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For once, there has been a leak or rumor that has absolutely nothing to do with Nintendo’s next video gaming console. In fact, it is related to their current video gaming console and something that Nintendo had planned to have on the Switch when the console was still in active development and hadn’t been revealed as of yet.
You see, there was a leak of iQue emails that happened not that long ago, and a reliable dataminer and leaker named LuigiBlood recently examined them. They discovered that, at one point, Nintendo was planning to bring back the Virtual Console for the Switch. The project, which began in 2015, was code-named “Clipper”. M2, NERD and iQue was also involved with the project. IQue in particular is interesting because this wasn’t the first time Nintendo collaborated with them. It was noted by LuigiBlood that iQue was previously working on a Gamecube emulator for the Wii U in 2013 that would never release.
In the Switch Virtual Console, there would’ve been a feature where, if CRT mode was turned on, players would see an animation in which a CRT TV turns on. NES and SNES games would even have TV noise and the sound of the power button for each respective console. NES games, including Final Fantasy 1, Final Fantasy 3, Mega Man 2, Mega Man 3, Mega Man 4, Mega Man 5, Mega Man 6 and more were tested. There was also some testing for slow, normal and fast game speeds.
The Nintendo Switch’s Virtual Console would’ve also featured online netplay. A mode between up to 4 players was considered where a countdown would appear. Every 30 seconds, the players’ controllers would automatically shuffle. Emojis and pre-made messages, such as “thx”, “sry”, “plz” and “cya”, were also planned.
Ultimately, the project was scrapped in favor of Nintendo Switch Online, which was code named “L-Classics”. By May 2017, discussion about the “Clipper” project and Switch Virtual Console in emails had stopped. NERD would later explain in conversations with iQue that the project was too costly due to extensive testing on each emulator being needed, and Nintendo was taking consideration of feedback from players that were angry that the games on Wii U’s Virtual Console were not available on launch, and in some cases, they had to buy the games again.
With Nintendo Switch Online, Nintendo intended this to be a solution to both problems. It wasn’t as costly, and they could make this a long-term solution where players didn’t have to purchase these games multiple times. With the news from Nintendo that Switch Online would be available on their next console, it seems that Nintendo is sticking with that plan and taking it seriously.