According to a report by Eurogamer, Nintendo will reportedly be bringing GameCube games to its upcoming next gen console, the Nintendo Switch. The article, which is confirmed by three separate sources, tells Eurogamer’s Tom Phillips that there is currently three games that are already being prepped for the Switch. These games include Super Mario Sunshine, Luigi’s Mansion and Super Smash Bros. Melee.
The report from Eurogamer claims that GameCube titles will be supported on the Switch via Virtual Console. Nintendo has previously included other Nintendo classics through the Virtual Console store – a store where emulated versions of old, legacy Nintendo games can be bought and played on newer hardware – on the Wii, Wii U, and the 3DS platforms. The Virtual Console includes games from the Nintendo Entertainment System era through the Nintendo 64. However, none of these console offered GameCube titles through the store. All titles will be sold digitally on the Virtual Console store.
Although the little, cubical console boasts some of the best and most memorable Nintendo exclusive titles, the console still stands as one of Nintendo’s worst-selling consoles. But to be fair, at the time, GameCube had to go up against Sony’s follow up to the famous PlayStation with the PlayStation 2, while Microsoft broke into the gaming community with the new Xbox.
The report also confirm that the GameCube emulator is being developed by Nintendo’s European Research Department – the same people that were responsible for making this year’s sell-out, the NES Mini. So far, GameCube support is working fine on the Switch, after several test were ran. Reports state that old GameCube titles run as well or better than their original state. As of now, the team is working on bringing Animal Crossing to the Switch.
For those Nintendo players that have purchased games on their Virtual Console store though, it looks like Nintendo will require you to pay “small” fee in order to be able to transfer your previous purchases onto the Switch. Nintendo is also working to bring Wii U’s GameCube adapter on to the Switch so that players can use their GameCube controllers.
The Nintendo Switch is scheduled to launch in March of 2017. Until then, look for Nintendo’s next major announcements for the console in January.