A GameCube Classic Mini could be on the way from Nintendo in 2019

Vaughn Highfield July 19, 2018

When it comes to retro charm, Nintendo knows how to do it well. After the stellar release of the NES Classic Mini and SNES Classic Mini, and anticipation heating up for an announcement around the N64 Classic Mini later this year, news has slipped out for a GameCube Classic Mini and I couldn’t be more excited.

A GameCube Classic Mini could be on the way from Nintendo in 2019

Now, before everyone gets carried away about a Nintendo GameCube Classic Mini console gracing their homes with a tiny Atomic Purple cube, the console is clearly in the early stages of development. In fact, rumours have been sparked due to Nintendo simply applying for three GameCube trademarks in Japan.

The trademarks are reasonably meaty though, focusing on video game programs and video game hardware – rather than general merchandising or licence terms. This is clearly a patent intended for a new machine.

The trademarks were spotted by Nintendo Tumblr account Japanese Nintendo and also highlighted a number of other applications made by the company. Trademarks relating to the upcoming Fire Emblem game and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 DLC were listed, along with other recent productions like Sky Skipper and Fitness Boxing. Nintendo also filed trademarks for the NES, Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy and two Nintendo 3DS – suggesting potential updates or even new content arriving around these products.

Because of the timely update of so many terms, it’s only sparked curiosity around a GameCube Classic Mini coming to market soon. Here’s what we’ve managed to piece together so far, and what we hope to see on the system come launch.

Gamecube Classic Mini release date: When will a Nintendo GameCube Mini launch?

If the Gamecube Classic Mini is real, it’s likely we’ll see it launch in 2019 at the absolute earliest. The NES Classic Mini arrived in 2016, with the SNES Classic Mini landing in 2017. It’s expected we’ll see a N64 Classic Mini drop this year so a GameCube Classic Mini would make sense for a 2019 arrival.

There is a very slim chance that this isn’t actually new hardware but simply an update that’ll allow the Nintendo Switch to play GameCube Games – something we already know the Tegra X1 chip powering it can do.

A physical Gamecube Classic Mini would be set to launch around the September or October mark if it was to release at all.

GameCube Classic Mini games: What could we expect to play on it?

The Nintendo GameCube may not have sold like hotcakes but it certainly had a host of absolutely excellent games to play. It’s tough to know exactly what you’ll find on a Nintendo GameCube Classic Mini games list, but if we look to the SNES Classic Mini’s lineup there are a potential 21 titles to fill. That said, GameCube games are bigger in size, so perhaps Nintendo will scale back its ambition to deliver a small set of great GameCube games to play.

Like the N64 Mini, we’d expect Nintendo to want to focus on multiplayer titles as much as single-player ones – but without stepping on the toes of the Nintendo Switch’s winter 2019 catalogue. Clearly there’s a lot of ifs and buts going on here, but it’s hard to really pin down what games to expect on a console that really is still just a line on a trademark document.

Here’s a list of the games Alphr would like to see arrive on the GameCube Classic Mini: