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Nintendo Switch Software to Be Playable on Successor Device

A logo of Nintendo is seen at a store in Shibuya district in Tokyo November 5, 2024. (AFP)
A logo of Nintendo is seen at a store in Shibuya district in Tokyo November 5, 2024. (AFP)
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Nintendo Switch Software to Be Playable on Successor Device

A logo of Nintendo is seen at a store in Shibuya district in Tokyo November 5, 2024. (AFP)
A logo of Nintendo is seen at a store in Shibuya district in Tokyo November 5, 2024. (AFP)

Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said on Wednesday that software for the company's Switch console would be playable on the successor device.

The Kyoto-based gaming company has said it plans to make an announcement about a successor device during the financial year ending March 2025 but has not provided further details.

"Nintendo Switch is currently being played with by many customers so we decided it would be optimal for them to be able to play their Switch software on the successor model," Furukawa said.

"Customers will be able to enjoy the games they own and choose their next title from the lineup of games already on the market," Furukawa told a management policy briefing.

Offering backwards compatibility could help encourage consumers to transition to the new device and boost the appeal of existing software.

"It's not a big surprise but might be another hint the next device will be similar to the current one," said Serkan Toto, founder of the Kantan Games consultancy.

Nintendo has sold more than 1.3 billion software units for the Switch, which is in its eighth year on the market and has an install base of more than 145 million units.

The Kyoto-based gaming company has had success in extending the lifecycle of the hybrid home-portable Switch with hit games and a series of hardware refreshes.

Hardware sales are losing steam, with Nintendo on Tuesday cutting its full-year sales Switch forecast by 7% to 12.5 million units ahead of the key year-end shopping season.

"We are not surprised by the miss on the (hardware) side, given that Nintendo's target markets appear fairly saturated in most geographies," Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal wrote in a client note.

"Software sales picked up in 2Q and are expected to continue in 3Q," Goyal wrote.

Nintendo sold 39.6 million software units in the second quarter ended September, a 29% increase compared to three months earlier.

The company's shares climbed 6% in Tokyo, compared to a 3% rise in the benchmark index.

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A Social Media Ban for Under-16s Passes the Australian Senate and Will Soon be a World-first Law

A teenager uses his mobile phone to access social media, Sydney, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (Dean Lewins/AAP Image VIA AP)
A teenager uses his mobile phone to access social media, Sydney, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (Dean Lewins/AAP Image VIA AP)
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A Social Media Ban for Under-16s Passes the Australian Senate and Will Soon be a World-first Law

A teenager uses his mobile phone to access social media, Sydney, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (Dean Lewins/AAP Image VIA AP)
A teenager uses his mobile phone to access social media, Sydney, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. (Dean Lewins/AAP Image VIA AP)

A social media ban for children under 16 passed the Australian Senate Thursday and will soon become a world-first law.

The law will make platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars ($33 million) for systemic failures to prevent children younger than 16 from holding accounts, The AP reported.

The Senate passed the bill 34 votes to 19. The House of Representatives on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved the legislation 102 votes to 13.

The House has yet to endorse opposition amendments made in the Senate. But that is a formality since the government has already agreed they will pass.

The platforms will have one year to work out how they could implement the ban before penalties are enforced.

The amendments bolster privacy protections. Platforms would not be allowed to compel users to provide government-issued identity documents including passports or driver’s licenses, nor could they demand digital identification through a government system.

The House is scheduled to pass the amendments on Friday. Critics of the legislation fear that banning young children from social media will impact the privacy of users who must establish they are older than 16.

While the major parties support the ban, many child welfare and mental health advocates are concerned about unintended consequences.

Sen. David Shoebridge, from the minority Greens party, said mental health experts agreed that the ban could dangerously isolate many children who used social media to find support.

“This policy will hurt vulnerable young people the most, especially in regional communities and especially the LGBTQI community, by cutting them off,” Shoebridge told the Senate.

Opposition Sen. Maria Kovacic said the bill was not radical but necessary.

“The core focus of this legislation is simple: It demands that social media companies take reasonable steps to identify and remove underage users from their platforms,” Kovacic told the Senate.

“This is a responsibility these companies should have been fulfilling long ago, but for too long they have shirked these responsibilities in favor of profit,” she added.

Online safety campaigner Sonya Ryan, whose 15-year-old daughter Carly was murdered by a 50-year-old pedophile who pretended to be a teenager online, described the Senate vote as a “monumental moment in protecting our children from horrendous harms online.”

“It’s too late for my daughter, Carly, and the many other children who have suffered terribly and those who have lost their lives in Australia, but let us stand together on their behalf and embrace this together,” she told the AP in an email.

Wayne Holdsworth, whose teenage son Mac took his own life after falling victim to an online sextortion scam, had advocated for the age restriction and took pride in its passage.

“I have always been a proud Australian, but for me subsequent to today’s Senate decision, I am bursting with pride,” Holdsworth told the AP in an email.