Shigeru Miyamoto discusses Virtual Console and backwards compatibility

In recent generations backwards compatibility has become much more of a major focus for the 3 main console manufacturers. While both the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S are backwards compatible with previous console games, the Switch is not, with Nintendo veteran Shigeru Miyamoto discussing the matter.

During the company’s most recent Q&A session, Miyamoto was asked (as translated by ResetEra user orzkare): “You previously mentioned that you recognize that the issue in the game console business is that past software cannot be played due to hardware generation changes and that content is initialized. However, now, by utilizing the Nintendo Account and making new hardware backward-compatible, it seems that content can be transferred semi-permanently in the dedicated game console business, just as with video games. I think there are both advantages and disadvantages to making newly released hardware backward compatible with previous hardware.”

In response to this statement, Miyamoto said “We used to offer a system called ‘Virtual Console,’ which allowed people to play old software on new hardware. In comparison, video can be enjoyed for a long time as long as there is a playback environment. However, the rights for video are complicated, so Nintendo is proceeding with the project after ensuring that the rights are in place.”

He continued: “Indeed, in the past, software development for game consoles was done in a dedicated development environment that differed for each hardware. Therefore, when the hardware changed, the development environment could not be taken over. Therefore, software released on past hardware could not be played without modification.”

Miyamoto concluded by claiming “Recently, however, the software development environment itself has gradually become more standardized, so it is generally easier to create a playback environment that allows software for past hardware to be played on new hardware than before. However, Nintendo's strength is in creating new games. With new hardware, we would like to propose unique games that cannot be realized on existing hardware.”

Old Nintendo games seem to manage to retain their value for much longer than other titles, which has allowed for the console manufacturer to release full-priced ports from previous systems. As such, while Nintendo has little incentive to do so, hopefully they do make future hardware backwards compatible.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of Miyamoto’s statement? Do you think Nintendo’s next console will be backwards compatible? Let us know down below.

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