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Ever since the Wii U there's been a wait for GameCube on the Virtual Console. Nintendo's current home console never received that library of games, though it was backwards compatible with Wii games and its Virtual Console went right up to Nintendo 64; in other words, the GameCube is the only major Nintendo home console not represented on the system.

Of course, that makes it a long-running part of the general fan wishlist. In late December, Eurogamer published a report based on its understanding that the GameCube is coming to the Nintendo Switch Virtual Console, but that's a rumour still on ice as Nintendo is yet to get into the detail of the system's eShop or VC. A kicker, of course, is that the Switch controllers - Joy-Con and Pro Controller - have digital triggers and not the analogue equivalents that graced the GC pads. That's not a complete deal-breaker, but is clearly far from ideal in titles that made smart use of the analogue inputs.

In any case, French outlet melty.fr spoke to Shinya Takahashi (Director at Nintendo, General Manager of Entertainment Planning and Development) and Yoshiaki Koizumi (Deputy General Manager of Entertainment Planning and Development) about the Switch, and tried to get information on lesser-known aspects of the system. Neither would be fully drawn on the GameCube for a Switch VC, but did give vaguely reassuring words while highlighting wariness of Joy-Con designed with GameCube inputs in mind.

Koizumi: We cannot give a concrete answer, because we have nothing to announce at the moment. But there's something I can tell you: we are working on some things along those lines.

Takahashi: The technology is open enough that in the future, other accessories will be grafted on the console. If one day we think of creating Joy-Con GameCube Edition, we will think of putting in analogue triggers. I can imagine a GameCube Controller in Joy-Con; it might be a bit big and ugly, no?

Another detail that could prove useful with headphones and gaming headsets in the future is the fact that the Switch console's audio jack will still work as expected when the system is docked. So if you're using wired / wireless sets (including Bluetooth) and the docked system is more accessible or practical than the TV jack, that's apparently an option. The dock is the only way to bring the console's image onto the TV, though, so those hoping to hook a Switch up through third-party accessories using USB-c will be unsuccessful.

A mix of the speculative and the practical, then. Before you get too excited about the GameCube remarks, though, just remember that Reggie Fils-Aime said this in September 2012 with regards to GC games on Wii U.

That is a great question. And personally I would love for that to happen, but we have nothing to announce right now.

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst...

Thanks to all that sent this in.

[source melty.fr, via melty.fr, perfectly-nintendo.com]