There’s a rumor going around that Nintendo may be about to announce plans for an N64 Mini after the gaming giant filed for a new patent on the N64 brand this week.
Talk of Nintendo bringing back the popular console has been rife for some time now, especially after the staggering success of its SNES Classic Mini and NES Classic Mini consoles in recent years, so it’s no surprise that the home of Mario would want to cash in by reinventing one of its most popular gaming machines for the 2K generation.
Currently, the patent request has only been registered in Japan, but this follows an earlier filing in Europe by Nintendo, who appealed to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to trademark the N64’s unique trident controller design.
Although Nintendo could be re-trademarking the name for a number of different reasons, including safeguarding itself against would-be retro console designers who may want to release their own unofficial copy, it would seem the most likely reason would have to be the aforementioned classic N64 Mini.
This is exciting news for gamers all over the world, especially those of us that experienced the N64 the first time around. An N64 Mini would mean that much-loved games like Golden Eye 007, Mario Kart 64, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Paper Mario, and Harvest Moon 64 may once again be available to play without the use of clunky emulators, or going to the effort of locating the original cartridges in your parents garage.
Longtime Nintendo rivals Sega also announced plans to launch a Mega Drive Mini to celebrate their flagship consoles 30th anniversary. Unlike the N64 Mini, though, the Mega Drive/Genesis has had several previous retro releases with varying success. It remains to be seen who will be crowned king of the mini consoles war once this one is all over, but we’re guessing the N64 Mini may just beat them all.
Which N64 video games would you like to see ported to the N64 Mini? Have your say in the comments section below.
