Nintendo Switch 2 could finally be getting DS and 3DS games - and gamers are stoked

Claims have been made online that Nintendo DS and 3DS games could soon be coming to Nintendo Switch Online (NSO) after a patent was discovered.

NSO has a library of older games across retro Nintendo consoles, including the Nintendo 64, SNES, Game Boy Advance and loads more, with the most recent addition being Nintendo Gamecube.

The Virtual Boy is the latest one that will be added and that's certainly the most ambitious of the lot so far.

Nintendo DS is the best selling dedicated handheld console of all time and the second top seller of them all, only beaten by the PlayStation 2.

Now X / Twitter user @MikeOdyssey claims to have spotted a Nintendo patent that shows the company is potentially working out how best to bring DS emulation to the Nintendo Switch 2.

Various patents and datamined information have already mentioned the DS could be emulated on the Switch 2 but the ones @MikeOdyssey claims to have found reveal how exactly Nintendo is thinking of doing it.

There seem to be three separate plans - one is a dual screen, there's a single screen mode and also a switch mode.

Just because Nintendo has patented these plans doesn't mean the company will actually use them but it does prevent anyone else from doing so.

And if these are legit, then it seems Nintendo is actively thinking about how to best to achieve DS emulation.

The claims were reposted into the GamingLeaksAndRumours Subreddit and the majority of gamers are stoked.

One said: "Having the DS and 3DS available on Switch / Switch 2 would be great. At that point, there'd just need to be Wii / Wii-u NSO and we'll have the full Nintendo lineup on one system."

Another commented: "I'm very curious on the library because I felt some of the best DS games are third parties and on a personal note some of my requested DS games are already fulfilled from their own collections like Mega Man ZX, Starforce and Castlevania."

"It's shocking that they haven't ported more 3DS games to Switch," a third added. "Seems like an obvious move."

A fourth noted: "Mouse mode is basically the perfect solution for the touch screen while docked, so much so that I have a hunch that it was a not insignificant part of the reason they included it."

But a fifth said: "It would be cool if they came to NSO but I also would rather we just get actual ports for a lot of the DS games I'd want to play. Super Mario 64 DS and Metroid Prime Hunters with actual stick functionality. The Pokemon games ported for a single screen experience. The Zelda games ported however the heck you have to for them to be conventionally playable with a controller (they'll probably both get remade tbf)."

"I mean, it's only logical that Nintendo would eventually add the DS (and later on 3DS) to NSO," commented a sixth. "Just a matter of how long it takes."

None of this has been officially confirmed by Nintendo so take it all with a pinch of salt until anything official is announced.

Elsewhere from indy100:

• Pokemon Legends: Z-A is almost perfect - but two things hold it back
• Nintendo Switch 2 was actually delayed multiple times - here's why

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