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With the NSO update today being all SNES games, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at what SNES games are still left for Nintendo Switch Online, specifically the ones published by Nintendo themselves (both original IP and otherwise).
From my calculations, there are 52 games left, excluding any Satellaview titles which are quite unlikely to come out. That said, not all of these 52 will come out so let's find out what the real number of Nintendo punlished games are.
Third party games
To start off, let's look at the 16 third party games on this list as some of them could easily come to NSO while others most likely won't due to licenses and who owns them. These 16 games are:
Arkanoid: Doh it Again | Space Invaders | Super Pinball: Behind the Mask | Kid Klown in Crazy Chase | Soccer Shootout | Plok | Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures | NCAA Basketball | Vegas Stakes | Terranigma | Illusion of Gaia | Secret of Mana | Secret of Evermore | Final Fantasy Mystic Quest | Street Fighter Alpha 2 | Mega Man X
So right off the bat, those five Square-Enix games and 2 Capcom games are very unlikely to come to NSO. Square-Enix hasn't put anything on the service yet and Capcom is selling Mega Man X i a collection on Switch. Alpha 2 could come to the service maybe, as the version they are selling on Switch already is the Arcade version, but I wouldn't bank on it.
As for the other 9 games, I think all of them are very likely for the services eventually, especially Plok and Arkanoid, with the exception of NCAA Basketball and Vegas Stakes. The former may have licensing issues with its use of real athletes and the latter is a gambling game. I'm not sure if/how that may affect its chances of getting on NSO but for this I'm going to guess neither can be added. So that's 7 games so far.
Licensed games
This category is similar to the first one, except here Nintendo had full publishing rights for these games worldwide, at least their SNES versions, but they don't fully own the games or IP themselves. There are 10 games in this category and they are:
Derby Stallion '98 | Power Lode Runner | Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow | Pinocchio | Power Soukoban | Metal Slader Glory Director's Cut | Mini Yonku Let's & Go!!: Power WGP 2 | Super Mario RPG | Super International Cricket | Winter Gold
Of this list, three of these are based on non-gaming properties. There are the two Disney games (Maui Mallard and Pinocchio) and then Power WGP 2 is based on a manga. But those are the only three that I feel have no chance of being added to the service. Super Mario RPG isn't very likely due to the remake existing but you never know. Maybe in 5 years time they'll release it because why not?
The other six will all happen eventually although four of them are Japan only games (although Power Soukaban and Power Lode Runner could easily be released in the West untranslated). Cricket and Winter Gold where both Europe-only titles originally but I don't think that will prevent their inclusion at all. So that's 13 games for the service.
Peripheral games
These next 7 are all games that require either the SNES Mouse or Super Scope to work. Currently, NSO doesn't support either but that doesn't mean they can't add that support in the future. These games are:
Mario Paint | Mario & Wario | Battle Clash | Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge | Super Scope 6 | Yoshi's Safari | Tin Star
Tin Star is the only one of these that may not come, just due to it being America-only, but that's not a guarantee. The real hurdle, especially for the Super Scope games, is Nintendo adding that support into the emulator. We'll put these 7 into the maybe pile so that's 13 for sure and 7 maybe.
Games with licensing / legal issues
These next four games all have licensing and legal issues that will almost certainly prevent them from coming onto the serivces. These 4 games are:
Ken Griffy Jr. Major Leauge Baseball | Ken Griffy Jr. Winning Run | NHL Stanley Cup | Uniracers
The first three are all sports games using real celebraties and the last one was an original title for Nintendo but they got sued by Pixar for releasing it and so will never touch the game again.
Japan-only games
Of the remaining 15 games, 10 of them are exclsuive to Japan and of those 10, only one of them (Undake 30) is unlikely to come to the service. These 10 games are:
Sutte Hakkun | Fire Emblem Thracia 776 | Super Famicom Wars | Famicom Detective Club Part II | Heisei Shin Oni Ga Shima (part 1) | Heisei Shin Oni Ga Shima (part 2) | Famicom Bunko: Hajimari no Mori | Shigesato Itoi Bass Fishing no. 1 | Zoo-tto Mahjong! | Undake 30: Same Game
Sutte Hakkun and Fire Emblem Thracia are the big two on this list and will likely be added sooner rather than later. Similar to Mario RPG, Famicom Detective Club Part II has a remake on Switch, but that doesn't prevent Nintendo from adding this (or the FDS originals) eventually.
Undake 30: Same Game is a weird one though. It was originally released as a limited promotional game with Nintendo Power Cartridges and only available for a month. Then it was moved to Satellaview and was their exclusively. Nintendo could release the original Nintendo Power version if they want, but the reason I think they might not is becaue Hudson actually remade the game and released it themselves, replacing Mario & friends with Hudson characters like Bonk and Bomberman. That version feels like the more likely version of the game to get added. So that's 9 games to be added, brining our total to 21 + 7.
The rest
These final 5 all feel like a guarantee to come to the service. Not all of them were released in Japan but they can easily be released over there for the first time if they want:
Sim City | Tetris 2 | Super Play Action Football | Wario's Woods | Dr. Mario & Tetris
When Dr. Mario & Tetris released in Japan, it actually lacked Tetris so if it comes to NSO that's what the Japan side will get. Just Dr. Mario. Of these five, Tetris is the one maybe becasue this version of the game was ported by the Tetris Company and they own the name rights, so Nintendo would have to negotiate with them to get it on. That might be an issue but I don't think it will be personally. I think all five of these will get added to the service in due course, Sim City and Wario's Woods especially.
And that's all of them. So in total, from our 52 starting count I think we can safely say that 26 of them, exactly half, will be added to the service eventually. There are 7 maybes here with the mouse and Super Scope game, so that number could actually be 33. And of those 33, I think 8 will remain exlsuively on the Japan side of NSO due to them being games that require reading to play.
And that's it. Maybe I'll do this again with NES when the next drop of games happens for that system. Thank you for coming to this ThrEaD talk.
From my calculations, there are 52 games left, excluding any Satellaview titles which are quite unlikely to come out. That said, not all of these 52 will come out so let's find out what the real number of Nintendo punlished games are.
Third party games
To start off, let's look at the 16 third party games on this list as some of them could easily come to NSO while others most likely won't due to licenses and who owns them. These 16 games are:
Arkanoid: Doh it Again | Space Invaders | Super Pinball: Behind the Mask | Kid Klown in Crazy Chase | Soccer Shootout | Plok | Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures | NCAA Basketball | Vegas Stakes | Terranigma | Illusion of Gaia | Secret of Mana | Secret of Evermore | Final Fantasy Mystic Quest | Street Fighter Alpha 2 | Mega Man X
So right off the bat, those five Square-Enix games and 2 Capcom games are very unlikely to come to NSO. Square-Enix hasn't put anything on the service yet and Capcom is selling Mega Man X i a collection on Switch. Alpha 2 could come to the service maybe, as the version they are selling on Switch already is the Arcade version, but I wouldn't bank on it.
As for the other 9 games, I think all of them are very likely for the services eventually, especially Plok and Arkanoid, with the exception of NCAA Basketball and Vegas Stakes. The former may have licensing issues with its use of real athletes and the latter is a gambling game. I'm not sure if/how that may affect its chances of getting on NSO but for this I'm going to guess neither can be added. So that's 7 games so far.
Licensed games
This category is similar to the first one, except here Nintendo had full publishing rights for these games worldwide, at least their SNES versions, but they don't fully own the games or IP themselves. There are 10 games in this category and they are:
Derby Stallion '98 | Power Lode Runner | Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow | Pinocchio | Power Soukoban | Metal Slader Glory Director's Cut | Mini Yonku Let's & Go!!: Power WGP 2 | Super Mario RPG | Super International Cricket | Winter Gold
Of this list, three of these are based on non-gaming properties. There are the two Disney games (Maui Mallard and Pinocchio) and then Power WGP 2 is based on a manga. But those are the only three that I feel have no chance of being added to the service. Super Mario RPG isn't very likely due to the remake existing but you never know. Maybe in 5 years time they'll release it because why not?
The other six will all happen eventually although four of them are Japan only games (although Power Soukaban and Power Lode Runner could easily be released in the West untranslated). Cricket and Winter Gold where both Europe-only titles originally but I don't think that will prevent their inclusion at all. So that's 13 games for the service.
Peripheral games
These next 7 are all games that require either the SNES Mouse or Super Scope to work. Currently, NSO doesn't support either but that doesn't mean they can't add that support in the future. These games are:
Mario Paint | Mario & Wario | Battle Clash | Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge | Super Scope 6 | Yoshi's Safari | Tin Star
Tin Star is the only one of these that may not come, just due to it being America-only, but that's not a guarantee. The real hurdle, especially for the Super Scope games, is Nintendo adding that support into the emulator. We'll put these 7 into the maybe pile so that's 13 for sure and 7 maybe.
Games with licensing / legal issues
These next four games all have licensing and legal issues that will almost certainly prevent them from coming onto the serivces. These 4 games are:
Ken Griffy Jr. Major Leauge Baseball | Ken Griffy Jr. Winning Run | NHL Stanley Cup | Uniracers
The first three are all sports games using real celebraties and the last one was an original title for Nintendo but they got sued by Pixar for releasing it and so will never touch the game again.
Japan-only games
Of the remaining 15 games, 10 of them are exclsuive to Japan and of those 10, only one of them (Undake 30) is unlikely to come to the service. These 10 games are:
Sutte Hakkun | Fire Emblem Thracia 776 | Super Famicom Wars | Famicom Detective Club Part II | Heisei Shin Oni Ga Shima (part 1) | Heisei Shin Oni Ga Shima (part 2) | Famicom Bunko: Hajimari no Mori | Shigesato Itoi Bass Fishing no. 1 | Zoo-tto Mahjong! | Undake 30: Same Game
Sutte Hakkun and Fire Emblem Thracia are the big two on this list and will likely be added sooner rather than later. Similar to Mario RPG, Famicom Detective Club Part II has a remake on Switch, but that doesn't prevent Nintendo from adding this (or the FDS originals) eventually.
Undake 30: Same Game is a weird one though. It was originally released as a limited promotional game with Nintendo Power Cartridges and only available for a month. Then it was moved to Satellaview and was their exclusively. Nintendo could release the original Nintendo Power version if they want, but the reason I think they might not is becaue Hudson actually remade the game and released it themselves, replacing Mario & friends with Hudson characters like Bonk and Bomberman. That version feels like the more likely version of the game to get added. So that's 9 games to be added, brining our total to 21 + 7.
The rest
These final 5 all feel like a guarantee to come to the service. Not all of them were released in Japan but they can easily be released over there for the first time if they want:
Sim City | Tetris 2 | Super Play Action Football | Wario's Woods | Dr. Mario & Tetris
When Dr. Mario & Tetris released in Japan, it actually lacked Tetris so if it comes to NSO that's what the Japan side will get. Just Dr. Mario. Of these five, Tetris is the one maybe becasue this version of the game was ported by the Tetris Company and they own the name rights, so Nintendo would have to negotiate with them to get it on. That might be an issue but I don't think it will be personally. I think all five of these will get added to the service in due course, Sim City and Wario's Woods especially.
And that's all of them. So in total, from our 52 starting count I think we can safely say that 26 of them, exactly half, will be added to the service eventually. There are 7 maybes here with the mouse and Super Scope game, so that number could actually be 33. And of those 33, I think 8 will remain exlsuively on the Japan side of NSO due to them being games that require reading to play.
And that's it. Maybe I'll do this again with NES when the next drop of games happens for that system. Thank you for coming to this ThrEaD talk.
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