Hamster's 'Console Archives' Is The Closest We'll Get To Virtual Console In 2026

This might be how we get games that probably won't appear on Nintendo Classics, such as Snowboard Kids or Mischief Makers.

Cool Boarders is well, cool, but why Ninja Gaiden II? Could've just put that on NSO.

Please please please get stuck into porting the pc engine / turbo grafx library and maybe the Sega Saturn also!

@KayFiOS yeah, it makes a lot of sense, especially with third-party titles. The Wii U VC more or less showed that third parties are more willing to rerelease their titles themselves.

@N00BiSH I'm guessing Koei Tecmo wanted to sell it on multiple systems, not just let people play it on one as part of a subscription service. Not sure how well third-party companies are getting compensated for putting their games in Nintendo Classics libraries.

My initial thought was hopefully Dreamcast games.

Kind of hoping this ends up leading to weird port scenarios that have no reason to happen otherwise. Like I know the FoMT version exists and all but if we can somehow one day get Harvest Moon: Back to Nature on Switch I'll sink hundreds of hours into that.

Nice to see that some console games will be rereleased on the eshop but is it me or does that doraemon game looks like tmnt 1 on the NES? Also I’m surprised to see them releasing that monster rancher jumping game.

Why is this Switch 2 exclusive? These could easily run 60fps on Switch 1!

Console Archives, not on my bingo card but curious how their emulation stacks up. I’d get Ninja Gaiden II, for science, if I didn’t already have the cart (and I have an AnalogueNt Mini so HDMI output is covered). Let’s see what comes out next.

Rave Racer though, awesome! I’m tempted, but I might get Full Throttle instead.

@Olliemar28
That is interesting since it means that NSO wont rule out a console archives version.

Interesting seeing the different platforms on it too since it would be cool seeing what other playstation games end up making it.

Am hoping we get some RPGs making their way to the system also.

either way this has me very interested, those arcade archives were generally considered good iirc.

@N00BiSH well Arcade Archives weren’t exclusive to Nintendo so i’m sure these won’t be either (maybe). So having it on NSO doesn’t help people anywhere else.

As I mentioned in Time Extension, it would be good to know if more "consoles" are included for those older games, since some are PCs, like the MSX and the Amiga, which had some great games (like the DSi/Accolade racing games such as Test Drive). They'll definitely have more work to do with some games due to licensing issues, and frankly, with the consoles, they already have a much larger catalog to release.

Old IBM PC games too, yes, yes?

This and the Bomberman Collection were definitely my highlights of the Direct.

I just hope Doraemon doesn't end up being more expesive due to the license. I know it's very close to being a kusoge, but I've always been interested in it.

@Olliemar28 Best of both worlds. Some games I want to try one time and never touch again, some games I want to pay to own and not worry about anyone taking them from me.

I still can't believe Cool Boarders in being acknowledged in 2026. I adored the games, only hoped to SSX come the Cube so it was my original snowboarding outlet.

What about Wave Race?

The fact we are getting old anime games as well, does this means we will get Shounen Jump and Gundam famicom games? Always wanted to play those

@N00BiSH Been waiting for Ninja Gaiden II to hit NSO since 2018 (since the first Ninja Gaiden was an NES NSO launch title).. then it finally comes like 2 months ago, and and now there's ANOTHER way to play Ninja Gaiden II on Switch 2?? WHAT IS GOING ON

I'm never going to financially recover from this.

@Olliemar28 Right I kinda forgot about that. It's cool if you want to "own" the games though.

@K1LLEGAL fair, but since we're talking about a Nintendo system where NGII is already available, I can't help but find it a twinge redundant.

Oh , and was that OG Nobunaga’s Ambition? Maybe we can get the rare Nobunaga’s Ambition II? Sonic Wings Special is there, but is it the Saturn or the Playstation version? This opens up a ton of possibilities. Maybe a haven for all the titles that won’t show up on NSO.

Don’t suppose they fancy throwing Uridium, Paradroid, Nebulus & Gribbly’s Day Out in there as well, do they?

Doraemon has at least 2 English fantranslations.

They're selling you the original Japanese game, that's nonsense, it's not like it's a text heavy game.

Played so much Sonic Wings when I was little. Love that I'll be able to play it again

I'll add Rave Racer to my collection of 3D Namco ACA2 games. Glad they skipped Ridge Racer 2 for now as it was basically Ridge Racer DX.

Maybe Nintendo will add a purchase option to their Nintendo Classic line like Sony? They did renew the virtual console trademark last October.

I am curious if the Console Archives series will include any extra modes like the Arcade Archives series.

@BigBluePanda You can play those in 4K on Redream.

Went to purchase Cool Boarders… but it’s Switch 2 exclusive… why??

N64 runs pretty seamlessly for NSO, so this sucks (and lost them a sale) =/

There is button customization, screen options, and save & load features, so that is pretty cool.

Very bizarre seeing Ninja Gaiden II appear like this when it was added to NSO not too long ago. This means that anything's fair game.