I have said it before earlier in the year and I will say it again, I don't see the N64 Classic Edition coming out this year, Doesn't mean that it can I just don't see it happening (It's getting pretty late in the year for announcements too), The second Nintendo announced the return of the NES for late June, I imagined that it would probably push the N64 to 2019.
Reasons:
1. Oversaturation and Timing
With the SNES having been out since holiday of 2017, and Bringing back the NES after more than a year due to popular demand, Nintendo said they would double down on stock and sell them at the least until the end of 2018 and with both being out in the open market for a while, much easier to get this time around too the demand has died down for them, maybe during the holidays they will get a boost ,but I'm sure Nintendo will retire them at the end of the year or early 2019, They don't really have a reason to push the N64 and clutter the market with 3 options on the shelf when they can sell the remaining NES and SNES, Not to mention they have bigger fish to fry this holiday with their 2 heavy hitters this holiday season with Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu/Eevee and Super Smash Bros Ultimate for Switch.
2. N64 Library and Rareware
While the NES and SNES had big library's with their 1st Party offerings and a lot of their usual Japanese 3rd Party developers releasing games on both consoles, The N64 lacked 3rd Party support and was heavily reliant on Nintendo's 1st Party and Rareware's 2nd Party carrying the load throughout this generation, While it is possible to release an N64 without any of Rareware's titles, The overabundance of Mario titles will be more apparent and the console will have a weaker and decimated lineup overall without them, I don't see all of Rare's games making it in the N64 Classic, But the ones that made an impact will make it on their if they can work a deal with Microsoft. I can definitely see Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie headling since they were Rare's biggest original IP during the N64 era, Diddy Kong Racing, Donkey Kong 64 is a given since Nintendo owns the rights, But thought I should mention it since it's another Rare game, Nintendo would like to stay away from Conkers Bad Fur Day as far as possible and Goldeneye 007 is a mess of licenses that they will probably not even bother so I can see Perfect Dark as a replacement ,But that depends if Nintendo wants to fill in the FPS void in the lineup ,But also keep the system no higher than a T rating since Perfect Dark is rated M so that game is a maybe.
1.Banjo-Kazooie
2.Banjo-Tooie
3.Diddy Kong Racing
4.Donkey Kong 64
5.Perfect Dark
3. Nintendo 64 Emulation and Hardware
Unlike the NES and SNES, N64 games (while certainly possible) are harder to emulate and they might still need time to work the stuff out, Nintendo rarely rereleases N64 titles, they did an ok job putting out some during the Wii era ,but barely did anything with them on the Wii U and while NES/SNES games aged better, are simpler and are easy to pick up and play, Some N64 3D games didn't aged as well and aren't as practical and lastly I would imagine the recreation of the N64 Controller would need some tweaks with the Control Stick maybe model it after the Gamecube stick or use better material to prevent grinding and wear and tear, Not to mention they would have to strategize pricing for the console,controllers and bundles which without a doubt will make the N64 their most expensive Classic Edition yet.
Announcement and Release Window
I can probably see Nintendo making an announcement ,But holding off until next year for release or announce it late Spring or Early Summer next year like the other 2 consoles and release it sometime in the Fall or Holiday season or who knows maybe they announce it this Fall or Winter for early next year during the slow months when games releases are far and fewer in between, But that's my take on the N64 Classic Edition and it's inevitable release.
One issue I can see is if the roster is much more limited than I suspect, given how close we're getting to release, there is a strong possibility that Geno/Banjo are superficially similar (e.g., retro characters highly requested since Melee owned by third parties despite strong ties with Nintendo history) and if one gets in but not the other, I suspect it's Geno, especially given his Mii Costume in Smash 4. I have hope for all three, though.
) tells me he would choose Banjo & Kazooie over Steve as a playable character. I also would imagine Sakurai is well aware of the gaming landscape, he'll know what Banjo & Kazooie getting in would mean to people.
