Nintendo is finally considering opening up its Switch Online subscription service to include games beyond the current crop of NES titles.
The $20 a year online platform has only allowed gamers access to a growing selection of titles from the old 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System since its launch, but has refrained from expanding the library to SNES, N64, or even GameCube titles.
However, according to a new report, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa has revealed the gaming giant is currently pondering an extension to the online service. The word comes from the Japanese Nintendo site, which translated comments made by Furukawa at the company’s 79th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders.
When asked about new retro Classic Mini hardware celebrating the N64 and GameCube, he reportedly said: “At this place we cannot tell new information about future classic hardware among others, but we are thinking about providing an extension of the online service which is currently providing Famicom [NES] software, as well as other methods of providing them. We also recognise that there are opinions wanting to play past titles.”
Related: Nintendo Switch Mini latest
The comments make clear Nintendo is at least thinking about giving us something to play beyond the original Mario games and dedicated Switch titles. The expansion appeared to be underway earlier this year when a data miner found hints of 22 SNES games lurking within some code. However, there hasn’t been a whisper of that since.
Should Nintendo expand availability of the games beyond the NES, it’s unclear whether gamers would continue to get SNES, N64 and GameCube games for free as part of their Switch Online subscription. Some of them might go into the e-Shop, for sale individually.
If you can’t get to dive back into some classic 2D gameplay on your Nintendo Switch, you can always give Super Mario Maker 2 a shot. It’s out today.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
