Curtis Joe / Android Authority
TL;DR
- An interview with Switch 2 devs revealed that the Nintendo Switch 2 plays Switch 1 games via emulation.
- The two systems do not have compatible hardware, so a different solution was required.
- Nintendo has cracked down on Nintendo Switch emulators in the past years, despite admitting emulation is legal.
The Nintendo Switch 2 has finally been announced, and the good news for anyone upgrading is that it will be (mostly) backwards compatible. However, an interview with the developers behind the console revealed that compatibility required a unique solution, and that solution is emulation.
Unlike previous generational leaps like the Nintendo DS to the 3DS or the Nintendo Wii to the Wii U, the hardware in the Switch 2 bears little resemblance to the Switch 1. In their words, “those systems were compatible because Nintendo 3DS contained Nintendo DS hardware and Wii U contained Wii hardware. However, Switch 2 doesn’t contain any Switch hardware.”
To fix this, the developers first tried pure software emulation. This is what Switch emulators like Yuzu did, and it basically uses software to recreate the hardware. However, this needs far more processing power, requiring the Switch 2 to run at full capacity, tanking the battery.
So instead, the Switch 2 uses a hybrid emulator that’s “somewhere in between a software emulator and hardware compatibility.” The data from the original Switch game is converted to run on the Switch 2 in real-time as the game is played.
Despite Nintendo shutting down Switch emulators, the Switch 2 emulates Switch games.
That means that original Switch games benefit from new features like GameChat, and generally load times and performance will be improved. However, there’s a list of Switch games with compatibility issues on the new system, which includes Doom Eternal, Dead by Daylight, EVERSPACE, GRID Autosport, and more. They are currently listed as “being investigated” so it’s possible that the situation improves over time.
Nintendo has aggressively pursued fan efforts to create Switch emulators, shutting down the team behind Yuzu last year despite admitting that emulation is technically legal. Most efforts have focused on combatting piracy and preventing users from bypassing technical restriction measures, which is prohibited by the DMCA.
Still, it’s surprising to see Nintendo turn to the very thing it’s fought so hard to stop over the past few years in its latest system. The Switch is already emulating older consoles for Nintendo Switch Online users, but that stops at the GameCube era. The ease at which modern Switch games can be emulated (it’s an Arm system) may explain why the company has been so vigilant and why the Switch 2 will emulate it so well despite having weaker hardware than many modern smartphones and gaming handhelds.
