While hope for a late 2018 announcement for the oft-rumored Nintendo 64 Classic console has remained strong up to this point, Nintendo has put those rumors to bed. Confirmation comes directly from Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime who says that the classic console is not on the company's current docket of projects.

"I would not ever rule something out but what I can tell you is certainly that’s not in our planning horizon."

The issue, according to Reggie, is the Nintendo Switch. He goes on to say that the Nintendo Classic and the SNES Classic were both stopgap solutions to bridge the divide between the Wii U and the Nintendo Switch. With the release of the Nintendo Switch, continuing the classic console line wasn't strategically appropriate. Of course, the popularity of the SNES and NES Classic consoles forced Nintendo to increase production, but apparently, that was never the plan.

Nevertheless, the current success of the Nintendo Switch and its glowing future is implied to be the cause of the Nintendo 64 Classic's absence from the current market. Nintendo's focus is on the Switch hardware and its upcoming releases. Whether or not the release of the Nintendo 64 Classic would detract from the Switch's potential isn't clear, but Nintendo isn't taking any chances right now.

In the meantime, Reggie says that Nintendo fans interested in "classic content" should consider what the Nintendo Switch is offering as part of its online subscription service:

"So while consumers may have been anticipating something, we view these as limited time opportunities. We’ve also now been very clear that as the consumer looks forward to engaging with our classic content that is going to happen more and more with the subscription service."

Reggie's insinuation is that the Nintendo 64 Classic could make the Nintendo Switch online subscription and its games selection less appealing. Gamers have yet to see the numbers for Nintendo Switch Online but considering the popularity of the NES and SNES versions, it's hard to imagine the N64 Classic being anything less than a smashing success.

So there are no plans for the Nintendo 64 Classic for the time being. Despite that, it's rather clear that Nintendo can make the console a reality when it's ready, based off trademarks already being filed. But if that's dependent on Nintendo's confidence in its online subscription, or on the Nintendo Switch's popularity sinking, then it may be a while off yet.

Source: Kotaku