Nintendo has recently filed a patent for its revolutionary and trademark N64 controller. This follows a string of activity from Nintendo including the release of the NES Mini Classic last Autumn, and the announcement of the SNES Mini Classic due to be released in September.
Before each of the previous models were released Nintendo filed patents for their controllers, so while the release of the N64 Classic Mini is speculative, this is the best sign so far that its eventual appearance is a decent bet.
For most of the millennial generation the N64 was the console. The return of which will bring back the old games but with the use of modern technology, like HDMI cables rather than those dastardly SCART sockets.
We can speculate on the return of games like Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. However, the potential for being able to revisit GoldenEye, Banjo-Kazooie and Diddy Kong Racing is less certain. These games were made by Rare, which is owned by Microsoft who still holds the intellectual property behind their creations. It’s still perfectly possible, and perhaps even probable given the potential extra sales, but Nintendo would have to secure an agreement to use the titles.
Nintendo’s reproduction of old consoles is in keeping with the gaming zeitgeist at the moment. Atari is re-entering the gaming market, and it will host PC technology similar to the PS4 and Xbox One.
Meanwhile PlayStation has re-released Crash Bandicoot on the PS4 and Doom has been re-released across PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
So, the gaming market is now old enough that it can build a sub-genre based entirely on nostalgia, which may send hordes of “adults” in their 20s and early 30s into serious psychological regression. Personally, I can barely contain my excitement. I’ve never enjoyed writing about a topic more. Feel free to challenge me to a race on Mario Kart 64, but you will lose.
