Nintendo Switch Online May Soon Expand Beyond NES Games

One of the perks of subscribing to Nintendo Switch Online is access to a collection of classic NES games. Nintendo adds a handful of new games to that collection each month, sometimes even publishing special versions of games like Metroid or The Legend of Zelda that might grant you powerful items or drop you in before a important battle. Ever since this feature was first announced, Switch owners have been wondering if it'll expand to include games from other classic Nintendo consoles.

It's a valid question, because the Wii and Wii U were both home to the Nintendo Virtual Console – a segment of the eShop dedicated to classic games. The Virtual Console was a much-loved feature among Nintendo fans, and now that we're nearly two-and-a-half years into the Switch's lifespan, the notion that it won't receive its own Virtual Console is becoming more obvious.

So, for now at least, that leaves Switch Online as the best way to play classic Nintendo games on the Switch. As it turns out, there's hope for the idea that Switch Online will one day offer classic titles beyond NES games. As reported by Japanese Nintendo, president Shuntaro Furukawa has told investors that expanding Switch Online to include more platforms is something the company has been considering.

"At this place we cannot tell new information about future classic hardware among others, but we are thinking about providing an extension of the online service which is currently providing Famicom [NES] software, as well as other methods of providing them," Furukawa said. "We also recognise that there are opinions wanting to play past titles."

So, it may not be long before we see games from the SNES, Nintendo 64, and maybe even GameCube era land on Nintendo Switch Online. Locking those games behind a Switch Online subscription might not be as ideal as offering them through a Switch Virtual Console, but it's definitely better than nothing. We'll keep an eye out for more on this topic and we'll let you know if anything new develops.