Nintendo membership services will usher in epic enhancements, and the passGB and GBA emulators are about to join the Nintendo Switch Online retro game family. Recently, a lot of information has been exposed on the Internet, and the familiar names that are being tested are: "Mario Kart", "Golden Sun", "Pokémon Red and Blue" and so on.
Twitter user Rushbandatcoot first broke the news, saying that the 4Chan forum leaked several Nintendo software, including two simulators developed by Nintendo's European R&D center: GB's simulator Hioyo, and GBA's simulator Sloop. According to him, the two emulators still have bugs, but they are fully functional, and screenshots of the game they tested on Switch are uploaded to the forum.
Another Twitter user Mondo_Mega said that a large number of GBA games have been tested on the simulator (although it does not mean that these games will necessarily be released), including The Legend of Zelda Shrink Hat, Metroid Fusion, Fire Emblem Holy Magic Light Stone, Mega Man Network Wars 2, etc.
Strange things happen when someone discovers these emulators' references to EZFlash cartridge test files. EZFlash is one of the most famous flashcard brands of the handheld era, specializing in running Nintendo pirated games. It is reported that Nintendo has also admitted to the reference to EZFlash internally, and everyone suspects that these simulators were not developed by Nintendo itself.
According to data miner OatMealDome, the leaked GBA simulator was developed by NERD in cooperation with Panasonic Vietnam. He shared a screenshot of a GIT file that provided evidence of the code that a reference to EZFlash did exist. Nintendo has not commented at this time.
Rumors about GB and GBA games joining Switch Online have long since begun, and this revelation is the same as the previous SNES, indicating that it is about to come true. If all goes well, they will be the 5th and 6th retro gaming platforms after the NES, SNES, Sega Genesis and Nintendo 64. Of course, it's unclear whether you'll be a $20 base member or a $50 premium member.