Rumors are claiming Nintendo Gamecube games will be available to download on the Virtual Console for the Nintendo Switch. Gamecube Emulation can be done on low-end smartphones/PC’s. So if this isn’t true then it’s just Nintendo’s loss.
Nintendo Switch will allow you to play Gamecube games
Nintendo Switch will be able to play GameCube games via its Virtual Console service, three separate sources have confirmed to Eurogamer. Wii, Wii U, and 3DS have all offered a Virtual Console service for downloading games released on earlier Nintendo hardware. Nintendo Switch will be no different.
If you care about nostalgia then just buy the original console+game. If you just want to play the old games in the best way possible then there’s really no reason to re-buy everything on virtual console as emulation is way better. Either way going by this rumor, we’d say Nintendo isn’t using emulation.
Maybe some Gamecube games can be played on the Nvidia X1 chip in the Nvidia Shield TV. But not even the highest end of smartphones can emulate Gamecube games well. Plus, with games on cartridge, you likely won’t have to install the game like you do on PS4/XBOne because flash memory can be read so much faster than a disc.
The problem with disc based portable systems is that any type of jarring movement could cause the disc to skip. Having the games in a digital format or cartridge is much better for a portable device. So, Nintendo won’t just release a disc drive peripheral to play GameCube games.