More GameCube games are expected to be added to Nintendo’s online service this year and two of them may have been revealed ahead of schedule.
Following the recent Nintendo Direct for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Nintendo already has another showcase happening this week, but only for a single game – Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream.
With any luck, a more general Nintendo Direct with new game announcements will follow soon after. In fact, reliable insider NateTheHate has claimed a third showcase will air in early February though the exact format is unclear.
Assuming it is a general Direct, the lid may have been lifted early on one of its announcements as an American retailer has seemingly confirmed the identities of two more GameCube games that will be added to the Nintendo Switch Online service.
Over on the official website for Walmart, you can spot a promotional image advertising Nintendo’s retro games library featuring a number of titles that Switch Online subscribers can play right now.
If you’re at all familiar with the line-up, though, you’ll quickly notice that two of the games depicted are not only not available on the service but haven’t been formally confirmed by Nintendo itself.
Expert, exclusive gaming analysis
Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning.
The two games in question are Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Pikmin 2, both of which launched for the GameCube in 2004. Given the timing, this suggests both games will be added to Nintendo’s service in the coming months.
Since this image comes from a notable retailer, it’s reasonable to assume it’s legitimate. A reverse image search also brought up no other results, so Walmart hasn’t lifted it from somewhere else.
While Pikmin 2 has seen a couple of re-releases over the years, including an HD remaster on the original Switch in 2023, Metroid Prime 2 is far less readily available.
In 2009, it was packaged alongside the first and third Metroid Prime games as part of the Metroid Prime Trilogy for the Nintendo Wii, which used to be available digitally on the Wii U eShop until its closure in March 2023.
How to play GameCube games on Nintendo Switch 2
If you want to access Nintendo’s GameCube catalogue, you need to have a subscription to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, which costs £2.92 a month or £34.99 for 12 months.
GameCube games are also only available on Nintendo Switch 2, with no way to play them on Switch 1 even if you’re subscribed to the Expansion Pack.
There were long-running rumours that Metroid Prime 2 would see some kind of remaster following the release of Metroid Prime Remastered, but now you have to wonder if that’s still going ahead if Nintendo plans on re-releasing the original game.
Then again, Nintendo’s never been easy to predict. Plus, as we said earlier, an HD remaster of Pikmin 2 is still available for purchase on Switch, which suggests Nintendo is fine having both the original and modern versions of games co-exist on its platform.
When it comes to GameCube games that Nintendo has formally confirmed for Switch Online, there are still three more to come: Super Mario Sunshine, Pokémon Colosseum, and Pokémon XD: Gale Of Darkness. None of them have been given release windows, though.
Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter.
To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.
For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.
