Nintendo's drip-feed release of retro titles may feel frustrating, but it ultimately benefits players and the games themselves

Nintendo's Slow Rollout Of Classic Games Never Made Sense To Me, Until Now

Nintendo's drip-feed release of retro titles may feel frustrating, but it ultimately benefits players and the games themselves

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More importantly, Nintendo's slow release cadence means players can actually take the time to truly engage with and savor each of these titles for the classics they are. With the sheer number of games available to play nowadays (and the increasing prominence of subscription services offering access to them), many publishers and platform holders have come to treat gaming as disposable entertainment. By overwhelming their audience with options, companies are implicitly encouraging players to only dabble in a game and then move on to the next whenever the fancy strikes. This inexhaustible array of choices means few users actually play a game to completion before their attention is diverted to another one. In contrast, by doling out only a handful of legacy games every month, Nintendo positions each as a noteworthy release in its own right, while also giving players ample time to experience it before more arrive.

This is especially relevant for GameCube games. Whereas NES and even SNES titles can often be completed in a handful of hours, N64 and GameCube games are much closer in depth and duration to modern titles and require a much more significant time investment to play. Many can take more than 20 hours to finish, which makes Nintendo's decision to space them apart a boon to players. As eager as I am to revisit Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance for the first time in two decades when it eventually joins the service, it's been nice to leisurely devote my attention to The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker--the only single-player adventure currently in Switch Online's GameCube lineup--in the interim.

Although it's undoubtedly still aggravating to wait for a particular favorite to hit the service, Nintendo's methodical drip-feed of classics has its merits. By meting out its legacy games gradually, Nintendo gives players enough time to properly delve into and appreciate them, which in turn preserves the allure of these games and makes their eventual arrival feel like a significant occasion. More than other publishers, Nintendo understands the value of its vast back catalog and treats it with the reverence and care these titles deserve. And unlike on Wii and Wii U, there's no shortage of other games to tide fans over while they wait for their favorite classic to arrive.

Every GameCube Game Coming To Switch 2's Switch Online Library