Doug Bowser suggests that Nintendo Accounts could help ease the transition to a new platform

Speaking with Inverse, Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser has said a few things about the company’s strategy for moving to an inevitable successor to the Switch. Of the notable things he said about it, one about Nintendo accounts is particularly intriguing.

“But one thing we’ve done with the Switch to help with that communication and transition is the formation of the Nintendo Account,” Bowser told Inverse. “In the past, every device we transitioned to had a whole new account system. Creating the Nintendo Account will allow us to communicate with our players if and when we make a transition to a new platform, to help ease that process or transition.”

That’s not really confirmation on anything, but its potential meaning is backed up by his additional statement: “Our goal is to minimize the dip you typically see in the last year of one cycle and the beginning of another.” Bowser makes it clear that he isn’t commenting on rumors about the platform, but it certainly sounds like he’s hinting at the continuity of digital libraries. Maybe. I’m speculating, but I don’t know how else to interpret it.

Top of my wishlist

At the absolute top of my wishlist for a successor to the Switch is backward compatibility. To be fair, that’s usually at the top of my wishlist for any console. I only have so much space around my TV to be hooking up consoles, and right now, I have (one, two…) 11 different consoles hooked up to my TV, which isn’t counting my Sega CD and 32X as separate devices. 

On top of that, I usually amass a big library for a console, both physically and digitally, and I want to keep them. This is especially important to me since Nintendo likes to shut down its slightly old storefronts without preserving access to older titles. Video games shouldn’t be ephemera.

So, while Bowser’s quote isn’t a firm confirmation of backward compatibility, it at least gives me hope that Nintendo will preserve the Switch’s library to whatever platform they move onto next. I am also bracing for deep disappointment. It’s Nintendo. They do weird, consumer-unfriendly things all the time.

Speaking of which, it’s funny hearing him tout Nintendo Accounts as if they’re a new thing. During the Wii U and 3DS days, there was the Nintendo Network ID, which was dropped wholesale in favor of the Nintendo Account. So, already having an account framework does not suggest permanence when it comes to Nintendo. It also didn’t with Sony, nor with Microsoft, though, they’re somewhat better with it.

We’re just going to have to wait and see when Nintendo finally gets around to revealing their new gewgaw, as they wouldn’t confirm its existence in the interview. However, Bowser has at least given us more reason to be optimistic. Hope for the best, and plan for the worst, as they say.