Rumor: Switch Virtual Console was apparently Nintendo’s “Original Plan”.
Before Nintendo’s subscription service began, fans could purchase and download classic first-party titles and play them whenever they wanted thanks to the Virtual Console service.
While this was eventually replaced by Switch Online’s level-based classic library, Nintendo apparently had plans to continue the existing Virtual Console service and add online functionality. This information comes from “a new iQue email leak not long ago” according to Yakumono’s BlogOperated by dataminer (and Nintendo Life user) LuigiBlood.
The Switch virtual console – codenamed “Clipper” – is said to have begun development “around 2015” and is a collaboration between iQue and M2, with possible involvement from other teams, like N.E.R.D. It’s essentially said to be a Virtual Console with “monthly free games” for NSO subscribers.
“Remember the original announcement of the Nintendo Switch Online classic game service? It used to say this: “Subscribers will download and play Nintendo Entertainment System™ (NES) or Super Nintendo Entertainment System games ™ (Super NES) (with new games- added online play) free for one month.” To me, this is a relic of what came before. I believe the original plan, in essence version is Virtual Console, but there is a free monthly game for people paying NSO. It was later confirmed that it was a paid game, at least by the press.”
Some other details about Nintendo’s Virtual Console service on Switch have also been revealed.
This includes special animations in “CRT mode” – complete with “TV noises” and even power button sounds “for both the Famicom and NES”. Online play will also be an “important” part of the plan. Then, updates “around May 2017” on the “Clipper” fell through after it was replaced by the ‘L-Classics’ project – paving the way for the current “long-term” model.
The demise of “Clipper” was accompanied by Nintendo’s announcement in the same year – confirming a library of classic games for the Switch Online service. This just scratches the surface of the latest findings, but you can learn more on Yakumono’s Blog.
