{"id":1097589,"date":"2026-01-26T09:50:43","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T09:50:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=509753"},"modified":"2026-01-26T09:50:43","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T09:50:43","slug":"nintendo-switch-2-may-not-support-certain-switch-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/nintendo-switch-2-may-not-support-certain-switch-games\/","title":{"rendered":"Nintendo Switch 2 may not support \u2018certain Switch games\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure> <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" data-caption=\"\" data-portal-copyright=\"\" data-has-syndication-rights=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/nintendo-switch-2-may-not-support-certain-switch-games.jpg\" \/><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">The good news is that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/nintendo\/449283\/switch-2-announced-2025-release-date-price\">Nintendo Switch 2<\/a> will play \u201cboth physical and digital Nintendo Switch games,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendo.com\/successor\/en-us\">according to a statement on the Nintendo website<\/a>. The bad news is that \u201ccertain Nintendo Switch games\u201d may not be totally compatible or supported at all with the Nintendo Switch 2. Nintendo said details will be shared on that in the future, so there\u2019s no confirmation on what <em>exactly<\/em> that means.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">You can read this as Nintendo hedging its language while still expecting most games to work perfectly fine on the Switch 2. But there\u2019s speculation \u2014 and, now, evidence from the reveal trailer \u2014 that Nintendo has removed the IR motion camera from its Joy-Cons, which means certain software that uses the functionality wouldn\u2019t be supported by the Switch 2. The IR camera on the Switch Joy-Cons is the rounded black rectangle on the bottom of the right Joy-Con. Games like <em>1\/2 Switch <\/em>and <em>Ring Fit Adventure<\/em> use it pretty extensively. The Switch 2 Joy-Cons are noticeably missing this functionality on the Joy-Cons themselves, but Nintendo has added a new sensor, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/nintendo-switch-2\/509821\/nintendo-switch-2-joy-con-mouse-rumor-confirmed\">seemingly an optical sensor<\/a> similar to what a computer mouse uses. Both the left and right controllers appear to have this sensor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">If the Switch 2 is indeed missing the IR camera, games that use it will either be unsupported or switch off that functionality. Nintendo Labo, Nintendo\u2019s experimental virtual reality add-on kit, would be majorly impacted, as the system uses IR to read the Labo cardboard. <em>Ring Fit Adventure<\/em> uses it to read heart rate, but it\u2019s possible the game itself would still be fine without that function. The IR camera is used in at least one minigame for <em>1\/2 Switch<\/em> and others in <em>WarioWare: Move It!<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-none\">The other big question is whether the Switch 2 will include an NFC reader essential to the company\u2019s amiibo figures. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/GamingLeaksAndRumours\/comments\/1fjp352\/photos_of_switch_2_factory_prototypes_have_leaked\/\">A leak from 2024<\/a> suggested the console would launch with an NFC reader. (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/nintendo-switch-2\/509074\/nintendo-switch-2-reveal-leaks-accurate\">The leaks do seemingly line up otherwise<\/a> with Thursday\u2019s reveal.) Polygon has reached out to Nintendo for more information on both IR functionality and NFC sensors in the Switch 2 Joy-Cons.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/nintendo-switch-2\/509753\/nintendo-switch-2-backwards-compatibility-details\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The good news is that the Nintendo Switch 2 will play \u201cboth physical and digital Nintendo Switch games,\u201d according to a statement on the Nintendo website. The bad news is that \u201ccertain Nintendo Switch games\u201d may not be totally compatible or supported at all with the Nintendo Switch 2. Nintendo said details will be shared on that in the future, so there\u2019s no confirmation on what exactly that means. You can read this as Nintendo hedging its language while still expecting most games to work perfectly fine on the Switch 2. But there\u2019s speculation \u2014 and, now, evidence from the reveal trailer \u2014 that Nintendo has removed the IR motion camera from its Joy-Cons, which means certain software that uses the functionality wouldn\u2019t be supported&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"excerpt-more\"><a class=\"blog-excerpt button\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/nintendo-switch-2-may-not-support-certain-switch-games\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1097590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1097589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polygon"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Nintendo Switch 2 may not support \u2018certain Switch games\u2019 | Arcader 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