As opposed to “Switch 2 exclusive”
- by Gavin Lane
Today, Nintendo introduced Virtual Game Cards, a digital game-sharing feature coming to Switches 1 and 2 that lets you move your digital purchases between your consoles and lend them to people in your family Nintendo Account group.
A note on Nintendo’s webpage detailing the upcoming feature mentions that “Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive games” can only be moved between Switch 2 systems, naturally, but it also mentions something else: “Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games”.
The eagle-eyed chaps over at GVG (video below) spotted the small print on the page and quite rightly pointed out that this suggests versions of existing Switch games that have been upgraded to some extent on Switch 2. Right now, there’s no indication as to which games might get the “Switch 2 Edition” treatment, but this confirms that they’re coming.
The note reads as follows:
**Compatible systems must be linked to a Nintendo Account to use virtual game cards. Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive games and Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games can only be loaded on a Nintendo Switch 2 system. To move virtual game cards between two systems, you must pair the systems via local wireless and an internet connection, but only when pairing the systems for the first time. Up to two systems total can be linked per Nintendo Account.
The recent discovery of a ‘hidden’ 60fps mode in Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition led to speculation that there may be a Switch 2 ‘mode’ of some sort. Rumours coming out of Gamescom 2023 suggested that Breath of the Wild was used to demo Switch 2’s capabilities at running games at 4K 60fps behind closed doors, although that was said to be a demonstration piece only, rather than a product for release.
Switch 2 is confirmed to be backwards compatible with Switch, so the wording here would seem to indicate select games may get revamped “Nintendo Switch 2 Editions” that make better use of the more powerful hardware. Whether these would be standalone, full-priced releases or if an upgrade path for people who own the original game will exist is unknown.
This isn’t the only sneaky detail that’s been gleaned from material related to today’s Direct, either. Chris Scullion over at VGC spotted a cheeky confirmation that the new button on Switch 2’s Joy-Con is in fact a ‘C’ button, despite the input appearing as a solid black square in the reveal video.
Exciting times! Let us know below which path you think Nintendo will take with these Switch 2 Edition games.
[source nintendo.com, via youtube.com]
Gavin first wrote for Nintendo Life in 2018 before joining the site full-time the following year, rising through the ranks to become Editor. He can currently be found squashed beneath a Switch backlog the size of Normandy.
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