When Nintendo formally revealed the Swap 2 again in January, it confirmed long-standing rumors that the brand new handheld console would get pleasure from backward compatibility with the video games from the authentic Swap—bodily and digitally. Excellent news, however there was one disclaimer: “Sure Nintendo Swap video games is probably not supported on or absolutely appropriate with Nintendo Swap 2.”
That despatched some gamers into, if not a panic, at the very least a interval of confusion. On condition that the unique Swap launched in 2017, many have constructed sizable collections in that point, and the uncertainty over which amongst them would proceed to be playable on the brand new technology of {hardware} was trigger for concern. However issues are trying higher than anticipated, with the Swap 2 supporting among the most area of interest titles within the Swap library, even those who required bodily peripherals distinctive to the unique {hardware}.
In an replace posted to Nintendo’s official website, the corporate revealed that just about 100% of first-party video games stay appropriate with Swap 2 {hardware}, with “no points discovered throughout primary compatibility testing” for 122 video games revealed by Nintendo. On a bar chart, a tiny sliver of crimson, indicating “not appropriate,” quantities to only one sport.
{Photograph}: Julian Chokkatu
That unlucky outlier? Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 04: VR Equipment, Nintendo’s formidable build-it-yourself digital actuality headset made from cardboard. All the Labo line was geared toward youngsters, offering tactile experiences the place you’d construct steering wheels or robotic fits, then play devoted video games constructed across the kit-bashed devices. The VR Equipment took issues to a different stage, offering the supplies to construct rudimentary goggles and a mock blaster. When constructed, the Swap pill slotted into place whereas lenses cut up the onscreen picture right into a “My first VR”-level expertise.
It is that particular bodily mixture of console and cardboard that makes Labo VR Equipment the one authentic Swap sport incompatible with Swap 2. Nintendo explains that “the Nintendo Swap 2 console can’t be inserted into the Toy-Con VR Goggles accent, so this sport can’t be performed.” That is it. The Swap 2 merely would not match the headset, so VR Equipment turns into the one first-party sport jettisoned into the tides of gaming historical past.
Even different Labo video games can be utilized on Swap 2, because of what might show to be the brand new console’s secret weapon on the subject of backward compatibility—you’ll be able to nonetheless use authentic Swap Pleasure-Cons on Swap 2. Nintendo says that if “you’ve gotten Nintendo Swap Pleasure-Con controllers and join them wirelessly to Nintendo Swap 2, you’ll be able to play [select] video games as you’d on Nintendo Swap.” That is nice information, opening the doorways for a lot extra of the Swap’s software program library to stay accessible than anticipated.
A Wholesome Alternative
{Photograph}: Julian Chokkatu
Maybe the most important shock is that Swap 2 will proceed to assist Ring Match Journey. When the brand new console was introduced with that caveat about compatibility, I used to be certain Ring Match could be lower from the roster, primarily due to {hardware} compatibility. The health role-playing sport requires the right-hand Pleasure-Con controller to be bodily slotted onto its Pilates-style ring peripheral, which makes use of a slide bracket that might not accommodate a brand new, magnetically related Pleasure-Con 2 from the Swap 2.