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A copy of NES game ‘Golf’ is reportedly found hiding on the Nintendo Switch

By Garrett Hulfish September 18, 2017

Beginning with the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo has celebrated its history through the Virtual Console. The service has also existed on the Wii U and 3DS, but fans have been left eagerly awaiting its arrival on the Nintendo Switch. As it turns out, an NES emulator may have been on the console the whole time.

According to hacker YellowS8 (via Engadget), a hidden game called Flog (golf spelled backward) has been deep inside the

Nintendo Switch

‘s main binary. The Flog emulator was first discovered in July, but these screenshots mark the first glimpse at it. The screenshots that accompany the reveal look identical to the 1984 sports sim Golf. It is still unknown what triggers the title officially, but YellowS8 says it can be run using unofficial methods. Flog has supposedly been lurking inside the console since version 1.0.0 of the firmware.

Even more curious is the supposed inclusion of multiple control methods. As expected, the default controls scheme appears to use the Joy-Con control stick and face buttons. The screenshots suggest that by holding the ZL or ZR button activates motion controls. Users would be able to swing physically to play shots.

Nintendo has previously stated that Virtual Console is on its way to the

Nintendo Switch

, yet the company has never made any indication of adding motion controls. No prior official NES ROMs have used the control method and Nintendo appears to be tight-lipped on the subject.

In addition to the Virtual Console, Nintendo also touted the Classic Games Selection as part of next year’s online subscription for the Switch. These classics will include Switch-specific upgrades like online play.

With each iteration of Virtual Console, Nintendo has added more and more console emulators. On the original Wii, it was limited to NES, SNES, and Nintendo 64 titles. With the Wii U and 3DS, the service added Gameboy, Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advance, and Nintendo DS entries. The Nintendo Switch has been rumored to go even further, suggesting the addition of Gamecube games on Virtual Console.

While these rumored remain unconfirmed by Nintendo, its latest Direct stream revealed that classic Nintendo titles are incoming, starting with Mario Bros. later in September.

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Gaming

All upcoming Switch games: 2024 and beyond

Luigi with the Poltergust 5000.

The Nintendo Switch is one of the most popular consoles Nintendo has ever produced, with a wide variety of games to choose from and plenty of unique features. We’ve already gotten to play new entries across the Zelda, Super Mario, and Pokémon series on Nintendo Switch, but there are still plenty of great games on the way for the hybrid console. These include exclusive games developed internally by Nintendo, as well as third-party titles and ports of games that are also available on other platforms.

Here's our list of the best upcoming Nintendo Switch games for 2024 and beyond. Of course, some titles without release windows could skip the Switch entirely and wind up on Nintendo Switch 2 (or whatever it ends up being called) And if you're looking at future releases on multiple consoles, don't forget to check out what's upcoming on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and PC this year.
Upcoming Switch games 2024
The games listed below either have 100% confirmed release dates or solid release windows that we expect them to hit this year. Anything that's up in the air due to more vague launch predictions or previous delays will be listed below confirmed launches.

Gaming

A Nintendo emulator is Apple’s top downloaded app after ban reversal

Nintendo Entertainment System with controller.

The iOS App Store has a new No. 1 app, and it's Delta -- Game Emulator. Recently unbanned by Apple, the app allows players to emulate games from several different Nintendo systems, even though it isn't officially backed by Nintendo.

As a report from The Washington Post outlines, Apple recently loosened its App Store restrictions, which allowed game emulators to return to the storefront even though they were previously banned. Emulators populate a murky gray area in the video game industry, as they are fantastic for game preservation, but also give people ways to play games illegally if they find the ROM online.

Gaming

Is Stardew Valley cross-platform?

Stardew Valley Multiplayer Fishing

Stardew Valley is a game made by just one person, but it has seen more success than most games made by dozens, or even hundreds, of people. It's even one of Digital Trends' top 50 video games of all time. Since its release in 2016, the game has been updated regularly with new features and content to keep its avid fans coming back. This includes an online multiplayer component that allows you and up to three friends to hang out on each other's farms. And with the recent trend of games allowing players on different platforms to join together, you may wonder if Stardew Valley offers cross-platform functionality. Here's everything we know about cross-platform support in Stardew Valley.
Is Stardew Valley cross-platform?
Stardew Valley does not offer cross-platform support, meaning you can't play online multiplayer between any of the systems the game is on. So if you want to team up with some friends, make sure you all are playing on the same platform, such as the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, or PC. Also be aware that whoever starts a multiplayer game is saving that shared world locally, meaning no one else can reenter that world without the host present.

The sad fact of the matter is there doesn't seem to be any indication that crossplay will come to Stardew Valley. The game's official Reddit still lists it as not being supported, and there was only one mention of it by the developer on Twitter back in 2018, when he responded to a question asking if crossplay would come to the game. He replied, "Unfortunately, there will not be crossplay. Apparently, the technical barriers are very high. It's still something I really want to add and I promise to look into it more closely, but first priority is getting the update out there." This was many years ago, and there has been no further information about cross-platform play since, so it seems very unlikely that we will see support for this functionality come to Stardew Valley.