Nintendo appears to be conceptualizing its long-awaited successor to the 2017-released Nintendo Swap, however it isn’t giving a lot particulars to what it is perhaps, or when it would truly exist. The Legend of Zelda developer is, nevertheless, keen to say that no matter and each time the brand new console releases, Nintendo Accounts—which give gamers entry to on-line facilities just like the eShop—will probably be essential in making a easy transition to it.
Learn Extra: Nintendo Says Don’t Anticipate A New Swap This Yr Both
Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa defined his intention for Nintendo Accounts throughout a latest shareholder Q&A, a translation of the occasion says.
“Within the transition from Nintendo Swap to the next-generation console, we wish to make each effort to make sure that clients could make the transition easily whereas utilizing their Nintendo Account,” Furukawa replied to a query questioning if seven years of the Nintendo Swap marks its end-of-life, like how the Tremendous NES rose to switch the NES seven years after it got here out.
That mentioned, although Furukawa would take into account the Swap’s yr seven as “uncharted territory,” and he accepts that the Swap gained’t promote as simply because it has up to now, he nonetheless praises its software program.
“By no means earlier than in {hardware} has software program offered at such a tempo,” he mentioned. “Like final yr’s Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and this yr’s The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Nintendo Swap titles offered greater than 10 million items within the first three days of their launch.”
These spectacular gross sales numbers are clearly essential to Nintendo. Although Furukawa was easy in that Nintendo Accounts would carry over to a brand new console, he was much less keen to straight reply to a query asking for his ideas on transferring “downloaded software program purchases on Nintendo Swap [to play on] future recreation consoles.”
“Such as you did once you switched from Wii U to Nintendo Swap,” the shareholder mentioned.
“Our firm is consistently contemplating varied future {hardware} specs, however I wish to chorus from making particular feedback on future {hardware} right now,” Furukawa replied. “Going ahead, we wish to proceed to suggest distinctive methods to play video games on devoted recreation consoles that mix {hardware} and software program, so please look ahead to it.”
Learn Extra: Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Is Nintendo’s First $70 Recreation
Nintendo is the newest developer to embrace the $70-per-game business norm. It will be irritating if gamers had been unable to take their new video games to a brand new console, although one thing like a Swap 2 or Swap Professional may be very unlikely to materialize inside the yr, one other 2023 shareholder Q&A suggests.
However although we’re apparently in it with the Swap for the very lengthy haul, Furukawa’s reply is comically nonspecific. At the least I’ll in all probability be capable of preserve my Nintendo Account profile image.
