Hold Me, Virtual Console Data Has Been Discovered In The Nintendo Switch eShop

Unless I can upgrade my collection from the 3DS and Wii U for pennies, or unless they're a freebie as with NES games, not a chance. For the amount of time I play these games (a few minutes here and there for a trip down amnesia Lane) it's not worth paying a fiver per title again.

Good Lord of Games! That would people make very happy.

I wish it is true!!

Oh god make it so.

Oh, I hope this is true!

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! neat

Virtual Console is not coming.
Come one guys, Nintendo themselves said it, the games and systems will be added to the Online Service.

If this is true, I hope it’s not tied to subscription. At least give the option to buy

And how would those DS games be possible? Unless they're selling a "DS Controller" with a touch screen, it seems doubtful.

This is absolutely dumb.
I already see the masterplan to make people pay more...

I really hope that Nintendo will be smart enough to release a VC NOT LINKED with the Online Service.

The Virtual Console is a tricky service to make us all happy.
We started it on the Wii. The Wii U picked it up, but started all over again, so we got to repurchase a bunch of titles with an upgrade fee and enjoy a slow drip of releases the Wii hadn't gotten. Which wasn't much.
DS games were offered on the Wii U. Nothing much new here.
They may simply have a purchase option coming for folks who want to enjoy these titles without a subscription.
Either way, expect a lot of repeats and a frustratingly slow drip of titles previous systems didn't emulate.

Anyone have a wallpaper sized version of the image in article?

@Angelic_Lapras_King The same way an ''off_tv'' ''eshop section'' would make sense on the Switch obviously.

My guess is that there will be N64 and DS apps in the same fashion the NES app is. Games will be available individually for purchase for both online and offline players. Special prices for Nintendo Online members.

Talk to me when Gamecube VC comes.

No Gamecube section? If this is true, they seem to be avoiding GC games like the plague. It can't be that difficult to emulate, right?

@Floria Except the Switch touch screen works different to the DS/3DS's, hence why there's no stylus.

@Angelic_Lapras_King DS would be tricky, but they could always do something like having those be undocked only games. They could also still allow for docked play (with big side bars, or maybe a toggle for side by side top/bottom screens) and use motion controls with an extra button (ZL/ZR maybe?) to simulate touch.

@TJWorks Probably more its worth remaking/reselling them as full releases like Luigi's Mansion on 3DS.

@Angelic_Lapras_King You didn't get what I'm saying.
Look at the picture, there's a section for a WiiU feature, ''off_tv''.
Now, do you think this is a placeholder from the other eshops, or VC is totally coming to Switch?

nah dont believe it, it doesn't make any sense with them making such a big deal over NES games for the online paid service

Why is everyone so thrilled? They are just old games played to death on emulators. There's so many new games on Switch to play, why bother with these archaic games... they are not even fun.

The should just dump every rom they have on the online service in a Netflix fashion, only enhance a few titles with online play where it's actually worth the effort and have some older indie titles as monthly giveaways that are tied to the service.
Even if they would increase the subscription a little they would be offering more value than psplus then since that doesn't include psnow.

that's cool. wish we can transfer all the titles we bought in vc on previous consoles

@Nincompoop found the teenager

@Cobalt As much as I'd want it, I don't think Nintendo would grant access to more advanced VC games like Wii and GC for just $20/year. We'll probably see them on the eShop eventually as separate releases.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

If you click on the tweet, the virtual console wording is at the bottom of the screenshot, which the site has cut off for some reason

@fafonio Found the old dude.

@TJWorks The Wii U had the ability to run Gamecube games natively, and a peripheral to attach Gamecube controllers. Still no GC games on the Wii U eshop, only Wii games. Why? No idea.

@Floria I do, but I'm saying you can't do the DS touch screen stuff (tap, Drag, rub, etc.) on a Switch's touch screen because its different touch screen tech. Sure you can display both screens on a Switch screen, but its no good if the DS screen NEEDS you to tap, rub, etc the screen like say, Warioware DS.

If it is a VC, its either launching with the option to buy some kind of controller with a touch screen to emulate playing DS games like on Wii U, or a VERY limited selection of games that didnt use the touch screen features.

I am going to pretend I never read this and therefore will not have my hopes crushed when nothing comes from it.

I hope so. No sense wasting money on online (which I hardly have ever used for gaming) rental games when you can buy the games you want in your collection. A one time transfer fee I'd be ok with to have all my vc from my 3ds to my switch!

Any games before GC era are like black and white movies, primitive and boring... they only served their purpose in a museum.

@Nincompoop if you think 30 is old I pity your soul. Also, you’re right, you’re not just an entitled child, you have terrible taste too.

I know 15 year olds who don’t care about the release date of a game, but it’s quality.

But I guess you think Fortnite is the best game ever just because it’s new right?

@Nincompoop good effort at trolling, wouldn't mind seeing you in a museum in the future, hopefully as a relic of the bygone age of mindless fake news and internet trolls.

Fingers crossed this is real and we get to see some of our favorites make it onto the console. Be still, my beating heart!

@Medic_alert A finger can't match the precision of a stylus, though. Some games would be almost unplayable.

@AlexOlney seriously. These past few years have been a dreck emotionally, intellectually and financially. Let’s hope this is some good news for the very near future. TT__TT

@hiptanaka new peripherals/attachments are made every day...

@quinnyboy58 Are you a 58 years old boy or were you born in 1958?

Please?

@Floria shhhhhh. It just might happen. Go be a Debbie downer somewhere else.

@Nincompoop are you poop?

@Orwellianson @Medic_alert That's a good point. But would they sell digital-only games that require a peripheral? Not that I'm against it.

I'd love a new and improved Mario Maker that comes with a stylus, btw.

I won't buy many games unless they fit in some online multi !

Don't tease me baby! I hope this is real! SO MUCH!

@JohnnyC good for you. Don't buy them. Me? I am more than eager to throw money at this.

@fafonio No I'm not your father.

@Nincompoop Who are you to say what is or is not fun? Clearly a lot of other people enjoy them. So why not let people enjoy what they enjoy?

This is meaningless. The same API gives the same list of categories when you search 'switch' or '3DS'. They happen to use the same API for both eshops - it doesn't represent anything specific about the content of those eshops.

Switch: https://www.nintendo.com/json/content/get/filter/game?system=switch&sort=title&direction=asc

3DS: https://www.nintendo.com/json/content/get/filter/game?system=3ds&sort=title&direction=asc

Or even these:

Wii U: https://www.nintendo.com/json/content/get/filter/game?system=wii_u&sort=title&direction=asc

Wii: https://www.nintendo.com/json/content/get/filter/game?system=wii&sort=title&direction=asc

@Angelic_Lapras_King That is actually a pretty cool idea.

@Heavyarms55 It's my opinion that they are not fun, who are you to judge?

Surely these are for the switch online service that would make sense I just wish Nintendo would be a bit more open cos as it stands I’m not really impressed with the NES selection and I can’t see myself subscribing after the free trial

I personally think this is bad if true, i would prefer to see this subscription like service play out, id be willing to even pay more when N64 games drop.

I won't be spending £4 per game on VC...

The library we currently have for free would cost over £70 on VC...

Yeah... To hell with that...

Right now the most likely outcomes are:

1 - It's absolutely nothing.
2 - It's more games for rent.

@Medic_alert Sacrifice old games for the new?

I hope that you’re not referring the games I’ve been playing for the last 5-10 years on my phone/steam/ps3 as the “new” ones.

I agree about limited amount of money and some sort of canabilization, but it might also just bring price more in line with those of the potential VC or other platform. Always thought that it was odd that some game that I bought for like 4$ on my phone are now 15$ when they release on the switch.... This might not always be true but it’s far to common...

@Nincompoop not sure that I want to compromise my switch in any way but I’m really disappointed with the fact that the nes games can’t be altered in any way as far as screen resolution and other options yes there is a few things you can change like crt filters but it feels like poor emulation when compared to something like retroarch

@panthro
https://wall.alphacoders.com/big.php?i=18702

@BensonUii that's the way right there. People actually expect not to have to pay for a game for the fifth time and you find something in that to whine about. Sony and Microsoft both do a better job with past games then this, although still not perfect. But at least I can play my Psp games on my Vita, my ps one games on my psp Vita and ps3. Haven't tried them on the Ps4 to be honest because that's really enough playing of old games for me.

And even the 3DS lets me play my DS games without paying for a new version. And hell my Wii will play my GameCube games. It's not ridiculous to expect Nintendo to sell something to you once and I can't even fathom why you would defend them not doing so, unless you're a shareholder, which I doubt.

Edit: goodness I think it posted like fifty time. Glad it wasn't just me though lol

@Orwellianson It's honestly hard to complain about disinfo when so many are ready to swallow it all no questions asked.
Life lesson: Never form an opinion based on a single headline, check the sources, use critical thinking and do your own research.

@Nincompoop
Well, on the Internet there is a difference between
"they're crap" and "they're crap in my opinion"

On my way to sacrifice a Goomba for the almighty Bowser !!!

I hope this is true...I've been there already...I don't want to do that again.

Eh, don't need it. I'm fine if it doesn't come. Got too many new games to play already.

It would be good if they brought this on board. The best thing they could do at this point is to lock it behind the paywall.

GC pretty please

I said this about a week ago. They'll leverage retro gaming as much as they can to establish NSO, then we'll get separate virtual console.

I wish Nintendo was doing this because they had considered the poor feedback from the Online Service and decided to listen to their fans and give us what we want which is a Virtual Console service.

In reality, I suspect Nintendo realise they can get many people to ‘double dip’ by signing onto the Online Service and also buying the games individually from a Virtual Console so we can actually keep the games.

Perhaps I am being too cyclical and I certainly hope I am proved wrong – but I think Nintendo is just looking for a quick buck as always.

Incidentally, some people will say that Nintendo had previously said there would be no Virtual Console service for Switch. Technically, they said they had “no plans” for such a service, so that position might have changed.

@hiptanaka good question... time will tell, eh?

@Cobalt says you, the overgrown manbaby... get lost.

DS games on the virtual console
just put one screen on top - and one on the bottom
and have them as large as possible.
I don't know why they didn't have this option on the Wii U
the only one with one on top and one on bottom was inside a fake DS - which made it tiny - and there was no reason for it

@Floria that much is obvious and you clearly didn’t read my first comment.

Although- I was admittedly being a wee bit facetious and making a reference to something along the lines of “Shh- let people enjoy things...” meme I saw a while back. 🤣

This is a generation of expectant and entitled brats. It's horrible watching this whole thing unfold. Like with news of Nintendo patenting it's N64 trademark. Suddenly it was 'i want before Xmas, I want this many games, I want these games in particular'! Nintendo doesn't owe us anything.

Also, if people really wanted GBA, N64 and Wii games (for example) so much you can find many, many ways of emulating each, and if that isn't enough, hardware is pretty cheap of each. All the classics can be found relatively easy and cheap if you so desire. I suppose however it's people want it spoon fed.

Sorry, but this really gets my goat.

@Floria Exactly!

Since basically a lot of the press has burned Nintendo Online Services into the ground recently, it is more than likely that Nintendo might accelerate adding more substantial games to the Online Services Line-Up, as right now it's nothing of interest.

@Pazuzu666 I have to admit, I enjoy a good spoon feeding. Only if you make airplane noises though.

Oh before I forget- hullo, Derek. I know you’re reading this. -waves-

i would play 64 games thats about it

I hope this is true. The VC died one generation too soon. I wouldn't be that bothered if they ended VC after the Switch - but having GBA and N64 games that work as both handheld and on-TV modes is a dream for me. The Wii U gave a taste of it, but the Switch would do it without the limitation of being tied to a few feet of the TV.

I had really hoped we would not have to deal with the Virtual Console again. It causes nothing but gripes.

The absence of certain systems and classics will be lamented. There will be a fourth round of discussion concerning the price points. The people who don't even have a Switch will be crying loudly about paying for ROMs at all, while those that had a Wii/WiiU/3DS will be bringing up the serious discussion topic of whether they ought to pay for A Link to the Past yet again.

People will belittle Nintendo for stealing ripped ROMs, and mooching off others' efforts, and write many paragraphs about how weird it is that Nintendo doesn't just release ALL of the games at once, and how they must hate money.

There will be talk of poor emulation and low effort presentations, of CRT filters, input-delay, and pixel aspects, of anti-consumerism, evil copyright laws, greed, rehashing, disrespect, and of course the tragic mistreatment of devoted fans.

Or maybe I just go to the wrong places on the internet.

Please be true. Please!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You sure 3ds had N64 category? I know wii u did, but N64 games weren't on 3ds VC.

@Angelic_Lapras_King not really just put the switch sideways for ds games

This is probably the thing I want most on Switch.

It’s confusing if it’s true! We shall see , I only bought the online service for the nes games and whatever came after that . If I can now just buy them thay would have been money wasted

This is a situation where Nintendo can't win,they release the games tied to an online service and people complain,if they release a seperate virtual onsole service people complain they are paying for the same games all over again.

Of course the wider Switch audience will not care whatever direction Nintendo decide to go in,but the internet forum and YouTube minorities will be up in arms all over again claiming to represent the everybody.

Nintendo... Pilotwings 64 and Mario Party 3.

@Floria they never said anything but NES games are coming to switch online.

@Mynameishello They burning Nintendo, because Nintendo Online is lackluster in what it offers for the price.

If you, like me and many others, couldn't care less about yet another NES catalog of games, Nintendo Online offers absolutely nothing other than you being forced to pay to play online now.

Yesterday took the cake, when my son was all upset, because he no longer could play Minecraft multiplayer in splitscreen with his visiting friends, since now all the sudden all local Switch users require to be full Nintendo Accounts with Online subscription attached!!
What the Feck is up with that kind of bull crap??
Local Switch users worked perfectly fine with multiplayer games and splitscreen since launch, as long as the Main user starting the game itself was a Nintendo account!
Now all the sudden, you can no longer join splitscreen multiplayer locally with local Switch users! All users need to be full paying Nintendo accounts!! This is total bulls hit! Does Nintendo really think I am going to create 5 more Nintendo accounts, of the users he created for his friends, with separate emails to be managed??!! Are they friggin' serious? Bullocks!

@Nincompoop you were criticizing me for not liking pixel art retro looking games before, yet now you say games before GC aren't worth playing? Hmmm. I wouldn't buy them anymore (as i bought all the NES remakes in 3D & I'll buy SNES & newer) but I think others should be able to if they want.

Do it Nintendo! Make the Switch even better.

I’m sure we will be able to play games from past systems on Switch at some point, though it will likely be tied to the Switch Online service, which is fine by me.

at this point it's honestly better and future proof to just buy a Super NT and load it with the games. It is around 160 pounds but you get the retro experience, has built in scaler and you buy it once.

@Jeronan it was a change Nintendo announced regarding profiles & Nintendo accounts can no longer be separated from each other, or the switch they're logged into once update 6.0 is installed. That absolutely has to do with their online service, but the online subscription isn't required for local multiplayer, only a full Nintendo account for each Switch (unless Minecraft is pulling something crazy, but set up a free gmail account & use it to create a Nintendo account for each Switch & you should be good).

Why is virtual console still a thing? It's 2018. All you need is a Nvidia shield tv gaming edition or a gpd xd plus. Then grab some emulators. You have access to any nes, snes, N64, gameboy, gba, gamecube, nds, game you want.

@twztid13 His own account is a Full Nintendo account with subscription.
His account is launching the game and joining Online Multiplayer, then visiting friends can join in via Splitscreen with local Switch users on his console.

This always has worked without any issues in all games that have online multiplayer+local splitscreen.

It's not just Minecraft, Mario Kart for example offers this too and was also never a problem.

He has 5 different friends that visit regularly, for which he created local users for!
I refuse to convert all these accounts to a full Nintendo Account! That is just bulls hit and doesn't make ay sense at all!!

@twztid13 I am talking about games before 2001. Understand? Old games AKA Flintstone games.

The online service sucks because it forces the use of a smartphone for communication, but other than that, the $1.66 a month (if you buy 1 year, or much less if you split a family account with 7 others) is easily worth the NES games they offer & the online play can be looked at as a bonus (for those trying to rationalize it, or justify it to themselves). I don't play PvP, don't care to play NES games, so I'll probably hold off on the membership until people test the family membership splitting. If that works w/o getting systems bricked, i will definitely do that even though I'd never use any aspect of the membership.

I'd really like to play N64 or GC VC games though. I'll try arena of valor (but doubt I'll play regularly because it's PvP, & I'm not too fond of MOBA w/o being able to communicate . League of Legends & couple others were good on PC, but I can't imagine playing w strangers w no communication beyond probably some in game poses or something). Seems like that & fortnite don't require the membership, so again, no reason for me to get it at this point.

Makes sense they would start coming out with VC now. Their big push to get people to get people online. If you haven't been interested by NES games, it's unlikely that a few more will convince you to get it. Plus, it's just unrealistic to think that Wii ($20), N64 ($10), Gamecube ($15?) games would be given with the online service. Also they are likely to take an approach similar to Sony/Microsoft where games roll off if you don't subscribe all the time. I just can't see this service in 3-4 years offering 200-300 games for free. I think it will be more limited to that. Online VC will be a flavor rather than an actual VC. This would also allow them to release full games if they'd like to go that route.

@Chrono_Meridian You don't need to insert 'in my opinion' in every sentence you said. Everything communicated by an individual is an opinion. That applies to your real life too, not just this thing you called internet.

@Angelic_Lapras_King you know Nintendo Switch has a touch screen, right?

@craigmoss19 thanks!

@Nincompoop

You didn't say "I'm not excited, I find old games boring"

You said "why is everyone excited? These games are boring"

That is trying to pass off your horrible, close minded opinion as fact, which is why people feel the need to point out it's not

Could these references merely be a carry-over from the 3DS era, which has the exact same categories listed in its JSON

Aaaand that pretty much kills this on the spot.

@Nincompoop I really hope you're trolling.

@Nincompoop I don't remember exactly but i think i was taking about games that looked like they were from NES/SNES era (messenger, Octopath, undertale, into the breach, dead cells, etc). I just didn't know if you were trolling now, or if maybe you were trolling me then (or if you're genuinely uninterested in games from before 2001). I just read your current comment & felt like you were saying now, exactly what i was saying then, lol; But, i guess i can see the difference since the games i criticized for bad graphics were triying to look like games released before 2001, but actually had more recent gameplay implementation, as opposed to the entire package being ancient (gameplay, sound & graphics).

Does anyone else read this and think it says new categories are coming out as well, not to much the Zelda, 9 thing. Does that mean we could be getting some remasters?

Only Nincompoops don’t like retro games

@Jeronan ahh, so you're saying friends are joining him locally, then they all play online together? Technically that's a combination of local & online. Local co op play has no need for online since the consoles connect to each other via wifi or Bluetooth (can't recall which). I'm not criticizing. I'm really just outlining it to myself to see if I understand, as I've never played Minecraft or mariokart multiplayer (local or online), but if i understood it right, it makes sense that they won't allow them online together unless they each have a membership (based on how Nintendo's FAQ explains their online). Other consoles, well xbox at least, will tie the Gold membership to the console, so every account on it can get online even if only 1 of the accounts has a paid Gold membership. I don't know why Nintendo didn't do the same, but seriously, look into the family membership & split the cost with 7 other people. That's what ill do eventually. $35 divided between 8 people is insanely cheap for 1 year, but I'm still researching to see if there are any limitations for anyone if done that way.

Best news I've heard all day.
The Switch, by virtue of being a hybrid system, is the only home console where the decision to implement a GBA Virtual Console makes actual sense. Playing The Minish Cap on the Switch would be a blast.
Or better yet, Super Mario Advance 2, which in my opinion is the definitive edition of Super Mario World.
fight me

It's pretty stupid not to sell these games to people that don't subscribe, even if they're released to subscribers first or something...

I'd love seeing a GBA VC on the Switch since I skipped out on getting a Wii U.

@twztid13 I don't want to deal with extra overhead of having to manage an extra 5 Nintendo accounts that are used by his friends.

He is only 7 and continuously deletes or make changes to these local users, make new ones, etc.
I don't want to have to deal with all that fuzz!

It's just ridiculous that Nintendo suddenly placed such a restriction on local users, while it has never been a problem before all the way back to launch 18 months ago!

The user that launches the game and connects online, is the one that should have a Nintendo account + membership!
Friends joining in locally via splitscreen should NOT need a full Nintendo account! That is utter garbage and unmanageable!!

@Nincompoop You're bad at trolling. Give it up, dude.

No GameCube reference which is sad , still this wouldnt be one of tte best aditions if they dont local this thing with the online subscription, I want to own this games even if they are digital.

@PorllM who died & made you referee? Everyone's right to have their own (maybe terrible) opinion should be respected. You don't have to agree, obviously, but no reason to start being hateful, or saying others' opinions are worth less than the ones you agree with. We all enjoy the same hobby here, but i guarantee we all disagree with each other on something. That doesn't mean one person is right & the other is wrong or ignorant. We should be able to agree to disagree in cases like this. Be respectful of each other's right to have the worst opinion you can imagine them having. No one gets to choose what they like. My 2 cents...

@Jeronan i understand. I didn't realize he was so young. Yeah, that does suck in your case. You'd think they could allow temporary accounts, or I don't know, some type of work around for that scenario, because i know you aren't the only one who had that experience (before & after the online service existed). Hopefully they figure out something before long because not everyone will wait around.

They should have been much more vocal about explaining the service over the last 6 months, but also the reasoning behind nuanced decisions like that. Especially since people grew accustomed to doing things a certain way, & the little extra fine print about their online service everywhere was obviously not enough to help the current player base feel comfortable & informed.

PLEASE BE REAL!!!PLEASE BE REAL!!!PLEASE BE REAL!!!PLEASE BE REAL!!!PLEASE BE REAL!!!PLEASE BE REAL!!!PLEASE BE REAL!!!PLEASE BE REAL!!!

bring them Ninty!

If it turns out to be true...

• Full price for non-Online members,
• Discount for Online members,
• Free for those who purchased games on Wii U (Reggie stated that prior purchases are now linked to Nintendo Accounts)

@Floria If you look at the NES listing, it says "total=0"

This is referring to the amount of games from that platform

This can't be referencing NES - Nintendo Switch Online, because there's already 20 games on that service.

It seems plausible that Nintendo is offering a separate VC option, perhaps for those who don`t want to pay for an online subscription, just to play NES games for a year.

Until it announced at a direct ,e3 or big game dhow I would not be hopeful

This makes me wonder what's in store for the beginning of 2019. We only have nes games announced thru December and then nothing. Wouldn't be surprised if they start adding some other systems beginning of the year to keep momentum going. But I've been wrong many times trying to guess what they're thinking.

@twztid13 I assume you tagged the wrong person? I haven’t said anything “hateful” I haven’t tried to “act as referee” and I certainly haven’t acted like any opinions are worth more or less than anyone else - in fact the entire point of my comment was that opinions are subjective. Your weird little rant doesn’t relate to what I wrote in any possible way, lmao

@chardir Thank you. I wish more people understood networking and how APIs worked. I honestly don't this really means we're getting VC on Switch but it does mean Nintendo has the means to do so if they want to change their mind.

@AlexOlney It's either leftover code or they have that in place for the next step of their online offerings.

No, keep that all like the NES app for subscribers.
I’m not paying a la carte again.

Yes please I'd gladly purchase my favourite GBA titles. As for SNES, well I have my new 2DS XL for that.

I'd much rather an a la carte system than a Netflix-type system (i.e. owning games rather than subscribing to a service that lets me temporarily play/stream them).

As much as it pains me to say it--I would personally love to finally see Gamecube VC support--real VC support would cannibalize the sales numbers for the indie games that are currently (surprisingly?) thriving on Switch! Hollow Knight is an amazing game, but how many people would forego playing it so they could download Ocarina of Time for the third time? I'm not entirely sure that both indies and dedicated VC could coexist successfully, without impacting the success that the former has enjoyed.

I honestly think that Nintendo should stick with the Classic, but I think that they should start including an option to download classics, essentially creating dedicated VC boxes.

@hiptanaka So if some games would be nearly unplayable... why don't they just not release those games? No reason to hold DS off the eshop entirely, when there are plenty of games that work just fine with the lowered precision.

This doesn't mean anything most likely. They wouldn't have NES if it was real I'd think, that's part of the online.

This find means nothing. The JSON returned from the website is just a standard template/object. For the websites structure and database to support listing VC games on the WiiU and 3DS, it needs those tags in the JSON structure.

Just by changing the URL to filter on Switch only would not then cause the underlying structure of the JSON to change.

Chances are those tags have been there from day one, and it does not mean that VC is coming.

Oh yeah, can't wait to buy the same 20 year old game for the third time.

I definitely hope Virtual Console is making a comeback. Or at the very least, all of these become what the Nintendo Switch Online: NES app is, and frankly I think that is more likely. Regardless of how these retro games get put on Switch, I just want them there. So fingers crossed this is true, and that GameCube finally gets added!

I don't want to rent 20 year-old games.
I would like to own them on the Switch which is the ultimate console to play a lot of game types on, including retro.

But since everyone and their mother already bought those games a gazillion times before, how about giving us the opportunity to buy them in collections cheaper, or at least sell them at a competent price?
E.g. 1-2 bucks for 8-bit games, 3 for 16 bit, 4-5 for 64 bit and so forth.

@Angelic_Lapras_King you do realize all they have to do is release an official adapter for the joy cons, turn the switch sideways and boom, enough room to display ds games, you also forget the switch has a touch screen and that ds emulation is already a thing on the switch

they will announce it on a direct and release it with the official English translation of Mother 3...

HAHAHAH, I KNEW IT. PEOPLE ARE COMPLAINING AFTER THEY RELEASE THEM FOR INDIVIDUAL PURCHASE. I KNEW IT!

I saw an article a while back list some of the NES games as "(single player offline)" and I figured that meant they'd be for Virtual Console. Sadly, no online multiplayer it seems.

Hackers do what Nintendont.

Would be amazing if they expanded the included games with our online service and let us play SNES, etc online and bundle them under an SNES heading. I really appreciate having all the NES games under one icon since so far Switch doesn't allow for folders or any re-arranging of game shortcuts.

@mikegamer Except Nintendo is the one who's doing it.

@PorllM i apologize if it wasn't you. The post is either deleted or edited now so I can't find who said it, but someone insulted @nincompoop & told him he wasn't qualified to judge retro games (hence, my asking who made you/them referee). I have been susceptible to quoting the wrong person on this site (I can click reply on 1 person & it will ignore me. Then, as I read comments I try to reply to someone else, & it will place the 1st user's name in the comment box instead), so again, I apologize if it wasn't you who said that.

@twztid13 yeah sorry for snapping too lol. I’m pretty sure it’s happened to me aswell.

@Nincompoop You haven’t had beer and Turtles in Time with a friend before have you?

@JohnnyC I might be over-optimistic, but I somehow expect "freebies" in the styles of the NES collection, probably as their own apps to boot to make even easier browsing in the UI.

Afterall NESflix does need a growing collection to be indeed considered a success.
But it may be well the way the Switch's online services could even further stand out from the offerings of other consoles whose games you have to be suscribed to access when they are release or else you're stuck hoping for them to be made available again at a later date if you were too late. It's a good way of ensuring that people keep suscribed for a long time for sure, especially since you never know what any new month might bring whenever you're tempted to cancel.

But in comparison, older games or not, I do like how Nintendo's offering has newcomers knowing exactly what they would get on day one of their subscription whether they suscribe right now or only a year from now because they won't have "missed out" on anything else that release in that timespan since it'll still be there to access.

@BoFiS I might be too early to call the shot, but I'm starting to suspect that might be what they could do in the long run; make more consoles available as separate "NESflix"-style apps like the current NES one, with growing collection that just keep being built upon as time passes accessible to all subscribers as opposed to the time-limited deals of Playstation Plus where if you weren't subscribed when a game was made available you just can't get it when unless you're lucky if you're only able to suscribe months later.

Like after clearing out Monster Hunter World, I realized I was purely keeping my Plus subscription in the chance that a game that would pique my interest would get realized and that's when I realized the trap I was falling into and decided to cancel my Plus subscription immediately because it wasn't worth paying just in the "hope" that I would get lucky one month and get a game of actual interest to me.

At least with Nintendo's offering I know exactly what I'm getting, know it'll just keep on growing and also know I could cancel today and still access it all if I was to resume my subscription even if only a year later.... with the bonus of everything else added to the collection during that period being also accessible even if I wasn't subscribing.

@Notshane Until there's more than NES games, no, they aren't.

@Nincompoop I don't think you understand at all why we are excited for this. If you ask me, I would kill to play Majora's Mask or Link's Awakening on Switch. It's good to have new catalog on the new system, but keep in mind that every system they've made since the Wii has given you the ability to play Nintendo's back catalog. It would be nice to have Mario 64 and Super Metroid alongside Smash Ultimate or Breath of the Wild. Plus, it's a handheld, so there's the advantage of buying a Switch for these older games as well.

My hope is that these components and ports will be released in the near future and they will be available to purchase and not rent. Having a backlog of classics is great but to only have access as a subscription perk is nonsensical; some of us want to own, play and preserve classic titles indefinitely...

They could easily just transfer all their VC games on the Wii, Wii U, and 3DS to Switch so we don't have to wait for all of them to be re-release again.

I WOULD BE IN HEAVEN! I don't mind spending money on the games after buying a ton of them on my 3DS and Wii. Please give us this option Nintendo! I don't mind owning music and movies and that applies to games. Please give us that choice!

Sorry to disappoint but I thoroughly read the json file and it turns out the virtual console listings are just part of the nintendo.com search filters. Its not from the switch.
Link below is the place where you can find all of the filters in the json file:
https://www.nintendo.com/games/game-guide?pv=true#filter/-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|featured|des|-|-|-

Don't get excited. I know files like these are put on the 3DS all the time. Yes, even the 3DS has gamecube placeholder NAMES. Its a tactic to fight against leakers ever since the beginning of the switches launch, so fans will get happy.

Not that I'm against VC or anything, I would LOVE it, but i'm saying this has been around for a while. Kind of old news

@craigmoss19 Thanks for the link.

@twztid13 A family group for switch online is incredibly easy to set up and I have not found any restrictions on it. All you need to do is add the email addresses associated with each Nintendo account that you want included in the family group. Each member receives an email with a link to confirm, and once they confirm, they have access to all the online services. That's it. It really is a super cheap way to get the service.

If you have different accounts on the same switch, each one needs to be in the family group to have online access, but that shouldn't be much of a problem for most people.

@johnvboy "Of course the wider Switch audience will not care whatever direction Nintendo decide to go in, but the internet forum and YouTube minorities will be up in arms all over again claiming to represent the everybody."

This. Constantly. The amount of times people in here have spoken for absolutely everybody around the world like we all lead identical lives and all own the same games and like the same things is amazing. They're definitely not speaking for me. "We're not buying all these games again for the umpteenth time!" Who the hell is "we?"

Bring Diddy Kong Racing!!!

There are so many old VC titles I’d need to pick up! Especially if they can bring back some SNES RPGs like Chrono Trigger or Secret of Mana. Sadly, I fear that if we receive GameCube titles, they won’t include games like Metroid Prime, Windwaker or Luigi’s Mansion. They’ll opt to sell us those as expensive remasters/collections instead.

Eh, I doubt it still. Might just be a bit of dead end code that never goes anywhere but is there just incase a few select games are added. My guess is that over time to online service will add older titles starting from the NES and moving up from there.

My guess was that year 3 they would do a massive reveal and dump of VC titles on the Eshop. Unlike prior systems they just drip fed us random titles until the death of each console. Remember pokemon snap on the WiiU when it was already on its death bed? Such a terrible move! But I thought they would be smart and just dump like 200 games on us all at once after years of working on getting it all set up and really getting a lot of buzz and good press for it. However the comments made about no VC killed that theory pretty fast. I still think it would have been the right move, and allowing WiiU owners(throw those poor guys a bone for once) to just get all their VC purchases free on the switch for any overlapping titles.

I do think Nintendo is getting on board this monthly fee game service thing like Microsoft and Sony have done, and this is the method we will see the VC be done. Though again, I think they have to do it strong, with each batch having lots and lots of games from each console era IF that is even what they plan to do. Though my senses tell me that NES games will be the base price at $20 a month and each other console will add another $5-10 a month and that they will have bundles to choose from to cheapen it for heavy users of course. I don't see $20 giving us THAT much, but being a bit more of a dynamic service in terms of what you pay vs. what you get.

Speaking of what you get, can we get...oh you know, native voice chat and cloud saves on everything?

Back on topic, I believe this code is just a false positive...However, I wouldn't mind being wrong either.

@tedko we hit a snag where a few of my friends had inadvertently set up family groups with their kids back in the ds games. Wouldn’t let them join the group I was setting up and deleting old family group is nowhere near as easy as it should be.

Why would they do VC now unless via Switch online? Doesn’t make sense to me as even if they did nintendo will want to milk the NES games first for all they’re worth.

I'm just here to say Nimcowpoop is a terrible troll, but you're kind of even worse for taking the world's most obvious bait.

I personally wouldnt mind if NES were kept as is and these other systems specifically were brought in as VC games. The Switch genuinely feels like the best console yet for VC. Not having it is a huge wasted opportunity IMO.

That said, for the sake of something uniform I half wish SEGA consoles etc would also be included like the Wii. Granted the seperate rrleases fo alloe for more freedom and features though.

@WiltonRoots,

Out of the 80 or so friends on my Switch..all except 2 have subscribed to the online service.

Just stop with that. This is not what you are thinking it is.
Even in the 3DS, "N64" was mentionned. It's nothing

Make me want to get the online

@link3710 I agree. I was replying to a comment saying the Switch touch screen can do anything the DS touch screen can.

All I have to say is if the DS is included, then I'm guessing all DS games wouldn't make it due to heavy reliance on two screens. But some would be cooler than none if this is a thing.

They are saving it for later and them bomb us with lots of games.

@AlexOlney

Please understand.

Yes please!

@Angelic_Lapras_King handheld mode only with screen in screen. they more or less achieved it on the wiiu in the exact same manner

@darthstuey That's weird. Sorry to hear that

@TJWorks I previously asked that same question and the answer I got was that because the gc controller had analog triggers and the switch and wiiu have digital triggers the games aren't compatible so they need to rework them like they did with wind waker hd instead of just a straight up emulator.

@Moonlessky The Classic Controller has more buttons than GC, map the L1 (or whatever it may be called) and shift the pressure of L/R, pretty simple. I dunno, this seems more robust and seamless than calling the menu->settings->picking a screen layout for DS VC.

@Medic_alert To be honest that's kind of why I hope for Online Service-linked apps rather than individual realease.

By taking the "NESflix" approach of the NES apps, new "virtual consoles" releases wouldn't actually need to take critical store spaces that could better benefit from being used to promote third parties instead and give that much more reason for users to pay the subscription fees for the online services, by literally giving them a "Classic gaming netflix" separate from primary console releases and able to exist indepently from them.

That way new third party releases would get as much spaces as they can and the classic stuff would remain relevants thanks to it's own releases announcement just adding that much more to compilation already part of the online services subcriptions without, again, hurting visibility in the store space for third parties.

@tavo7874 Thanks for the clarification!

Mind you I still half expect more classic consoles to be featured on Switch, but at this rate I expect more stuff in the style of the current online services NES app.

It's more space efficient, releases don't take crucial store spaces that could be better used by crucially needed third parties, and give that much more incentive for people to pay for the Online service with ever new titles/consoles that would be added to "classic apps".

Wait WHAT ?!

@Nincompoop for myself, I don't disagree. All i said is that others should be able to buy if they want & that paying $1.60 a month is worth it to make it possible to have that museum experience whenever they want.

@chriscare
i hope, their hasnt been much re-released except loz twilight princes, windwaker and a port of luigi's mansion to the 3ds.

wheres mario sunshine, pikmin 1,2 , starfox and all those other gems nintendo produced on the ngc

I (and many others) would be fine with their "Netflix but for classic games" approach they took with the NES.

That, or give us an option to transfer our purchases from Wii (U) or 3DS VC... for free. I'm tired of re-buying.

@Nincompoop NES games I get, but are you seriously saying everything after that is completely pointless to play in the current age? Games like Super Mario 64, Super Mario World, Super Metroid, Ocarina of Time are all still played to death.

No thanks. I'm not rebuying games again the way I did with the Wii and Wii U. Emulation and ROMS are still available and free.

I would love to play some GBC, GBA and NDS titles on switch!
And this reminded me about how Nintendo recently started forcing a lot of rom sites to remove all Nintendo games, so maybe it is possible that we'll get VC on the Switch?

Though I'm still waiting for a Pokémon Gen 4 remaster and Rune Factory 5...
Would love to get RF5, wether on switch or 3DS, though if they make a Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum remake I hope it's for the 3DS.

Hope to hear more about VC on Switch soon!

@sleepinglion why on earth would you repay twice? I bought the wii u day one, transferred all my wii virtual games to it and was on my way. I did pay the 30 cents to enable wii u tablet mode but beyond that there was no repaying

@russellohh Most of my 3DS VC titles were Wii and Wii U purchases as well.

I doubt virtual console is coming to the Switch because classic games are THE selling point of the online subscription. Without that "value add", most people wouldn't even care.

Did anybody else realize that this is the same text document that can be datamined across all Nintendo Devices?

This is no indication at all that there is Virtual Console is coming to switch.

So no, I will not hold you, sorry.

@mikegamer Love that eShop datamine coming in to further help much argument a little while ago.

@Notshane Doesn't mean a damn thing

@mikegamer Huh, I guess a datamine of the official Switch eShop is an information source I should consider invalid. Let me grab my notebook.

@Notshane Datamining and finding things that are hidden doesn't make facts empirical.

Nintendo do it

Wait so the nes was added in 2018, 2019 had snes added, which means next year will probably have the gameboy! If that’s truly correct then that means that the mario land games will be added meaning every mainline mario game (excluding galaxy and 3d land) will be on the switch, if that’s the case (which is probably rare and won’t 100% happen) then that’s genuinely exciting

@Tuney
But what about the other NSMB games?.....oh, I get it....

@Tommy-and-Timmy I don’t personally consider them Mainline games, they’re more of their own thing

@Tuney
I think U being on the console means that all of them are on the console (all the same).

@Angelic_Lapras_King The switch has touchscreen features

@TJWorks well they did it with sunshine now so maybe?