StarTopic Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack |ST| New 2024 Poll Up

[Brofield]

The next direct it feels like an NSO update will be a “big” section.

The remaining heavy hitters from NSO outside of Pokemon I imagine would include Super Smash Bros, the Rare catalogue (DK64, Diddy Kong Racing, Conker* and Perfect Dark*), and maybe Mortal Kombat Trilogy* for N64 (assuming the 18+ N64 NSO app also makes its way to the West), and then Zelda Four Swords, Kirby Nightmare in Dreamland (if it's not getting an HD remake), Fire Emblems, and on third party sides Castlevanias, Gunstar Super Heroes, Sonic Advance, and Harvest Moons.

Dependent on if third parties are more gung ho with NSO, but I'm curious what else would be considered heavy hitters that are missing from NSO right now

 

[Mer.Saloon]

I am eagerly awaiting Four Swords. The DSI version may be the superior game, but the ease at playing Four Swords multiplayer and then unlocking Alttp's bonus content (legit) is something I've yearned for years.

 

[AR15mex]

I think for most of the systems, its about to go third party right? I mean mostly Nintendo Published games are already there...

 

[shoptroll]

Dependent on if third parties are more gung ho with NSO, but I'm curious what else would be considered heavy hitters that are missing from NSO right now

Off the top of my head:

NES:

• Golf
• Rare titles (Solar Jetman, Cobra Triangle, Snake Rattle & Roll, R.C Pro-Am I & II to name a few)
• Tetris (and there's a bunch of follow-ups they can drag in too if they can license them as well from Tetris Company)
• HAL titles (There's still some Eggerland/Lolo games missing, Mach Rider, Air Fortress)
• StarTropics 2
• Donkey Kong Jr. Math (Ok, I just want to watch the collector market cry out in pain over this one)

GB:

• Super Mario Land
• Wario Land 2 & 3
• Donkey Kong '94
• Mario's Picross 1 & 2
• More Tetris spinoffs like Tetris Blast
• Balloon Kid
• Wave Race
• Tennis / Golf / Baseball (I don't think these are there yet)
• Rare Titles (Super R.C Pro-Am, Donkey Kong Land 1-3, Killer Instinct)
• Pokemons

SNES:

• Killer Instinct
• More Tetris games and spinoffs
• Mario Paint (if they could emulate the mouse with the touch pad)
• BS F-Zero 2
• Wrecking Crew '98
• Marvelous: Another Treasure Island (this would likely be JP only)

 

[oomoepoo]

GBA NSO is still missing Metroid Zero Mission and I find this unacceptable. It's literally the only 2D Metroid that's still missing, if you discount the 3DS remake of Metroid 2.

 

[Dinoman96]

Here's a list of the remaining first party GBA/GB games that were re-released for the NA 3DS/Wii U Virtual Consoles.

Game Boy:

Alleyway
Tetris
Radar Mission
Super Mario Land
Donkey Kong
Tennis
Kirby's Dream Land
Qix
Baseball
Game & Watch Gallery
Mario's Picross
Golf
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
Double Dragon
Balloon Kid
Metroid II: Return of Samus
Kirby's Block Ball
Kirby's Pinball Land
Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters
Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3
Mole Mania
Dr. Mario
Kirby's Star Stacker
Kirby's Dream Land 2
Revenge of the Gator
Donkey Kong Land
Donkey Kong Land 2
Donkey Kong Land 3
The Legend of Zelda's Link Awakening DX
Game & Watch Gallery 2
Game & Watch Gallery 3
Mario Golf
Wario Land 2
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
Wario Land 3
Mario Tennis
Bionic Commando: Elite Forces
Super Mario Bros. Deluxe
Pokemon Puzzle Challenge
Pokemon Trading Card Game
Pokemon Blue
Pokemon Red
Pokemon Yellow
Pokemon Gold
Pokemon Silver
Pokemon Crystal



Game Boy Advance:

Advance Wars (remake on Switch)
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Metroid Fusion
Kirby & the Amazing Mirror
WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames!
F-Zero Maximum Velocity
Golden Sun
Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3
Wario Land 4
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
Mario Tennis: Power Tour
Mario Golf: Advance Tour
Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land
Super Mario Advance
Mario Kart: Super Circuit
DK: King of Swing
Mario Pinball Land
Fire Emblem
Mario Party Advance
Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2
Pokemon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire
F-Zero GP Legend
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Golden Sun: The Lost Age
Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising (remake on Switch)
Metroid: Zero Mission
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3
Polarium Advance
Kuru Kuru Kururin
Game & Watch Gallery 4
Drill Dozer
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team (remake on Switch)
Mario vs. Donkey Kong (remake on Switch)

 

[Dark Cloud]

Here's a list of the remaining first party GBA/GB games that were re-released for the NA 3DS/Wii U Virtual Consoles.

Game Boy:

Alleyway
Tetris
Radar Mission
Super Mario Land
Donkey Kong
Tennis
Kirby's Dream Land
Qix
Baseball
Game & Watch Gallery
Mario's Picross
Golf
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
Double Dragon
Balloon Kid
Metroid II: Return of Samus
Kirby's Block Ball
Kirby's Pinball Land
Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters
Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3
Mole Mania
Dr. Mario
Kirby's Star Stacker
Kirby's Dream Land 2
Revenge of the Gator
Donkey Kong Land
Donkey Kong Land 2
Donkey Kong Land 3
The Legend of Zelda's Link Awakening DX
Game & Watch Gallery 2
Game & Watch Gallery 3
Mario Golf
Wario Land 2
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
Wario Land 3
Mario Tennis
Bionic Commando: Elite Forces
Super Mario Bros. Deluxe
Pokemon Puzzle Challenge
Pokemon Trading Card Game
Pokemon Blue
Pokemon Red
Pokemon Yellow
Pokemon Gold
Pokemon Silver
Pokemon Crystal



Game Boy Advance:

Advance Wars (remake on Switch)
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Metroid Fusion
Kirby & the Amazing Mirror
WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames!
F-Zero Maximum Velocity
Golden Sun
Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3
Wario Land 4
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
Mario Tennis: Power Tour
Mario Golf: Advance Tour
Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land
Super Mario Advance
Mario Kart: Super Circuit
DK: King of Swing
Mario Pinball Land
Fire Emblem
Mario Party Advance
Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2
Pokemon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire
F-Zero GP Legend
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Golden Sun: The Lost Age
Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising (remake on Switch)
Metroid: Zero Mission
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3
Polarium Advance
Kuru Kuru Kururin
Game & Watch Gallery 4
Drill Dozer
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team
Mario vs. Donkey Kong (remake on Switch)

Nintendo has years worth of content as they’ll continue to feed it out through the Switch 2’s life

 

[BassForever]

The remaining heavy hitters from NSO outside of Pokemon I imagine would include Super Smash Bros, the Rare catalogue (DK64, Diddy Kong Racing, Conker* and Perfect Dark*), and maybe Mortal Kombat Trilogy* for N64 (assuming the 18+ N64 NSO app also makes its way to the West), and then Zelda Four Swords, Kirby Nightmare in Dreamland (if it's not getting an HD remake), Fire Emblems, and on third party sides Castlevanias, Gunstar Super Heroes, Sonic Advance, and Harvest Moons.

Dependent on if third parties are more gung ho with NSO, but I'm curious what else would be considered heavy hitters that are missing from NSO right now

We could also see new systems added, localized for the first time releases, full games added like a version of PS+/GP (maybe the speculated selects line ties into this), or some big dlc announced for games with no dlc currently announced like Mario Wonder or TotK.

 

[MisterSpo]

If Nintendo get licenses from Microsoft, Konami, Capcom and Sega (companies who already have games on the service), then they could potentially more than double the current N64 total. It really depends if those companies and Nintendo are willing to play ball.

Having those companies on board would also be good for GB and GBA, too, because there are titles which are unlikely to get a release elsewhere, like the Sonic Advance trilogy.

 

[LuigiBlood]

As a reminder I made a spreadsheet with every missing games that are mostly first party focused with some third party ones here and there to an extent.

Retro Switch Online App Missing Titles & Research

Page Map Page,Description Ideas,Basically a bunch of ideas, unhinged. Unreleased/Changed,Documents games that were changed in VC (outside of anti-epilepsy changes) Color Code,Explains the color coding in later pages Missing (NES),NES games that could be added (mostly first party) Missing (SNES),...

docs.google.com

It's by no means exhaustive for third party games but at least for the first party ones I've done my best to list as many as possible.
If you were ever wondering if Nintendo is running out of games on NES and SNES, you are mistaken.

EDIT:
Here's also a full spreadsheet of games currently available on the service, taking into account their IDs and other details:

Retro Switch Online App Game IDs

Codenames Codename,Description,Developer,Fun Facts LClassicsApp,Base Retro NSO App (lcla6),Latest N64 (UE) Build Date:,2.14.0,Fri, 10 Nov 2023 10:10:04 GMT,Rewind on SNES: Up to 40 save states LEX,Expansion NSO Apps,Latest N64 (J) Build Date:,2.14.0,Fri, 27 Oct 2023 10:21:11 GMT LClassics SE,Seg...

docs.google.com

 

[MisterSpo]

As a reminder I made a spreadsheet with every missing games that are mostly first party focused with some third party ones here and there to an extent.

Retro Switch Online App Missing Titles & Research

Page Map Page,Description Ideas,Basically a bunch of ideas, unhinged. Unreleased/Changed,Documents games that were changed in VC (outside of anti-epilepsy changes) Color Code,Explains the color coding in later pages Missing (NES),NES games that could be added (mostly first party) Missing (SNES),...

docs.google.com

It's by no means exhaustive for third party games but at least for the first party ones I've done my best to list as many as possible.
If you were ever wondering if Nintendo is running out of games on NES and SNES, you are mistaken.

Good stuff! Thanks for sharing. Still dozens they can add across the board, which makes sense given we can expect this to continue onto the successor even if the subscription continues to evolve.

 

[Dark Cloud]

If Nintendo get licenses from Microsoft, Konami, Capcom and Sega (companies who already have games on the service), then they could potentially more than double the current N64 total. It really depends if those companies and Nintendo are willing to play ball.

Having those companies on board would also be good for GB and GBA, too, because there are titles which are unlikely to get a release elsewhere, like the Sonic Advance trilogy.

Right. There’s so many games there. Who’s willing to work with each other on what games is the thing.

 

[HockeyBird]

I can see Sega holding onto the Sonic Advance games to release them in a collection at some point. Not saying they will but Sega does like its collections and they can only release the Genesis and Game Gear games so many times. So I can potentially see them not putting those games on NSO just so they have them in their back pocket if they decide to do a collection later.

 

[LuigiBlood]

Honestly my post might be a good threadmark. I'm adding also the list for the currently available games on the service with additional details.

 

[Smash Kirby]

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team

This was remade for the Switch.

 

[Josh5890]

Honestly my post might be a good threadmark. I'm adding also the list for the currently available games on the service with additional details.

 

[Weebos]

As a reminder I made a spreadsheet with every missing games that are mostly first party focused with some third party ones here and there to an extent.

Retro Switch Online App Missing Titles & Research

Page Map Page,Description Ideas,Basically a bunch of ideas, unhinged. Unreleased/Changed,Documents games that were changed in VC (outside of anti-epilepsy changes) Color Code,Explains the color coding in later pages Missing (NES),NES games that could be added (mostly first party) Missing (SNES),...

docs.google.com

It's by no means exhaustive for third party games but at least for the first party ones I've done my best to list as many as possible.
If you were ever wondering if Nintendo is running out of games on NES and SNES, you are mistaken.

EDIT:
Here's also a full spreadsheet of games currently available on the service, taking into account their IDs and other details:

Retro Switch Online App Game IDs

Codenames Codename,Description,Developer,Fun Facts LClassicsApp,Base Retro NSO App (lcla6),Latest N64 (UE) Build Date:,2.14.0,Fri, 10 Nov 2023 10:10:04 GMT,Rewind on SNES: Up to 40 save states LEX,Expansion NSO Apps,Latest N64 (J) Build Date:,2.14.0,Fri, 27 Oct 2023 10:21:11 GMT LClassics SE,Seg...

docs.google.com

This is great, thanks for tracking all this information.

 

[TomNookYankees]

As a reminder I made a spreadsheet with every missing games that are mostly first party focused with some third party ones here and there to an extent.

Retro Switch Online App Missing Titles & Research

Page Map Page,Description Ideas,Basically a bunch of ideas, unhinged. Unreleased/Changed,Documents games that were changed in VC (outside of anti-epilepsy changes) Color Code,Explains the color coding in later pages Missing (NES),NES games that could be added (mostly first party) Missing (SNES),...

docs.google.com

It's by no means exhaustive for third party games but at least for the first party ones I've done my best to list as many as possible.
If you were ever wondering if Nintendo is running out of games on NES and SNES, you are mistaken.

EDIT:
Here's also a full spreadsheet of games currently available on the service, taking into account their IDs and other details:

Retro Switch Online App Game IDs

Codenames Codename,Description,Developer,Fun Facts LClassicsApp,Base Retro NSO App (lcla6),Latest N64 (UE) Build Date:,2.14.0,Fri, 10 Nov 2023 10:10:04 GMT,Rewind on SNES: Up to 40 save states LEX,Expansion NSO Apps,Latest N64 (J) Build Date:,2.14.0,Fri, 27 Oct 2023 10:21:11 GMT LClassics SE,Seg...

docs.google.com

Thanks, gonna bookmark those.

A couple things:

• I thought Warioware Twisted used a single axis Gyroscope not an Accellrometer.
• SMRPG remake likely happened because Square Enix has allowed zero titles on NSO, which also likely prevents Mischief Makers from ever coming to NSO (published by Enix in japan)

 

[Tye]

I can see Sega holding onto the Sonic Advance games to release them in a collection at some point. Not saying they will but Sega does like its collections and they can only release the Genesis and Game Gear games so many times. So I can potentially see them not putting those games on NSO just so they have them in their back pocket if they decide to do a collection later.

When has SEGA ever released a collection of modern Sonic games, though? You’d think we’d have something like, say, a Sonic Adventure collection, Sonic Rush collection, Sonic Storybook collection, etc. by now, but no, SEGA seems completely uninterested in giving us collections (or even standalone rereleases, barring Colors: Ultimate) of any Sonic games beyond the classic Genesis games (and, rarely, the Game Gear games as well). Like, they released the Sonic Adventure games on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC ages ago and they seem to think that that’s good enough, so they don’t need to bother releasing them again (and fuck Nintendo players, I guess—they’re only the biggest audience for Sonic games, y’know, nothing significant or anything).

 

[julian]

Labo VR could use the Switch’s brightness sensor to tell whether or not you had the machine in the goggles or not, so clearly Nintendo CAN allow games to access that thing’s data. Therefore, Nintendo and Konami have the ability to do something extremely cool if they wanted!!!

Excellent point. That was going to be my next question, but I completely forgot Labo has a whole tutorial on how the light sensor works.

 

[TheQuietone]

You know it is funny but I noticed not just on this website but other places on the internet people keep forgetting that F Zero is still left of the GBA roadmap and think every game on the roadmap is released with Golden Sun next week. I think people were doing it for 1080 as well for the N64.

 

[Derachi]

You know it is funny but I noticed not just on this website but other places on the internet people keep forgetting that F Zero is still left of the GBA roadmap and think every game on the roadmap is released with Golden Sun next week. I think people were doing it for 1080 as well for the N64.

that’s very un-boost power-having of them

 

[Spikeylord]

It's once again time to update my graphic:

---

As we only have two announced games to look forward to for NSO (F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, and For the Frog the Bell Tolls in Japan), I figured now would be a good time to have up-to-date graphics showcasing the remaining potential first party libraries for every Nintendo console on NSO (similar to LuigiBlood's spreadsheet, but in visual form - and not including games that never came out):

Warning - Walls of Text approaching:

Spoiler: NES / Famicom / FDS

Titles that were on VC:

• Gomoku Narabe Renju (1983, Famicom) - was on Wii and Wii U VCs in Japan
• Donkey Kong Jr. Math (1983, Famicom/NES) - was on Wii VC (WW, except Korea) and Wii U VC (WW)
• Golf (1984, Famicom/NES/FDS) - was on Wii VC (WW, except Korea) and Wii U VC (WW), was also built into the Switch OS until firmware version 4.0.0, full remakes of all courses exist on Switch in Nintendo Switch Sports and 51 Worldwide Classics.
• Urban Champion (1984, Famicom/NES) - was on both Wii and Wii U VCs, not on 3DS VC due to 3D Classics: Urban Champion being there instead, arcade version on Switch via Arcade Archives
• Mach Rider (1985, Famicom/NES) - was on Wii VC (WW, except Korea), 3DS VC (WW, except Taiwan/HK) and Wii U VC (WW)
• Famicom Fairytales: Shin Onigashima - Both Disks (1987, FDS) - was on all three VCs in Japan
• Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir - Both Disks (1988, FDS) - was on all three VCs in Japan, full remake on Switch in 2021
• Famicom Detective Club Part II: The Girl Who Stands Behind - Both Disks (1989, FDS) - was on all three VCs in Japan, full remake on Switch in 2021
• NES Play Action Football (1990, NA NES) - was on Wii VC in NA
• Fire Emblem Gaiden (1992, Famicom) - was on all three VCs in Japan, full remake (Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia) on 3DS in 2017
• Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II (1994, NA NES) - was on both Wii and Wii U VC in the west
• Donkey Kong: Original Edition (2012, 3DS VC) - version of Donkey Kong that is closer to the arcade version made for 3DS VC (WW, except for Korea and TW/HK), erroneously shown on graphic as not being on VC

Titles that haven't been on VC:

• Mahjong (1983, Famicom/FDS) - arcade version on Switch via Arcade Archives
• 4 Player Strike Mahjong (1984, Famicom)
• F-1 Race (1984, Famicom) - potential rights issue over F1 name
• Golf: Japan Course (1987, FDS)
• Golf: US Course (1987, FDS)
• Famicom Grand Prix: F1 Race (1987, FDS) - potential rights issue over F1 name
• Famicom Grand Prix II: 3D Hot Rally (1988, FDS)
• Vs. Ice Climber (1988, FDS) - based on the arcade version, which is on Switch via Arcade Archives
• Kaettekita Mario Bros. (1988, FDS)
• Famicom Fairytales: Yuyuki - Both Disks (1989, FDS)
• Knight Move (1990, FDS)
• Backgammon (1990, FDS)
• New 4 Player Strike Mahjong: Yakuman Tengoku (1991, FDS)
• Time Twist: On the Outskirts of History... - Both Disks (1991, FDS) - this games questionable content might be reason why this won't rerelease
• Mario Bros. - Classic Series (1993, PAL NES)

Requires emulating a peripheral:

• Wild Gunman (1984, Famicom/NES) - requires NES Zapper emulation, was on Wii U VC
• Duck Hunt (1984, Famicom/NES) - requires NES Zapper emulation, was on Wii U VC
• Hogan's Alley (1984, Famicom/NES) - requires NES Zapper emulation, was on Wii U VC
• Family BASIC (1984, Famicom) - requires Famicom Keyboard emulation, is just a programming language/command line interface
• Family BASIC V3 (1985, Famicom) - requires Famicom Keyboard emulation, is just a programming language/command line interface
• Stack Up (1985, Famicom/NES) - requires R.O.B. emulation
• Gyromite (1985, Famicom/NES) - requires R.O.B. emulation
• Gumshoe (1985, NES) - requires NES Zapper emulation
• To The Earth (1989, NES) - requires NES Zapper emulation
• Short Order / Eggsplode! (1989, NA NES) - requires NES Power Pad emulation

Requires licensing:

• Popeye (1983, Famicom/NES) - Popeye copyright owned by King Features, enters the public domain in 2025, but King Features will still hold trademarks
• Popeye's English Fun (1983, Famicom) - Popeye copyright owned by King Features, enters the public domain in 2025, but King Features will still hold trademarks
• All Night Nippon Super Mario Bros. (1986, FDS) - Official romhack of Super Mario Bros. and The Lost Levels featuring the name of the Japanese late-night radio show All Night Nippon, and the likenesses of several of its cast members - rights owned by Fuji Television.
• Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (1987, Famicom/FDS) - The original NES version of Punch-Out!!, featuring the name and likeness of boxer Mike Tyson
• Nakayama Miho no Tokimeki High School (1987, FDS) - Features the name and likeness of pop idol Miho Nakayama, also would require recreating/replicating the real-life toll-free phone number conversations that the game reveals to help progress the story.
• Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic (1987, FDS) - Original version of Super Mario USA, features the name and mascots of the Yume Kojo '87 festival.
• Tetris (1989, Famicom/NES) - The Tetris Company
• Barker Bill's Trick Shooting (1990, NES) - Uses the IP of the first network television cartoon series, Barker Bill's Cartoon Show, of which the rights are owned by Paramount - also requires NES Zapper emulation
• Yoshi's Cookie (1992, Famicom/NES) - was on Wii VC but was delisted due to legal complications over ownership with Bullet-Proof Software.
• Mario is Missing! (1993) - edutainment game by Mindscape, rights likely belong to The Learning Company (TLC) now
• Tetris 2 (1993, Famicom/NES) - The Tetris Company
• Mario's Time Machine (1994) - edutainment game by Mindscape, rights likely belong to TLC now

Spoiler: SNES / Super Famicom

Titles that were on VC:

• Vegas Stakes (1993) - was on Wii and Wii U VCs in the west, might have an issue due to ESRB rules around depictions of gambling in video games
• Marvelous: Another Treasure Island (1996) - was on Wii U VC in Japan, also has multiple Satellaview versions not listed below
• Heisei Shin Onigashima - Both Disks (1997 on Nintendo Power, 1998 on standard SFC cartridge) - was on both Wii and Wii U VCs in Japan, based on Satellaview exclusive BS Shin Onigashima from 1996
• Sutte Hakkun (1997 on Satellaview, 1998 on Nintendo Power, 1999 on standard SFC cartridge) - was on both Wii and Wii U VCs in Japan, also has multiple Satellaview versions not listed below
• Wrecking Crew '98 (1998) - was on Wii U VC in Japan
• Famicom Detective Club Part II: The Girl Who Stands Behind (1998) - was on all three VCs in Japan, has a remake on Switch
• Super Famicom Wars (1998) - was on all three VCs in Japan
• Famicom Bunko: Hajimari no Mori (1999) - was on Wii and Wii U VCs in Japan
• Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 (2000) - was on all three VCs in Japan
• Metal Slader Glory: Director's Cut (2000) - was on Wii U VC in Japan

Titles that haven't been on VC:

• Super Play Action Football (1992)
• Ken Griffey Jr.'s Major League Baseball (1994)
• Tin Star (1994) - also supports SNES Mouse and Super Scope controls
• Super Mario All Stars + Super Mario World (1994) - features slight differences from standard SMAS and SMW
• Wario's Woods (1994) - NES version already on NSO
• Ken Griffey Jr.'s Winning Run (1996)
• Winter Gold (1996)
• Shigesato Itoi's No.1 Bass Fishing (1997) - also has a Satellaview version not shown below
• Zoo-tto Mahjong! (1998)
• Power Sokoban (1999)
• Picross NP Vol. 1 though Vol. 8 (1999 and 2000) - 8 Picross games condensed into one spot to save space (none received official box art due to only being released via the Nintendo Power cartridge)

Requires emulating a peripheral:

• Super Scope 6 (1992) - requires Super Scope emulation
• Mario Paint (1992) - requires SNES Mouse emulation
• Battle Clash / Space Bazooka (1992) - requires Super Scope emulation
• Yoshi's Safari (1993) - requires Super Scope emulation
• Mario & Wario (1993) - requires SNES Mouse emulation, also has multiple Satellaview versions not shown below
• Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge (1993) - requires Super Scope emulation

Requires licensing:

• SimCity (1991) - Joint project by Maxis and Nintendo, with Nintendo owning some rights; Maxis was acquired and dissolved into Electronic Arts, was on Wii VC before being delisted, also has a Satellaview version
• Mario is Missing! (1993) - edutainment game by Mindscape, rights likely belong to The Learning Company (TLC) now
• Mario's Time Machine (1993) - edutainment game by Mindscape, rights likely belong to TLC now
• Mario's Early Years: Fun with Numbers (1994) - edutainment game by Mindscape, rights likely belong to TLC now
• Mario's Early Years: Fun with Letters (1994) - edutainment game by Mindscape, rights likely belong to TLC now
• Mario's Early Years: Preschool Fun (1994) - edutainment game by Mindscape, rights likely belong to TLC now
• Uniracers / Unirally (1994) - subject to litigation by Pixar in the 90's over the use of a computer generated Unicycle, was pulled from shelves due to Pixar winning the lawsuit, would likely still require Disney approval to this day
• Tetris 2 (1994) - The Tetris Company
• Tetris & Dr. Mario (1994) - The Tetris Company, the Dr. Mario port later got Satellaview and Nintendo Power releases
• UNDAKE 30 Same Game - Mario Version (1995) - Konami (via acquisition of Hudson Soft)
• Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996) - Squaresoft, later Square-Enix, remade on Switch
• Tetris Attack (1996) - the Tetris Company doesn't like the name being associated with this game, we got the original Panel de Pon on NSO instead, Panel de Pon also has multiple Satellaview versions not shown below

Satellaview (would likely require either ROM editing to rectify missing SoundLink data or emulating SoundLink - plus re-licensing music):

• BS The Legend of Zelda (1995) - Remake of Zelda 1, also has a second versions called BS The Legend of Zelda - MAP 2; these are sometimes colloquially referred to as Third Quest and Fourth Quest respectively
• Satella-Q (1995-1999)
• Special Tee Shot / BS Special Tee Shot (1996) - The original version of Kirby's Dream Course, had a Satellaview release under its original title
• Kirby's Toy Box (1996)
• Konae-chan no DokiDoki Penguin Kazoku (1996)
• BS F-ZERO Grand Prix (1996) - Satellaview version of F-ZERO with 4 extra tracks
• BS Detective Club: Memories Lost to the Snow (1997)
• BS The Legend of Zelda: Ancient Stone Tablets (1997)
• Excitebike Bun-Bun Mario Battle Stadium (1997)
• R no Shosai (1997)
• BS F-ZERO Grand Prix 2 (1997)
• BS Fire Emblem: Archanea Saga (1997) - Extra maps set in the world of Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem's second act, later remade alongside said second act on NDS as Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem ~Heroes of Light and Shadow~
• Satellawalker (1997)
• Satellawalker 2 (1998)

Spoiler: N64

Titles that were on VC:

• Cruis'n USA (1996) - was on Wii VC in the west
• Super Smash Bros. (1999) - was on Wii VC
• Donkey Kong 64 (1999) - was on Wii U VC

Titles that haven't been on VC:

• Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside (1998)
• Major League Baseball featuring Ken Griffey Jr. (1998)
• Cruis'n World (1998)
• Pocket Monsters Stadium (1998) - Worse version of the later Pokémon Stadium
• Ken Grifffey Jr's Slugfest (1999)
• NBA Courtside 2 featuring Kobe Bryant (1999)
• Shigesato Itoi's No. 1 Bass Fishing: Definitive Edition (2000) - also supported the Tsuri Con Fishing Controller
• Cruis'n Exotica (2000) - not published by Nintendo, but owned by them
• Dōbutsu no Mori / Animal Forest (2001) - later ported to GCN as Animal Crossing
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest (2002, GCN) - The remains of the fabled Ura Zelda, ported to GCN via emulation as part of a double pack with base Ocarina of Time; and sometimes bundled with Wind Waker.
• Panel de Pon 64 (2003, GCN) - Unreleased on N64, was converted into Pokémon Puzzle League for the west, later released as part of Nintendo Puzzle Collection on GCN (alongside the also unreleased JP version of Dr. Mario 64, and a new remake of Yoshi's Cookie)

Requires licensing:

• Tetrisphere (1997) - The Tetris Company
• The New Tetris (1999) - The Tetris Company

Requires emulating a peripheral:

• Hey You, Pikachu! (1998) - requires N64 Microphone emulation
• Mario no Photopi (1998) - requires SmartMedia card emulation

64DD titles:

• Randnet (2000) - The Online service for 64DD
• Mario Artist: Paint Studio (1999)
• Doshin the Giant (1999) - ported to GCN, including EU release
• Mario Artist: Talent Studio (2000)
• F-ZERO X: Expansion Kit (2000)
• Doshin the Giant: Tinkling Toddler Liberation Front! Assemble! (2000) - Expansion disk for Doshin the Giant
• Mario Artist: Communication Kit (2000)
• Mario Artist: Polygon Studio (2000)

Spoiler: Game Boy / Game Boy Color

Titles that were on VC (all on 3DS VC):

• Alleyway (1989, GB)
• Baseball (1989, GB) - NES version on NSO, Vs. Baseball on Arcade Archives
• Super Mario Land (1989, GB)
• Tennis (1989, GB) - NES version on NSO, Vs. Tennis on Arcade Archives
• Golf (1989, GB) - NES version used to be in firmware of Switch OS, Vs. Golf on Arcade Archives
• Dr. Mario (1990, GB) - NES version on NSO
• Radar Mission (1990, GB)
• Balloon Kid (1990, GB) - West only
• Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters (1991, GB)
• Kirby's Pinball Land (1993, GB)
• Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (1994, GB)
• Donkey Kong (1994, GB) - NES version on NSO, arcade version on Arcade Archives
• Mario's Picross (1995, GB)
• Donkey Kong Land (1995, GB)
• Kirby's Block Ball (1995, GB)
• Pocket Monsters Red (1996, GB) - JP only
• Pocket Monsters Green (1996, GB) - JP only
• Mole Mania (1996, GB)
• Yoshi no Panepon (1996, GB) - JP only
• Donkey Kong Land 2 (1996, GB)
• Pocket Monsters Blue (1996, GB) - JP only
• Picross 2 (1996, GB) - JP only
• Kirby's Star Stacker (1997, GB)
• Game & Watch Gallery (1997, GB)
• Game Boy Gallery 2 (1997, GB) - JP only, later released as Game & Watch Gallery 2 on GBC
• Donkey Kong Land III (1997, GB) - West only
• Pokémon Red Version (1998, GB) - West only
• Pokémon Blue Version (1998, GB) - West only
• Pokémon Yellow Version (1998, GB)
• Wario Land II (1998, GBC)
• Game & Watch Gallery 2 (1998, GBC) - West only
• Super Mario Bros. Deluxe (1999, GBC)
• Mario Golf (1999, GBC)
• Pokémon Gold Version (1999, GBC)
• Pokémon Silver Version (1999, GBC)
• Donkey Kong GB: Dinky Kong & Dixie Kong (2000, GBC) - JP only, GBC JP only version of Donkey Kong Land III
• Trade & Battle: Card Hero (2000, GBC) - JP only
• Pokémon Puzzle Challenge (2000, GBC) - West only
• Mario Tennis (2000, GBC)
• Pokémon Crystal Version (2000, GBC)

Titles that haven't been on VC:

• SolarStriker (1990, GB)
• F-1 Race (1990, GB) - potential issues over the F-1 name
• Play Action Football (1990, GB)
• Game Boy Wars (1991, GB)
• Yoshi / Mario & Yoshi (1991, GB)
• X / Lunar Chase (1992, GB) - Lunar Chase is the name of the unreleased, but completed western version of this game
• Wave Race (1992, GB)
• Magnetic Soccer (1992, GB)
• Top Rank Tennis (1993, GB)
• The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (1993, GB) - DX version on NSO already
• Game Boy Gallery (1995, PAL GB) - The original Game & Watch collection on GB, before Game & Watch Gallery
• Game Boy Wars TURBO (1997, GB)
• Ken Griffey Jr. presents Major League Baseball (1997, GB)
• Wario Land II (1998, GB) - GBC version has been on VC
• Game Boy Wars 2 (1998, GBC)
• Pokémon Pinball (1999, GBC)
• Ken Griffey Jr.'s Slugfest (1999, GBC)
• NBA 3 on 3 featuring Kobe Bryant (1999, GBC)
• Warlocked (2000, NA GBC)
• Donkey Kong Country (2000, GBC) - SNES version on NSO
• Kakurenbo Battle: Monster Tactics (2000, GBC)
• Pocket Soccer (2001, PAL GBC)
• Pokémon Card GB2: Here Comes Team Great Rocket! (2001, GBC) - incorrectly shown in the "Requires licensing" section
• Game Boy Wars 3 (2001, GBC)

Requires emulating a peripheral:

• Game Boy Camera (1998, GB) - requires Camera emulation (duh...)
• Mobile Trainer (2001, GBC) - requires Mobile Adapter GB emulation
• Mobile Golf (2001, GBC) - requires Mobile Adapter GB emulation

Requires licensing:

• Yoshi's Cookie (1992, GB) - Legal limbo with BPS and another rightsholder, NES version got pulled from VC
• Tetris 2 (1993, GB) - The Tetris Company
• Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman! (1994, GB) - Bomberman owned by Konami
• Tetris Attack (1996, GB) - The Tetris Company doesn't like this game's name, we might get Yoshi no Panepon instead due to this
• James Bond 007 (1998, GB) - It's complicated... But they managed to get it to work for Goldeneye 007 at least...
• Tetris DX (1998, GBC) - The Tetris Compant, non-DX version already on NSO
• Disney's Beauty and the Beast: A Board Game Adventure (1999, GBC) - Disney
• Tottoko Hamtaro: Operation Friend (2000, GBC) - Shogakukan Inc.
• Disney's The Little Mermaid II: Pinball Frenzy (2000, GBC) - Disney
• Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland (2000, GBC) - Disney
• Kaijin Zona (2000, GBC) - based on a TV Tokyo show, featuring the names and likenesses of the real life actors
• Hamtaro: Ham-Hams Unite! (2001, GBC) - Shogakukan Inc.

Spoiler: Game Boy Advance

Titles that were on VC (all on Wii U VC):

• L'Aigle de Guerre / Napoleon (2001) - JP only
• Wario Land 4 (2001) - also given out as a 3DS Ambassador title
• Advance Wars (2001) - West only, full remake on Switch in 2023
• Magical Vacation (2001) - JP only
• Tomato Adventure (2002) - JP only
• Densetsu no Starfy (2002) - JP only
• Game & Watch Gallery 4 (2002)
• Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land (2002)
• Kuruin Paradise (2002) - JP only
• Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising (2003) - West only, full remake on Switch in 2023
• Pokémon Pinball: Ruby and Sapphire (2003)
• Densetsu no Starfy 2 (2003) - JP only
• F-ZERO GP Legend (2003)
• Metroid Zero Mission (2004)
• Mario Golf: Advance Tour (2004)
• Mario vs. Donkey Kong (2004) - Full remake on Switch in 2024, also given out as a 3DS Ambassador title
• Densetsu no Starfy 3 (2004) - JP only
• Mario Pinball Land / Super Mario Ball (2004)
• Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (2004) - also given out as a 3DS Ambassador title
• F-ZERO Climax (2004) - JP only
• Game Boy Wars Advance 1+2 (2004) - JP only
• Mario Party Advance (2005)
• Sennen Kazoku (2005) - JP only
• DK: King of Swing (2005)
• Mario Tennis: Power Tour / Mario Power Tennis (2005)
• Drill Dozer (2005)
• Polarium Advance (2005)
• Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team (2005) - Full remake on Switch in 2020
• Mother 3 (2006) - JP only

Titles that haven't been on VC:

• Dokodemo Taikyoku: Yakuman Advance (2001)
• Koro Koro Puzzle Happy Panechu! (2002)
• Sakura Momoko no Ukiuki Carnival (2002)
• Custom Robo GX (2002)
• Pokémon Ruby Version (2002)
• Pokémon Sapphire Version (2002)
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Four Swords (2002)
• Donkey Kong Country (2003) - SNES version on NSO
• Mother 1+2 (2003)
• Pokémon FireRed Version (2004)
• Pokémon LeafGreen Version (2004)
• Pokémon GBA Video: For Ho-Oh the Bells Toll! (2004)
• Pokémon GBA Video: Johto Photo Finish (2004)
• Donkey Kong Country 2 (2004) - SNES version on NSO
• Pokémon Emerald Version (2004)
• Pokémon GBA Video: Pokémon-I Choose You! (2004)
• Pokémon GBA Video: Beach Blank-Out Blastoise (2004)
• Dr. Mario and Puzzle League (2005)
• Donkey Kong Country 3 (2005) - SNES version on NSO
• Calciobit (2006)
• bit.Generations: Boundish (2006)
• bit.Generations: Dialhex (2006)
• bit.Generations: Dotstream (2006)
• bit.Generations: Coloris (2006)
• bit.Generations: Digidrive (2006)
• bit.Generations: Orbital (2006)
• bit.Generations: Soundvoyager (2006)
• Rhythm Tengoku (2006)

Requires emulating a peripheral:

• WarioWare: Twisted! (2004) - requires accelerometer emulation
• Yoshi: Topsy-Turvy / Yoshi's Universal Gravitation (2004) - requires accelerometer emulation
• Play-Yan (2005) - requires MP3 and SD card support
• Nintendo MP3 Player (2005) - requires MP3 and SD card support

Requires licensing:

• Domo-Kun no Fushigi Terebi (2002) - Japan Broadcasting Corporation / NHK
• Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak (2002) - Shogakukan Inc.
• Hamtaro: Rainbow Rescue (2003) - Shogakukan Inc.
• Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Games (2004) - Shogakukan Inc.
• Eyeshield 21: Devilbats Devildays (2006) - Shueisha

Classic NES Series (all released in 2004) - this would be double emulation if brought across:

• Classic NES Series: Super Mario Bros
• Classic NES Series: Donkey Kong
• Classic NES Series: Ice Climber
• Classic NES Series: Excitebike
• Classic NES Series: The Legend of Zelda
• Classic NES Series: Dr. Mario
• Famicom Mini: Mario Bros.
• Famicom Mini: Clu Clu Land
• Famicom Mini: Balloon Fight
• Famicom Mini: Wrecking Crew
• Classic NES Series: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
• Classic NES Series: Metroid
• Famicom Mini: Super Mario Bros. 2
• Famicom Mini: The Mysterious Murasame Castle
• Famicom Mini: Kid Icarus
• Famicom Mini: Shin Onigashima - Both Disks
• Famicom Mini: Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir - Both Disks
• Famicom Mini: Famicom Detective Club Part II: The Girl Who Stands Behind - Both Disks

e-Reader:

• Baseball-e (2002) - NES Baseball
• Donkey Kong Jr.-e (2002) - NES DK Jr.
• Donkey Kong 3-e (2003) - NES DK3
• Golf-e (2003) - NES Golf
• Pinball-e (2002) - NES Pinball
• Tennis-e (2002) - NES Tennis
• Urban Champion-e (2002) - NES Urban Champion
• Mario Party-e (2003) - requires a physical board to play, could be made to work with a digital copy of the board
• Air Hockey-e (2002)
• Game & Watch Collection: Manhole-e (2002) - G&W Manhole
• FoxBox Kirby Slide Puzzle (2003)
• Pikmin 2-e (2004)

 

[LuigiBlood]

Really nice post @Spikeylord , just one correction: Mobile Golf does not require Mobile Adapter GB emulation. It is also playable alone with link cable I believe. The online stuff is for DLCs (yep, and they could hack the ROM to include that content from the get go) and tournaments.

 

[Josh5890]

@Spikeylord Thank you as always!

Looking at that GB/GBC and GBA charts, there is still so much potential with those apps. Even if you ignore the mainline Pokemon games, there is still a ton of first party content that we are waiting on.

 

[Brofield]

I didn't know about the Custom Robo GX GBA game, but it appears it was Japan-only, and I imagine suffers the same issue as Custom Robo V1 and V2 on N64 NSO app as just being dense walls of text that are too costly to translate for the West

 

[Derachi]

PREDICTION

this is an NES and/or SNES and/or GB drop week

moonshot: Genesis/Mega Drive drop week?

 

[shoptroll]

@Spikeylord You could probably put Kung Fu / Spartan-X in the "Requires Licensing" for NES as that was an Irem title that Nintendo licensed and ported to NES.

Unrelated, GVG put up a nice little video recently about NSO's value proposition (mostly relating to the retro library):

 

[fiendcode]

moonshot: Genesis/Mega Drive drop week?

God, please, I'm dying here. CD/SVP asap!

And then throw Konami that fat royalty for PCE.

 

[TheQuietone]

PREDICTION

this is an NES and/or SNES and/or GB drop week

moonshot: Genesis/Mega Drive drop week?

I wish I had your confidence/hope because I expect no NSO games until February.

 

[Spikeylord]

@Spikeylord You could probably put Kung Fu / Spartan-X in the "Requires Licensing" for NES as that was an Irem title that Nintendo licensed and ported to NES.

I've specifically avoided third party video game franchises that Nintendo has published, because they've published literally hundreds of them. The only third party video game franchises that are included are:

• Tetris - due to the unique quirks of licensing for older Tetris games, and how Tetris even came to the west to begin with.
• Sim City - Specifically the SNES and 64DD versions (although SimCity 64 isn't on the graphics yet, but it should be) - due to Nintendo co-owning the rights to these specific games, and a lot of the content within them (Dr. Wright for example)
• Bomberman - but only because Wario Blast has Bomberman in it, Nintendo published Bomberman games are still not be included.

Just some examples of other games that would be included in the "Needs Licencing" if you extended the umbrella to anything Nintendo published:

• NES/FC/FDS - Kung Fu, Ginga no Sannin, Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy I, Nintendo World Cup, Faxanadu, 10-Yard Fight, Mega Man 2-6, Boulder Dash, Pac-Man, a crap ton of Rare games.
• SNES/SFC - Killer Instinct, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Space Invaders, Arkanoid, Illusion of Gaia, Super R-Type, Bubsy, Lufia, Terranigma, Secret of Mana, Plok!, Mega Man X
• N64 - Command and Conquer 64, StarCraft 64, Shiren the Wanderer 2, Mischief Makers, Glover, Snowboard Kids, F-1 World Grand Prix I/II
• GB/GBC - Qix, KoF '95, Kwirk, Wizards & Warirors X, Mystic Quest, Bionic Commando: Elite Forces, Crystallis, Shadowgate Classic
• GBA - Tales of Phantasia, Sword of Mana, Final Fantasy I & II/IV/V/VI, Top Gear Rally, Dynasty Warriors Advance, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

And the above is by no means an exhaustive list - even just for those five platforms; at that point, it's a massive stretch to call these "first party Nintendo" titles. I think the graphic is far better suited without these included - besides the aforementioned exceptions, and I don't think Kung Fu - a Nintendo made home port of someone else's game - is really exceptional enough in its circumstances to be included as an exception.

 

[Mer.Saloon]

Of the licensed list, I'm still surprised we haven't gotten Garoyle's Quest 2 on NES. Like, we have the prequel and sequel, but not the middle game.

 

[Pineapple Pizza]

I'm 35 hours deep into Fire Emblem on GBA. What a game! It's certainly heavy on the plot and dialogue, but after Lyn's story it picks up pace and twists and turns and oh it's so addictive. I haven't really figured out affinities (I currently have a very meagre 1% success rate) but I seem to be doing well otherwise. Thanks to the unique... Ahem... features of emulation nobody has perma-died, which does mean a hefty amount of rotation and trading among units between battles.

Fingers crossed the Sacred Stones drops in the future. And what about Final Fantasy Tactics? Unlikely given the Square no-show but this has proper scratched the itch. I love how the games look with the classic filter applied and I'm sure this would look stunning on a large display.

Agree with Jon's sentiments in the linked video above: NSO is now a good value proposition, especially if you can split the cost with family and friends. I'm only splitting a family sub 3-ways but I still feel I'm getting me money's worth.

 

[Barely Able]

God, please, I'm dying here. CD/SVP asap!

And then throw Konami that fat royalty for PCE.

Remember when we saw the CD games coming to the Genesis Mini 2 and thought it was certain to mean they were coming to NSO? The good old days of our ignorant youth…

 

[bixente]

 

[Mer.Saloon]

So with the current news; what's the timeline for a flood of Rare, and Activision's NES, SNES, and GBA catalogue start coming in, along with the N64 games we've been getting?

 

[Dinoman96]

So with the current news; what's the timeline for a flood of Rare, and Activision's NES, SNES, and GBA catalogue start coming in, along with the N64 games we've been getting?

I do feel confident that we'll see most, if not all of Rare's N64 stuff on NSO at some point, Jet Force Gemini of all games being added convinced me that. Only problem though is that I think Nintendo may want to milk that as long as they can.

But yeah, they really should do something about their handheld and NES catalogue, as well as Killer Instinct on SNES.

 

[JazzyFuture]

Happy(?) 1 year anniversary of F-Zero Maximum Velocity being announced for GBA NSO and still not being here!

 

[Josh5890]

Happy(?) 1 year anniversary of F-Zero Maximum Velocity being announced for GBA NSO and still not being here!

There were 451 days from when 1080 Snowboarding was announced in the roadmap to when it was released. Can F-Zero break the record?

 

[JazzyFuture]

There were 451 days from when 1080 Snowboarding was announced in the roadmap to when it was released. Can F-Zero break the record?

I certainly hope not! Regardless of if that happens, but especially if it does break the record, I hope that GP Legend and Climax are released alongside it.
I don't want to wait much longer for only the worst GBA F-Zero.

 

[TomNookYankees]

So with the current news; what's the timeline for a flood of Rare, and Activision's NES, SNES, and GBA catalogue start coming in, along with the N64 games we've been getting?

If you mean put on NSO, not too likely.

Much more likely i that Microsoft and Rare, knowing full well how many nintendo fans are also Rare fans, will bring Rare Replay to E-shop.

It's similar to how Sega likes to make sure to put their Sonic games on Switch because they (correctly) identify that a lot of nintendo fans are also sonic fans.

 

[JazzyFuture]

If you mean put on NSO, not too likely.

Much more likely i that Microsoft and Rare, knowing full well how many nintendo fans are also Rare fans, will bring Rare Replay to E-shop.

I wish, but that'd basically be impossible.
The ZX Spectrum, Arcade, NES and N64 games that are emulated (Conker, KI Gold, Jet Force Gemini and Blast Corps) and Grabbed by the Ghoulies aren't really the issue here though. Like half of Rare Replay exists due to being backwards compatible 360 games. This includes the XBLA versions of Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie and Perfect Dark, and then of course all the native 360 games like Jetpac Reloaded, Nuts & Bolts, Viva Pinata, etc.
For that to work on Switch they would need to natively port 9 Xbox 360 games, or they could just get Nintendo to throw Banjo-Tooie's rom on NSO and call it a day. Most of Rare Replay's work was basically incidental. The biggest thing it did was natively port Ghoulies to Xbox One.

 

[TomNookYankees]

I wish, but that'd basically be impossible.
The ZX Spectrum, Arcade, NES and N64 games that are emulated (Conker, KI Gold, Jet Force Gemini and Blast Corps) and Grabbed by the Ghoulies aren't really the issue here though. Like half of Rare Replay exists due to being backwards compatible 360 games. This includes the XBLA versions of Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie and Perfect Dark, and then of course all the native 360 games like Jetpac Reloaded, Nuts & Bolts, Viva Pinata, etc.
For that to work on Switch they would need to natively port 9 Xbox 360 games, or they could just get Nintendo to throw Banjo-Tooie's rom on NSO and call it a day. Most of Rare Replay's work was basically incidental. The biggest thing it did was natively port Ghoulies to Xbox One.

Natively porting those games would take effort but would likely be worth it for Rare similar to how Sega found it worth getting Sonic Frontiers to work on Switch.

 

[JazzyFuture]

Natively porting those games would take effort but would likely be worth it for Rare similar to how Sega found it worth getting Sonic Frontiers to work on Switch.

Yeah but that's porting one game. Try porting 9, all made with code that's at least 15 years old at this point and possibly not preserved. There's a reason they haven't even ported these to PC, and Rare didn't even do the XBLA remasters of Kazooie, Tooie and Perfect Dark, they were done by 4J Studios.
I could see them maybe doing a few titles like porting the 360 Banjo games to Switch, but not all at once.

 

[BlackthornOrion]

how are we all feeling about an update tonight? 'Bout 2 hours before the usual NSO drop time

 

[TomNookYankees]

how are we all feeling about an update tonight? 'Bout 2 hours before the usual NSO drop time

checks Pyoro_X on twitter

0% chance.

 

[shoptroll]

DK Jr. platinum points mission? Reallllly?

 

[SeafoamGaming]

yeah i dunno. I don't buy the partner direct rumor for next week and call fake on it but on the other hand I can't think of much Nintendo could reveal for Switch 1... Besides a NSO roadmap or mention of something lol. N64 is dried up like a well save for DKC/Smash 64 (and whatever Rare wants to put out) but GBA has more than enough for another roadmap if they want to make one.

I guess tho they could mention Sega CD/Genesis/PCE stuff in a partners, but otherwise I can't fathom this month just coming with only a crappy GBA racer and nothing else. There's also that Frog game Japan is slated to get at some point in the future, and then they're fully caught up on GB titles... So a NES-GB update would be nice at least. Still kinda amazed Genesis hasn't been updated in a while but I'm guessing still it's because M2 are busy with Toaplan, or the unfortunate, more likely reality that they dropped updates because barely anyone played the Genesis catalog. (the same reason they quit GG VC on 3DS and Sega Ages so early).

Still hoping it's because they're busy with PCE/CD/something else though. I loathe the fact that people kept dunking on the Genesis NSO because of the Genesis Classics set, even though it has abhorrent input lag and pixel scaling to the point I cannot understand why anyone would play that and feel like it's remotely OK. NSO Genesis is literal perfection!

 

[JazzyFuture]

I guess tho they could mention Sega CD/Genesis/PCE stuff in a partners, but otherwise I can't fathom this month just coming with only a crappy GBA racer and nothing else.

Hey, that crappy GBA racer is better than the GBA racer that's already on there at least and better than the game they used to make the 99 version.
I also imagine it'd come with the really good GBA racers, cause they like dropping multiple GBA games in a series at once, so there's that for the "nothing else".
They could also just start pulling out games not previously announced to drop like they usually do for NES, SNES and GB/C.

 

[JesusSaves7]

An interesting idea I had concerning the service would be to incentivise suscriptions while also charging for games from the GameCube, Wii, DS and 3DS.

Being subscribed to the service would allow you to buy games from these platforms at a discounted price. You can buy them separately at full price though.
I think it's a great value proposition, and it still ties together the NSO subscription.