Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ

Assuming it is kept in working order, you'd be able to do everything you can do with it now, with the assumption the online services stay up. If they go down, you would lose your non-physical games and the ability to play online.

Your progression and everything is saved on the unit itself, and the hardware used likely will last for a long, long time if kept properly.

Almost nothing other than games you've bought on the store and online functionality in games is tied to your Switch account. And in 20 years time, who knows if that service will still be online.

I'd get both, I have both 🙂

Strangely enough, I only play online with the DS, since long before having the Switch and even today lol.

i still use my super nintendo to play original secret of mana and link to the past, so i don't see why not.

I would lean towards either a DS, or switch emulation (using a device such as the Steam Deck, so games that require gyro input such as Super Mario 3D World - can still be played fine)

The DS is really affordable second-hand, and the usual third party SD card carts work just as well. People seem to really like the XL models, so may be worth considering one of those

As for the Switch, you'll likely be able to play your existing physical carts in 20 years time. It's still Nintendo's latest console though, so there's no telling what they may decide to do in future. I think if you have a jailbroken switch you could be in for a difficult time if newer carts use different hardware encryption keys that require a newer firmware...

With emulation though you get to actually own the games and play them on whatever device you want, at any time. The Mii maker and gyro setup does require following some guides to get going, but this stuff is well supported for the Deck (probably similar story for the alternative Windows handhelds but haven't checked). Yuzu's early access Android app already has gyro configured, using the sensors built into your phone. Lastly you can do multiplayer with other Yuzu players over the internet, completely independent of Nintendo's online functionality

If you don't count multiplayer and buy only physical copies of your game, you will be able to play for as long the hardware will function. You can also hack your switch and keep a copy of every game you may need somewhere in an hard-drive too.

The switch is very weak hardware wise but also very reliable I feel. For being a handheld device they're surprisingly tough and cartridges do have a much better chance at longevity than disks so I'd say of all consoles I'd put Switch on the top for longevity and best odds of working well 20 years from now. Do note this is ONLY true of cartridge games. If you have Nintendo eShop games I don't expect them to work 20 years from now because that eShop might not be around and I'm confident it uses some form of phone home checkin to verify DRM. That is likely fixable but out of scope for this discussion.

As for Steam Deck / other handheld PCs the games are less likely survive 20 years, games have already started to disappear from Steam (unpopular ones) and I very much doubt every game I have today will be available/playable. Because Steam will be dropping support and not every game is DRM free in ways that mean you can run them once they're dropped from Steam. The PC handhelds also tend to work very poorly without Internet since Steam wants to phone home from time to time. As for the hardware I think the Steam Deck might last 20 years given it's Linux based. Stuff like the ROG Ally will be hard to make work due to the outdated Windows on it and the likelihood that you can't upgrade it and games/steam won't work without an upgrade.

I doubt any console is lasting 20 years nowadays.

I would recommend yuzu and roms if you want to future proof it, including the source code just in case.

People who own a Switch, let’s take this to extremes, do you feel like in 20 years from now you can still do the same things on your hardware as you can do now? (No multiplayer is fine)

No chance.

Not only it is unlikely that the hardware will last that long, the supplies for hardmodding it likely won't either, and in 20 years there won't be enough of a community interest to support hardmodding services unless some sort of master keys are leaked. And without hardmodding, the only Switches that you can install whatever you want on are very ld ones that were released with firmware 3.x or something, which are also less capable hardware and lower quality joycons.

Heck, if I had to bet on 5 years more instead of 20, I'd flat out sell my Switch and buy a Steam Deck 2.0 as soon as they release.

1. It's pretty much needed only for online stuff, so single-player only is no problem. Also cloud saves.
2. Yes, multiple local accounts are possible.
3. Probably, since I no longer pay for online services, so nothing much will change for me.

That is an odd take, I mean, if there are still new games release on Switch in 20 years, then sure? Switch definitely has better chance on having newer games than DS in those time frame.

The reason for my question: I don’t want to own obsolete hardware in 10 years.

In that case, why not wait for the next gen? I have my Switch since 2018, I think, it's still the first gen one, that can be modded without hardware. I'll continue play it as long as there's a game for it. The only way to have the most time of a hardware is to get it when it's new, right?

My switch died after about 4 years. A capacitor burned, tried to replace it, but still nothing happens... dont know if Ill get it to work again