Rejoice, as soon (how soon, we’re not sure) you’ll be able to play Mario Kart 8 on a third generation of video game console.
With over 146 million examples of the Switch in the wild, its seven-year run as Nintendo’s premier console is about to end – but you will be able to play existing games on the new hardware.
Previously, Gamecube games could be played on the Wii, Wii games could be played on the Wii U. But when the Switch launched in 2017, you couldn’t play WiiU games on the hybrid device.
This witnessed a deluge of ports in the early years, one of which being the venerable Mario Kart 8 – first released in 2014 for the Wii U, the ‘Deluxe’ edition released on Switch in 2017.
“This is Furukawa. At today’s Corporate Management Policy Briefing, we announced that Nintendo Switch software will also be playable on the successor to Nintendo Switch,” said the Japanese gaming giant.
Exact details of how the backwards compatibility will work are anticipated when the upcoming device is revealed.
This will likely mean titles such as Wreckfest, GRID Autosport, the aforementioned Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, F1 Manager 2024 and Fast RMX, among many, many, others will be playable from launch.
Mercifully, the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service is also set to carry across. Presently, this provides access to a library of retro games. For racing games, the likes of Mario Kart 64, F-Zero (SNES), Wave Race 64, Excite Bike and Extreme-G are expected to work on the latest hardware.
“Nintendo Switch Online will be available on the successor to Nintendo Switch as well,” continued the company.
“Further information about the successor to Nintendo Switch, including its compatibility with Nintendo Switch, will be announced at a later date.”
The new unit is expected to be unveiled before the end of March 2025.
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