This man, this myth, this legend Shigeru Miyamoto recently talked about how easy backwards compatibility is now, even though it doesn’t seem like much Nintendo Interested?
During a recent Q&A session following Nintendo’s announcement of its latest financial results, the company’s executives were asked about how backward compatibility is handled internally (thanks to VGC for the translation). Miyamoto apparently didn’t give an answer pointing in any particular direction for backwards compatibility, but did talk about how it’s easier now.
“In the past, we offered a service called ‘Virtual Consoles’ that allowed users to play old video games on new consoles with updated hardware,” Miyamoto explained. “These games can continue to be played as long as the hardware remains the same. However, video game distribution rights are complex, and we’ve said that games will only be added once the necessary rights have been acquired.”
The creators of Mario and Zelda went on to point out that, apparently, games developed for specific consoles also have specific environments created for each console. He also noted that with hardware changes, games released on older consoles cannot be played on new consoles without “additional modifications.”
“More recently, however, development environments have become more standardized, and we now have an environment that makes it easier than ever for players to enjoy old video games on new consoles.”
While admitting things are easier now, you shouldn’t hold out hope for things like the return of virtual consoles (as if the Expansion Pass crap didn’t tell you). “However, Nintendo’s strength is in creating new video game experiences, so when we release new hardware in the future, we want to showcase unique video games that cannot be created with existing hardware,” concludes Shigeru Miyamoto, feeling as good as saying “Yes, sorry, no old game for you.”
It’s a frustrating stance given Nintendo’s stance on illegally distributing its ROMs without providing access to many older games. At least Kingdom Tears looks pretty good, right?
