Nintendo is reportedly planning to add more classic consoles to its Nintendo Switch Online subscription service, following the GameCube and Virtual Boy.
While many might still mourn the loss of the Virtual Console, Nintendo Switch Online has slowly grown into a worthwhile subscription service loaded with classic games.
With the launch of the Switch 2 last year, Nintendo added GameCube games to the service, which already had NES, SNES, Game Boy, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, and Sega Mega Drive titles. Virtual Boy games, meanwhile, are coming to the service later this month.
If it feels like Nintendo Switch Online is just hitting its stride, an insider claims three more consoles are planned for the service in the future.
According to Xbox Era’s Nick Baker, Nintendo is planning to add support for the Nintendo DS, Wii, and, more surprisingly, the Mega-CD (known as the Sega CD in the US).
This was in response to claims of a support page on Nintendo’s website which referred to a Wii remote for Switch 2, but this has since been debunked as an error on Nintendo’s site.
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Despite that, Baker shared a screenshot of Discord messages from earlier this month, where he claimed Mega-CD, Nintendo DS, and Wii functionality is in the pipeline.
‘Yeah… that’s what I had been told,’ he wrote on X. ‘At least eventually. Not sure it’s anytime soon.’
The addition of the Mega-CD is straightforward in terms of technology, but it’s unclear (if true) how Nintendo plans to support Wii and DS titles.
Shpeshal Nick claims Nintendo will support DS games ‘with an extra screen’, which was previously hinted at in patents, while the Wii will apparently come with ‘a new Wii Remote that doesn’t need the sensor bar’.
Considering the Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Cons have gyroscopes and a mouse sensor though, it’s likely they’ll be able to support any Wii-specific controls.
The addition of Wii and DS titles feels inevitable, as they’re both Nintendo consoles, but the Mega-CD is more interesting. The Sega hardware add-on, which launched in 1991 in Japan, is best known for titles like Sonic CD, Thunderhawk, and FMV games like Night Trap and Microcosm, the latter from UK developer Psygnosis.
The add-on, like the subsequent 32X, was a notable flop for Sega, with the company pivoting to the Sega Saturn just three years later. Sonic CD is a notable entry in the franchise though and will reportedly influence future entries in the movie series.
If the Mega-CD is coming to Nintendo Switch Online, this will likely raise hopes for other Sega consoles on the service – like the Dreamcast and Saturn. Although the Saturn is notoriously difficult to emulate, given it’s peculiar hardware.
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