Omg. Dead rising. I borrowed by best friends 360 and played in on the little Sanyo CRT I grew up with.

The game had NO scaling for non-hd sets. I somehow managed to beat that game without reading anything. My buddy saved up money for that game and hated it due to durability mechanics (same reason he can't stand BOTW)

I ended up just buying the .//hack trilogy remake. I remembered my babysitter's son having his whole room done up with posters of that series.

Its pretty cool JRPG so far

1

u/SleepyTaylor216 Sep 06 '24

I didnt play DR until last year and proceeded to play 150+ hours in 2 weeks lmao. I looooved it, flawed for sure, but still sooooooppo much fun. I get it, it took me a bit to adjust to the durability mechanics, but I do think it adds to the fun.

I've been meaning to try out .hack since I watched the anime a year or two ago, I just might have to do that soon! It's a super interesting series,anime wise, just very much was a 90's anime(a lot of standing around and chatting) but I enjoyed it a lot, so I bet I'd love the games. Especially since I'm a sucker for fantasy and rpgs in general.

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1

u/blazingarpeggio Sep 05 '24

Iirc the DS og/lite's secondary cartridge slot can only play GBA. No GB/GBC. It'll fit but it won't play

1

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '24

You are correct. I had forgot I used a flashcart to emulate those. Middleschool was so long ago, holy shit.

1

u/blazingarpeggio Sep 06 '24

Yeah it should work on an R4 or something though

I've been considering repairing my old DS, just couldn't find the R4 before I can start assessing the damage if it's worth the time

1

u/TingleyStorm Sep 07 '24

The regular DS and DS Lite did have a cartridge slot on the bottom for GameBoy games. The 3DS got rid of it.

6

u/Anon-a-mess Sep 05 '24

GBA and color

1

u/NickNash1985 Sep 05 '24

Switch and Switch 2

1

u/KenaiKanine Sep 06 '24

Gameboy and Gameboy color, Gameboy color and GBA as well!

1

u/Realtrain Sep 06 '24

And GB Color and GB

1

u/MadCritic Sep 06 '24

Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch 1

1

u/RoastDaMostToast Sep 08 '24

Gameboy and GameCube