Next year’s Nintendo Switch console won’t be backwards compatible with physical Wii U or 3DS games, a Nintendo representative has confirmed to Japanese outlet Famitsu. The comments, which have handily been translated by Perfectly Nintendo (via VG247), state that the Switch is “not a successor” to either device, and therefore doesn’t support the use of discs or the 3DS SD card.
If you’ve been following all of the leaks and rumors that surfaced prior to the Switch’s grand unveiling, the absence of a disc drive is unlikely to come as much surprise, but considering that cartridges are the primary method of content delivery for this new platform, it’s odd that Nintendo didn’t take the opportunity to include support their successful range of handhelds.
Physical backwards compatibility is off the cards, then, but what about digital? Nintendo has already stated that it won’t be releasing more details until some point next year, so there won’t be any official word until then, but we’re willing to guess that digital content won’t be restricted in the same way.
Assuming the Nintendo Switch has online features and therefore eShop functionality, it’s not outside the realms of possibility that old titles will appear there.
The Nintendo Switch launches worldwide in March, 2017.
