Nintendo has confirmed to Famitsu that there is no physical backward compatibility on the Switch. As was somewhat apparent in yesterday's teaser, the console does not sport any disc drive, nor is the game card slot compatible with 3DS titles. Nintendo did not rule out the possibility of a Virtual Console-like solution.

However, with Nvidia's confirmation that the Switch uses a 64-bit Tegra processor, emulation of the Wii U's PowerPC or the 3DS's older ARM11 architectures could prove difficult.

Processor differences aside, it would be difficult to make this backwards compatible across the library because this system doesn't do 3D or motion controls (presumably) like the 3DS or WiiU. This system is going in a different direction though, so I'm personally just fine with that.

I'm fine with them making a clean break from the Wii and motion controls in general, and I'm sure that eventually there will be Switch versions of popular first party Wii and Wii U games.

I guess that settles my quandary of whether to get a cheap Wii U now or wait for the NX/Switch. No point in jumping straight into the Switch when the Wii U has a more robust library.

Not surprised; wasn't expecting any backwards capatability.

I fully expect rereleases of smash 4, Mario kart, and splatoon with all DLC and some additional new content. Other than that, I want all new games. Mostly I want GameCube on the virtual console, actually. Dolphin is nice but it's not portable.

That doesn't surprise me. I was pretty sure it wasn't backwards compatible with Wii U games anyway, what with the lack of disc drive in the trailer and all.

I'm still curious about virtual console stuff, though. I haven't purchased any virtual console games for the Wii U, but I'd still like to know if it's possible to transfer those over to the SNES. Would be real shitty of Nintendo if that can't be done. (I bet it can't be done).

No, but seriously, this whole virtual console thing should have been account based and not system based from day fucking one, the same way that literally everyone else does it.

Anyway, I already have a Wii U so I'll get Zelda on it.

The WiiU is basically a big god damn 3DS, Nintendo has always put out accessories to play their portable games on the big screen, and I hate that this is the generation they refuse to make it happen! I I want to play Persona Q, I want to play Soul Hackers, I want to play SMT4, and I want to play the Devil Survivor games, but god damn do I hate staring down at that small screen for so long. And that's just Atlus! Fire Emblem! Mario & Luigi! Pokémon for christ's sake, come the fuck on Nintendo, you couldn't be more disappointing if you tried.

Damn, that's a deal breaker for me - the 3DS especially.

Of course they'll bring out the titles digitally but with huge price tags. Screw that.

I'm a little bit disappointed because there are some great games on the WiiU that I think most people haven't had the chance to play since most skipped the Wii U. I hope they do some virtual console or best-of selections series where they port over some WiiU games. Most notably, I'd love for them to port Xenoblade Chronicles X to the WiiU (maybe after an announcement of the next game from Monolith Soft). They already ported the Wii game Xenoblade Chronicles to the New3DS so I can see them taking another bet on that studio to put one or both of those games on the Switch. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE would also be a great addition though much more unlikely (especially since they would have to change the gamepad screen to being a menu for portable-play). That said, Atlus was on the partner's screen on the Switch website, and they did put a lot of effort with Nintendo to get TMS made... so I could see the possibility of a port not being completely impossible.

I think this just makes it clear that they have to drop the WiiU and 3DS as fast as possible once the Switch is out (which is disappointing since there are still some great indie games being announced for both) since every first-party game that comes out on them is going to be having extremely fleeting sale periods.

now i know not to dump my 3ds and wiiu thanks big n.

I'm fine with this. I wouldn't want disc-based media for a portable hybrid. I didn't expect it to support games requiring dual screens, because you would probably have to hold it like a portrait to get both screens from the 2DS to span across both, if it was a touch screen. The controls wouldn't be in the right place.

Perhaps owning an Atari 7800 has made me not care about backwards compatibility.

At least let me keep my goddamn Virtual Console games purchased on my 3DS/Wii U.

Now I'm not so sure I'll get one of these at launch; depending on the launch line-up and the performance of Zelda on Wii U, I might just play that version instead, wait and see about the reception of the Switch.

this.

That's fine with me. I fully expect to see sequels to all of their important wii u titles that I'd want to keep playing often (like smash bros) and for the 3ds it's not too hard to just pick my 3ds up and turn it on.

Good just make a clean break and move on.

It makes sense for what they're using. Would love to see digital purchases be able to be played on the Switch. Nintendo was pushing digital purchases on WiiU and 3DS. Although I'm sure that's just to prevent trade in and all that...

@hugh_jazz: Yeah, I plan to wait a bit and see how the Switch pans out. I want to play Breath of the Wild when it comes out much more than I want to own a Switch right when it comes out, so I fully intend to just get Zelda for the Wii U. It will probably be a lot like the Wii launch/Twilight Princess launch, where the old-console version of Zelda won't ship many copies since they would much rather it be the killer app for the new console, so maybe I should actually go preorder Wii U Zelda in the next few months.

This isn't a surprise at all, unfortunately for all of us PS4 has proved that you don't need to offer backwards compatibility to be a success.

the big question is how past digital purchases will be handled. I'm super sick of repurchasing the same NES classics etc every new console.

I am completely fine with that. I'm beyond the point of needing my old games to work with my new consoles. My Wii U and 3ds are still in great shape if I want to play anything on them.