Nintendo's new console will face backward compatibility issues, expert says

Nintendo Switch games simply will not work if the big N ditches the Tegra X1 processor

Nintendo’s next console will have major backward compatibility issues. At least, that is what Dimitris Giannakis, a programmer at Nightdive Studios and host of the ModernVintageGamer YouTube channel, believes.

In his new video, Giannakis speculates on what exact “hardware” the big N will pack into its new gaming device and how this will affect Nintendo Switch games.

“If Nintendo moves away from the Tegra X1, which we all feel strongly that they probably will do, current Switch games will not work on new hardware — that is, without recompiling the games to target that hardware”.

According to Giannakis, Nintendo could bypass this issue with a good old emulator, much like Microsoft did with its Xbox Series consoles, but that would require substantial computing power. Even the Steam Deck, despite having significantly higher performance compared to the Switch, does not always handle Switch games well.

Or Nintendo could simply equip its new consoles with the older Tegra X1 chip. The Nintendo Wii, after all, contained a GameCube chipset. However, in that case, the new consoles would be more expensive.