Rumors of a Nintendo Change successor have been circulating all 12 months, and stories of personal demos for builders at this 12 months’s Gamescom and Activision getting briefed on the machine solely fueled the fireplace. Regardless of this, Nintendo pinky swears it by no means truly confirmed its subsequent console (identified colloquially because the “Change 2”) wherever, in accordance with President Shuntaro Furukawa.
Japanese outlet Mainichi stories that Furukawa denies Nintendo showcased the machine to companions at public occasions or personal conferences with sport firms. However due to the FTC vs. Microsoft courtroom case that happened earlier this 12 months, there are unsealed authorized paperwork and emails confirming the corporate was involved with Activision about its subsequent console (even evaluating its energy stage to that of a PlayStation 4). So it’s extra possible that Nintendo doesn’t wish to publicly announce or acknowledge a brand new system earlier than the 2023 vacation season, which is when individuals could be shopping for a Nintendo Change. A possible Change 2 might change individuals’s plans for vacation purchases.
If a Change 2 does exist, one factor remains to be unclear concerning the hypothetical console: if it’ll play the unique Change’s video games or not. With the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Sequence X/S each providing backwards compatibility (although the PS5 does bizarre cloud streaming nonsense to play PlayStation 3 video games), it looks as if the subsequent Nintendo console would play Change video games, proper? Effectively, traditionally, Nintendo has been the least prepared of the large three to undertake backwards compatibility. Nearly none of its residence consoles have performed the earlier technology’s video games, with the Wii and the Wii U the outliers within the firm’s 40 years of consoles. So till we all know extra concerning the subsequent system, we received’t know if the Change and its successor will communicate to one another. It seems to be like Nintendo is banking on individuals not with the ability to make an knowledgeable buying determination whereas shopping for items this 12 months.
In keeping with the original report from Eurogamer, Nintendo confirmed the Change successor working a beefier model of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom at Gamescom, but it surely’s unclear proper now if that is consultant of backwards compatibility, some type of remastered port, or if it was only a tech demo to showcase the brand new machine’s energy.
