The big N’s plan for the following platforms after NES, SNES, N64 and SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis games may have been leaked.

 

A 4chan user has reportedly shared four files from a Nintendo Switch developer kit. Two of them were in NSP (Nintendo Submission Package) format, and the third was a 7z (7zip) archive. The latter contained two NCA (Nintendo Content Archive) files. The two NSP files together result in a Game Boy Advance emulator called Sloop, while the two NCA files in the 7z are the Game Boy emulator named Hiyoko. The games themselves appear to be separate applications.

Nintendo’s European R&D department signed both emulators. It’s a Paris-based subsidiary that developed the DS and Wii emulators for the Wii U’s Virtual Console. Still, they were behind the emulators for the NES Classic and SNES Classic mini consoles, too. They also had a hand in Super Mario 3D All-Stars, as the team based in the French capital was responsible for the GameCube emulation technology.

This user has posted several pictures of the emulators on Twitter, while this archive shows video footage from an account that has been deleted. A third user also published a list of games. The games marked with an asterisk were previously in the ROM folder but were not present in the leaked build. This would be the GBA list: Astro Boy: Omega Factor, Car Battler Joe*, Castlevania: Aira of Sorrow, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon*, ChuChu Rocket!*, Drill Dozer, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, Game & Watch Gallery 4, Golden Sun, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, Gunstar Super Heroes, Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town*, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories*, Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, Koro Koro Puzzle Happy Panechu!*, Kuru Kuru Kururin, Lufia: The Ruins of Lore*, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Mario Golf: Advance Tour Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario Party Advance*, Mario Tennis: Power Tour, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Mega Man Battle Network 5 – Team ProtoMan*, Mega Man Battle Network 2, Mega Man Zero 3, Metroid Fusion, Metroid: Zero Mission, Mr. Driller 2, Ninja Five-O, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team*, Pokemon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire, Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation, Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis, Wario Land 4, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames!, Yoshi’s Island: Super Mario Advance 3, and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. The Game Boy/Game Boy Color list is much shorter: The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX, Qix, Super Mario Land, and Tetris.

ModernVintageGamer (who is a YouTuber and also works for Nightdive Studios and Limited Run Games) questioned the authenticity, as the emulators refer to EZ-Flash cartridges and are treated by Nintendo as illegal game copiers, but according to, the Github repository used by the Nintendo division in question added the EZ-Flash cartridge image file on 7 August 2020. The name and email address of the person is listed. While it would technically be possible to imitate something like that, it would take time and effort. However, the GBA emulator’s code also indicates that Panasonic’s Vietnam branch was a co-developer…

It could all suggest that Nintendo Switch Online could be expanding. Both Eurogamer and Nintendo Life reported in September that the GB, GBC duo were planned to join the big N’s Switch Online with other retro platforms also being considered. Then came the announcement of the N64/Mega Drive expansion. Something could be in the works then…

Source: Gematsu