Will The Switch Ever Get A 'Nintendo Selects' Range?

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Before the June Direct came along, we were starting to think that 2024 would be the year of remakes and remasters on Switch. We had Another Code: Recollection, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door and Luigi's Mansion 2 HD already banked and that was before Donkey Kong Country Returns HD (releasing in 2025) was added to the pile. Sure, new titles like Echoes of Wisdom and Mario & Luigi: Brothership left things looking a little brighter, but, like it or not, as the Switch keeps chugging through its eighth year, Nintendo is clearly relying on the old faithful to tide us over until new hardware.

It's no surprise, of course. Game development is no walk in the park, and despite the Switch's undoubtedly impressive library, there are still a handful of classics that are yet to make the jump to the hybrid console *cough Wind Waker cough*. It's the way that most Nintendo consoles go in their senior years, but these late-life lineups have historically been counterbalanced by a 'Nintendo Selects' range, a chance for owners to catch up on some of the console's bestsellers at a reduced price.

We have seen a budget range on every Nintendo home console since the SNES and every handheld bar the DS, but, over seven years in, the Switch is still Select-less.

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The question is, will we see Nintendo Selects on Switch? We know that a new hardware announcement is coming this fiscal year, but, given the Switch's sale numbers, we'd wager that the hybrid will keep getting software for a couple of years yet. Will the Big N continue to pull from its back catalogue or will the line of re-releases start to extend to the Switch library?

Our immediate response? No, it ain't happening. We've already mentioned the Switch's sales figures which, while slowing in their eighth year, are still nothing short of impressive. The console keeps on selling and so do its games — we can't remember the last time some combination of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Nintendo Switch Sports, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate didn't appear on the UK and Japanese sales charts. If, all these years in, people are still willing to fork out full price for the big names, what's the point in dropping it?

And, look at the facts. A Classic Series, Player's Choice, or Selects lineup appeared on all consoles apart from the DS, the only piece of Nintendo hardware to have outsold the Switch at the time of writing. The Selects line has historically been a way to bag a few extra bucks when things were slowing down, but they took a long time to slow down for the DS, and things are similar on Switch.

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There's also the fact that Nintendo does drop its prices... sometimes. It's a running joke that Breath of the Wild was released at £59.99 back in 2017 and it will never, ever be available for lower than that, but Nintendo first-party sales are reasonably commonplace these days. A 33% discount might not be quite the saving that the 'Selects' line used to offer (which tended to bring things down to £19.99 / $19.99 instead), but it does crop up several times a year, nonetheless.

Then again, and here's the real kicker, this is Nintendo we're talking about. If history has taught us anything, it's that we can never know for sure what's going on under that red cap and if we assume things are going to go one way, they will probably go the other.

There is every chance that the Switch's successor will release and not be the immediate smash hit that the current model is. If things are a little sluggish at the start, it makes sense that the company might turn to the old faithful Switch for support, flogging another million copies of Tears of the Kingdom down the line at £30 a pop to keep the funds rolling in.

And it's not something we'd turn our noses up at. The Switch's first-party lineup is so rich, that there are still a handful of titles we're yet to cross off our lists and we'd wager that you're the same. Who'd realistically say no to a discounted re-release if they've been waiting this long? Certainly not us.

But what do you think? Do you reckon we'll ever see a 'Nintendo Selects' line on Switch, or will it be the company's second console to not get the budget-release treatment? You can pick a side in the following poll and then head to the comments to share the titles that you can imagine in the hypothetical lineup.