Topic: Better Retro Games for Nintendo Switch Online

I love playing new games on my Nintendo Switch, really I do. Super Mario Odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild are some of the best games ever made in my opinion. However, I do love playing some of the old games from Nintendo 64 - Wii and I wish Nintendo can put more games on the console.

Currently with Nintendo Switch Online we are given NES and SNES games. Nintendo Switch Online (NSO) users expected new games added to the service every month until the SNES games were added. Now NSO users can expect them once every three through four months. I wish that this can be expanded with the N64 - Wii or at least Gamecube because it would help with the benefits of NSO.

For someone like me born in 1997, I grew up with the Nintendo 64, and when I was around 5, I got the GameCube. For me, the Wii was the perfect console for me. I had access to some of the games I missed playing such as Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64, while being able to play Gamecube games like Pikmin and Super Smash Bros. Melee. The only game that was truly missing for me was Banjo-Kazooie and that was because of the Rare acquisition from Microsoft in 2002. (Since Banjo-Kazooie finally made it in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, I hope for a Switch release even though I have an Xbox with the game).

I find it odd that a console from 2006 had a better catalogue of retro games than a console that released a few years ago and is definitely capable of running those games. I know Nintendo wants to discontinue the Virtual Console brand and focus on NSO but that's not currently happening. I love playing NES and SNES games don't get me wrong, but I didn't grow up with those consoles.

I know that NSO is $20 and that is a third of what Sony and Microsoft are charging for their services. And even though I do own a Xbox One, I am not paying for the service because it does not appeal to me. Nintendo however does appeal to me. For me, I wouldn't mind paying a little more every year to get a better retro catalogue. I know that Nintendo wants to focus on streaming instead of downloading for retro games, but for me, I wouldn't mind downloading retro games and play them only if I have a NSO subscription. Microsoft kind of does this with the Xbox Game Pass and a lot of Xbox users seem to like the idea. I hope in the near future that Nintendo can do something with their retro games, as I like having my games on one console rather than multiple.

Thank you for reading!

Yeah it would be nice to have a wider range of retro games on Switch, I dunno why Nintendo's taking so long with it. Personally I'm happy with the NES and SNES games for the time being, but hopefully N64 will be added before long. Maybe September this year.

Isn't that how it works already though? You don't need an internet connection to play the retro games on NSO, you just download the NES and SNES apps and then you can play them whenever you want. The only caveat is you can't access them if you go more than a week without connecting your Switch to the internet because it needs to check whether you still have an active subscription.

@Kirby9714 Join the club. As someone who grew up with Game Boy, GBA, N64 and Gamecube, I want these games on Switch too. But Nintendo's stance on the issue seems to be to hold back on retro titles to "help" indie developers. And I do agree that it makes a certain amount of sense - many players will pick up Mario 3 or Super Mario World for 5 bucks before they even consider that indie 2D platformer with a name they have never heard of for the same price.

But personally, I don't like that mindset. I like indie games, titles like Stardew Valley and Wargroove standout as awesome games on their own. But I feel all indie games should be held to that standard. They shouldn't get special treatment. Stardew Valley is an especially good example - competing against several other major farming sims, it's still hugely successful. But a lot of indie games tend to be "retro clones" just cashing in on the lack of actual retro titles on Switch right now. No Banjo-Kazooie? Well you can play Yooka Layee which is kinda the same thing. I guess. :/

But me, if Nintendo just ported the entire virtual console library from 3DS and Wii U, I would drop a couple hundred dollars in an instant.

And NSO could do more. Even with only NES and SNES games it could just do more. Where are the awesome SNES era JRPGs? Mario RPG, Final Fantasy? etc. And other classic games that we know Nintendo has the rights to, or partnerships with the companies that have the rights. Additional releases even of NES and SNES titles on NSO have basically stopped and it's really lame.

I don't care if I have to pay more for NSO - if it means getting more classic systems and games. I'd pay 50-80-100 dollars a year if the service would reach the levels I want. with 30-50 games from each NES, SNES, Game Boy, GBA, N64 and Gamecube. They don't need to give us all of it at once, but a steady release schedule would be cool. They abandoned that even with NES games.

I frankly don't care if it's old VC style individual releases, collections of games like "Mario All Stars 2" that is rumored, or NSO style. But I want to play these games legitimately on a modern device without playing with HDMI adapters, upscalers and or modkits. I do not want to buy a Chinese Piracy box.

maybe the real problem is that paying for online and getting old video games instead of a better online service is completely stupid

and maybe retro games should've been a paid service onto itself instead of using it as an excuse to make everyone pay for online in the first place (which has directly lead to being a success as everyone has no choice if they want to play Nintendo games online, and thus Nintendo doesn't need to actually try to provide a better retro game service).

Honestly, really thinking about it now, I never really bought that this was a bad replacement for Virtual Console (especially since 3rd parties are just doing their own re-releases without VC regardless, so the concept was half-dead anyway). But I'm really starting to feel like it is, because I'm not sure it exists for any reason other than an extra to make NSO successful. But it is, so they don't need to do anything else now. NSO will be a success if they never add new retro games again. At least with VC, they really pushed it early on to be a major service, where you could buy a ton of different games. And Nintendo's own games were there to make money without any additional goal, so they had reason to add more games. But I feel like most of what they would reasonably add to it wouldn't help NSO at this point. And what they would have to add to increase NSO sales would probably be more than Nintendo wants to add to the service anytime soon (maybe anytime this gen).

@Kirby9714 Not offering a Virtual Console has been a surprising decision on Nintendo's part. And they seem committed to sticking with this path with the Switch, and not explaining why. Yeah, it's disappointing.

I have a baseless theory that they are waiting till the end of the console's life to bring n64, cube, wii games. But I don't actually think that will happen.

@Dogorilla Yes if I recall that's how it currently works. I think I should have been more in-depth. So yes NSO requires one login per week but I don't that should even be a thing. With an account being linked to the Nintendo Switch, I feel that the system itself should remember when the membership expires even when the system is not connected to the internet. So currently all the games of NES and SNES are on a switch. Rather than connecting to the internet every week, I feel the system should know when it's good to access the apps. I know that by connecting to the internet that it verifies the system that Nintendo has in place, but not everyone has stable internet. By having the system to remember when the membership expires a user doesn't have to worry about connecting to the internet often just to play NES and SNES games, they just have to worry when now games are added to the service.

Thank you for responding! I hope this explains more of what I originally meant

@Kirby9714 I suppose if it's possible for the system to check whether there's an active subscription without connecting to the internet then that would be better for the sake of people without a stable internet connection. I would have thought most people do get the chance to connect to the internet once a week at the very least though, so it doesn't seem like that much of a problem. Especially because if you wanted to buy and download the games individually instead, like with Virtual Console, you'd need an internet connection every time you wanted to get a new game anyway. But I do see what you're saying and I agree it would be nice to have the retro games as an unrestricted download.

YEAY!!! all the Gamecube games, that would be brilliant. my favorite console was Gamecube. it has 590 games that are the best ever made.

@Dogorilla
But after you bought and downloaded the game you wouldn't need to check in again. I don't have Internet at my home so I would go to a store with wifi to download vc games on my 3ds. With switch I wasted my money twice on two one month subs and I ended up with less than a months play time with the nes snes games.

They should offer the option to buy (or to download for free previously purchased vc games) them for those of us who could care less about renting.

I am also disappointed that there is no Virtual Console. I would guess this is combination of pressure from share holders for Nintendo to have a subscription service, and also people complaining about having to buy games again.
Personally I would like to buy the games I want to keep, so I am not tied to the subscription service (cost is not the issue, I think it’s more important to be able to play these games 10 years from now)
I still have most of my retro systems, but I am now spoilt by the convenience of Switch