Most Recent: Switch

Even before the official unveiling of the Nintendo Switch, many “insiders” said that Nintendo would re-release a large number of games from the Wii U’s library on their then-upcoming console. And after the successful launches of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (along with this Fall’s Pokken Tournament DX), it looks like they were right. But a new interview out of this year’s E3 Expo has revealed that Nintendo might continue the practice with further Wii U re-releases.

The question was posed to Nintendo of America’s Reggie Fils-Aime by Waypoint, and while he didn’t answer in the affirmative, he did confirm that Nintendo is thinking long and hard about bringing more Wii U games to the Switch:

Waypoint: So, the second question I have that jumps off of that previous one is that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is doing incredibly well, that’s also, there’s obviously some new stuff there but, much of that game was available on the Wii U, and I think it took a little time for me to wrap my head around why it was coming out so soon on the Switch, and then I realized, well, completely honestly, a lot of people didn’t play a lot of great Wii U games. Can we expect more of those Wii U games to find a home on the Switch, as a way of reaching a larger install base?

Reggie Fils-Aime: What I would say is this: the observation you have that, given the install base of Wii U, there was some fantastic content that consumers did not get to play. So that creates certainly a business opportunity. On the other hand, one of the things that we’ve discussed internally is, there really needs to be an additional element to that game to make it fresh, and to further compel the consumer to buy in.

I think the best example of that is Pokken Tournament Deluxe. Additional fighters, that gives the fan a reason to buy into it. Same is true with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, providing a mode that the consumers wanted in terms of a better battle mode, that was then included in that game. And so, I think the way we will continue to evaluate this is: yes, do we have opportunities with great games that maybe were not played as broadly on the Wii U, but then what’s the plus alpha that’s going to make it really compelling for the consumer?

The Wii U ceded victory to competing consoles early on, and small sales numbers (less than 14 million consoles, worldwide) made sure that most gamers never played some of its biggest titles. But Nintendo actually managed to release a few stone-cold classics for the console, and I’d love to see them reborn on the Switch. And after a quick check of the monthly NPD reports, it looks like I’m not alone.

So even though Reggie didn’t deliver an unequivocal “yes,” I think it’s very likely that more Wii U games will make their way to the Switch in the near future.