Nintendo’s reveal of the Nintendo Switch late last week has led to many a gamers to swarm over the trailer in an attempt to break down the features that will be coming to the 3DS. While Nintendo themselves have said that more details about the Switch won’t be available until 2017, Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu did manage to get some information about the console’s potential backwards compatibility, and it may not be good news overall.
For starters, the Nintendo Switch will not support Wii U discs or 3DS cartridges. The Switch’s lack of support for Wii U discs isn’t all that surprising, as the reveal trailer pretty much shows that neither the dock nor the console itself comes with the ability to support discs. The inability to support 3DS cartridges may be the bigger disappointment, as the trailer did reveal that the Switch will be using a DS-like cartridge system.
Q&A at Nintendo IR
Q: Is NS 3DS’ successor?
A: NS is home console (WiiU) successor. Home & Handheld still separate. 3DS successor much later https://t.co/NbwGpz6U25— 黒凧 BlackKite (@bk2128) October 21, 2016
In other news, a recent Nintendo Investor Relations Q&A has also revealed the nature of the Nintendo Switch. According to this Tweet, the Nintendo Switch will be succeeding the Wii U as the company’s home console, and the home and handheld division will remain seperate. This statement pretty much debunks the theory that Nintendo will be merging both console and handheld divisions into one with the release of the Nintendo Switch.
Another interesting note is that Nintendo has pretty much confirmed that the five-year old Nintendo 3DS will be getting its own successor. That said, seeing as Nintendo mentioned that it will be happening “much later,” don’t expect news about a new handheld until after the Switch is released.