Backwards Compatibility - Just Software Emulation?

[subcon959]

It's not entirely clear at this point how Switch 2 is doing backwards compatibility with Switch games. I've seen some speculation that it's basically emulation on a game by game basis since the APU is not binary compatible with the older device. To me, that doesn't bode well for every game to eventually get to 100% working. Does anyone think Nintendo will actually keep working on this or will they just give up once they think it's "good enough"?

 

[JuanMena]

Yesterday read this:

Does that mean that Switch and Switch 2 aren't compatible at a hardware level?

Sasaki: Exactly. This time, we decided to take on the challenge of using new technology to run Switch games.

Dohta: If we tried to use technology like software emulators, we’d have to run Switch 2 at full capacity, but that would mean the battery wouldn't last so long, so we did something that’s somewhere in between a software emulator and hardware compatibility.

Sasaki: This is getting a bit technical, but the process of converting game data for Switch to run on Switch 2 is performed on a real-time basis as the data is read in.

Is it like having Switch games “simultaneously translated” for Switch 2?

Sasaki: That’s right. Although we'd made the technological preparations, at first, we weren’t quite sure whether it would be able to maintain proper compatibility.

Which I believe given NVIDIA's claims: https://fictionhorizon.com/nvidia-says-switch-2-is-10-times-more-powerful-than-the-original-switch/

So yes, the Switch 2 can emulate Switch 1.
I'm guessing is more like the 3DS having the DS mode "hidden" but not necessarily using it.

 

[m00k00]

There are at least signs that it's not running 100% natively. Here's two lists published by Nintendo that are shedding light on the game compatibility question:

https://media.nintendo.com/switch-2/pdf-compatibility_issues_EN.pdf
https://media.nintendo.com/switch-2/pdf-launchable_compatibility_issues_EN.pdf

If it was 1:1 natively there would probably be no issues, except for maybe the Nintendo Labo stuff or other games that integrate the console hardware in cardboard (due to the unequal form factor of SW1/SW2)

 

[GDDR9X]

ive heard that its going to be some kind of software and hardware emulation, like a translation layer but not really, im not too sure if they will keep updating the emulator or just do nothing about it

 

[tech3475]

Will probably end up like the PS3 with partial PS2 emulation or 360 emulation on the Xbone.

When hacked, I wonder if unofficial patches will appear to increase compatibility?

 

[grootus]

The devs said full software emulation uses up too much battery, so translation layer is the prefer option. Once the main first party games are compatible, Nintendo is going to stop. Companies will force you to rebuy the Switch 2 compatible version of their games.

 

[subcon959]

Once the main first party games are compatible, Nintendo is going to stop.

This is what I'm concerned about, is it only Nintendo that can do it or are all devs given tools to update their own games. I doubt everyone will bother to update every single game.

 

[GDDR9X]

This is what I'm concerned about, is it only Nintendo that can do it or are all devs given tools to update their own games. I doubt everyone will bother to update every single game.

i wouldnt think nintendo would be that lazy (foreshadowing) but really we still dont have enough information

 

[hippy dave]

The incompatibility lists aren't that long and honestly there's not much on there that I'm fussed about.

I imagine they're converting GPU calls from the old API to the new, maybe similar with sound or other I/O, though they would be more easy to keep the same. The game code will run on the CPU as it's still ARM, so no huge overhead there, and the faster CPU (with more cores?) will have headroom to handle the graphic translation layer.

 

[The Catboy]

Bet we gonna find Yuzu or Ryujinx code in that emulator

 

[masagrator]

My take: Executable runs natively on CPU while GPU shaders must be preprocessed/converted by CPU before they are used. That's why it's "hybrid" solution. And it won't be like Yuzu or Ryujinx since we can skip decompilation to hlsl/glsl. I bet that was the biggest challenge since you don't see projects like those - direct shader conversion.