N64 Games Reportedly Coming To Switch - But It'll Cost You
Forget Game Boy and Game Boy Colour games coming to Nintendo Switch, what about reliving the pixel prowess of the '90s on the gaming giant's handheld/homing favourite? As we sit and twiddle our thumbs in hopes of an N64 Mini, you can keep your Switch Pro. All we really want is the ability to play Nintendo 64 games on the Switch.
While the likes of Sony and Microsoft have duked it out over their various AAA titles, Nintendo has chipped away at the competition with its own colourful catalogue of first-party games. Over the years, Nintendo has made household names out of Mario, Link, and Samus, however, many hold the Nintendo 64 era as the company's golden years.
Are Nintendo 64 games coming to the Switch?
Despite the N64's lauded legacy as one of the greatest consoles of all time, a lot of its titles are locked to that black box and have become lost to the decade of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Push Pops, and the Spice Girls. A new report from leaker NateDrake suggests the N64 could join the Switch gang with a union for the ages.
After NateDrake broke the news on the GB and GBC games, Eurogamer went on to suggest the N64 could follow suit. The problem is, it'll probably cost you. Well, what else did you expect?
In the latest episode of his podcast, NateDrake explained, "Eurogamer went one step further, having noted that additional platforms will also be added to Nintendo Switch Online in the future. And today I would like to add to that, yes - that information is accurate and one of the platforms that will be coming to the Nintendo Switch Online in the future is the revolutionary Nintendo 64."
Expanding on what this could mean for Nintendo Switch Online, NateDrake suggested a new upper-tier subscription would be the only way to unlock the N64 catalogue. Details are only thin on the ground, but it's easy to imagine Nintendo slapping a few extra dollars on your Switch Online subscription if you want to play Mario Kart 64, Paper Mario, Majora's Mask or Ocarina of Time.
What do N64 games coming to the Switch mean?
In terms of whether N64 games on NSO will break the bank, NateDrake concluded, "I don't think they would try to double the price of it... I'd come in at $30 a year, $35 would be the ceiling, any more than that I think Nintendo would be really pushing things". An extra $5 to $15 increase per year might put some off, but we'd say it's more than worth it considering what could be on offer.
Namely, adding N64 games to the Switch would see a massive boost to the console's online subscription capabilities. Last year saw the limited release of Super Mario 36 All-Stars, with the ludicrous situation of scalping showed there's a lot of love for old games getting a new lease of life.
We've also seen a tonne of love for a potential remake of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and while that's a GameCube game, it's an indication of what retro gamers want to see. Ultimately, Nintendo could trickle a steady stream of N64 games - in a package similar to PlayStation Plus - and we'd be throwing our money at the Switch.
Seeing these N64 legends on the Switch is all well and good, but is it really all it's cracked up to be? Rights issues mean best-selling games like GoldenEye 007 are still yet to be remastered. Rare is now owned by Microsoft, so we're not sure whether you'd even be able to play Diddy Kong Racing, GoldenEye, Perfect Dark, or Banjo-Kazooie as part of the service. Still, we can hope.
As with all these things, Nintendo is keeping its cards close to its chest and doesn't seem ready to announce anything yet. Then again, with a Nintendo Direct still rumoured for September, this would be one way to give Sony and Microsoft a run for their money.
