The Switch’s successor will also play software for the Switch; the words of the third president still live on.
Furukawa. At today’s management policy briefing, we announced that the successor model of Nintendo Switch will also be able to play Nintendo Switch software. Nintendo Switch Online will also continue to be available on the successor models. More information on these successor models, including compatibility with Nintendo Switch, will be announced at a later date.
It was announced that the successor to the Switch will be able to play Switch software and use Nintendo Switch Online. The internet has been full of comments of joy and a few ‘Sony should take a lesson from this’.
The author thought for sure. Then I remembered these words.
Hardware is a box that people have no choice but to buy in order to play the ‘software’ they really want to play.
These are the words of Nintendo’s third president, Hiroshi Yamauchi. This is an extreme but easy-to-understand expression of the relationship between the software and hardware. The fact that the successor to the Switch can play Switch software is proof that Nintendo has not forgotten Mr Yamauchi’s words and still values software from the consumer’s point of view.
Of course, as a business, it is likely to have weighed up the cost of compatibility against attracting Switch users by adding compatibility. In that light, the Switch has already been on sale for seven years since 2017, and being able to capture the Switch users it has acquired over the past seven years would be significant. It would also be significant to be able to say to those who want to start playing games on the Switch’s successor that they can also play software that has been sold on the Switch for seven years.
The ability to play Switch software on the Switch’s successor. It is not known if this means that the software is physically compatible and can play the packaged version. Perhaps there is a way to use Nintendo Switch Online to bring software that is on the Switch. We will have to wait for further information on how the software for Switch can be played. However, Nintendo, which values ‘software’ and is consumer-focussed, will not let us down.
