Players shouldn't expect any more miniature retro consoles from Nintendo. The first of these, the NES Classic Edition, launched in 2016 and would go down in infamy as being constantly sold out everywhere. The SNES Classic Edition faced the same problem, but to a lesser extent.
People are always interested in Nintendo's legacy content, as evidenced by the sales of the NES Classic Edition. This plug-and-play console was affordable, and came with 30 titles built-in. Older fans could relive their childhood with classics such as Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong. Unfortunately, much to scalpers' delight, Nintendo did not meet demand for awhile. Thankfully, the company re-released the console after the SNES Classic Edition released.
Speaking of the SNES Classic Edition, that one also sold like hotcakes. The most unique aspect was its inclusion of the unreleased Star Fox 2. The Classic Editions were massive hits for Nintendo, and many thought a Nintendo 64 Classic Edition was inevitable. That's when Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé stated in 2018 that an N64 Classic was not in the cards. It appears that's still the case today.
Current Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser was asked (via The Verge) about the possibility of a future plug-and-play retro console. Bowser's response was that Nintendo is focused on Nintendo Switch Lite and the parent Switch console. Also, he says the focus will continue to be on Nintendo Switch Online.
"I think with the gameplay experiences you saw with some of our classic consoles that we launched a few years ago, they’re now available on Nintendo Switch Online, and this is where our focus will be."
Nintendo Switch Online features a robust library of NES titles, and recently, the company implemented SNES titles. Nintendo appears to be forging ahead with its subscription service.
While Nintendo's reasoning makes sense, the problem is the time it will take to play more of its legacy content. Nintendo Switch Online has been out for over a year now, and players have just gotten SNES titles. How long will it be (assuming they will be there to begin with) before Nintendo 64 games are added? Nintendo said it will be adding more SNES titles in the future, but not using the monthly schedule. It's been two months, and no new SNES titles have been added. This doesn't seem to bode well for future games.
But maybe Nintendo could surprise everyone by beginning to add Nintendo 64 titles concurrently with SNES.
Source: The Verge