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2017/07

N64 Controller Trademark Leads To Rumors Of An N64 Classic Edition

This September Nintendo will release the SNES Classic Edition to the general public. Last year they released the NES Classic Edition during the holiday season. Now rumors are running wild that after Nintendo filed a trademark with the European Union Intellectual Property Office for an updated three-pronged N64 controller, they could be making an N64 Classic Edition.

NeoGaf spotted the trademark filing on the EU IPO website, which shows a giant outline of an N64 controller on the website. Since it’s filed under the same goods and services category as the NES controller for the NES Classic Edition, the SNES controller for the SNES Classic Edition, and for the Joy-Con controllers for the Nintendo Switch, the assumption is that a Nintendo 64 Classic Edition could launch in 2018.

The N64 was easily one of Nintendo’s best game consoles next to the SNES. However, they would have to include a solid line-up of games for it to be appealing. The appeal of the SNES Classic Edition was being able to get one’s hands on some of Nintendo’s best offerings on the system for a small fee of just $80 (barring the inclusion of Earthworm Jim and Chrono Trigger, which is a cardinal sin as far as gaming is concerned). But most of the N64’s classic titles are no longer under Nintendo’s distribution banner or the publishers/developers who originally made them, such as Rare, THQ or Acclaim. So none of the N64’s wrestling games could make a return, nor games like Goldeneye 64 or Conker’s Bad Fur Day or Killer Instinct Gold.

So what would that leave an N64 Classic Edition with as far as a library of games go? Well, there’s stuff like Chameleon Twist and Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Obviously Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64. Donkey Kong Country 64 might also make the cut, but you can forget about Perfect Dark 64, and they would have to jump through a few hoops to get Turok 64 back on the system.

They might be able to get Bethesda to play ball and allow Quake 64 and Doom 64 to be re-released on the system. Duke Nukem 64 would be a toss-up depending on how Randy Pitchford feels about it, and they would have to go through a lot of corporate foreplay to get Warner Bros., to allow them to put games like Crusin’ USA and San Franfisco Rush on the system, along with Extreme-G.

You can also forget about Banjo-Kazooie or Jet Force Gemini unless they lick their lips and open wide for Microsoft. Alternatively you can expect a lot of okay games on the N64, including Diddy Kong Racing, Pokemon Studium, Mario Party, Star Fox 64 and Super Smash Bros. But I doubt anyone is going to pay $100 for Diddy Kong Racing.

They would also have to grovel at the feet of the Mafia Mouse for Star Wars: Shadow of the Empire, Star Wars: Episode 1 Pod Racer and Rogue Squadron. Also that pod-racing game was one of the best racing games on the N64 and it would be a shame if it didn’t make the cut, assuming Nintendo is making a Classic Edition of the system. On the upside it might include Resident Evil only because Capcom loves whoring out their games and I could definitely see them giving Nintnedo the thumbs up for that. But we’ll just have to wait and see if Nintendo actually pulls the trigger on an N64 Classic Edition.

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