Nintendo Announces Simple Process for Transferring Data to New Console

Nintendo’s online infrastructure has been criticized for its outdated technology and features, such as the need for a smartphone for voice chat. The company has also faced challenges in transferring user data between old and new consoles. However, there is hope that Nintendo is working on improving this process before the release of its upcoming console.

At a general meeting late last week, when asked if your Nintendo Switch purchases will carry over to future game consoles, CEO Shuntaro Furukawa said (via Google Translate): “When transitioning from Nintendo Switch to the next-gen console, we’d like to do everything we can to ensure that customers can make the transition smoothly while using their Nintendo Account .” This seems to indicate that Nintendo is at least considering the possibility of allowing current Nintendo Switch games purchased through the eShop to be carried over to the next one. Of course, Nintendo won’t comment on upcoming hardware that hasn’t been announced yet, so take this with a grain of salt.

As a reminder, previous generation Nintendo Wii U games did not make it to the Switch. This is in stark contrast to Sony and Microsoft, where most of the last generation Console games run on the new consoles. And unlike Microsoft and Sony, Nintendo likes to spruce up its controller design with virtually every new console. So sometimes it is impossible to make a game work on both new and old console generation.

At least Nintendo is considering improvements to its upcoming console. Especially for digital game buyers, it has always been a big disappointment that previously owned games did not carry over to the new console. It’s especially maddening when the PlayStation 5 can play most PlayStation 4 games and the Xbox Series S and X can play most Xbox One games and in some cases Xbox 360 games. And in Microsoft’s case, the company lets you transfer certain physical titles as well. So Nintendo has a few options for porting existing games. Whatever Nintendo’s next console is, hopefully it will work with all the Switch games people have collected over the years.