I think NX is a distinct platform from the Wii U. They're not going to use things like that outdated IBM architecture again as its killing their hardware margins.

They'll probably incorporate elements/design philosophies of the Wii U GPU and memory architecture into the NX, but not a literal chip swap that would allow for literal backwards comp. 

So those games would still have to be ported, though it shouldn't be such a huge pain in the ass to do it. Should be fairly simple. 

It won't be so distinct that it won't have BC. No platform meant to absorb the Wii U's architecture would be. Nintendo literally mentioned BC as the key way they retain consumers. It isn't going anywhere.

With BC, they won't have to port anything. You just buy the NX and the entire eshop library will be available to play and purchase from day one. Even more "simple."

I figured I wouldn't have to specify I was talking about physical BC... But... I was talking about physical BC. Which constitutes a majority of Wii

U software, especially non-indie software (and let's face it, that's what most people care about).

Iwata said he didn't literally mean absorbing the Wii U's architecture 1:1. 

Backwards compaibility being the key to anything is laughable. It's one of the most over blown features that's held up by a vocal minority of fans on the internet. In reality (as we're seeing this gen) it has little to no bearing on actual sales and quite frankly I'd be surprised if even 10% of Wii U owners play Wii games on their Wii U for any significant period of time. The PS4 has no backwards compatibility whatsoever, yet it's crushing Nintendo and MS like they're nothing. 

NX having a similar design philosophy to the Wii U architecture will help Nintendo more in the sense of its developers don't have to start from ground zero with a completely new architecture and take like a year to come to grips with it if it already has similarities to the Wii U. That's what Iwata was talking about that every time they've changed consoles (with the exception of GCN to Wii) they had to deal with a completely different system architeture from what came before and there is an obvious learning curve that comes with that. 

In that case, most people are in for a rude awakening. I think it'll only have digital BC. Physical BC is gone, unless they really do make you buy a disk drive periferal for it, which seems very un-Nintendo.

*looks at the GCN controller adapter*

...Well...

Backwards compatibility with a failed console that is probably going to finish in the range of 17-18 million consoles and a tiny library of games should be right down near the bottom of Nintendo's design priorities.

What did Wii backwards compatibility (a much more popular system) do for them this gen?

Fact is it's a feature the overwhelmingly majority do not care about and accomodating it means you have to make compromises to your hardware design which can hinder performance or force you into choosing hardware components at a higher cost (because no one uses the damn tech any more) for no performance gain.

It's lose-lose-lose all around.

And yet Nintendo says it's key. You can think what you personally want of it. It's staying. Not absorbing it 1:1 doesn't mean not absorbing it enough to retain BC. It's not sales short term, but sales long term. Its ecosystem. It's not having to rebuild a library from scratch when you already have hundreds of legacy games to build on from the Wii U and 3DS. That's what they're absorbing. And naturally that familiar architecture will help with the transition from developing for Wii U to developing for NX, but it will definitely not be as far off as you say..

I haven't seen that quote, would you care to point it out?

If they said that though ... well, if you're Sony you just have to laugh, comfortable knowing that you probably got it made with the PS5. Winning these console wars is pretty simple when you're dealing with "competetion" like that. Is it any wonder they are on pace to cruise to victory in 3/4 console gens virtually unimpeded?

The Wii U has a small library of games that most people don't give a shit about aside from the 12 million Nintendo fans who will buy the NX system no matter what. Making backwards compatibility a key priority is ass backwards thinking and it's part of the reason why the Wii U is gimped hardware wise today ... they got stuck using the shitty IBM CPU for example pretty much mostly because they wanted to retain backwards compatibility with the original Wii. A lot of good that did them. 

The funny thing is they probably are not even get a price break on that IBM CPU because they are the only company in the world dumb enough to use that dated tech in a mass market modern product. So they're probably paying similar price to Sony/MS to get much lower performance. But hey, right now like 5 people are enjoying some 8 year old Wii game on their Wii U, so I guess it was worth it. 

That's bullshit. The virtual console is immensly popular and immensly lucrative. That's literally what Wii U BC would become. Wii U eshop games would all be indefinitely purchasable to a new audience and be put in the same library as NX games. It's not just about being able to play old games you used to own; that's an extremely limited way to view it. Its about being able to buy games from legacy platforms and, more importantly, Nintendo and 3rd parties still being able to make money off those games without having to spend an extra penny porting. Mario Kart 8 will still be bought brand new on the NX. Smash Wii U will still be purchased.

The library will turn Steam-like and transend generational barriers. You aren't buying Wii U games, you're buying eshop games. That's it. That's why digital BC is more important than it ever was before. No console out has ever retained a legacy library like that. Instead of starting from scratch again, they'll continue to build on what they've done and continue to make money off games they ported years ago. People still buy old VC games on the Wii U. They'll add more N64 games, more Wii and DS games. They'll add a GCN VC. No more wasting time and money reporting the same old games again and again.

Win-win-win.

So in that case, the Wii U has thousands of games too since it can play all the Wii's library. 

How's that working out for them?

Again if I'm Sony, I'm laughing at my competetion. They just make it so easy. Keep using that 20+ year old CPU tech that no one else would touch with a 20 foot pole. Please. Pretty please.