Nintendo has made 2018 quite a memorable year, for the Switch has been doing amazingly, tons of new games are being announced and released for the system. Even better, though is just last month, Smash Bros. Ultimate was announced, and GameCube controller compatibility was announced for the title. To add to Nintendo’s repertoire, there were some recent trademarks that Nintendo applied for that might hint at the future for the company.
To start things off, here is the full list of trademarks that Nintendo applied for can be viewed below:
- GameCube (video game use)
- 風花雪月 (the Japanese subtitle for Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
- 黄金の国イーラ (the Japanese name for Torna ~The Golden Country~)
- Sky Skipper (the upcoming Virtual Console release)
- Fitness Boxing (upcoming localization of Imagineer’s Fit Boxing)
- NES
- Nintendo Entertainment System
- Game Boy
- Nintendo 3DS (two of them)
From the very obvious, we will be getting Fitness Boxing localized as stated, Sky Skipper will be coming out for the Arcade Archives, but the trademarks for Torna and Fire Emblem: Three Houses might hint at possible localization for both titles.
In addition, the trademarks for GameCube, NES, Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, and the two Nintendo 3DS are interesting ones. The NES and Nintendo Entertainment System trademark applications might hint at there being more NES classic consoles being produced for the future. The Nintendo 3DS trademarks also imply that Nintendo are not ready to pull the plug on the last generation handheld. It is hard to speculate at what these two trademarks might entail, but regardless, 3DS fans will rejoice in knowing that they will be able to squeeze out just a little more value out of the console.
The next interesting trademark is the one for the Game Boy. At the moment, nothing can really be drawn from this, but the possibility of a Game Boy system, similar to the NES and SNES Classic might become a reality. This trademark could also imply that various Game Boy games will be ported onto the Switch sometime in the future.
Finally, the GameCube trademark can mean many things. With the new line of GameCube controllers and GameCube controller compatibility being present for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, it is only natural to wonder if different GameCube peripherals will be produced. It is important to note that these types of peripherals have already been announced, so this trademark application could very well lead to some re-releases from the GameCube era. In the near future, Switch owners might be able to play classics such as Animal Crossing, Luigi’s Mansion, and even the most popular GameCube game, Super Smash Bros. Melee. With the controller compatibility being present, it would be the perfect time to re-release some GameCube games.
One user on Reddit, however, pointed out that Nintendo renewing trademark sometimes ultimately leads up to nothing. In the case of Eternal Darkness, the rights to the franchise have been renewed for the past 8 years, but nothing has been done with the series since 2002, so these trademarks might not all lead up into something big, but we can only hope that Nintendo can blow us out of the water as usual.