TheNintendo Switch 2is fast approaching — though we still don’t know exactlyhowfast. As we prepare to enter a new era, I’m thinking back on the past eight years with theSwitch, the many ways the hybrid console has succeeded and the numerous ways it has frustrated me. If you’ve been aNintendofan for any time at all, you know that both must live in harmony.
The Death Of Virtual Console
The Switch frustrated me early on when Nintendo opted not to bring back theVirtual Console, the storefront it used to sell digital versions of classic games. On theWii, the Virtual Console spanned Nintendo releases from theNESto theN64, with additional entries from non-Nintendo systems like the TurboGrafx-16, Commodore 64, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, and arcades. Notably, the N64 was the last Nintendo console to get games ported to Virtual Console.GameCubeports weren’t necessary because the Wii was backwards compatible so, if you still had your GameCube discs and a controller, you were good to go.
But theWii Ucontinued to uphold this boundary line, limiting its console game selection to NES, SNES, and N64. It went further with the handhelds, bringing over Game Boy Advance and DS games. But home console releases stalled out in the year 2000, when The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Paper Mario, and a few other N64 games were released.
Why Is The N64 The Last Retro Console?
In the Wii U’s case, the end of the N64 being the cut-off is strange. The Wii Uwasbackwards compatible, but only with the Wii, not the GameCube. When it launched in 2012, the GameCube was 11 years old and hadn’t been Nintendo’s primary console for six. At that point, playing GameCube games would mean hanging onto a console that was at least one generation behind. Wouldn’t it be more convenient to just let us buy digital versions of those games on Virtual Console? Convenient or not, Nintendo didn’t make that option available, instead porting GameCube games to Wii U on a limited, case-by-case basis. In practice, that meant that the console’s two Zelda games got brought forward, while everything else languished on outdated hardware.
With the Switch, Nintendo maintained the same, strange line of demarcation. The NES, SNES, and N64 (plus Sega Genesis) all got downloadable apps that were periodically updated with ports of those consoles' games via Nintendo Switch Online. As with the Wii U’s Virtual Console, Nintendo took the timeline further for its handhelds, porting games from the GameBoy Advance to NSO. But, if you wanted GameCube games, you had to wait around for sporadic remasters. Some of the console’s best games — Super Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime, Pikmin 1 and 2 — got shiny new editions. But many more were left behind.
Where Is GameCube?
That last one is extremely unlikely. You hear about the difficulty of porting PS3 games all the time, while I’ve never heard a developer blame the GameCube’s tech in the same way.
I think much of this comes down to the stagnation we’ve seen hit the games industry in the generations after the GameCube. There have obviously been graphical advancements, and Nintendo Switch games boast a lot more polygons than GameCube games. But the generations leading up to the GameCube showed significantly larger leaps — especially the jump from SNES to N64.
GameCube games have aged, but with a little cleaning up, they basically feel modern. It’s the reason that theResident Evil 4 Remakewas much less of an overhaul than the Remakes of 2 and 3. This is the time when games began to feel modern and ports don’t need to change as much to get them up to current standards. If that’s the case, why not remake/remaster and charge more, rather than bundling them together on one all-in-one app?
It’s also worth noting that the generation most nostalgic for GameCube games are Millennials, and we’re also the largest living cohort. Catering to our nostalgia can be very lucrative.
Whatever the cause, I’m hopeful that, with the Switch 2, we can finally start treating GameCube games the way we treated N64 games in 2006. At this point, the GameCube is far older than the N64 was then, and its library is still only spottily available on modern consoles. Give me a Nintendo Switch Online app with 20 of the best games and I’ll be good to go. Better yet, bring back Virtual Console and let us buy the games we want, as they were, rather than waiting for a remaster that may never come.
