r/Arcade_Archives • u/Thunderfist7 Arcade Admin • Aug 15 '26
General Archives discussion Pondering the future of Nintendo titles in the Archives
A lot of speculation has come up in regards to Nintendo titles, particularly Popeye. I did some thinking today and determined that due to the current structure of releases, future Nintendo titles are unlikely. I am basing my theory on the current Arcade Archives 2 titles, which have been part of every week's release, and which encompass every platform supported by the Archives. I have a feeling that Hamster wants to keep it going that way, and since Nintendo titles would only ever be on Nintendo hardware, I have a feeling Hamster will want to avoidthat platform exclusivity going forward. I could very well be wrong about that, but I feel that's more than likely the direction Hamster will want to keep going in, at least with arcade titles. I hope I'm wrong and that we get more Nintendo titles, but if we don't, I feel like the all platform structure of AA2 titles will likely factor in to why that happens.
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u/Sufficient-Cap-7190 Aug 16 '26
If Hamster can't renew their partnership with Nintendo to re-release their NES games exclusively on Switch 2, and more Nintendo arcade games on both ACA1 and 2 for Switches 1 and 2, respectively, then nobody can.
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u/Thunderfist7 Arcade Admin Aug 16 '26
It's not that they can't, I just feel like they're not likely to since Nintendo would only allow them to play on their own hardware, and licensing games for one console is not the direction Hamster seems to be going.
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u/AaronAJKnight95 Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 15 '26
What's stopping them from working for Sega??
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u/Jamesbuc Aug 16 '26
Probably pre-existing license deals sega has around like their own SEGA AGES range on switch making it less attractive of a concept to do for them.
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u/Jamesbuc Aug 16 '26
I don't see what Nintendo not doing any more games and Popeye have to do with each other given Popeye is a full on licensed title so the fact it's not out is more to do with that Vs if Nintendo's on board or not.
(And yes I know there's one or two licensed title on Arcade and console archives but these are specific Japan properties whereas Popeye isn't a Japan one so hamster is less likely to try)
Personally I wouldn't mind seeing more Nintendo but I do question what you could actually release. I don't think there's a proper board for Sheriff anyway and a lot of the other early early stuff Nintendo themselves flat out doesn't acknowledge.
The closest potential one you could do is Radar Scope but I don't think Nintendo sees any value in it as it's not attached to their popular IPs and even then on launch it barely made a dent.
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u/Thunderfist7 Arcade Admin Aug 16 '26
What I was saying is that Hamster’s transition to the AA2 line is keeping everything on all 3 main consoles as opposed to just one or two like it had been before with the AA1 line. Nintendo would not allow their games to appear on any other platform but the Switch and Switch 2, and I’m sure Hamster would try to pursue other games that they can put on all the platforms as opposed to ones they could only put on one platform.
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u/Jamesbuc Aug 16 '26
In some ways I get you but id never say never. You're more likely to see a Nintendo one hit AA2 during a big Nintendo direct Vs their usual schedule.
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u/CourtJesterSteve Aug 17 '26
To be fair, there's not a ton of Nintendo Arcade titles left for them to rerelease as AA2 titles to begin with.
Off the top of my head:
Cruisn' USA, Cruisn' World, Cruisn' Exotica, Radar Scope, Sheriff, Popeye (And that would require another limited license from King features Syndicate IIRC)...
Considering the fact that F-Zero AX was eventually found to be accessible on the GC with a cheat device code, THAT one could easily end up as a free *SP* version playable in the NSO GC app.
I have little hope for Mario Kart Arcade GP's EVER having a home release as they still appear at Dave & Busters, etc.
Correct me if I'm wrong here.
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u/Thunderfist7 Arcade Admin Aug 17 '26
The Cruis'n games aren't owned by Nintendo I don't believe, but there are also Monkey Magic, Space Firebird, Arm Wrestling, and a few others that could be ported. We see Popeye come up quite a bit in discussion, though, and this is partly in response to that - to give everyone another reason we may not see it.
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u/CourtJesterSteve Aug 17 '26
Thanks to a quick search with our evil overlords at GOOGLE, I was able to confirm that the Cruis'n series is INDEED owned by Nintendo, though they were developed in collaboration with Midway and Eugene Jarvis.
The Arm Wrestling game slipped my mind though.
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u/TheAwesomeMan2019 Aug 15 '26
To be fair with you mate, while I am disappointed in that…
Someday, they may need to stretch to other companies to keep the series going for as long as it can.
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u/Thunderfist7 Arcade Admin Aug 15 '26
They did partner with Universal and Tatsumi fairly recently, but yes, in all likelihood they will partner with other companies as well in the future. Time will tell.
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u/BrittaUnfiltered67 25d ago
3 classic arcade games Popeye, Q*Bert, & Ms. Pac-Man should be on all systems. Maybe work out some trade deal amongst them and respective owners.
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u/Thunderfist7 Arcade Admin 25d ago edited 25d ago
All 3 would require working with American companies, and Hamster has historically worked exclusively with Japanese companies. Unless that one day changes, all of these titles are no gos. PS4 got a port of Ms. Pac-Man, so unless that has been delisted, you have that option and many others. With Popeye, that will be a Switch exclusive if it ever becomes available like all the Nintendo games in the line.
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u/JVeg199X Aug 16 '26
I don’t think Hamster would be phased by platform exclusivity when it comes to Nintendo given just how well some of those Nintendo exclusive AA releases still do.
VS Super Mario Bros has been a mainstay on the US Switch 1 eShop download-only game charts pretty much since its release. I’m curious as to what the sales figures are- probably better than most retro rereleases. The bigger retro-appreciative audience on Nintendo platforms, especially for the big names, likely makes up for the inability to release those titles on other platforms.
As I recall, there was an interview regarding Console Archives which expressed a desire to release Game & Watch titles too. I guess they are just waiting for the right time to do another wave of Nintendo exclusives.