Topic: The Nintendo Switch Rumor and Speculation Thread

Nintendo has sat back and watched Sony get away with remastering games that were late PS4 titles for some time for PS5, even ones that got free patches for enhancements with backwards compatibility.

You damn well know they're gonna do it too.

Yeah an enhanced BotW port wouldn't surprise me in the slightest, regardless of backwards compatibility. It honestly is one of the few Switch games where it would make sense given that the next mainline Zelda is years away.

When it comes to enhanced versions of Switch games, I'm okay with it as long as it's done sparingly and supplements the lineup, rather than making up the majority of it. Bayonetta 3 is a game that I think would make sense too, for example.

Yeah, I wouldn't be at all shocked if they released a version of BotW that runs at a higher resolution/framerate and with the loading largely removed. I'm just not entirely convinced that it would be something they're going to charge full retail for if you already have the game. A game they put on store shelves for people to pay full retail for? Sure. But I think a digital upgrade path also makes sense

Maybe I'm just used to on PC seeing enhanced versions of games just appear in my Steam Library with no intervention. And maybe I've just turned a blind eye to the way Nintendo has always handled it given there was always some kind of platform-change excuse to back it up. But.... I don't know, the idea of paying full retail price to get a game I alright bought running to the capabilities of hardware I'm probably spending like $600AU for. Slightly irritates me

And if that's what they do then.... I guess I'll play BotW at 1080p/60fps+ via other means

I think there will be five scenarios:-

1. Switch 1 games work exactly the same on Switch 2 as they do on Switch 1
2. Switch 1 games see some improvement just through playing on better hardware
3. Switch 1 games receive Switch 2 specific patches (for free) so when you play them you get a "significant" improvement in performance, graphics etc
4. Same as Number 3, but the patch is paid for "DLC"
5. Switch 1 games are sold as Switch 2 versions (with redesigned boxes?) with or without patches

I think we will see all five across the Switch 1 library.

For games like BOTW, ToTK, Minecraft, No Mans Sky, The Witcher 3 etc it will be interesting to see what happens, we really want a free patch that completely overhauls each game...i'm not sure we will.

The closest thing that exists to the BotW rumour is what's happening with PS5. The current list of Playstation Studios games that had a PS4 version release prior to PS5 launch (and hence playable via backwards compatibility) but also got PS5 remasters/remakes are:

• Spider-Man (PS4 in 2018, PS5 in 2020 as part of Miles Morales ultimate edition, standalone PS5 in 2023)
• Ghost of Tsushima (PS4 in 2020, PS5 in 2021)
• Death Stranding (PS4 in 2019, PS5 in 2021)
• Uncharted 4 (PS4 in 2016, PS5 in 2022 as part of Legacy of Thieves Collection)
• Uncharted The Lost Legacy (PS4 in 2017, PS5 in 2022 as part of Legacy of Thieves Collection)
• The Last of Us (PS4 in 2014, PS5 in 2022)
• The Last of Us 2 (PS4 in 2020, PS5 in 2024)
• Until Dawn (PS4 in 2015, PS5 in 2024)

TLoU doesn't have an upgrade path (TLoU Part 1 is still $70 even if you own TLoU Remastered) and it is unknown about the fate of Until Dawn. The others are all $10 upgrades to get from PS4 version to PS5 version though Spider-Man and Ghost of Tsushima were a bit more complicated:

• Spider-Man - Prior to 2023, there was no upgrade path as you had to buy the Miles Morales ultimate edition but once the standalone version was released in 2023 it was your typical $10 upgrade from Spider-Man to Spider-Man Remastered
• Ghost of Tsushima - To upgrade from PS4 to PS5 you need to do 2 upgrades. Upgrade from the base PS4 game to Director's Cut which is $20 (contains a big expansion) and then upgrade from PS4 Director's Cut to PS5 Director's Cut which is $10

Push Square have reported on rumours about Horizon Zero Dawn and Gravity Rush 2 getting PS5 versions this year. Very believable considering how Sony has approached things this gen so far and considering the former's PS4 version is being removed from PS+ Extra/Premium, it's a safe guess that it'll be announced in a May PS event.

The way they approached crossgen releases were also $10 upgrade from PS4 to PS5 except Horizon Forbidden West (upgrade was free due to backlash over not offering an upgrade at all initially):

• Spider-Man Miles Morales
• Sackboy A Big Adventure
• Horizon Forbidden West
• Gran Turismo 7
• God of War Ragnarok

Back to the BotW situation, I think it's about as meaningless as the rumoured Horizon Zero Dawn remake and it would be very disappointing if it's real.

@MarioBrickLayer I assume No Man's Sky will get a Switch 2 version and/or free update (quite possibly both). They already have a reputation for making massive changes and getting enough media attention and positive feedback to sell more copies. I'm sure there are many Switch owners (like myself) who were interested but decided not to buy an inferior version.

For Minecraft, I would guess they will eventually do a free upgrade, but the question is whether they will do that before they eventually decide to stop supporting the Switch 1 version.

I can totally see Nintendo taking the path Sony is taking where you can either pay a small fee and get the upgrade for Switch 2 or if you don’t already own the game you pay the full price for the Switch 2 port. It’s a proven money maker.

Mario & Luigi would make a great holiday title, however I’ve seem another one discussed recently: Mario Party.

My response is, naturally, no.
Nintendo loves to have their Mario Parties sell well for years, as that’s just how they sell. Having a Mario Party this late into Nintendo Switch’s life cycle just wouldn’t make sense.

However, I think it’s still possible. What better way to celebrate the Nintendo Switch one last time than with a Mario Party? If it’s true that Switch’s Successor is backwards compatible, then it could still sell well.
It’s been 3 years after Mario Party Superstars, though. That’s about the same length as the wait between Super Mario Party and Mario Party Superstars.

Do I think Mario Party will be the Holiday game? Probably not. But it’s still possible. I think this makes sense more than most other series/games.

I gave it some time to think about these theories, and the idea of Nintendo charging full price for enhanced versions of old games. I agree with the consensus that revamp prices will vary depending on the game. I was thinking of games that I thought could use a revamp (Or at the very least some touch ups.) and I thought back to the TTYD 30 FPS conversation. I thought of a hypothetical with Nintendo charging $60 for TTYD, then shortly after on next-gen, charging another $60 for the same game but with the sought after 60 FPS. No matter what argument I pictured Nintendo trying to make, I couldn't think of any that wouldn't immediately come back to haunt them. There's no reality I can see where people hear that and just accept it and pay full price again, regardless of their attachment to the game. Like I said in a previous post, it was one thing when these games weren't available on the current hardware, but if BC is implemented, they will be. Not to mention the fact that, framerate aside, the game looks pretty dang great as is! And even then, the current framerate looks far from terrible. It strikes me as the perfect game to receive a free enhancement. Whereas other titles prices may vary depending on the level of overhaul

All I can say is that the fact we don't know how backwards compatibility is going to work is the main reason why I'm in no hurry to get TTYD, as well as possibly other games they announce in the meantime. As much as I would like to get it sooner than later, I would much prefer to avoid buying a game twice/being stuck with the less good version in the worst-case scenario.

@Novamii TTYD definitely is worth $60, since the original is like double the price, it’s still a huge game in Nintendo’s modern standards, and it’s a full-on remake.

As good as 60fps is, 30fps is barely worse. I’d take all the fancy new visuals with the reflections and lighting over 60fps. Nintendo Switch couldn’t handle smooth 60fps with how graphically capable the game is in every other aspect. Honestly this is arguably one of the best looking games on the console, along with being one of the most technically advanced.

I’m already buying this game physically and digitally, so it’d be awful if they expected me to buy it a 3rd time for just an fps/resolution boost (and I’ve already played the original). I’m playing it for TTYD, not framerate.

We honestly just need free boosts for games, or at the very least backwards compatibility. I don’t think they can get away reselling that many Switch games with just slight boosts

@PikminMarioKirby Agreed. I've been waiting to play TTYD for years, so I'm going to take the plunge and play it on launch day. As for reselling old Switch games, but with enhancements, I can only dream of a world where that stuff is offered incredibly cheap. It'd be pretty scummy to claim that backwards compatibility is coming to Switch 2, only to then immediately try and sell people on the same games again like they're brand new on the same system. I can only hope that you're right, and we see at least some (If not most of) that stuff priced reasonably, if not free. At the end of the day though, it's all just rumors and speculation. We know just as much/little about Nintendo's plan as we did before this rumor even came up. We just have to have hope and be patient.

@Novamii It’s very exciting you’re experiencing this masterpiece for the first time!

Yes we will have to see. I can only hope that enhancements are free. I at least hope for backwards compatibility. Nintendo hasn’t really ever charged for backwards compatibility or gave payment walls for enhancing games you own, so I somewhat doubt Nintendo will do that.

@PikminMarioKirby For real, being able to finally experience it feels like stumbling across lost media or secret treasure. Something you've only heard whispered in legends, only to find that it's real! Unless Nintendo catches me off guard and announces a Kid Icarus: Uprising remaster (One of my personal favorites) this is shaping to be my most anticipated game this year!

@Novamii Yeah definitely my most anticipated release from Nintendo during Switch era, even as someone who played the original. Can’t wait!

It is a very rare game, sadly a small percent of people had the chance to play it back on GameCube. It’s so hard to get without spending a fortune, so glad it’s coming to Switch so a lot more people can play it!

I don't get why everyone is treating this like brain surgery or the discovery of a new planet: They did this with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Hyrule Warriors, Tropical Freeze, etc. pretty much within a year of the Switch's launch.

This is nothing new for Nintendo, and certainly not a copy act of Sony.

@rallydefault I'm not saying Nintendo can't/won't do it, they're a company. They go where the money goes. The thing about those games though is that they were on the Wii U. The system that barely anyone had in the grand scheme of things. Sure, people would have to re-buy the stuff they had there, but the Wii U sold a little over 13 million units and began to really fall off with the advent of PS4 and Xbox One. Sales weren't exactly skyrocketing. The Switch has sold over 100 million, and is continuing to sell with each day. I'd like to reiterate again, this is Nintendo. Angering the fanbase (and plenty people beyond) is kinda their thing. I just think that pulling that kind of thing with 100 million people won't go over quite as well as it did with the 13 million people on a dying console. I'm just saying it'd be an awful thing to do, and a good way at ruining the success they've built up over the Switch generation. But they're a huge company, and it isn't out of the realms of possibility. These are just my speculations though, I'm just some dweeb on the internet throwing my own take in the ring. There's plenty of factors I'm sure I'm missing, I'm just throwing out hypothetical scenarios and picturing how they'd go over. Trying to definitively prove Nintendo's grand plan is like playing checkers while they play 4D chess. It's a fruitless endeavor.

@Novamii
They're gonna do it.

You guys are thinking too hard about this. They have BotW running at higher resolutions on a new piece of hardware. This is a fact and something we've known for what, over a year? And now you have your most reliable leakers corroborating it.

It's coming. They've done this thing before, it's nothing new, and they're gonna sell another couple million copies of BotW.

Story of my life! XD Regardless on any of our thoughts on this, it all just amounts to a simple "Wait and see."

@rallydefault It's about backwards compatibility. Switch didn't have backwards compatibility so porting Wii U games to Switch were a fantastic thing (the delisting of Tropical Freeze and Pikmin 3 Wii U close to Switch port release however was very bad).

Assuming Switch 2 has backwards compatibility, Switch 2 remasters of Switch games would be very much doing what Sony's doing with PS5 remasters of PS4 games which is awful.