Reaction: What are Your Thoughts on Nintendo Switch Online?

I like the cloud saves and reasonable pricing but replacing the Virtual Console with a subscription service is horrific. All the games will literally vanish when Nintendo terminates the service someday, while the Virtual Console games I downloaded on Wii twelve years ago are still mine to play. Hate it. Oh, and unless they have some amazing killer online games in the works with some excellent features, paying for the same disconnected, halfhearted online service (complete with archaic friend codes) that Nintendo has been providing since the original DS in 2005 hardly seems fair. Basically I wish they’d step it up and modernize if they expect us to start paying.

It's cheap as chips and functional. I didn't want online to be a money sink and thankfully, this isn't. It certainly opens the door to more retro content provided by more developers (like we are already seeing), modern takes on classics like Wonderboy Monster Land (like we are already seeing) and compilations (like we are seeing.) Don't mourn the loss of Virtual Console. We already have more coin-ops than I can shake a stick at. Coming every week, not every blue moon like a lottery I might add.

Overall I think there are more positives than negatives. Still not on part compared to competitors but at half the cost can't expect it all. Cloud saves alone are worth it me, still wish we could do manual backups via USB. Still hate the idea of using a separate app for communication. All in all I will be getting the family plan and hoping they add snes games to the mix.

The Switch Online app with the voice chat and messaging either needs to not be on a phone and be on the Switch or needs a massive overhaul. And the lack of virtual console that isn't just the nes is a bit downbeat (they did say they have no plans meaning it could change but not holding my breath)but overall, can hardly complain with the price. It's basically pocket change.

Now here's hoping them online servers are strong.

We still need to learn more to make a proper Informed decision but we don't have much of a choice do we regardless. You can't play games these days without some kind of online component in at least one of your games.

Discounts for
some eshop games will probably cover the subscription lol. 😊
I wish people would maybe be a little bit open minded about this and the fact that Nintendo will be giving us more details.
I expect it will be fully up and running before September anyway...

literally only care about Cloud Saves...

I'm happy the cloud saves have arrived.Really pleased about that but the more I think about it,I don't really go online for playing games..very rarely anyway and the games they are offering are no interest to me at all.So the only thing I'm paying for is the safekeeping of my saves....
Still,it's not too bad a price and I'll still be paying up.

I would pay just to play MK8D and Splatoon 2 online. Anything else is a bonus for me, but I would rather pay for my retro games if that would make them release quicker. The old VC didn't bother me

Where's the option for the eShop discounts that we're still waiting for details on? I'm more interested in that then anything else.

Voice chat is still a huge disappointment.

I couldn't care less about the same NES games we've seen a hundred times before.

I'll be looking to exploit the family account with my friends.

At least it's not £40.

It's a start I guess but I'm definitely not jumping for joy to suddenly start paying for playing Splatoon 2 or any other Switch game online when so far Nintendo online has been (mostly) free. The Cloud saving thing is definitely the best part of this but it's still weird and dumb that this much-wanted basic feature is locked behind a paywall in this day and age, but considering I was planning on getting the online thing anyway I'm not too bothered with that personally.

I'm also a little baffled that they only toss NES games online, but I guess they also didn't say SNES and any other console games are out of the question for the future, so we'll see how that goes. The SNES era is where the better multiplayer games started out really, at least in my opinion, but it'll still be nice to be able to play Super Mario Bros with distant friends and whatnot (without having to rely on emulators and such).

It’s less than $2 a month!!! Given the price and what we get, I’m more than satisfied.

Wait and see. September is for Dragon Quest and October is RDR2. and I do not need online for Shining or Valkyria that are on my list for Switch after September.

See how this pans out - no rush, Decide at end of the year.

That phone chat App thing kills it for me - it is just an awful way of doing it.

I've been seeing a lot of mixed reactions to this all over the internet. I think it isn't too great but it's also not the end of the world. Cloud saves are great, although it sucks they are apparently locked behind a pay wall. The free NES games with online compatibility are cool and I hope all classic Nintendo games adopt this fashion (imagine SNES, N64, and even GameCube games with online multiplayer added in).

That being said, there is still no voice chat functionality on the Switch itself, which is something my Vita from 2012 can do without issue. Plus we have no information on instant messaging or unique usernames to replace friend codes. And if we're paying monthly, I hope Nintendo starts making dedicated servers for newer titles like Smash Bros. I want stable online gameplay.

TLDR: I think it's eh. Not good, but not terrible. We need to hear more.

Well...
I will subscribe for Paid Online Service once it started.

@8-Bit_Superman And until they announce otherwise, all we know is that the only way to access retro games on Switch is through an online subscription, meaning that the games will be tied to that particular service. They’re free to remove any games from the service as they see fit, sort of like Netflix is constantly updating its catalog. I don’t want to be playing my way through a long third-party Super Nintendo game on Switch only to have it suddenly removed due to licenses expiring. That’s the reality now. It sucks.

I’ll be paying for it, but I’m not sure cloud saves and a handful of classic games are revolutionary enough to be considered vast improvements over the current online service. I was expecting a bit more, but I’m content. I want to know more about the eShop discounts.

I also wonder if Nintendo has some AAA online focused games (other than Smash) coming this Fall/Winter to entice people into this (Pokémon or Animal Crossing). Could we see Fortnite or PuBG at e3?

Man, I really want a new Animal Crossing to play this winter now.

It's almost worth it if there are any games worth playing online aside from Monster Hunter XX. Unfortunately Splatoon 2 didnt hold my interest much longer than the first.

Not what I expected.
The fact that you have to pay to be able to save files in the cloud is outrageous.
That option if not online, should be on the system itself like a USB option to save your game files.
I get the the price is very cheap compared to others but there is nothing exciting on this thing.
They didn't even get the voice chat fixed, that app on the mobile phone is really bad.
The price is worth for what you get but I expected more and expected things to be different, they are sub-par when compared with the competition no matter which angle you look at.

@8-Bit_Superman That in no way means that Nintendo’s retro games are going to be sold separately. Read it again. They are saying that legacy games can be purchased from the eShop or in packaged collections from Nintendo or third parties. They could easily be referring to games like the Megaman Legacy Collection or the Arcade Archives series. Again, is it possible that they could be sold separately? Sure. But given the fact that they are dropping the Virtual Console name and using the games as an incentive for people to subscribe to their service it seems highly unlikely that they’ll offer alternative ways to get them.

I don't have a phone that can run apps, so I unless they integrate online chat I guess I'm out.

I'm at a loss as to what online play really does for NES games. I can't think of a single NES game that would be better with online play or of any that i'd want to play online.

There isn’t much offered but the price is reasonable. I have no issue paying $20 a year for the service.

@Orin41 It's the principle. I don't like the equivalent services on PS4 and Xbox either.

Hosting online matches is incredibly cheap for Nintendo (it's the reason why it's free on PC, and why it was free on Wii/Wii U/DS/3DS. Nintendo doesn't use dedicated servers either, it's all P2P (like most of the industry), so we essentially host our own servers.

Not a big fan of cloud saves locked behind a paywall. At least give us the option to make our own manual back ups. Even Microsoft offers free cloud saves!

Lastly, like Xbox Live Gold and PS+, you're paying mostly for the monthly games. It's not even about the online anymore (and that's all I care about). You're essentially paying €60 for monthly games, with the online part being held ransom behind a paywall. Sure, it's only €20 on the Switch, but how long until people start demanding GameBoy and SNES games? Or N64, or GameCube games? (it's already happening by the way). And if they come, I can assure you they come with a price hike. And before you know you're paying €60 for something you don't care about. The idea of monthly games is nice, but once you stop paying (or when Nintendo decides to pull the plug), you loose access to all those games.

I don't care about the fluff, the games they give away to justify the price, I just want online play, but that option doesn't exist. That's why I'm not a fan of this concept.

My solution would be: Offer online for free (or €5 a year if they insist on it), and offer the games as a separate service like the Game Pass on Xbox.

Good price. Hopefully the online functionally is improved. Hate the voice chat app garbage and the age restriction being forced upon me like I don’t know what age my own child can talk to his friends online. Also the initial batch of games are naff. Most of them are really really early black box NES games that are super simple. Not great

I just personally love the upset over the Virtual Console stuff. The internet whines about having to rebuy games. The internet whines to Nintendo to put everything on a ala cart back catalog. Now that we get it people are pissy that Virtual Console (Which is just a marketing name for emulators let's be honest) is going to be gone.

Pretty shocked to see so many people complaining that $20 is too expensive. That’s for an entire year. That’s beyond fair. Go to sony or Microsoft and see how much you get for $20 a year. This would’ve been fair even without the nes library wirh added online functionality.

Lol, who was the 1% that voted for "Continued use of the Nintendo Switch Online App"?

Confused. What exactly did they reveal here that we didn’t already know (other than the lack of Virtual Console)? They didn’t tell us which new features the retro games would have (how would playing Zelda 1 or Super Mario Bros. online even work? Would they have new content, or would it just be a Twitch streaming type thing?). Overall, I’m not really seeing why this would be an improvement over the wii/wii u online service, or what those services were even missing in the first place.

I rarely play online but like to have the option when it crosses my mind. My daughter plays Splatoon 2 quite a bit. Guess it’s a family plan for me. Still reasonably priced but wish the $20 would cover one concurrent user as I only have 1 Switch. So because she has her own profile I guess the family plan is what I have to get. Sure I’ll take the free games and will play them. I do lament the loss of VC. I think it’s a poor choice. I would love to have a large back platform list of games I could take with me everywhere I go. I’d also like to play MARIO Sunshine again some day.

@GrailUK What if I want to play Mario 64 on my Switch? Or how about Mario Sunshine? I already own these games, but I would love to play them on the go. It's super easy for Nintendo to put them up for easy money, but now they never will. Obscure Neo Geo and Indies do not count as replacements for all-time classics like Mario 64 or Ocarina of Time.

It's ok I suppose, cheaper than the others but you get much less for your money too and then there's the real price for many people which is over £30 and much closer to XBL for multiple accounts to be covered. Yet instead of several new games available each month it'll just be old NES games and chat is useless through that app.

All that being said it's still very cheap, I just hope we get a greater variety in the included games as the starting ones are very underwhelming, at least give us SNES or later and perhaps some indie games now and then? Oh and add voice chat to the console and don't limit it to in game 😁

@thesilverbrick makes me wonder even more why we aren’t getting that megadrive collection that comes out in a few weeks. Thought it might have been because some would be included in this but that’s not the case.

@Mr_Pepperami Probably because of Sega Ages.

Being able to back up your saves should be standard. The fact that people are excited about paying for it is baffling to me. I don't really want to pay to play the occasional online match of splatoon or Mario Kart. If they're not careful the online community might become much less populated pretty quick. Personally September will be the end of online gaming for me if there's no way to play the games I've paid for the way they were intended without coughing up more cash. The fact that the online structure since launch has been so lackluster hasn't helped matters. Ho-hum, turning players into payers is the future and it's a party I will not be attending.

So, the way the online functionality sounds like it works, you can have other people play the NES titles with you multiplayer, or they can simply spectate. You can even transfer controls over to them. That sounds really cool to me, although this is something i would rather have for newer games.

Also frustrated by the voice chat decision.

It's madness that there is literally no other way to back up save data other than with the cloud save service. The only other option is... nothing.

If the classic library grows and includes more than just some NES titles it’s gonna end up being more than worth it when I consider how much I would spend on standard Virtual Console releases otherwise. It’d definitely be more than a hundo over the span of five years, so the potential for this, for me at least, completely lies with the classic games they add to the program going forward.

And even if it ends up mediocre whatever. I live to serve the lords and masters at Nintendo.

All I read are either people expecting more and others happy to have a bad service because its cheap. Have some respect for yourselves and seek improvement from this. It really isn't good enough - especially when compared to the competition.

The fact that Nintendo still wants us to use the stupid phone app is absolutely pathetic.

Aside from the occasional Arms Party Crash, the only game I regularly play online is Splatoon 2. Mario Kart and Smash have always been offline games for me (the occasional online race/fight, but not enough to justify a premium) and re the NES games I'm at a point where I don't realistically feel I'll spend much more of my life playing those games with all the lovely new stuff coming out (I also own a ps4) combined with limited gaming time; they're happy memories, but at this point all I want in terms of Nintendo's retro titles are Gamecube, and I have my Wii U if I ever feel inclined to go back and play any of the old titles. Cloud saves are good but frankly some kind of backup functionality should already be in place for free, even if it's just via USB. In short, this will all depend on how much I'm still playing Splatoon 2 in September, or when Nintendo bring out Splatoon 3.

r.i.p. my legs.

More interested in the face Alex is making in the thumbnail.

I can see why Nintendo don't want to leave $100 million a year on the table unclaimed but its not really offering much in return, at least not for me. Not going to sell my switch over it but i don't think I'll pick up any more multiplayer only games on it.

@HammerKirby Mario 64 has been available for the DS since 2004. And I’m not sure why anyone would want to play Mario Sunshine at all, much less portably.

NESzzzZZZZZ games.... enough with peddling NES games, they really haven't dated well (except Super Mario Bros. 3).

I'm hoping they'll release remastered Nintendo 64, Gamecube and Wii games through the eshop (Adding online functionality), hence Nintendo saying Virtual Console as we know it is dead.

cloud saves, classic games and discounts are good enough for me, and since the multiplayer makes it mandatory those 3 features are gravy

Unirally with added online and I'm in!

Otherwise, yeah, with what they've shown so far no buy from me. It's not that expensive, but for me there's nothing to really justify paying 20€ for it.

@nmanifold depends when you were born I guess, NES and SNES aged much better for me because of nostalgia

I was late teens early 20s when Game Cube game out so hardly call those nostalgic years

The N64 did not age well at all for me, clunky controls

Their problem is they don’t have that many online games yet, in the same way PS4 will always have new CoD and Fifa to play online. I’ve fallen off Splatoon and that’s literally the only online game I haven’t sucked at.

For me it’ll all be about the game subscription. Will see what the other 10 at launch are and the pipeline of games to be added before deciding when to sign up.

💪🤠👍

In a bitter sweet way im glad VC is dead. That whole shebang would stand in the way of all the recent indie success on the Switch. Why spend $15 on the indie dev take on a retro game style when you can pay $8 for the real deal?

Besides. Nintendos language still keeps the door open for stand alone retro releases/updates. Lookin at you gamecube.

So far this is what was promised earlier, so my thoughts are unchanged - cloud saves are certainly the key feature for me (I mean, they were and remain my number 1 reason to pay for PS Plus as a Vita owner), but the expanding CGC with 20 titles out the gate is a damn bargain for 20 bucks per year.

My thoughts on fan concerns are unchanged as well - comparing piracy to official offers is childish at best, and we all know Nintendo will prioritize anti-piracy and stuff over physical backups as long as they can afford it. Bad news is, the company estimated capable of releasing commercially failing consoles for several more decades and still stay afloat... sounds like they can afford this alright. XD

So this is how the virtual console dies, with uproarious applause. This does not sound good at all it may be cheap but I don't want a subscription for my classics I want to buy them for the 5th time like a true nintendo fan. Value wise I still don't think it's good Hardly any switch games to play online and nes games don't cut it I have at least 16 xbox 360 games I got for free from live and I get to keep them forever regardless of my live subscription and some of those are even in 4k now on x and look amazing like your playing a new game. That's my rant I will buy it but to say I'm disappointed is an understatement. Switch would be the perfect console to play vc on I just don't get it.

I'm baffled by these comments about how that Nintendo's pricing somehow make's it a superior option.

Let's put aside the fact you get temporary access to a handful of 30 year old first-party NES games that will cease to exist once you drop your subscription (and possibly when you're just offline). Don't compare that to the yearly 24 current gen and 12 last gen games MS gives you permanent (and offline) access to for the rest of your life.

Let's also put aside them forcing you to pay for the ability to somehow backup your save data, a system design decision so stupid that every home and portable system for the past 15 years has allowed you to do at least through USB or SD cards.

Even at $20 bucks a year could you really sell people on this service? Paying for online multiplayer with maybe a half dozen or so "must play" multiplayer games? No messaging, voice chat, parties, or any way at all to communicate with other players outside of using your cell phone? A paid multiplayer service that's inferior in every way to both every other paid current-gen offering and every other free past-gen offering?

I'm one of those weird anomalies that was actually pretty happy with Nintendo's previous plan of free online. Yeah, the system lacked a lot of basic features, but it also never charged any money for online, compared to the $50 spent on the other consoles-it always seemed like an alright tradeoff to me.

That being said, I don't mind paying money for online-it's something that I'm guaranteed to get $20 of use for with ARMS and Splatoon 2 alone. Cloud saves to me are just a decent bonus though, and enhanced utilization of the online app for voice chat is in the air (I would like more options, like an ARMS version similar to what Splatoon 2 has, and a version that can be accessed from the Switch just to streamline things). What really has me interested is the current plan to handle retro titles by pricing them under one banner, rather than selling them individually. It feels more like Netflix, letting you pick and choose what you want to play whenever, and the added online gameplay, screen swapping, and passing controllers to people sounds like a cool addition. I do hope that the rest of the additions to the initial opening are enticing, and that more systems beyond the NES are added-that would definitely elevate the worth of this program.

So, my thoughts are generally positive with what we have, with some fairly reasonable hopes for improvement (online app updates, more old Nintendo systems supported in the online plan, and just some really solid NES titles, possibly a few niche ones here and there that people haven't played before). For unreasonable hopes, I'd love for a successor to Miiverse to come about, but I'll hardly be shocked if that never happens. Overall, glad, mostly because the news won't make the internet meltdown.

If they don't give local, free saves backup alternatives and if their retrogames will only be available for the subscribers and not for sale too for other Switch owners this is exactly the same as EA lootboxes.
No it is even worse for me, since I don't give a *** about EA games they can ruin their games as much as they want for me, I would have zero interest in those games anyway. But Switch and Nintendo games are a completely different thing. I love Switch, I love many products that Nintendo made but I hate how Nintendo is going to behave with this online crap.

@HammerKirby Well...you can't. Wait for a remaster (with gyro aim!) or the N64 mini.

Please understand my aversion to the modern “made u look” YouTube thumbnail

"Boycott this terrible service with its awful voicechat and non-customizable saving system!"
But I really want access to dozens of old games on my Switch.
"Just steal them and put on a raspberry pi!"
I really want them portably though on my Nintendo Switch.
"But you lose access if you cancel your subscription!"
Why would I do that? I like Nintendo and want to keep getting the monthly games.
"You don't own them though!?"
But I want to play them and its only 20 dollars. Besides I already own most of them on my 3DS, Wii U, NES mini, and SNES mini. Should I really limit my fun and modes of play just because of principle?
"Yes!"
Okay, have fun on xbox live! plays Legend of Zelda on Switch
Best 20 bucks I ever spent and now I have my...counts on fingers 7th copy of Zelda 1. blasts an octorok with a sword laser. Worth it.

It’s cheap but we’re getting a cheap service.

im Buying this for online play and save clouds. classics games are a bonus, but i'll wait and see on them expending it, to N64, NGC and etc. not using that horrible voice chat (i have discord for this.), Special Offers is something i'll have to wait and see before judging.

Just like most people, i see no reason why they would stop with the virtual console
I mean they know we where/are anxiously waiting for the gamecube library since the wiiu.

No probs here, glad it is cheaper than PEN and XBL. Hope they let us use accounts on multiple devices without deactivating...

Virtual Console being gone is terrible especially if your like me and bought some classic games. Eventually we will move entirely out of the realm of compatibility of the digital games I've purchased with no consideration for the customer. I'm super happy about Cloud Save but worried about it only being certain games or not all software. I am not happy with the Voice chat on the phone because you have to know the people you play with in order to use it, I'd prefer it to be open where I can chat with whoever I play with. If they made that small update at least it would be tolerable. Heck we should be able to message people from the app like the XBOX app.

Don't want or care about NES games. Give me GBA or GC games and I'm game. I refuse to use some stupid external app.

Cloud saving is nice. $20 nice? Doubtful

I mean, you need it to play online, so of course I'm subscribing. Hope the service is worth the (admittedly low) cost. Guess we'll see when Smash Bros. launches.

NES games on my Switch is great either way.

I dont really play stuff online anyway. All this means in effect that I will actively avoid the Splatoons and Armses of the world in the future

Everything so far about the Switch has been brilliant from day one. This, along with the online app is pretty poor and a disappointment.

@Mando44646 your loss. Splatoon is an amazing online game. It’s the only “shooter” I’ve ever enjoyed.

Not to mention, $20 a year is nothing.

It's hard to take so much bad news in one day...looks like I'll be selling up!

I'm a little confused after reading the FAQs on Nintendo's site. So I see that you can have a family subscription but I'm still confused as to how that's handled if you have multiple Switch systems. One FAQ says you have to sign in on each system with the Nintendo Account that purchased the subscription, but does that impact the ability to save your game data to the cloud? Since game saves are linked to Nintendo Accounts. So yeah, I'm a little confused how that works.

The low price and fact I can buy a subscription for all three switches in my house at one even lower price is amazing

2018 the year that ruined the switch.
1) no decent game releases all year
2) no voice chat
3) no decent VC
4) can't see the app supporting third parties
5) £20 for player2player online that's as laggy as hell

I'll probably download some of the classic games and would love some good eshop discounts, but, for me, cloud storage is already worth the $20 price.

It's intresting how everyone thinks it's great for £18.
The bottom line is it sucks now and soon you will have to pay £18 for it to suck.

Sorry but in my opinion if you are charging for online play you should have a way to communicate with people easily. Online chat has been available now for multiple generations of consoles and Nintendo is still giving us some shoddy version of it. Fine when it was free. Not fine when you are charging for it. The app isn’t good enough

Considering that a few friends and I will each by paying $7 each with the Family plan, I can't really say that the service isn't worth it.

Put voice chat in the system (while making the phone app optional) and ensure that the classic games are regularly updated, and I'd say the service would be pretty darn good (at least with the Family plan).

No virtual console yet they are giving us 20 old school nes games every month free to play lol

@Lord uh no, that's not how that works. And it would be absolutely idiotic to block access to the eshop

@NintendoFan4Lyf yes sorry that is fake news!

@brandonisi nah I only play a few hours of Splatoon or MK8 per month. Multiplayer focused games are not my thing. And this crap service guarantees Nintendo won't get my money for such future software. I dont mind paying for online access if I see value in it. And I dont want NES games or (probably) terrible discounts

@thesilverbrick Some seem to be misinterpreting what's happening with retro ports moving forward and jumping to doom-and-gloom conclusions. Based on recent statements from Nintendo, they're not saying "no classic games are ever going to be available for purchase." They have said only that "classic games will not be bundled together under the Virtual Console banner," and they clarified that "There are a variety of ways in which classic games from Nintendo and other publishers are made available on Nintendo Switch, such as through Nintendo Entertainment System – Nintendo Switch Online, Nintendo eShop or as packaged collections." At this point, it's not yet clear how classic games will be offered beyond the subscription service, but nobody from Nintendo is saying they won't be.

Starting off with 20 NES games? I can’t even name 5 NES games I like. NES games can be played on a calculator, but you’re gonna give us 20 of them to start off this service? That’s just insulting. Should’ve had games on a variety of systems. Not everyone loves over paying for a game that was released in the 80s. Who wants to play Ice Climbers? Not me.

I'm old and only play single-player so the only things I wanted was cloud saves and VC. The only reason I have PS+ is for cloud saves and PSN discounts. With no VC, I'm thinking of downloading more games on my WiiU and maybe getting a Wii for some GC games. The Switch was ideal for me to download all the retro goodness for travel, so this sucks for me. I'm pretty computer literate but I don't like to emulate like I did starting in my 20s (20 years ago). I rather just pay for something and own it instead of being scared that deciding not to renew my "subscription" would take my legal ability to play my games, especially since I'm also a collector and would love to have it all on one system.

Sorry. Just my thoughts.
/endrant

@AlternateButtons Have fun being in the middle of playing a lengthy third-party Super Nintendo RPG and having yanked from the service because licenses expired. You have no control over what gets removed from a service like this and you’re entirley at the mercy of Nintendo and licensing issues. It’s like Netflix, but worse.

@kirbygirl Seeing as classic games are an incentive for people to subscribe to the service, I highly doubt Nintendo will offer alternative ways to get them. The PR statement you just quoted simply is Nintendo reiterating that third-party publishers have offered their own retro games as eShop downloads (like the Arcade Archives series) or game cards (like the Street Fighter Collection). We have no reason to believe that Nintendo would pull the rug out from under their subscription service and offer games for purchase separately. If that were the case, they would just keep the Virtual Console branding.

The lack of a robust replacement is an absolute gut-blow. The “classic” series of consoles do not nearly fill the void, and cannot stand in for the mouth-watering prospect of Nintendo’s unmatched archives being playable in the palms of your hands.

The paltry handful of free games announced to-date are not nearly enough. Nor do they delve broadly enough into Nintendo’s back catalogue (unless I missed something, so far only NES titles).

That said, cloud saving is big. Playing these classics online with friends is nifty. And the fact that Nintendo is promising to roll out more titles for the free-to-play service (assuming it’s not a revolving door but an expanding library) makes this potentially a good deal down the road. So I plan to wait and see what else gets added to the list before deciding one way or another.

And one further caveat: Nintendo had not really missed with Switch—it’s just been a staggering success in terms of execution—so my concerns are far more guarded than they would have been had the details of online service been announced at launch, before Switch was a proven hit. In that sense, Nintendo may well have been savvy to delay the release.

Sorry for the long post!

@thesilverbrick No one offers a service where games are "yanked" away from you. Once you download a game on PS+ or XBL it's yours to play for as long as you subscribe. And it's still there if you resubscribe. Your scaremongering did give me a laugh though.

I’m fine with it, but any game that involves multiplayer I want it to have online play. Still kinda bugs me that Wild Guns Reloaded doesn’t have that. Neither on PS4.

@AlternateButtons you are never going to download those games. You will be playing them from their servers. You will immediately lose access to the games as soon as they are removed. You had at least a little bit more control over Virtual console games.

@thesilverbrick We'll see. "Virtual Console" was a particular eShop category in the past and it won't be moving forward. That's all I've seen confirmed in this regard so far. "There are a variety of ways in which classic games from Nintendo and other publishers are made available on Nintendo Switch, such as through Nintendo Entertainment System – Nintendo Switch Online, Nintendo eShop or as packaged collections."

@AcridSkull Except games being completely locked behind a subscription service to play and/or download them is dumb!

Games are inching closer to the Netflix equivalent, and I'm totally fine with it as long as they don't require me to be online when playing Super Mario Bros.

@kirbygirl they probably published a few coin op Nintendo games under the Arcade Archives brand just to be able to say that. If the online service will be succesful they will just stick to it because it is the more convenient for them and thd less convenient and more crappy for us. If the online servicd will be a flop (and I hope so of course) we maybe could get more Nintendo retrogames on the eShop and they will say "see? We told you, we never had mean intentions, everybody can buy anything he wants" but this is not what they want to happen. I hope consumers will force them to be a little more honest because they have no intentions at all to be fair towards us with this subscription thing

@LuckyLand Yeah, pricing it at 1/3 the price of its competitors with similar services and allowing family sharing subscription options is so unfair.

@ValhallaOutcast My first computer was a Spectrum so I grew up in the 8-bit era. But I’m over it, it’s time for Nintendo to move on, they’ve already sold it too death with past Virtual Console and the Nintendo mini.

I agree the Nintendo 64 hasn’t aged well, it’s far from my favorite Console. But I’d rather play Diddy Kong racing than Balloon Fight for the umpteened time.

@GamingDude800
What?! You can’t download a game if not subscribed? Wtf? Didn’t know that. It’s not overpriced and I’ll subscribe for whole year anyway but I’m not happy with those lame “free” games I already bought multiple times. Another nonsense from N. Give us browser, YouTube and Netflix already ffs

To each their own, but I personally don't feel like subscribing to this right now. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe might change my mind, though, if I ever really want to play the online mode of it again in the future after the online service has started.

@kirbygirl there's nothing similar in those services. I have a PS4, Sony don't lock any kind of content behind the subscription (that I'm not paying because I don't want to play online). You just can't play online, which is the only thing that has actually something to do with the subscription itself. You can buy anything you want, every content is available for every owner of the console for purchase, and you can copy your saves backup to any usb device and put them wherever you want. Everything for FREE and completely under your own control. 20 $ still sound like a goid deal?

@LuckyLand Yep, still seems like a good deal for our family. I have PS+ and XBL too, and I know exactly what they offer.

Lack of VC is disappointing, but the fact that the ONLY way to back up saves is by handing money over to Ninty is really really terrible.

In the long run, I'll probably end up hacking my 1st gen switch to enable non-cloud saves, and ROMs of all of the games I've bought in the past.

I was hoping they would find a way to ditch the online app. I don’t have Splatoon 2 so I have no experience with it. But haven’t heard anything good about it.

@8-Bit_Superman Before this it was 'it's too early to be upset about Virtual Console since Nintendo hasn't said that it's not coming' and now that they have said that it's not coming it's still too early to get upset because they left a little hope for people to hold on to. No doubt that was by design and also the reason that they didn't break the bad news regarding the VC until now. They got a year of hope and defenders by not telling us sooner.

@kirbygirl you probably don't understand and don't want to consider what this means for people who are not interested in online multiplayer. You are already willing to pay all those services so I can see that you don't care but on Nintendo we are going to miss content that we are not missing on PS4

I don't play online, so the only things that interest me are cloud saving and the "free" games. That makes the service a bit too pricy for my kind of use. I would have happily plunked down double the amount if the Virtual Console came back with a boat load of "free" games. For €30 they had better offer extra discounts like Sony does with their Plus service. What really irks me is that backing up safe date is now behind a paywall with (probably) no intention to ever allow for making local backups.

You should be allowed to freely move your saves on and off the Switch locally instead of them being locked to the system as some poor DRM attempt. The subscription locked cloud saves do nothing to alleviate this.

Nintendo has made no efforts to improve their infamously poor online as they promised they would when they said they were going to start charging for it, but now they're charging for it anyway.

Still no word on fixing the ridiculous 3 way with a smartphone for voice chat. It's either that Nintendo is incomprehensibly incompetent when it comes to online features, or they made it convoluted on purpose because they don't want voice chat in their games but want to be able to say it's available.

Let's be real here, most people have smartphones that can run NES games, getting NES games for free is basically not getting anything for your subscription payment.

And for the "it's just $20 a year argument", yes, that's not much, but you're not actually getting anything for that money, you're just paying because Nintendo said you have to now to play online multiplayer.

And I don't support any console charging for their online multiplayer, but at least the ones on PS4 and Xbone work well.

@thesilverbrick: You have summarized my thoughts quite well. I don't really mind the subscription model for games that can easily be beaten/played in an afternoon (Balloon Fight, Super Mario Bros.), but losing access to a game that I may pour hours into (most Zelda titles, RPGs, etc.) would definitely sting. Plus, if you absolutely have to have Wi-Fi in order to access those titles, that would be the antithesis of the "play anywhere" aspect of Switch. Trust me, "everywhere" does not have Wi-Fi access.

Granted, we don't know all the details just yet, so some of these fears could be premature.

@LuckyLand Even if you don't play online, if having access to those 20 games (with more to be added in the future), being able to save to the cloud, and getting the other discounts isn't worth a paltry $1.67 a month to you, then why complain?

It may not have been announced yet but you know it's going to be.The game that will single handedly justify the subscription

Urban Champion Online

@Tyranexx Granted, we don't know all the details just yet, so some of these fears could be premature.

...and why is it ok to release incomplete information just so no one can ever really KNOW anything for sure? It's like they are toying with us.

@Tyranexx Unless something changes, I think you'll just need wifi for online play, since you can download the games. Per Nintendo's website "Classic Game Selection* access – Subscribers will get to download a compilation of classic titles with added online play, such as Super Mario Bros. 3, Balloon Fight, and Dr. Mario."

Seeing as the Switch had nibelsnarf all games that I'd like to play online, me finding most NES games painstakingly boring, this'd basically be paying €20 a year to upgrade my saves from being held hostage by the system to being held hostage by Nintendo.

Nintendo's online infrastructure sucks the big fat one now for free and I don't see any reason to rejoice that it'll be sucking the big fat one for €20 a year.

@Azathoth This one gets it.

Cya
Raziel-chan

@kirbygirl because saves are a thing that we should have for free and we have it for free on other consoles and because I want to buy games that I like. I would not like to play streamed games not even if they were for free, I like to buy what I want, and considering that I of course don't like all the games available but only some of them, making me pay a subscriotion to have access to all of them in the long run becomes a much bigger cost than just buying the ones I am really interesyed in. I don't care if the games are 20, 50 or 500, I only care about the ones I actually like and for sure they are not that many. I would spend much less if I could just buy them one by one and nothing else. And they would actually be mine that way.

@AlternateButtons Difference is, they can remove anything from the Wii U eShop, but as long as I protect the media on which my game is stored, I have it forever. In this new case, everything is online. When they remove it, nobody can play it. Don’t try to compare the two situations, because they’re completely different.

@AlternateButtons Yeah, I don't know why some people always seem to want to assume the worst. Just fyi, Silverbrick actually has the opposite of rose-tinted glasses.

@AlternateButtons If you could download them and play them offline forever, what would stop someone from subscribing for a month, downloading every game and never paying another penny? They are tied to an active subscription service, meaning you have to be online routinely to confirm your member status.

@thesilverbrick

I agree. I've bought Punch-Out, Super Punch-Out, and Wii Punch-Out every time it's digitally available. I wish these purchases followed me after hardware upgrades. I like the idea of a Netflix way to play my games but there should be a way to permanently "own" the games.

@thesilverbrick As long as I protect the media on which my game is stored, I have it forever. In this new case, everything is online. When they remove it, nobody can play it.

Every game that ever comes to this service has already spent well over a decade in ROM format on some server on the internet. By the time Nintendo begins to pull games from this subscription catalog, the Switch will be old news. This means, in turn, that the smarties of the homebrew scene will have found a way of running stuff like RetroArch on the system, or even a way of inject games directly into it. At that point, who cares about what gets pulled? You'll be able to run all the games Nintendo can offer on the system (and then some) for nothing.

The danger of subscription services and game streaming comes from platform holders pulling games that are only available through those means, effectively erasing them from existence, but in this case we're talking about >30 year old games. So yes, while it's worth keeping in mind that you don't really own these games and that you'll most likely need to keep your subscription up to date for them to work, this is a non-issue. The preservation angle just doesn't work in this case.

Nonsense. "free" classic games we all have a million times. Basically the only good thing is cloud saves, which frankly im not that fussed with. Would be better to just have the save files we could transfer/back up ourselves and say £20 a year.
Maybe it would be ok if they allowed us good games (ie gamecube etc) but not the same old snes,nes and a bare bones online system, and even then i would prefer to just buy gamecube games on a virtual console type system.
They need to radically rethink this thing because as it stand now, its a waste of money and i will not be paying. Look at playstation/xbone - they other good quality, AAA games + discounts on their eshops.
Nintendo are way behind the curve on this one.

Not paying when we don't even have Miiverse anymore. Why to pay for a service that they will kill in 4 years again? Why paying for a crappy online service with crappy friends management?

I just think that it's not for me. I don't trust this much Nintendo anymore. Still loving their games and buying a lot thought, but as service company... not again.

On the flipside... it's $20. There are a ton of classic games I would never buy that I'll be able to just play endless for $20 a year. I am interested to see how much of their library will be offered but it's not too shabby.

Until they add voice chat feature directly on the switch, I won't be paying for the online. They are so far behind the PS4 and Xbox One in that aspect. I want to be able to talk to my friends when we're gaming. They made it so unnecessarily complicated, it is ridiculous.

@Crono1973: Not releasing all the details isn't an approach I agree with, but Nintendo by far isn't the only company to do so. That's not an excuse, but a fact.

@kirbygirl: Which would be fine (and essential) for online play. My main concern is that the console will have to "phone home" every so often or risk locking you out of those games if your subscription expires in the meantime (or for some other reason). Like I mentioned before, some of this worrying is probably premature, but I've dealt with the software industry enough to be a skeptic.

I don't know why people crave this cloud crap lol I have to have alot more on offer coz I never do things online anyway lol

This should NOT be a paid for service - outdated friend codes system, mediocre online abilities that COULD be fixed with the money (but more than likely not), only a handful of games that even have online (again, could change, but Kirby doesn't exactly fill me with hope), and no voice chat through the system. Oh, but hey, you get the amazing reward of 15+ year old games while you have it. Totally worth $20.

@NintyNate Maybe it's because people don't want to lose hundreds of hundreds of hours of gameplay if something happens to their Switch. Crazy right?

Here’s a thought: how often are the classic games updated? I can see it being a monthly (or 6-monthly / annually) rotation, where the subscription gives you unlimited access to 20 old games at a time, which then become available as permanent standalone purchases on the eshop after the rotation loops round and the games drop off the subscription.

So the sub effectively gives you a limited time demo period before you buy. Question would be whether the standalone purchase option would be limited to people who have the subscription or not.

I've still got to drop a hundred bucks or more to upgrade my modem so my Switch can connect online before I can even think of this service.

Seems okay. We still don't know a lot so I guess we shouldn't get too excited.

@shoeses did you play games like 10-15 years ago with no such thing as cloud??? You lost everything you started again... Hence memory cards were such a good idea

@AcridSkull I couldn't agree more. Why spend their resources feeding us the same old games over and over again? Why not fix the things which are obviously broken or in need of improvements? Welcome to Nintendo logic.

Cloud saves should be universal. That would make it worth it. No optional support, just everything.

Cheap service for a cheap price.

Feels pretty barebones, I don't even pay for PS+ anymore even with it's free games. I think i'm sure most would agree we are getting nickel and dimed to death over subscriptions for everything from our TV to our games. While this is cheap, I also know nintendo hasn't been that great at doing online. So I'm reserving judgement a bit to see how things even run, and I also hope they plan to do more than NES games with the virtual console being gone.

It's what I expected, really. More details without providing enough detail.

I get that cloud saves only are partly an attempt to counter piracy/hacking by Nintendo. It is better than the encrypted method that exists now because saves at least can be transferred to a new/formatted console. I hope we can archive our saves at the end of the service's life, though. I would like the unsupported software to be detailed. That's a concern.

Online play and retro games don't interest me. Also, thinking that MyNintendo will be related to those special offers. To be fair, the discounts aren't bad; it's just that I have all the Wii U and 3DS games I want already. How it relates to Switch remains to be seen.

TLDR I'll pay for the saves, but I'm aware I won't get much value out of it in any other way, at least as it stands now.

Here's what should be included for free...
1. Game data saves shouldn't be charged for this service
a. They never gave NS user this option for NS to start with
2. If you want extra then the Online package then you can purchase them

20$ is a great price. To run online servers is very expensive, which i dont believe we should be getting for free.
Hopefully the income they generate will improve Nintendo online services in the future. An one day be on par with microsoft or sony. I do love the ps plus model.

My thoughts on Switch Online:
1. I couldn't care less about cloud saving. If I had to play Breath of the Wild over again, that's a reward, not a punishment as evidenced by my 8 playthroughs.
2. I generally avoid online games because I don't enjoy stranger's ire. I'd rather play couch co-op with friends I know.
3. I would love to see some special offers and discounts.
4. 20 NES games with more on the way every month? Yes please.
Conclusion: 20 bucks a year is worth it to me solely for reasons 3 and 4.

I haven't bought the South Park game but everytime I think about Switch online service I can't help but feel like I have a "fractured but whole" somehow...
Can we say this is another game that comes "for free" with the service? At least this one is really for everybody, not just for those who pay the subscription...

I want cloud saves to be free. Oh well I don't have a switch yet but extremely want one

@NintyNate yes but there are no way to back up saves manually ether so it is hard to save data right now

It's not bad.

I want cloud saves so I can take my Switch out of the house without fears, and will need to subscribe in order to continue to play Splatoon 2 online, so it really feels like an extra expense I can't avoid, rather than a service I will get actual enjoyment out of. (Unless they add dedicated Splatoon 2 servers to improve the lag situation.)

I'm pretty far past getting excited about playing NES games on a new console these days.

@thesilverbric,

Like you said your Wii games are still there after 12 years,why would you want to pay for old games all over again?.

The only retro Nintendo games I would be interested In would be Gamecube and Wii titles,but even then I would rather see some great HD remasters of these games.

Being stuck using that god awful app with no messaging service and no cross game chat is a real shame. The price isn't bad and it's something we knew would happen all along anyways so... There is that...

Games like Smash Bros with an online experience that isn't broken is all that really matters.

It would be nice if we didn't have to buy the same games all over again and they just let people migrate VC games from the Wii to the Wii U (and 3DS) to their Switch with all of the bells and whistles. If Nintendo did that, people would be more receptive to the service when they flesh out the lineup. Still, if they add more consoles in the future (I assume they will) that is when the service will really hit its stride.

I was surprised to see a largely negative reaction about this to be honest.

The subscription service seems to me like an upgrade over having to pay for all of the old games for the 3rd or 4th time. Cloud saves are a bonus too.

@DBPirate yeah, paying for those old games every single month instead only once in a generation, what a wonderful upgrade! Not to mention the fantastic bonus of the cloud saves! Except the fact that Nintendo don't allow us to manually copy save data for free but anyway being able to pay to let them copy saves in their own servers instead is so exciting!!! :/

Oh man. All these sour comments, what a great read.

As a person who doesnt use his Switch much for multiplayer, except some Splatoon 2 matches, I really don't care to pay a minimum of €4.40 (!) a year. I'm surprised to hear that cloud saving is not going to be free, but I hope that Nintendo adds a feature where you can back it up on your SD card or even HDD. But if they don't, they don't.

And yes, voice chat sucks. But luckily, I never use it and I never will. Discord is the better option. It's just sad to see the Switch, an amazing system, which doesn't even have a simple, smooth and working messaging system.

@Jayvir Cross system chat?

@LuckyLand You worry waaaaaay too much.

It looks pretty good to me, especially since I probably wouldn't spend the money on the classic games. Now I get them automatically.

@8-Bit_Superman Remember when the Virtual Console was still coming? Now it's not and your are just assuming that all the games people wanted from the VC will be coming....ya know....until their not.

The thing is, it's always 'just wait a little longer before you get upset' and frankly it usually leads to disappointment.

I don’t mind it being a subscription service but I am disappointed it’s limited to NES games, I was hoping to at least have SNES if not more, I’d even pay a little more if we could have a larger library to choose from...

I'm really digging it. $20 a year for an ala carte VC is a dream. Seriously, I think the VC model is outdated, to me, publishers either need to release retro games in a bundle, or something like a sub. service. Having to pay piece meal just isn't appealing anymore.

So yeah, that to me is worth it alone. Not to mention cloud saves and additional game discounts.

@Crono1973 Where did Nintendo ever say Virtual Console was coming? They never gave an answer from the start and I constantly reiterated that when people insisted that of course it’s coming. Nintendo didn’t once promise us VC for the Switch, people just assumed...

You forgot my real favorite feature... Family subscription for $35/year

Sour, Bitter, Angry, Disappointed, Negative comments?, here?!, No way!!!
/sarcams
Really, Tell me something that I do not know!; But well, I will no longer talk about the sad, angry, gloomy attitude of some people, that is "their" business, not mine or others.

Ok, about of nintendo online, well, really, for me, I want the online game to be fluid and without connection problems; in my case, I can not play more than 2 match of Mario Kart 8 at this time, without being disconnected for no apparent reason; fixing that, "I am satisfied".

Save Backup online is a great point, but, not all games?, well, a little step back, but well, there are Backup.
NES games with online gaming, well, that is really some interesting, I wonder how they will implement it in certain games, but there are some that I have liked the idea of a challenge with other players in those classic games.

Price, 20 dollars for 1 year?, well, If I mention it, that's worth 20 dollars, it's a dream price!!

@GamingDude800 yes I suppose it is, but Nintendo haven’t said these games are exclusive to the online service so...

I really do hope there is more to it. If we at least get video apps after launch, I will be okay with it.

I would be excited if they would CONFIRM that we will eventually get more than NES games supported by the retro game service. I have to be honest, the lack of virtual console is pretty upsetting.

i'm not getting a Switch until next year, so I'll have plenty of time to see how things play out. The features are exactly what I expected, and the lower price point puts Sony and Microsoft to shame - IF it works as intended. As with all new things, there might be unexpected hiccups to iron out. Here's hoping it's nothing severe, like what Sony's gone through over the years...

Nothing can forgive a paywall for online pay. Hell you get cloud saves for free with steam as well. While the price is a heck of a lot better than the competing services you're still being ripped off. I really hope someday people will get on board with the idea that you don't have to support practices like this.

WTF are Nintendo playing at? Just give us virtual console and stfu!

I agree with this by @TromboneGamer:
"While the price is a heck of a lot better than the competing services you're still being ripped off."
Long term you get ripped off even though the initial price is a bit of "de minimis" argument to be made here. Generally, it's pretty stupid. I'm glad it's cheaper than the sony crap though.

I'm looking forward for a homebrew, it'll offer same or better features:

• RetroArch for VC not limited by 20 games and / or one platform.
• Dolphin for GC titles.
• Savegame manager to backup & restore on-premise.
• Some other homebrews & even boot to Linux where you'll have all its apps, like a browser or video player.
• In an observable future make backups of your physical titles & run them out of mSD.
• Also a piracy if you don't mind it & looking for discounts up to 100%

The only missing point is online, but behind a paywall it's looking not so great, i think i easily can live without Splatoon 2 & i can't care less for any other online title on Switch up to date.

I’m kind of meh on the whole thing (though I’m excited for the upgrade the app will get), but if they add GBA games to the Classic Games Collection, I’d be all over this

@dumedum For example: I'd really like to buy Splatoon 2 and invest my time in it, but since I'm one of those who are unfortunately in the minority of people who are adamant against these services I have basically no reason to get the game. It's one of few online focused experiences (on the switch) I'm interested in. The fact that I have to pay an additional fee to access those online features is a huge bummer and the problem only compounds itself when more and more games that have genuinely compelling online experiences become locked behind a subscription as well.

I don't get it. Most people who owned a Wii or Wii U would have spent at least that amount on VC, if not vastly more, so why not just use VC sales to fund and provide an online service, and provide people with a choice of games? Feels like a bizarre need to control consumers, which sadly isn't unusual for Japanese companies.

I don't like to think about this, the idea of paying to continue playing the games I have been playing for "free" annoys me. I will buy that thing because I want to keep playing online, but I will agree to say it's a good move from Nintendo.

If we get servers on games like Splatoon 2 and MK8, instead of peer to peer I will accept that paying for the service is fair. Anything else is just excuses to make Nintendo richer.

Show me more retro games than the same tired NES games over and over again and then we'll talk. When I can play N64, GC, GBA, and Wii games on this subscription, then it'll start to be worth it.

The price is very reasonable for the service they’re offering. If the online becomes more robust and they keep increasing the library of retro games over time (adding SuperNES games to it too), then I’ll be more than satisfied with it.
I find the news that VC is no more (at least as we know it) but, honestly, I can’t say it bothers me.

At that price, it's fine. With the family deal, it's amazing value. But in the meantime I really hope Nintendo update the Switch firmware with the ability to backup saves via USB. I don't care if they do it quietly, to attract more people to the online service. I just need a copy of all this data!

Oh jee thanks, Nintendo. I'd love to have access to the same NES games I've been playing for the last 25 years. Better yet, I can't wait that I now get to pay for online multiplayer!

And you're telling me I get upload saves to the cloud? But only some games work?!

Fantastic!!! Genius!

i cant believe they worked on this for like one and a half year.
it feels very basic.

they did ok with cloud saving, online matchmaking is what you can expect.
but where is twitch or youtube, why the hell is the nintendo switch the only decice in the world that does not have at least youtube, you even have it on kids tablets in toystores.

also no achievement. steam, xbox live, psn, ubisoft have them.

this is getting ridiculious nintendo, you make an ass out of yourself!!!

@dumedum

in what way is it a better deal compared to others.
on ps4 network you get 3d classics and you get realy great deals (2 games for 1)
and the subscription price is the same.except for one year.
while we get 8bit garbage wich we all play for like almost 20 years.

it the most overpriced filthy greedy subsription ever. i don't mind to pay for online gaming, they have costs to do maintance on the servers, its ok.
but for 9,99 a month (same as xbox and ps4) 19,99 for 3 months (same as ps4 and xbox) you get less.

actualy it is a real bad way to attract people to the nintendo switch.

Sorry, but they can stick their NES games. At least go SNES. If they are axing VC, give us some good stuff.

p.s. this is simply my opinion, please don't flame me.

Can't argue with the price in the console world.

But

Not enough there to justify this for me. I mostly play single player stuff, so unless the subscriber-only deals are insane, there's not much here for me. I will be bummed about no cloud saves, but I've survived so far.

The price is cheap and I want online saves so I am in. I couldn't care less about the NES games, I wanted a true VC with DS and Gamecube and N64 games and more.

@RailX nah sod NES and SNES... N64 and GameCube only!!!

@Tyranexx All companies do it but it's Nintendo we are discussing here. I believe they purposely keep consumers in the dark as long as they can.

Cloud saves should be free as it doesn't cost any bandwidth to nintendo. If I were Nintendo I would bring every old game to the switch as it is the perfect console for playing old games. Having a console that can play GB, GBC, GBA, NES, SNES, some Gamecube (hopefully) and Wii (skyward sword) games will halp sell more switches and print money for them.

@PALversusNTSC ... Yah I know switch online should be £14.99 for 12 months with big discounts like 50% being minimum, all games have cloud, and new games are cheap! I'm sorry but me having to fork over £40 for Doom when it's watered down when my mate got it for his PS4 a few months after it came out for £18 is unfair, same with eshop games, lil games I like I think are a good deal say £10? PS/Xbox has the same game for like £1.69 lol ... And like I said, no more nes and SNES games but N64, GameCube at least! And remaster them aswell for that... Put music on eshop and give us themes for cheap like 99p ... Rant over haha

@AcridSkull Nintendo has actually confirmed that both NES and SNES games on the Nintendo Switch are exclusive to Nintendo Switch online subscribers!

@ShadJV They're going to be adding more games in the future, so I'm not sure it will stay limited to NES offerings.

@GamingDude800 Source? I haven't seen that confirmed anywhere.

If you read the PR on the Switch, it notes that 3DS and Wii U online play aren't part of the new service. Now, I understand it's called Switch Online, but it's interesting Nintendo lumps 3DS in with Wii U.

@LuckyLand Every single month? You mean once a year? For the equivalent of, like, 4 NES games on the Wii U?

How is this not a good deal?

For $20 a yr, I'm down with it. Even better, get the family package a d hook up 7 more friends

@kirbygirl careful with assumptions. People kept thinking we’d get GCN games on the Wii U VC. People kept assuming we’d get VC on the Switch. GBA games on the 3DS VC (outside of the Ambassador games)... they were assuming we’d get an N64 Mini this year... we have zero evidence that this service will add SNES games and don’t be the one to start rumors that we will (just saying we “could” snowballs into a rumor when said online). Yes, it’s possible but until they announce it, it’s better to assume they won’t. Because there’s a lot they “could” do. But most of those things don’t happen.

@PALversusNTSC in the money sense. You pay $ 20 instead of $ 60. It's a third. It's a huge deal. Less of a ripoff. Period. That is all. It's also not 9.99 per month. It's 3.99. It's cheaper however you choose.
Also the reason you have youtube on kids' tablets is the reason you don't have it on Switch. It's a game console. Those stupid complaints about non gaming related activities is really getting tiresome.

What ????
I checked all the comments hoping for a cookie
@TheTetrisGuy? Where are you ? I want my cookie

@ShadJV Of course we'll have to wait and see; that should be a given. The point is that I haven't seen anything stating this will definitely be limited to NES games moving forward. Have you?

I think it's a great price for the features included. Although online play for classic titles is about 10 years overdue, it's the feature I am most looking forward to.

I was a bit peeved that there will be no VC at all, however, for mainly the same reasons as most have mentioned. At the same time, I would almost rather buy compilation carts similar to the way they're doing SF Anniversary, as long as they are good value.

(Overall, I am) Not interested(, nor going to support this). I think Nintendo is looking to draw people to subscribe, via the offerings, not just banking on one aspect drawing in subscriptions. While the "free" games are not necessarily the highlight, what Nintendo is doing, which I understand the other co.s have done, and are already doing, is a Netflix of gaming. I absolutely do not want gaming to become a subscription-based service!

Cloud saves are an ok feature, when it works. However, the ability to cut, and move save files, or copy them to a local backup device, is common enough, and should be implemented in the NS OS. If Cloud saves are not free, that's another problem. No pr spin can fix, unless most game saves are large in size.

To a degree, I understand servers need maintenance, repair, and upgrades. I also know that most games are peer-to-peer. Unless all online games use their own dedicated servers, what in the world is the cost going toward? /Rhetorical ... It reminds me of Facebook. Mark Zukerberg always states that it's FB's mission to be free. Yeah, know why? Because as long as FB is free, that means more people giving information to FB, that they can sell to marketers, and also you see ads, which creates free ad-revenue for them. Literally, it is in their financial best interest to keep FB free. In a similar way, Nintendo is doing this because a majority of gamers have allowed charging for online to become the norm. Nintendo is just finally going along with it.

I wonder, for the duration of the NS's lifecycle(used to saying lifecycle, from os), if most games will be prominently online focused? I'm not so sure I want to be a Switch owner now. It really depends on how many games I want, that do not require online. On the one hand, I mostly do not play online, anyway, as my isp does not give me great, or consistent enough connection for online gaming. On the other hand, a $300+ gaming system, for only a handful of titles I currently want.

I probably will get a Switch, but won't subscribe to this service. Everybody has their opinions. I just don't like it. Is it a deal-breaker on me getting a NS? Like I said, it depends on how many games require online.

One last thing: What do you wanna bet, that since this is a pay service, it will very speedily be migrated onto the Switch's successor, and/or any system that Nintendo has going simultaneously with Switch? /Also rhetorical.

To start, it's good, but like any service in its infancy, it will hopefully grow over time. I imagine the game streaming service could do VERY well, the negative I see being you can only play those classic titles when connected to the Internet.

I wonder if people know what it means to have an online service, how to maintain it and the people who do it, the energetic consumption and the replacement of servers in case of failures, especially when those servers work with millions of people connected at the same time and not only is it a server, or 10, they are several!, ah, and this is just the tip of the iceberg; oh well...

Yes, Steam is "Free", but there in its system and business, there really is "free"?, oh well,...

but, ok, again, keep the complaints for nothing, for something that will not consume some people, and that some of they knew that this would happen, especially because a long time ago, there were people who complained about Nintendo's online grief and wanted it to go as proposed Now, seriously, nothing pleases them, what a shame...

Personally I'm sad we're not getting Virtual Console because of this, but getting free NES games seems like a decent deal. And also Cloud Saves.

@sleepinglion
I don't think you stream those games. Probably download them, and perhaps there is a license check every month or so, or every time you go online. That way you can take them with you, when your offline.

Nintendo is not into streaming at all. Way to conservative for that. This is my guess.

@thesilverbrick
You are very negative about this, and act like your know how everything will work. Well, my guess is as good as yours. I am optimistic

I think that the classic games you get through this service will be individual games you can download for free through the e-shop. Will work like other games, but witch a license check every month, or every time you go online.

To begin with, all games are locked to the new online service, but over time when the library is getting bigger with more classic NES, SNES, N64 and GC games, the older games will get a price tag, so you can buy them individually for good, and play them forever with no license check needed.

That way it will be possible for non subscribers to get access to all those games as well, and Nintendo will earn even more money.

You will always have access to the games for free, as long as you subscribe to the online service, but you can also buy them if you wish. Perhaps you will get a huge discount, if you buy the games as a subscriber?

The Online Service will just give you free and early access to all those classic games.

That is my hope and guess for the new online service. Over time it will become the new Virtual Console. Lets see what happens

@DBPirate because as soon as you stop paying you will completely lose everything. With Virtual console even if I liked only one single game I could pay it once and have it forever (at least as long as the console is working) on my console, don't you understand that making you pay a subscription instead of just buying once the single things you want is a swindle in the long term? How many of those games you like and would have bought if you had the chance to? Don't tell me you are going to like every single game that will be released because I will never believe that. They are simply taking away from you your freedom to choose and instead giving you a cheap "service" to have more control over you and slowly but continuously drain money from your wallet. If this thing will be successful people will end up spending much more than in the past and having less control over what they get, but most of you won't even notice that because most of you like to play multiplayer online and would pay a subscription anyway because of that. Nintendo is trying to fool everybody, but only the few who don't like online gaming are going to notice.

@dres freeand early access to those games?????? FREE and EARLY???????? LOL! You pay a subscription (you PAY a subscription) to be allowed to play a few NES games after something like two years in the console life span? What's "early" in this? Most famous NES games should have been available at launch day for purchase!!! This is a Nintendo console, I can play more Nintendo games almost anywhere else right now and it is more than a year that it launched!

@thesilverbrick Agreed. That stupid phone app and friend codes. We just want to log on and play, you know like you did on the original xbox. fiften years ago.

Sorry but I have to say Nintendo price point and service for $20 or $35 for 8 accounts is not only a great value but its cheap in comparison to the only competition (SONY)....I dont care about any of the old games and skins and theme nonsense for triple the price ($60) OR free game even....

I just want steady online server and maintenance service, for $20 its a steal, and you get cloud backup too AND now OLD school original NES games a bonus is WAY awesome

My favorite part about this online plan is all the people online who have graduated from complaining about the lack of it to complaining about it now that it has been announced. Good job!

@GamingDude800 please share the source for this information, I've never seen it nor can I find it anywhere on Nintendo's website.

Strange, the polls never seem to match the comments.

@Euler I would prefer to play it without a d-pad (or d-pad mapped to a circle pad) and a run button please. Also you are in the minority on hating Sunshine. Most people at least think it's ok. (Well except this website) I personally liked it a lot but admit it's flawed in a lot of areas.

@GrailUK I doubt a remaster will happen as Nintendo has said they don't want to remake any Mario games. Also I want it for portability since I still have my N64 cartridge. Ultimately though my point was that Indies and Arcade Archives do not replace Virtual Console.

@ShadJV The same people who say 'Nintendo never promised VC on Switch' are also saying 'Don't worry the games will come, they just won't be under the VC banner'.

Then if the games don't come they will say 'Nintendo never promised that the games would come'.

If this helps the longevity of online services, I think it´s great. The price is low enough to pay it even if I decide not to play the switch for a few months.

@HammerKirby The D-pad isn't that bad, though it might take a few minutes to get used to it. There's probably a reason that they make you catch the rabbit at the beginning of the game. And the run button was used in 3D Land/World as well, there's really nothing wrong with it.

@AcridSkull The only reason as to why Nintendo hasn't said a word about this on their site is that isn't even out yet, and also I personally have never seen nor heard anyone say that NES games on the Nintendo Switch were not exclusive to Nintendo Switch online subscribers.

@Euler I personally am sorry but monthly and annual fees are complete junk no matter what the price is!

@GamingDude800 oh, so you're just making it up then, quelle surprise!

@dres That's a good point!

I checked out Splatnet and Nintendo needs all online games to have something like that

GREAT idea! (Thanks for reminding us to check Alex )

@WiltonRoots That is because the unhappy ones always screem the loudest... The happy ones don't write anything, since they don't feel a need to.

The usual thing that happens everywhere on the internet.

@Kirgo very true, just a very vocal minority.

For me it is pretty simple, what I am paying for is the ability to play online.

If I want to play online on another console it costs far more money, so as far as I am concerned, Nintendo has the vastly superior service because of that alone.
About the free game argument: On PS/Xbox you get free games you can keep, yes. Those games are all old though and if you really wanted them, you would have already bought them in the past on that very same console.
Honestly? Sony and Microsoft are probably laughing at the people being happy about this, because they can justify their ridiculously overpriced services by giving out some practically worthless games that nobody is buying anymore anyway.

So yeah, I hate having to pay to play online, but with Nintendo it is at least cheap so this is the best option after PC.

Everything else we get is really not much more than a bonus, although getting access to NES games, I would have never bought in todays time, with the ability to play on the go and with online functionality is kinda interesting. It might actually be a service I will use more than I did VC or the "free games" on other consoles. They will probably include some SNES games too, since I'd say some of them can profit from the online idea more. But even if they don't, all of that is bonus to me anyway.

And about cloud saves? I don't care. I play games to play them, not to be able to say "I have a 200h savegame" I will never continue with anyway. If I start playing the game again I would probably start from the beginning again anyway.
Would be a bit sad about the games I am currently playing, but losing savegames is a much too rare occasion for me to fear it.

So yeah, Nintendo Online, to me, is far superior to Sonys an Microsofts, simply because it's cheap. (I mean 20€ is about just cheap enough for me to just pay once a year and forget).

@thesilverbrick I share your feeling about the Virtual Console. I want to OWN the games, not merely rent them, and have them completely disappear someday. That effing sucks.

I really hope we start seeing some more good online games to make up for this. Back on the old Wii U the only game I ever felt like playing Online was Mario Kart 8. And even then, I would only play every month or so.

I also really hoped that SNES game would make the cut. NES games were good back in their prime, but few feel as polished as the SNES' library was. I have never really gotten into Super Metroid and was waiting until the release of it on Switch so I could play it on the go.

@thesilverbrick But then again, the Virtual Console model wasn't necessarily modern to begin with. I'll take getting the games for free through a subscription model, over having to pay for EarthBound on both my 3DS and Wii U because they're not tied to my Nintendo account in a unified fashion.

What I am pissed about is the fact that cloud saves are locked behind the Online service, that should be a standard feature on ALL current gen platforms right out of the box!

@Orin41 I know this is a couple of weeks old, but my gripe, which is the only one i have, is that i will be forced to get this subscription to play games like Splatoon 2. The online matchmaking aspect of Splatoon 2 is the MAIN aspect of Splatoon 2. I think that taking the MAIN BLOODY ASPECT of a game and locking it behind a monthly subscription, is a horrible choice on Nintendo's part. Keep the basic online stuff that you get when you buy the game free. If your going to have the idea of an online monthly subscription, put some extra content behind that wall. Like an extra online mode or some extra gear. Don't force the subscription on your users by locking the MAIN ASPECT OF THE GAME behind said subscription. Sure the price isn't bad, its actually pretty good. But just the idea of locking the MAIN ASPECT of the game behind the subscription is horrible. I will be getting it however so i can continue to access the MAIN BLOODY ASPECT OF THE GAME.

@Orin41 I know this is a couple of weeks old, but my gripe, which is the only one i have, is that i will be forced to get this subscription to play games like Splatoon 2. The online matchmaking aspect of Splatoon 2 is the MAIN aspect of Splatoon 2. I think that taking the MAIN BLOODY ASPECT of a game and locking it behind a monthly subscription, is a horrible choice on Nintendo's part. Keep the basic online stuff that you get when you buy the game free. If your going to have the idea of an online monthly subscription, put some extra content behind that wall. Like an extra online mode or some extra gear. Don't force the subscription on your users by locking the MAIN ASPECT OF THE GAME behind said subscription. Sure the price isn't bad, its actually pretty good. But just the idea of locking the MAIN ASPECT of the game behind the subscription is horrible. I will be getting it however so i can continue to access the MAIN BLOODY ASPECT OF THE GAME.

@Orin41 I know this is a couple of weeks old, but my gripe, which is the only one i have, is that i will be forced to get this subscription to play games like Splatoon 2. The online matchmaking aspect of Splatoon 2 is the MAIN aspect of Splatoon 2. I think that taking the MAIN BLOODY ASPECT of a game and locking it behind a monthly subscription, is a horrible choice on Nintendo's part. Keep the basic online stuff that you get when you buy the game free. If your going to have the idea of an online monthly subscription, put some extra content behind that wall. Like an extra online mode or some extra gear. Don't force the subscription on your users by locking the MAIN ASPECT OF THE GAME behind said subscription. Sure the price isn't bad, its actually pretty good. But just the idea of locking the MAIN ASPECT of the game behind the subscription is horrible. I will be getting it however so i can continue to access the MAIN BLOODY ASPECT OF THE GAME.

@Orin41 I know this is a couple of weeks old, but my gripe, which is the only one i have, is that i will be forced to get this subscription to play games like Splatoon 2. The online matchmaking aspect of Splatoon 2 is the MAIN aspect of Splatoon 2. I think that taking the MAIN BLOODY ASPECT of a game and locking it behind a monthly subscription, is a horrible choice on Nintendo's part. Keep the basic online stuff that you get when you buy the game free. If your going to have the idea of an online monthly subscription, put some extra content behind that wall. Like an extra online mode or some extra gear. Don't force the subscription on your users by locking the MAIN ASPECT OF THE GAME behind said subscription. Sure the price isn't bad, its actually pretty good. But just the idea of locking the MAIN ASPECT of the game behind the subscription is horrible. I will be getting it however so i can continue to access the MAIN BLOODY ASPECT OF THE GAME.

I hate nintendo switch online...now I can't play minecraft with my sister and join her world's without paying for it...it's so dumb