XBO isn't fully BC, but even if the NX was x86 it could theoretically be BC if Nintendo put a little bit of effort into making software-side emulation possible. I find that unlikely though.

I doubt they would be doing ports to Mario Maker and Splatoon (or even considering them) if there was basic backwards comp.

Backwards compatibility isn't going to take Nintendo anywhere, if this is a "traditional" console then they'd be better served just shutting up about hardware and giving third parties whatever works best for them and that tends to be x86.

You cannot make third party ports any harder than they have to be because they likely aren't to sell that great on a Nintendo platform, not for a while, so the investment needed on them needs to be as low as possible (time/resources/money wise).

The moment the porting is too hard, guess which third party port is first in line to get canned? Hello, Nintendo. 

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Of course they would. In a unified platform, these ports would have a benefit BC games wouldn't - Cross save/buy/play with the NXDS. The NXDS will definitely not be able to handle Wii U games, so this allows them to allow the game to be played the way NX games are supposed to be.

And yeah, it definitely is. Nintendo has explicitely expressed, in recent times, specifically when talking about their future platform, the importance BC has in making the transition between platforms smooth. This isn't a traditional console. It's a smart console. It's just on par-power wise.

Clearly they aren't making third party ports harder, so all is well. They get BC and third party support.

The XBO added BC way late though, and it was clearly done imperfectly. Nintendo would be designing the system with this in mind from the start. Nintendo cares a lot about BC, and they've said that they want the NX to absorb the Wii U and its architecture, and it's important for creating a legacy platform, especially with the eshop being the market place for the NX as well. It's surprising to me how many people don't think BC is a guarantee at this point.

Guess not, im not too fussed though. WiiU being my first Nintendo home console left a sour taste in my mouth. 

I'm sure it will be relatively managable to port Wii U games, but direct hardware BC I would doubt it. PowerPC is old as balls and I don't think IBM is willing to update for Nintendo or put it on a modern manufacturing process without it all being a massive pain in the ass for Nintendo.

There's only like 10-12 games on the Wii U that absolutely must be ported anyway, which is probably simple enough. At these specs NX should be able to emulate any other previous Nintendo console so that's not an issue for legacy games pre-Wii U. 

Besides Nintendo (like anyone else) makes good money on re-releases, they don't make money on backwards compatibility. Getting people to re-buy old games at full retail is simply better for Nintendo even if it makes a few people on message boards squirm. 

Nothing juicy :(

Yeah does seem a little dry, not sure what the "hook" of the system is supposed to be or if Nintendo finally just has given up on that approach. 

That noticeable difference must be huge since some console owners can't even notice 60 over 30 fps.