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NWR Interactive => TalkBack => Topic started by: Shaymin on April 02, 2025, 06:23:00 AM

Title: Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack Adding Switch 2 Exclusive GameCube Library
Post by: Shaymin on April 02, 2025, 06:23:00 AM

Three PRICY RPGs in the "coming soon" pile.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/70550/nintendo-switch-online-expansion-pack-adding-switch-2-exclusive-gamecube-library

It was already confirmed that Nintendo Switch Online would carry over to Switch 2, but it will bring a new library with it.

Expansion Pack subscribers will get access to a library of GameCube games on June 5 (launch day). The first three games in the library will be The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, F-Zero GX, and Soul Calibur 2 - the latter offering 4 player local and online support.

Listed as "coming soon" were:

A NSO GameCube-shaped wireless controller (with an added C button on the top for Switch 2 support) will be sold beginning on June 5.

Title: Re: Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack Adding Switch 2 Exclusive GameCube Library
Post by: stevey on April 03, 2025, 08:13:51 PM
Hopefully this will breath new life into the Chibi-Robo IP
Title: Re: Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack Adding Switch 2 Exclusive GameCube Library
Post by: broodwars on April 03, 2025, 10:30:11 PM
I would be very interested to see if Nintendo suddenly remembers they own Eternal Darkness when it comes to adding GameCube games to that service, not to mention several other obscure GameCube 3rd party gems like Lost Kingdoms 1 & 2.
Title: Re: Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack Adding Switch 2 Exclusive GameCube Library
Post by: NWR_insanolord on April 03, 2025, 11:18:31 PM
Quote from: broodwars on April 03, 2025, 10:30:11 PM
I would be very interested to see if Nintendo suddenly remembers they own Eternal Darkness when it comes to adding GameCube games to that service, not to mention several other obscure GameCube 3rd party gems like Lost Kingdoms 1 & 2.

Based on some of the stuff they've put on the N64 service, I'd say weird, obscure **** is probably also on the table here.
Title: Re: Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack Adding Switch 2 Exclusive GameCube Library
Post by: Luigi Dude on April 04, 2025, 01:57:53 PM
Quote from: NWR_insanolord on April 03, 2025, 11:18:31 PM
Quote from: broodwars on April 03, 2025, 10:30:11 PM
I would be very interested to see if Nintendo suddenly remembers they own Eternal Darkness when it comes to adding GameCube games to that service, not to mention several other obscure GameCube 3rd party gems like Lost Kingdoms 1 & 2.

Based on some of the stuff they've put on the N64 service, I'd say weird, obscure **** is probably also on the table here.

Yeah the Gamecube will have a lot more stuff to choose from as well since it had much better third party support.  Lots of crazy stuff from that era from niche franchises that died after that generation, so getting the rights shouldn't be too expensive for Nintendo either.

Like think about a company like Capcom who published a lot of stuff on the Gamecube, but has only remastered RE Remake, RE Zero, and RE4 since then.  I wouldn't be surprised if all 3 Viewtiful Joe games, Gotcha Force, Mega Man Battle Network Transmission, Mega Man X Command Mission, P.N.03 and Killer 7 all find there way on here since Capcom isn't doing anything with them.

Actually I wouldn't be surprised if all the Gamecube Resident Evil games show up on here.  They've put the original version of the Turok game on the N64 app despite them having remasters also on the Switch.  I have to imagine at the very least Nintendo will work out a deal to get Resident Evil 4 on here since they know it's literally one of the most popular games on the system, especially for hardcore crowd that's paying for the expansion pack in the first place.
Title: Re: Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack Adding Switch 2 Exclusive GameCube Library
Post by: Caterkiller on April 07, 2025, 01:15:34 AM
I don't have evidence, but I always equated Soul Caliber II with killing off F-Zero. Or at least put it into that coma it only recently awakened from.

These 2 games released within days of each other. And trust me, allllllllllllllllll the hype went to Soul Caliber. We were starved of a realistic Link due to the Space World Zelda demo filling our head with dreams and and ending up with Wind Waker. The promise of realistic Link in this amazing fighting game series coming to Nintendo was the talk of the town. Soul Caliber changed my life so I am far more grateful for it than I am slightly resentful hehehe.

I find it so funny that of the 3 games launching the Gamecube on NSO, all 3 are entwined in the fall of F-Zero.

Granted I understand there are a million aspects that COULD HAVE equated to GX underperforming. Lack of online, marketing, etc. Whatever. The fact is I was there Nintendo World Report. We were all there. We know the truth...

Title: Re: Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack Adding Switch 2 Exclusive GameCube Library
Post by: Khushrenada on April 07, 2025, 06:39:39 AM
Yeah, Soul Caliber 2 was big and the GC version was very popular with having Link. But it was the GBA and F-Zero GP Legend that I think was more of a factor as it seems to have tanked hard in sales at the time. As for GX, I've brought up my personal experience with it a few times but, to repeat it once more, I think it was a game that people didn't connect with at first and took some time to come around to. It made a bad impression on my the first time I played it with the cheesy story and combined difficulty. It took time to learn the courses and how to control the racing craft in the game. It wasn't as easy to jump into compared to something like Mario Kart (or Soul Caliber 2 perhaps ;) ). I bailed on the game an hour after trying it out for the first time renting it. It was a few years later that I came back to it around the time the Wii was releasing or close to it. Picked up a used copy for cheap (like 15-20 dollars or so). This time, I was willing to give it more of a chance having had some more experience with the series due to the SNES game, oddly enough. This time, by be willing to take some time to get gud, I found myself hooked and addicted to the game and it remains one of my all-time favorite games. I came around to embracing the goofiness of the whole thing and the challenge it presented made the races in it some of the most tense and heart-pumping gaming experiences I've ever had. That careful precision needed for when just to turn, how much boost power to keep using and having your craft right on the edge of exploding was such a thrill. But it wasn't something a player would likely experience right away which I think is also why it took time for F-Zero GX to develop better word of mouth and create a cult following in which people finally began wanting a new 3D experience to follow up what GX started many years after GX first came out.

I'm very curious to see what the reactions to GX might be now 22 years later by many people who will likely be playing it for the first time. Will people be willing to meet it on its terms and accept the learning curve it asks of them? Or will they also bounce off it because of that or the dated and silly looking CGI of the story? I doubt there's going to be a rewind function and save states can probably only do so much to mitigate the difficulty. It will require practice and developing the muscle memory for the courses and how to control the vehicles. Also curious whether the game will work with the new Switch 2 controllers or if it will require the GameCube controller accessory? One reason I felt that has held back a lot of GameCube games from being re-released was the L and R triggers of the GameCube controller. They had two functions. You could sort of half-press them as the sensors would recognize that input or hard-press and click them down for a second input. Controllers after that never bothered with that dual-sensor. At least that's been my understanding. For F-Zero GX, those L and R triggers were important to the nuances of being able to race well particularly in cornering as they had to do with causing the craft to slide left or right on the racetracks.

Still I'm glad to see it's finally getting dusted off and re-released to the world. Hopefully it will lead to a new 3D entry in the series. Heck, Donkey Kong is finally getting his second 3D game after an even longer wait from DK64's release and Kirby's getting a new Air Ride game when even less people were asking for that. So, there's still hope for F-Zero to make a triumphant return as well.
Title: Re: Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack Adding Switch 2 Exclusive GameCube Library
Post by: Ian Sane on April 08, 2025, 11:48:19 AM
I wish Nintendo would F-Zero another chance simply because we live in a world where Fire Emblem and Xenoblade are big series.  Where Mario Kart 8, a game that couldn't move Wii U systems, is one of the best selling games of all time.  The Switch's success has raised everything up and revealed that Nintendo's consoles didn't underachieve because of the games.  Turns out when everyone buys their system that lots of people will buy first party Nintendo games.  So it's somewhat unfair for them to bury F-Zero and point to its Gamecube sales as a justification for it.  Every Gamecube game had a hard cap on potential sales because the system itself didn't sell to expectations.  F-Zero has skipped the Wii, DS and Switch so it missed out on some of Nintendo's highest selling systems.
Title: Re: Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack Adding Switch 2 Exclusive GameCube Library
Post by: Khushrenada on April 11, 2025, 04:55:27 AM
F-Zero also likely suffers from the fact that it probably doesn't have someone championing it right now as a game or series they'd like to make a new entry in. We got a brand new Famicom Detective Game after about three decades and that series was given a new chance at life in part because there was someone that wanted to revisit it. We did get F-Zero 99 which was a sign of life for the series even if it again avoids the 3D of it all. I do think that has helped show there would be interest in a game. It's just a matter of when someone at Nintendo would want to retackle it. Kid Icarus seemed dead until Sakurai decided he wanted to make an entry for it and now he's bringing back Kirby's Air Ride. All of that tells me that F-Zero isn't dead with Nintendo. There will probably be a new game for it at some point. It just depends when someone will finally be willing to decide that's what they want to make.

Or else Nintendo finally does farm it out again. Keep in mind that F-Zero GX was really more a Sega game than Nintendo. Even then, F-Zero wasn't something that creatives inside Nintendo wanted to tackle. According to Nagoshi, who was the person who really developed GX, Nintendo was highly impressed with what Amusement Vision made which you can take a few ways. Either they didn't think another company could make a game at the Nintendo sort of level or they didn't see F-Zero as a big priority and were surprised to see what heights an F-Zero game could reach. They've said things about not knowing what else they could do to move the series forward after GX. Considering Nintendo just went back to 2D for the series twice more on the GBA, they just don't seem to want to make the jump to 3D internally aside from F-Zero X. If GX didn't exist, I wonder how many people would be asking for a new F-Zero game still or if we'd have just seen it as an antiquated old style of racing game and a minor part of Nintendo's history like Mach Rider or Excitebike. Don't hear people wondering when Nintendo will finally return to the Excitebike series. But since Nintendo didn't design GX, it leaves the series in an odd situation with the company. If Nintendo finally decides to take another crack at the series internally, it could end up looking rather different than expected. Sort of like how Donkey Kong Jungle Beat and now Donkey Kong Bananza are willing to take DK in different directions internally compared to what's been done by Rare and Retro with the DKC series and fan expectations of what elements make a DK game.

Nintendo can point to sales as a safe way out of not making a new F-Zero entry but, I think based on the history, they just don't really know what they want to do with the series or seem to see it as a 3D series. If Nintendo was going to stick by GameCube sales as justification for decisions then we wouldn't have seen Luigi's Mansion 2 or a new Kirby Air Ride game. Perhaps Mario Kart is also a factor with it taking up all their ideas and focus so that another 3D racer seems redundant. (However, considering the company has also got multiple series known for 2D platforming games, I don't think redundancy is that big an issue.) Still, if Air Ride can return then I do think we finally see another 3D F-Zero and I even think we see it in the next five years on Switch 2. The big question is how many franchises can Nintendo keep juggling? In the past decade, they finally got Fire Emblem to take off big. Pikmin 4 has helped boost that series power and justified making a Pikmin 5 and that there will be demand for it. Animal Crossing hit huge numbers with Switch. You've got the beasts of Mario and Zelda that need to keep churning out entries. Metroid Prime 4 may determine what Retro's making for the next few years. The future of Smash Bros. is currently in question of how to follow up Ultimate and who may do it if Sakurai really is stepping away from the series. If DK Bananza is a big hit, is EAD going to try and juggle Mario and DK games going foward? If F-Zero does come along and turns out to be a success both in sales and with fans then that will cause demand for another future entry. That's why farming it out is likely how we'll see a new entry. Find a studio willing to make the entries for that series sort of like Next Level Games has become the Luigi's Mansion and Mario Striker's dev. Pokemon company handles the Pokemon games. HAL handles Kirby. Retro and Mercury Studios have got Metroid duty. Monolith Soft has Xenoblade along with their assistance in Zelda. Mario Party by Hudson aka NDcube aka Nintendo Cube. Fire Emblem and Paper Mario are Intelligent Systems. They'd probably want to find a company to try it out and if successful then have them keep making more entries.