Cliff Notes – Nintendo DS games coming to Switch suggests new patent
- A newly discovered patent indicates Nintendo is exploring three methods to emulate the DS and 3DS, including options for dual screens and a potential new peripheral.
- The unique design of the DS and 3DS, featuring two screens and a touchscreen, presents challenges for emulation on standard TV setups, which Nintendo has yet to address on the Switch.
- While patents do not guarantee implementation, this development suggests Nintendo is actively considering ways to bring classic portable titles to modern hardware, addressing a gap in their current offerings.
Nintendo DS games coming to Switch suggests new patent
The Nintendo DS is not an easy console to emulate as many have discovered in the past. However, a newly discovered patent suggests Nintendo has three different methods in mind to emulate the DS and 3DS, and one involves a new peripheral.
Although not every home console has been a hit for Nintendo every single one of their portables has been a huge seller, with dozens of classic games, on the various formats, stretching back more than 30 years. Since they’re ordinary, single-screen devices, the Game Boy and Game Boy Advance are already on the Nintendo Switch Online service but the more uniquely designed DS and 3DS are not.
Since both consoles have two screens, with the bottom one being a touchscreen, there’s no satisfying way to emulate them on a normal TV screen. The only home console that even tried was the Wii U, with no attempt to continue support on the original Switch.
However, there’s already been evidence that Nintendo is trying to work something out, with various patents and datamined information talking about dual screen support for the Switch 2. A newer patent also suggests Nintendo is working on something, with what seems to be three separate plans to emulate the classic portable consoles.
Of course, the permeant proviso for any patent is that just because they exist it doesn’t mean the company involved has any intention of using the technology in question, they just want to make sure no one else does.
Even so, the new patent, first noticed by a fan on X, is very specific about how a dual screen set-up could be emulated, with three options: 1. Having two physical screens, 2. A picture-in-picture mode to emulate the two screens via software, and 3. Manually switching between screens as you play.
As usual for a patent, the images used to illustrate the ideas are amusingly rubbish, but the concepts are pretty straightforward.
NSO Confirmed
Nintendo DS coming to NSO Confirmed! Patent Discovery of a lifetime! Breaking News! The following patent shows how Nintendo will manage the dual screen situation on Switch 2. You will have 3 options. 1. Dual Screen (Parent screen, child screen)2. Single Screen Mode (Picture in… pic.twitter.com/MH1Ytv4Kfo
— Mike Odyssey (@MikeOdysseyYT) October 16, 2025
The most complicated is the one involving two physical screens, which recalls fan theories about being able to connect a screen to the bottom of the Switch 2 in handheld mode.
Although that would certainly be useful for emulating both consoles, it seems like a lot of money and effort – for both Nintendo and fans. However, Nintendo’s decision to release a physical recreation of the much more obscure Virtual Boy proves that they’re not adverse to releasing bespoke hardware for older formats.
Whether they’d go so far as to try and emulate the stereoscopic effect of the 3DS is a different question, but given that it’s not necessary to play any of the major games, and they sidelined the feature with the release of the 2DS, it’s probably unlikely.
It’s worth repeating that there’s no guarantee that anything’s going to happen, but the new patent does seem to be proof that Nintendo is definitely thinking about how to emulate the two formats on modern hardware.
By coincidence, our recent feature on the best Pokémon games highlighted how it’s currently impossible to play any of the older titles on the Switch or Switch 2, never mind any of the other unique and unusual games on the two systems – so there’s plenty of good reasons to get emulation working in some manner.
The New 2DS XL was Nintendo’s last dedicated portable (Nintendo)