Big news coming from Nintendo for all of us that loved the Nintendo GameCube.

screen_shot_2016-10-20_at_10-11-20_am-0Announced on Eurogamer this morning, three separate sources confirmed that Nintendo not only will be bringing GameCube virtual console to the Switch, but that it is already working and three games have been officially announced so far.

The first three games for the virtual console are fan favorites for the console with Luigi’s Mansion, Super Mario Sunshine, & Super Smash Brothers Melee all being announced first.

The announcement of virtual console for the Switch is no surprise as it follows suit for Nintendo consoles since the Wii. The next announced game to be ready on virtual console? According to reports, Animal Crossing is being tested.

Not only is this a boost for Animal Crossing lovers but it presents an interesting ability for a virtual console in a virtual console (virtual consoleception.) For those who never played the Animal Crossing GameCube game throughout the game, the player has the ability to collect more than a dozen NES games to play in game. Those NES games include the classic Donkey Kong, Mario, Zelda, and many others.

All work on Animal Crossing has been said to support this in game emulation just as the original did. Nintendo has never been able to escape the GameCube era for better and worse. The Wii U itself has controller converters for the GameCube controller, Super Smash Brothers Melee is still considered to be the pinnacle of the series and used in Esports today, and the console was the start of the titular Metroid Prime series that has yet to make a proper new appearance since Other M.

66410-super_mario_sunshine-4Nintendo has yet to release an official statement as to why they are now supporting GameCube virtual console but many are sourcing the need to keep Super Smash Brothers Melee on higher end consoles to avoid the game being stuck on aging hardware.

As far as any other virtual console support they have yet to be confirmed, but there are rumors that an upgrade program similar to that available on Wii U, where earlier purchases of Virtual Console NES games can be ‘upgraded’ for a small fee rather than being bought again at full price.

It looks to be that the Nintendo Switch will be the console for all your needs whether they be GameCube era games or even the latest Pokemon Sun and Moon coming to the console in 2017 code-named Pokemon Stars.

The Nintendo Switch will release in March 2017, and the next official Nintendo event for more information on the Switch will be coming January 13th.

Are you excited for the Switch? Are you ready to dive back into the GameCube Era? Let us know in the comments below, on the RGM Forums, or over on our Twitter.

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