Talking Point: If ‘Switch 2’ Is Backwards Compatible, What Will You Do With Your Switch?

As we approach 2024, we’re naturally getting increasingly keen to learn more about Nintendo’s next major piece of hardware, affectionately dubbed the ‘Switch 2’, for now. After all, although the current line-up of upcoming Switch games is certainly nothing to sneer at, there’s no denying that Nintendo is leaning heavily on remakes and remasters, presumably while its core teams work on ‘next-gen’ titles. If that doesn’t indicate a new console is on the horizon, we’re not sure what does.

At the moment, the majority of us are under the assumption that the ‘Switch 2’ will be a reasonably ‘safe’ upgrade to the current console in general form and function; a hybrid device that retains the core concept of the Switch but beefs up the performance considerably while possibly adding a few new innovations here and there. It makes sense, right? Although many of us are eager to move on to the next big thing, Nintendo isn’t ready to ditch the Switch brand, and none of us want it to. It still works wonderfully after all these years, so why do anything drastically different?

With that in mind, many of us here at Nintendo Life are convinced that this ‘Switch 2’ will be backwards compatible with Switch titles. Nintendo has recently made quite a big deal about how Nintendo Accounts will significantly ease the transition from one console generation to the next, going so far as to state that both purchase history and saved data can easily be retained long-term. Hmm, curious, no?

So it got us thinking: assuming the ‘Switch 2’ is backwards compatible (please!), what do you plan on doing with your current console? Will you keep it as a secondary device? Will you trade it for the new one? Or will it simply be destined to sit in the corner of a shelf, gathering dust like Wheezy from Toy Story 2?

We’d love to know. First, let’s hear from Team Nintendo Life…

“Trade it” – Ollie Reynolds, staff writer

I’m in an immensely fortunate position in that I own both a Switch OLED Model and a Switch Lite. If the next console comes out and is fully backwards compatible (and has an OLED screen to boot), then I’ll be straight down to the local GAME store to trade in my OLED Model, no question about it. Look, I just don’t like cluttering the house with things that probably won’t get put to use, okay?

My Switch Lite, meanwhile, will remain as a handy secondary console to accompany me on select jaunts: I’m thinking holidays with the family, press events, that sort of thing. If my toddler somehow gets her hands on the Lite and it winds up broken beyond repair, then at least it’s not the ‘Switch 2’, right?

Now, if the ‘Switch 2’ isn’t backwards compatible, then yeah, of course I’m keeping my OLED Model. I would imagine most enthusiasts will likely do the same. So let’s all keep our fingers crossed, eh?

“Sell it” – Jim Norman, staff writer

For my entire gaming life, I have been selling off my old consoles to help towards the new ones. Video game preservation clearly wasn’t at the forefront of my child’s mind when I traded in my original GBA to get a DS Lite, nor was it when I flogged my one and only 3DS for some money towards a PS Vita (I don’t have many regrets, but I gladly put this on my top shelf of shame). So, I had told myself that I would be a brave grown-up with the Switch and hang onto it when the newbie comes out, if only for the “you see what we used to play with?!” conversations 50 years down the line.

But (and it’s a big but), if the Super Switch comes along next year and promises to do everything that your old one can, only better, that devil on my shoulder will start whispering “Sell it” real loud. Yes, I want to hold onto what will likely go down as one of the best gaming consoles of all time, but… money.

A little bit of me hopes that the next console isn’t backwards compatible, just so I would have a neat little excuse to hang onto my OLED forever. Then again, I can already hear an angry mob gathering outside my house as I write that sentence, so I’d better leave it as a “Let’s wait and see”…

“Pass it on” – Gavin Lane, editor

I caused a micro-ruckus a few weeks back when I suggested that backwards compatibility on the next console — while massively desirable — is less of a dealbreaker than ever before when it comes to Nintendo’s home console hardware, precisely because this time it’s also a portable you can keep on a bookshelf or in a drawer. Obviously, I’d love for it to play all my Switch games!

Either way, being in a position where I don’t have to trade in the old console to get the new one, I’m content to make a nice spot on the shelf for my OLED and keep it unboxed and hanging around indefinitely. I’ve certainly got a backlog that could last me into the mid-21st century.

However, I’m also imagining a scenario where a ‘Switch 2’ comes along that’s fully backwards compatible but doesn’t have an OLED screen. That would be… hmm, let’s be polite and say ‘suboptimal.’ The ability to transfer all your games over with full compatibility (LABO excepted, although that’s not 100% compatible with OLED either)…but the screen on the old system still looks better? Oof.

Fingers crossed I’m just being pessimistic. If so, I’d pass on my OLED to a nephew, or keep it for my own younger kids. Then again, they may well turn their noses up at the old console, in which case it’ll go back in the box and take its place in the cupboard alongside all the other ageing plastic.

“Keep it” – Alana Hagues, deputy editor

I didn’t really get much of a choice on whether to keep consoles growing up, Whether it be money issues or space (more an issue as an adult), the consoles were often sacrificed — usually after I was consulted, of course. But now I have more money and more space, and honestly, the Switch is so small, I think I’d probably keep mine.

Why? Looks nice on a shelf, innit. We’re lucky to be a two-Switch household (one for me, one for my partner) and they’re both limited edition ones too. We’d probably get rid of one of them, to be fair, but — I don’t know — it’s not a PS5 or an Xbox Series X, is it? There’s still room for that Switch 2 on the console unit. Will I play it? Maybe. Depends on how easy it is to transfer everything over — after all, I have tons of unplayed games already installed on the Switch. But I can’t imagine it being difficult, particularly if Nintendo is using the Nintendo Account as the ‘link’ between gens.

This isn’t set in stone, of course. Life changes and we probably won’t keep the Switch forever, but initially, I think we’ll still have a Switch for the first year of the next console’s life.

So, you’ve read what we think, and now we want to hear from you. Be sure to vote in the poll and share some further details with a comment down below. Man, the closer we get to 2024, the more exciting the prospect of a new console is, huh?