Pokemon Stadium 1 & 2 is missing connectivity, Twitter thread explains reason

Following the recent Nintendo Direct announcement, many Pokemon fans were unhappy at the news that Nintendo 64 titles, Pokemon Stadium and Pokemon Stadium 2, would not be coming to the NSO online catalog in their original state. While this is unfortunate, a recent Twitter thread highlighted a few convincing points about why this decision might have been taken.

As older fans of the Pokemon franchise might remember, Pokemon Stadium and its sequel were groundbreaking titles for the franchise. Not only was this the first time the beloved series would make its way onto home consoles, but it also gave players a way to bring their Pokemon pals and their battles onto the big screen.

Utilizing the Nintendo 64 Transfer Pak, players could insert their cartridges for their Pokemon game of choice and enter a section of the game where they could bring their creatures over to the home console title. This was also done in recent titles like Pokemon Colosseum and Battle Revolution.

Given that this feature gave these games the magic they are known for, taking this feature away has left many Pokemon fans disheartened.

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"Simply put: The Game Boy games aren't on Switch": Pokemon Master Joe Merrick on Pokemon Stadium's situation

Following this bit of news and the outrage of Pokemon fans everywhere, Joe Merrick, who many may know as the webmaster of the famous information website for the franchise, Serebii.net, made a thread with his opinions. Merrick clarified at the outset that this problem with ports is not a simple fix.

Given that Pokemon Stadium and its sequel were designed for the Nintendo 64 and its accessories, the option to allow players to transfer their creatures would not be possible with the game's current build. Many believe they should be able to use their 3DS virtual console titles, but Merrick highlighted a valid point.

Pokemon Stadium was built to read data from an accessory on the controller. In the original versions, this feature would require the transfer pak to be constantly connected to the Nintendo 64 controller, which is something the Switch's Pro Controller and Joy-Cons cannot allow.

Given that these games rely on hardware connections rather than software, Game Freak will have to reconstruct the entire game from scratch for players to connect to their 3DS home console titles. This information should be considered with the backdrop of Nintendo dropping the 3DS's eShop.

While the situation does seem dire for Pokemon fans regarding Pokemon Stadium, Merrick left his followers with a bit of hope. Given that saved data is connected through the Nintendo Online membership rather than the N64 NSO application, there might be a solution.

If Nintendo ports Game Boy titles to the Switch in the same form as their other retro consoles, there could be a link in the future. However, this would also require Nintendo to port original versions of the first two Pokemon generations to the platform.

While nothing has been confirmed regarding future implementations, Merrick made solid points regarding why Pokemon Stadium lacks connectivity in its debut on Nintendo's online service.