Nintendo has recently applied for multiple intriguing trademarks, and the details just became public. The Big N may be dipping into the nostalgia pool with these recent trademarks, as the company is striving to continue the success of the Nintendo Switch over the past few years.
The trademarks that Nintendo has applied for basically fall under two categories, video game names, and hardware/accessory names. Some of the names are less surprising, but others seem to come out of nowhere, indicating that Nintendo could be working on something interesting, including remakes of Wii U and Wii games, as well as Game Boy Advance and GameCube projects.
On the software front, Nintendo trademarked Paper Mario: The Origami King, the exciting new Mario RPG for the Switch, but as the game is to be released in just over a month, this would make sense. A bigger surprise is the trademark of Excite Truck, a Wii launch arcade racer. It could be that Nintendo is planning to bring back the series, or re-release the original.
On the hardware front, Nintendo applied for trademarks for the GBA and the Wii U, both categorized as machinery and equipment and toys. The Wii U also had the additional category of education/entertainment. The fact that both consoles are categorized as just hardware could mean that Nintendo is simply protecting its IP. Most of the Wii U games were already ported to the hybrid console, but may fans would love to see the remaining Wii U gems come over to the Nintendo Switch.
When it comes to the GBA, it could also point to the idea of those games coming to Nintendo Online. The online service has NES and SNES games added to it frequently, so having the handheld GBA games as a part of the lineup as well would be a great addition. A GBA Classic, like the successful NES Classic and SNES Classic, would also be something fans would adore.
The Wavebird was also applied for trademark again by Nintendo, the wireless GameCube controller is considered to be one of the best controllers ever made. The controller was categorized under toys, and it may be that Nintendo is again protecting its IP, but it could also point to GameCube games coming the Switch and Nintendo reselling the popular controller.
Nintendo also applied for Mii to be trademarked, categorized as machinery and equipment, and education/entertainment. Nintendo hasn't utilized the Mii functionality as much as in the past, but they are still used on the Switch for personalization.
It's entirely possible that every one of these trademarks is just Nintendo doing its due diligence and taking care of its IP. But it's also true that sometimes these trademarks hint at fun surprises on the way.
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