Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ big 3.0 update quietly drops a bunch of retro Nintendo consoles (plus a Nintendo Switch 2) you can buy for decorating. A handful even boot up classic games if you have an active Nintendo Switch Online subscription.
The catch is actually unlocking Gran’s final shop upgrade so those 3.0 Nintendo items show up. Here’s how to get that “special” tab to appear, and a clean list of everything you can order once it does.
How to unlock the Nintendo consoles in Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Keep working at the hotel resort until Gran expands her shop all the way. The last upgrade adds a new “special” tab with the Nintendo-themed goodies.
The exact trigger is a little fuzzy, but the following milestones reliably pushed the shop to its final upgrade the next in-game day:
- Finish the resort hotel’s main story, including the VIP room.
- Decorate one additional VIP room beyond the story requirement.
- Turn in around 50 DIY requests at the pier.
- Accrue a little over 5,000 tickets total.
Order of operations may matter. In testing, the 50 DIY turn-ins happened first, then the extra VIP room, and the upgrade hit the following day. If you want to minimize grind, try completing the additional VIP room first, then knock out DIYs and sleep on it. That does mean time traveling if you’re in a hurry.
Prefer to stay legit? You can blitz through those ~50 DIY requests in a single real-time day, but it might overshoot what’s actually required. Track progress in your Nook Miles achievements to avoid going way past the mark.
Which Nintendo consoles are available in Animal Crossing: New Horizons?
Gran’s “special” tab includes several display pieces and a set of playable retro consoles. The playable ones launch the classic game listed below if you have Nintendo Switch Online:
- Famicom: Clu Clu Land
- NES: Ice Climber
- Famicom Disk System: Ice Hockey
- Game Boy: Dr. Mario
- Super Famicom: Panel de Pon
- Super NES (NTSC version): F-Zero
- Super NES (PAL version): F-Zero
No NSO? You can still buy and place every item for decoration—you just won’t be able to launch the games.
As usual, the catalog limits you to five orders per day, so plan your haul—or time travel if patience isn’t your thing.
Here’s every retro Nintendo item available in the 3.0 update and how many tickets each one costs:
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Ultra Hand | 200 tickets |
| Ultra Machine | 200 tickets |
| Love Tester | 200 tickets |
| Nintendo Switch 2 | 222 tickets |
| Famicom | 500 tickets |
| NES | 500 tickets |
| Famicom Disk System | 500 tickets |
| Game Boy | 500 tickets |
| Super Famicom | 500 tickets |
| Super NES (NTSC version) | 500 tickets |
| Super NES (PAL version) | 500 tickets |