Nintendo Switch 2 needs to do one crucial thing

Conversation is ramping up over the Nintendo Switch 2 as it appears that Nintendo itself is preparing a showcase to finally unveil the console. While so many have discussed what they want from the hardware, I’d like to see Nintendo as a whole adapt to the modern gaming market and start to distribute ways to play their legacy titles.

Over the past few years, with the advent of Nintendo Switch Online and its retro catalogue, we’ve begun to receive official ways of playing old Nintendo games. However, the company only supports up to the N64 era, currently. It’s been great to play through games like Super Mario Bros 3 and Super Mario 64, but there are still so many games that are incredibly difficult to play without spending big money on retro hardware and software.

For example, taking the conversation over to The Legend of Zelda, if you want to play Wind Waker, you’ll either need a GameCube or a Wii U and then pay around £30-40 for a copy of the game. Which is fine, but these games, and working hardware, are in limited supply. What would help is Nintendo either bringing these games, focusing on their best-selling franchises, to the Nintendo Switch Online catalogue, or re-releasing them as remasters.

Of course, both of these options cost money, however, I’d argue that the release of the games onto the subscription service would not only be the cheaper option, but it would also drive up the subscription base. Were the company to announce that the Switch 2 is coming with a new version of Nintendo Switch Online that features GameCube, Wii, and Wii U, I could see millions of fans happy to sign up, if only to play these classics again.

More so if they double down and find a way to bring us select DS and 3DS entries, too. I recently bought an old 3DS XL after selling my original console many years ago. The aim was to collect several series - Pokémon, Zelda, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, and a bunch of other RPGs that I loved. I’ve managed to grab a few bargains here and there but, as most of us know, retro collecting isn’t cheap, plus you can never guarantee the game is going to work.

Now we live in an age where digital distribution is not simply the norm, but something many folks use actively, there shouldn’t be any reason to hold back from redistributing these older games on modern hardware. I’m sure millions of players would happily pay out a little for the chance to experience their old favourites again, particularly when it comes to classics from Nintendo.

There’s a bigger discussion to be had about game preservation, and one regarding profiting from nostalgia. I’m sure many reading this would say that if Nintendo were to remaster Wind Waker, they’d charge a premium price for it. Those people would be right, but better to have the option than not, surely? There’s no reason that this would have to be capped to Nintendo Switch 2, but the new hardware is a terrific excuse to announce more support - the new console can usher in a new attitude to how Nintendo both views these games, and embraces them.