One of many greatest questions on Nintendo’s subsequent console is the way it will deal with everybody who’s constructed up a large library of video games on the Change. Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser isn’t able to spill the beans concerning the Change 2 but, however he’s teasing a smoother transition to the corporate’s subsequent console in a brand new interview with Inverse.
Following stories that Nintendo not too long ago confirmed off its successor to the Change behind closed doorways at Gamescom, questions have been swirling concerning the new console’s specs and potential backwards compatibility with the prevailing {hardware}. Will a Change 2 help bodily cartridges and digital downloads? Or will gamers have to purchase a few of the greatest video games Nintendo’s ever made over again?
Bowser wouldn’t touch upon the Change 2 stories however he did say that Nintendo Accounts, which monitor consumer knowledge throughout consoles, can be a key a part of bringing gamers over to the following console. “Previously, each gadget we transitioned to had an entire new account system,” he instructed Inverse. Creating the Nintendo Account will permit us to speak with our gamers if and after we make a transition to a brand new platform, to assist ease that course of or transition.”
He continued:
Our objective is to reduce the dip you usually see within the final yr of 1 cycle and the start of one other. I can’t converse to the doable options of a brand new platform, however the Nintendo Account is a powerful foundation for having that communication as we make the transition.
Whereas that’s not a assure that every little thing will carry over between the Change and Change 2, or no matter Nintendo’s subsequent gaming machine is, it’s at the very least an try to doubtlessly assuage some followers’ issues concerning the transfer. That’s not nothing, particularly coming from an organization that has traditionally been glad to strive utterly new issues from one console cycle to the following and get gamers to purchase video games they already personal over again on new platforms. Plus any dramatic departures this time round would imply abandoning the Change’s 130 million set up base, a dangerous transfer as competitors between platforms will get extra fierce.
Opponents like Microsoft and Sony have already been doing this with the Xbox Collection X/S and PlayStation 5, each of which register customers’ buy from the prior console era. Whereas Nintendo hasn’t all the time been on the reducing fringe of on-line performance, it does have a fairly good monitor report with backwards compatibility. The Wii supported GameCube discs, and the Wii U supported Wii discs. On the hand held facet, the DS supported Sport Boy Advance cartridges and the 3DS supported DS cartridges. Hopefully the Change 2 follows an analogous sample. Nintendo has beforehand acknowledged that it received’t announce new {hardware} till April 2024 on the earliest.
