Rumors about the Nintendo Switch 2 console have been circulating for at least a couple of years now, but they have intensified in the last few months after credible sources revealed that the new Nintendo console has been shown behind closed doors at Gamescom.
Most of these rumors so far have been focused on the hardware's specifications, understandably so. According to the most credible sources, it'll pack an NVIDIA Ampere GPU with 1280 Cores and 8 Cortex A78 CPU Cores, 12GB of RAM, better ray tracing capabilities than PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X (although the overall performance is said to be roughly 15% lower than the Xbox Series S), and even NVIDIA DLSS support including Super Resolution and Ray Reconstruction (but not Frame Generation). The screen should be an 8-inch LCD, while the reported internal storage is 512GB. High Dynamic Range displays should also be supported, according to a job listing.
There is, however, a big question mark on whether the Nintendo Switch 2 will be backward compatible with the current Switch. It would seem like a no-brainer given the incredible success of the console, but Nintendo has made its fair share of past mistakes with generations like the Nintendo 64, GameCube, and Wii U.
In a new interview with Inverse, Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser appears to be hinting at backward compatibility when he talks about trying to minimize the sales dip between console cycles.
Well, first I can't comment — or I won't comment, I should say — on the rumors that are out there. But one thing we've done with the Switch to help with that communication and transition is the formation of the Nintendo Account. In the past, every device we transitioned to had a whole new account system. Creating the Nintendo Account will allow us to communicate with our players if and when we make a transition to a new platform to help ease that process or transition.
Our goal is to minimize the dip you typically see in the last year of one cycle and the beginning of another. I can't speak to the possible features of a new platform, but the Nintendo Account is a strong basis for having that communication as we make the transition.
The continuity afforded by the shared Nintendo account system seems hardly enough on its own to reach that goal. As mentioned in his statement, Bowser can't speak to specific unannounced features, but the Nintendo community is now more hopeful regarding backward compatibility. It would be a shame if recent games like Super Mario Bros. Wonder were left behind, after all.
Whether that will be eventually confirmed remains to be seen. If the September 24th, 2024 rumor is correct, there's still almost a year left before the launch date, and Nintendo is unlikely to share the full feature set until we're well into 2024.
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