Nintendo is rumoured to be working on an N64 Classic console

Nintendo are rumoured to be working on a N64 Classic console

Nintendo is rumoured to be working on an N64 Classic console

 
When Nintendo released their NES Classic the device was able to sell a lot more units than Nintendo originally anticipated, so much so that even today we can find this device on eBay for over £150, which is three times the device’s MSRP. 
 
With the announcement of the SNES Classic, many have wondered, what is next for Nintendo and whether or not an N64 Classic is on the cards for a 2018 or 2019 release. Well, not it has been confirmed that Nintendo has filed for a trademark for a stylistic representation of their N64 controller, hinting that they plan on releasing some form of an N64 emulator in the future. 
 
This controller design is similar to what we see in NES and SNES classic consoles for their own respective controllers, though it is likely that Nintendo will have more trouble emulating their N64 console, at least cheaply. 
 
Thankfully the N64’s games take up to a maximum of 64MB of storage space, with the average gaming using a 12-32MB cartridge. This should present no problems for Nintendo, though the N64 will require a lot more compute power than the SNES to emulate correctly. 
 
Moving past this to the Gamecube we see the move to optical media and disks that are up to 1.5GB, making it difficult to create a potential GameCube Classic without a high capacity storage solution. The N64 classic seems like a natural end to Nintendo’s nostalgia drive, unless of course they start remaking their classic mobile consoles. 

  

Nintendo are rumoured to be working on a N64 Classic console  

One other option for Nintendo is to attempt to integrate future console emulations into their Switch console, as it should have plenty of compute power and storage space (SD Card slot) to easily play games from the N64, GameCube and/or Wii era.   

In the future, we could see Nintendo move from these new mini Classic consoles back towards their “Virtual Console” system, provided they don’t want to make increasingly powerful/expensive emulator boxes. 

 

You can join the discussion on Nintendo’s potential N64 Classic console on the OC3D Forums. 

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