Here’s something you may not know about me. Or may know. I actually care a lot about preserving older media. Not just video games mind you, but also movies, shows and music but mostly video games as obviously that is my main form of entertainment I like to engage with. Double so since sadly not only do older games not get re-released on modern hardware as much and even the ones that do that aren’t just straight up remakes are actually sometimes worser versions than there original counterparts despite the better hardware but games can be delisted from digital stores which sucks for games that could only be obtained digitally and you didn’t have them already but we also live in an age where publishers can take away your ability to even play certain games you legally brought because they for some reason still think the live service model is a good idea.

This is also why in some of my previous commissions I’ve rightfully called out SEGA on the whole mass delisting of some of there older games from they did back in 2024 which, if we are counting all of the games included in the SEGA Mega Drive and Genesis Classics Collection on top of the stand alone games of Jet Set Radio, Crazy Taxi, SEGA Bass Fishing and NiGHTS Into Dreams is WAY more games than you might think with the only classic games that were not remakes that aren’t affect being the Sonic Adventure and first two Shenmue games.

That is, unless you have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription. Because if you do, you actually get access to the SEGA Mega Drive/Genisis library. It doesn’t include every game but it does still have a majority of the most noteworthy games from the system plus some new ones two. It’s the only classic Non Nintendo system on the service and it’s been that way since 2020. And I’ve been thinking recently, why should the Mega Drive be the only SEGA system on NSO? The SEGA Saturn and Dreamcast are just as important to SEGA’s history and SEGA had a long rivalry with Nintendo that they clearly don’t have anymore so why not include Saturn and Dreamcast games especially since most people probably never got a chance to play them either?

Yeah, I kinda really want these two systems to be added to NSO. Emphasis on the kinda. Because I’m going to be honest, I have a bit of a love hate relationship with how the classic game library works on NSO. On one hand, it’s great that for the price of a brand new game or maybe even less if we are comparing the asking price for a yearly subscription to how much new games cost in my country *cries in Australian Dollars* you get access to a massive library from Nintendo’s past from the NES all the way up to the Gamecube assuming you have the expansion and a Switch 2. Hell, they got the version of Soul Calibur 2 which has Link as a playable guest character, it’s worth it for that alone! They even have the GBA version of Super Mario World, the version I personally grew up with back in the day, something they could of just as easily not of added given the original SNES version is already there but no, they let you play this specific version as an option and I love that. And that’s not even counting the special controllers they made to be used for these games which I started collecting those controllers midway though last year and I can’t see myself playing these games without these controllers, especially the Nintendo 64 library given most of the games on that system were made with that controller in mind. Trust me, I’ve played Goldeneye on an emulator with an Xbox Controller. It is NOT as good without that classic controller. And I mean, the CRT filters for a more classic feel plus the fact that it’s the Nintendo Switch so it has that portability factor just add a lot.

Thing is, it’s also a subscription service meaning that there will sadly be a day where these games might not even be able to be played anymore because the service is no longer a thing and while thankfully you don’t have to be connected to the internet to even access them if they are installed to your Switch anyway, there are times where if you haven’t played them in a long while it will do that whole “checking to see if this software can be played” bullshit which requires an internet connection to do anyway which sucks if your away from home or at a hotel with bad internet. And you know, there’s also the whole “why can’t we just buy those games outright anyway” argument. That might just be me being someone who grew up on the Wii with it’s Virtual Console talking but still. And can someone explain to me why for the upcoming Virtual Boy games being added to the Switch you actually need to spend money on that $140 accessory just to re-create the original feeling of the VB when the Red Viper emulator for hacked 3DS’s already proved you can play them and still recreate the 3D effect without needing that dam thing?

Now to be fair, I don’t see the service going offline for a LONG time now especially with how the Switch 2 just came out which is not only compatible with Switch 1 titles but also has GameCube games added to the service and I reckon we still got at least another 10 years of it being up, but it is still a major concern I do have for if it does happen. So, why not add more of SEGA’s consoles to the service while it’s still up for people to play? If the classic games library is meant to be a reflection of Nintendo’s history and SEGA played just as much of a part in that history thanks to there rivalry before dropping out of the console race entirely *and probably for the best two considering how toxic discussion around what people’s preferred consoles are at this point has become* then I want to see more of SEGA’s history on this system two especially if SEGA are going to be pulling that whole “mass desilting” shit. Especially since the Saturn and Dreamcast themselves were pretty innovative in themselves that never got a chance to be as big as they could of especially considering PlayStation was becoming a thing around this time and took the world by storm.

The Saturn alone was one of the first 3D video game consoles and used CD’s to play it’s games not to mention an internal clock and the Dreamcast had online functionality which was a pretty big deal at the time. Plus, you didn’t have to worry about some child on voice chat who thinks they were hot shit while playing Phantasy Star Online scream at you and tell you about how they fucked your mother or anything. And of course, the games on these two systems are honestly some of SEGA’s best if you ask me. If this really were to happen then the first few games I’d ideally want on the Saturns side would of course knowing me be the original version of NiGHTS Into Dreams but also the original version of Panzer Dragon, Daytona USA, Virtua Fighter 2, House of the Dead, Virtua Cop and for Dreamcast of course they got to have Sonic Adventure but also Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, SoulCalibur, Samba De Amigo and because I need to have at least one out there and crazy suggestion because fuck it why not, Seaman. And of course, Saturn and Dreamcast controllers to be released for more authentic experience.

Now I admit, there’s probably a lot of other games that could have been added to the initial line up aside from the ones I personally picked and was mostly just going the most popular and well known games for those systems but this is still something I’d really wish would become a real thing one day. If we can’t buy some of these older games anymore because of questionable business decisions on SEGA’s part then I at least want this as a compromise. And you know, the whole SEGA having a long history with Nintendo thing. Granted I’d also love if PlayStation and PS2 games came to NSO as well but I know realistically that won’t happen lol.