Playasia's new retro collection explicitly lists Switch 2 support

Playasia has announced an exclusive physical release of Telenet Shooting Collection I+II. The retailer also explicitly confirmed the bundle is fully compatible with the unannounced Nintendo Switch 2. Playasia partnered with publisher Edia to bring the English-language physical edition to market in the second quarter of 2026.

I always find it funny when retailers just casually drop unannounced hardware names into standard product descriptions. Nintendo has kept a tight lid on its next console, but third-party partners clearly already have the marketing copy ready to go.

Eight 16-bit shooters in one box

The bundle packs two previously separate Japanese releases into a single physical package. These individual collections, Telenet Shooting Collection (released June 8, 2023) and Telenet Shooting Collection II (released August 28, 2025), were previously available as separate physical releases in Japan. Edia acquired the rights to the defunct Telenet Japan catalog a few years ago and has been steadily crowdfunding modern ports of its 16-bit library. Until now, Western players had to import the standalone Japanese releases or buy them digitally.

Telenet Japan was a fascinating company in the 16-bit era. They were known for prioritizing flashy anime-style cutscenes over perfectly balanced gameplay. Their Valis series is probably their most famous export, but their shooter output has a very specific, slightly janky charm. Edia has been doing a surprisingly thorough job of bringing these games back from the dead. Before they stepped in, the only way to play a physical copy of Gaiares was to track down an original Genesis cartridge. Those old copies regularly sell for hundreds of dollars on the secondhand market.

The first half of the collection includes four titles from the early 1990s. The standout is Gaiares, a brutally difficult Sega Genesis game where you steal weapons directly from enemy ships. It also includes Avenger and Psychic Storm from the PC Engine. Rounding out the first set is Granada, which started as a Sharp X68000 computer game before moving to the Genesis. It plays more like a multi-directional tank combat game than a traditional scrolling shooter.

The second half of the package brings four more deep cuts from the Telenet vault. It includes the robot shooter Kiaidan 00, the top-down action game Final Zone II, Browning, and Legion. These are straight ports of the original console releases, though Edia wrapped them in a modern launcher. The emulator shell includes standard modern comforts like save states, visual filters, and a rewind function. Rewind is practically mandatory if you actually want to see the end credits of Gaiares without spending a month memorizing enemy spawn patterns.

Saying the quiet part out loud

The games themselves are great news for retro fans, but the platform listing is what caught everyone off guard. Playasia explicitly listed the release as "fully compatible with Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2."

Nintendo is famously secretive about unannounced hardware. Retailers usually use placeholder terms like "Next-Gen Nintendo System" to avoid breaking non-disclosure agreements. Playasia dropping the actual Switch 2 name right in the middle of a blog post is either a massive slip-up or a sign that the official reveal is imminent.

We all know new hardware is coming. Rumors and supply chain leaks have been circulating for over a year. However, seeing a major retailer put the name in bold text is a different story. It suggests that backward compatibility is a known, marketable fact for publishers working on late-era Switch games. If a niche retro collection from Edia is already advertising forward compatibility, it is safe to assume the transition between the two consoles will be relatively seamless.

Playasia has not announced an exact release date beyond the Q2 2026 window. The bundle will include English box art, which is a nice touch for collectors who prefer their shelves to look uniform. By the time it actually ships, Nintendo might have even acknowledged its new console exists.