Nintendo recently announced that the Virtual Console will not be coming to Switch. The obvious question now becomes, if the Virtual Console is dead, how is Nintendo going to address the classic game market with the Switch?
They can’t be abandoning it. Even by Nintendo standards, that would be mad. They would be leaving money on the table. After the success of the NES Classic and the Super Nintendo Classic, Nintendo now knows there is a big demand for their classic games. This is after years of them offering inconsistent support for the Virtual Console service for Wii, Wii U, and 3DS.
As popular as the Wii was, the vast majority of the Wii user base had no idea you could download old Nintendo games onto the system. And who’s fault was that? Nintendo’s. They never marketed the Virtual Console effectively. They never even really tried.
The Switch would be the perfect platform to put their classic game lineup on. The Switch has the power and capability to play literally every game Nintendo has ever made, whether that be through emulation or direct ports to the system. That would include even Wii games, thanks to all the tech that Nintendo packed into the Switch Joy-Con controller for the Switch.
We’ve already seen Wii U ports of Mario Kart 8, Bayonetta 1 & 2, Pokken Tournament, Hyrule Warriors, and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze to the Switch. There’s no question that Mario Kart 8 on Switch will far surpass what it did on Wii U in sales. In fact, all of those games will likely outsell their Wii U counterparts given how well the Switch is selling.
Another possibility is for Nintendo to release a machine dedicated to classic games. Something like the NES Classic, but portable. That might seem redundant since Nintendo already has the perfect machine to put classic games on in the Switch, but given how successful the NES and Super Nintendo Classic are, what if Nintendo took that basic idea and expanded on it?
What if you could buy and download your own classic games onto a portable machine that played NES, Super Nintendo, and Nintendo 64 games? And then maybe the Switch would handle GameCube, Wii, and Wii U. Seems far-fetched, but this is a market that isn’t going away, and Nintendo is a company that isn’t afraid to think outside the box.
Nintendo’s classic library has more demand than any publisher in the video game industry. Having to re-buy games on Virtual Console every time Nintendo puts out a new system is a valid complaint that has become increasingly louder since the Virtual Console first launched, and Nintendo doesn’t seem that interested in a cross-buy feature that lets you download games you’ve already bought onto a new system for free. So they need to be thinking of new ways to address the demand that exists for their classic content.
We’re starting to see a pattern from Nintendo of providing not just ports of older games, but enhanced ports. They’re doing this with Nintendo Switch Online, the Switch’s online service. It will have 20 NES games for users to play at launch of the service, enhanced NES games that you will be able to play online with voice chat, and Nintendo is promising more games in the future.
On the 3DS, we’re seeing ports of older games as well. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga+Bowser’s Minions is already on the 3DS. It’s a remake of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga for the Game Boy Advance. Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story+Bowser Jr.’s Journey for 3DS is a remake of Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story for the Nintendo DS.
The 3DS is also getting the original Luigi’s Mansion, which was a launch game in 2001 for the underappreciated Nintendo GameCube. Couple that with the Wii U ports to Switch I already mentioned, plus the enhanced NES games we’re getting for Nintendo Switch Online, and we’re seeing a pattern from Nintendo of providing enhanced ports/remakes for their newer platforms.
And why not? Classic movies get remade or remastered every few decades as advances in film tech become mainstream and affordable. Why shouldn’t classic video games? Nintendo seems to be putting more resources into remaking and remastering their older games, but how extensive will this be? It’s usually not terribly expensive to do and it’s a great way to pad your release schedule when needed. If the Switch got a whole line of GameCube classics that covered the best games on the system at an affordable price, I would buy them without a second thought.
The NES Classic was an unexpected hit for Nintendo. The demand for it was astronomical and seemed to catch Nintendo by surprise, given how few there were available to buy. They were better prepared for the Super Nintendo Classic, and they promised there would be more supply for that system, which they followed through with. So it seems that after more than ten years of fans buying and demanding more classic games from Nintendo on their platforms, Nintendo is finally starting to realize the serious demand for classic games. And since they never gave the Virtual Console the support and marketing it deserved, Nintendo abandoning the Virtual Console completely can be seen as a positive move. Hopefully, it signals they are moving toward something better. Something they will actually support long-term, provide the proper marketing toward, and provide great ports and emulation to their vaunted classic library.
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