Could handheld retro games finally be coming to the Nintendo Switch?
I didn’t have time
back then to dedicate an entire article on the matter, I was busy with
switching the blog over to a new hosting service just to name one thing, but I
have the time now. Even if is old news, I feel like giving my two cents about
this leak. If only for the simple reason that when the official announcement is
made I can come back to this post and compare notes.
Now, without
further ado, let’s dive in.
The leak; is it even trustworthy?
First off, a quick
explanation of the leak and why I, and many others, find it trustworthy. On
April 18th, files
containing a Nintendo-developed Gameboy and GBA emulator appeared on 4chan.
Codenamed “Hiyoko” and “Sloop” they are, or at least heavily appear to be,
developed by the Nintendo European Research & Development team (NERD). NERD
is a Paris-based subsidiary that is responsible for many of the company’s
recent emulation efforts, including the Classic Mini consoles and the emulation
for Super Mario 3D All-Stars.
These leaked
emulators were reportedly taken from a working development kit and also include
a bunch of games that have been tested. From expected ‘big’ titles such as
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap to ‘in-demand’ games such as Metroid: Zero
Mission and Metroid Fusion to even the obscure Golden Sun and Golden Sun: Lost
Age titles.
Now the big
question: is this leak ‘real’? Is it trustworthy? Many feel it is. This leak is
more than just some vague pictures after all. Could they, however, still be
fake? Be open-source emulators made to look like it’s official? It certainly
could be, but it doesn’t appear to be. YouTuber and game developer MVG
made a video in which he dives deeper into why the emulators are likely
real even if there are some odds things here.
An important
takeaway for right now though: it would be a lot of work to make open-source
emulators look like the ‘real’ deal. How likely is it that someone would go
through all that work and trouble just to troll?
Now that we’ve
established what was leaked and why there is a very good chance that it’s all
real, when and how could we see it come to NSO? I’ve got some ideas.
When can we see them added?
Let’s start with
the when. NSO launched in September 2018 with a handful of Nintendo
Entertainment System (NES) titles. A year later, Super Nintendo Entertainment
System (SNES) titles were added to the line-up. 2 years later, in October 2021,
the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack (a more expensive subscription
tier) was launched with Nintendo 64 (N64) games as the big selling point. Sega
Genesis/Mega Drive titles are also a part of this tier but, let’s be frank,
this hasn’t been a selling point for many.
Based on this
data, the earliest we can expect Gameboy games on NSO is September of this
year. A 4-month wait, at the very least. However, it is likely that Nintendo
doesn’t feel the need to introduce Gameboy games in 2022 and could wait until
2023 to drop them on the service. N64 and Sega Genesis/Mega Drive titles only
came a year earlier after all.
On the more
optimistic side for us, the consumer, the relatively small number of N64 titles
compared can lead to Gameboy games coming this year after all. To keep the
drip-feed of ‘new’ titles going, if you will.
 |
| I´d say that this would make a good launch line up for GBA online, no? Credit: wccftech.com |
How will they be added?
How do I think
will Gameboy and GBA games come to NSO? The way I see it, we’ve got three
options here. Both will be added to the standard subscription, both are put in
the expansion pack or they’re going to split the consoles up between the two
tiers. The 2nd option is what I think they´ll do.
NSO is not a
terrible service but that´s not particularly great either. A lot of this has to
do with its value. A yearly membership for the basic tier will cost you €19.99
/ $19.99 / £17.99 and nets you online play, cloud saves, missions and rewards
and the NES and SNES retro games. The Expansion Pack tier comes in at a
whopping €39.99 / $49.99 / £34.99 and adds N64 and Sega Genesis/Mega Drive
games as well as 3 DLC packs.
In the eyes of
(corporate) Nintendo, this is good value. In the eye of the general public,
it’s not. The online isn’t anything to write home about while the NES and SNES
are so old and have been re-released so much that at this point the novelty has
worn off. If it wasn’t for the relatively low price compared to what Xbox and
PlayStation ask for their online service, I think the subscription numbers of
the base NSO would’ve been a lot lower.
It’s for this
reason that I think Nintendo would more likely throw Gameboy and GBA games in
the expansion pack. The basic tier has ‘value enough’ so put them in the more
expensive tier. Might also get more people to upgrade to the Expansion Pack
tier.
I, however, think
that option 3 is the better play. Gameboy games have seen plenty of re-releases
and with their simplistic and monochromatic nature, I honestly don’t think
they’re worthy of being put into the expensive tier. We’ve seen them so much
already, what makes them special at this point?
With GBA games,
none of these issues is are a problem. GBA games have only been re-released
once, on the Wii U virtual console, and match SNES games in overall quality.
There are also more games in the console's library that people want to have the
chance to play (again). The titles I mentioned in the leak portion are a good
example. If they add these to the Expansion Pack, I think fans will swallow this
move better than with Gameboy games.
..........
With what appears
to be Nintendo produced Emulators out on the internet, all signs point toward
Nintendo planning on bringing Gameboy, Gameboy Colour and Gameboy Advance games
to the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service. With a little luck, we’ll
see them arrive before the year is over. With even more luck, they’ll decide to
throw fans a bone and put Gameboy and Gameboy Colour in the normal tier instead
of the more expensive Expansion Pack tier.
Only time will
tell.
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