Forward ThinkingNintendo says Switch 2 backwards compatability was the "best direction" for players, even if it's still staying quiet on which games won't workYou'll have to wait until that April Direct.Image credit: Nintendo News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Jan. 19, 2025 The Nintendo Switch 2 will definitely be backwards compatible, but that confirmation did come with a bit of an asterisk, and the house of Mario won't explain why yet.Something that Sony really messed up on back in the PS3/ PS4 era is backward compatibility - neither console could play games from the generation before it (bar those very early PS3s), so the PS5 being backward compatible was obviously welcome news. Nintendo too allowed Wii games on the Wii U, but the switch (pun intended) to cartridges on the Switch obviously ruled that. With the Switch 2 finally being revealed this week, the question on everyone's lips from the moment the trailer started was "ok but can I play all these games I already own." The answer? Yes! But not all of them. All the same, it's pretty clear Nintendo knows it needs to keep its players happy.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Speaking to Game File, the developer explained why it did decide on making its games backwards compatible. "Nintendo Switch is played by many consumers, and we decided that the best direction to take would be for consumers to be able to play their already purchased Nintendo Switch software on the successor to Nintendo Switch," Nintendo said. "As a result of that thinking, Nintendo Switch 2 plays Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive games, as well as both physical and digital Nintendo Switch games. Certain Nintendo Switch games may not be supported on or fully compatible with Nintendo Switch 2. Details will be shared on the Nintendo website at a later date."Honestly, it's more than likely that this applies to games like Ring Fit Adventure and Labo, which can only use the original Joy-Cons - the new ones are larger so wouldn't fit in their respective peripherals, and you obviously don't want people calling up and complaining about that. That doesn't mean Nintendo is ready to say which games won't work yet, as it explained it has "nothing more to announce on this topic" and that if you want more details, you'll need to tune into that Direct on April 2.Hopefully it is a limited selection of games that will be unplayable, as there will be plenty of players who will upgrade rather than add to their collection. Mostly I just don't want Nintendo to charge $60 for ports of games that are only a generation old (it should stop doing that for games that are older than that too (and to credit its developers better too)).