Topic: The Nintendo Switch Online Subscription Service Thread

I called the GB/GBA games being announced during this Direct in my previous post!

It’s certainly a strange selection of games to launch on GB/GBA. Like they got the second and third Mario Land games but not the first? But they do have Tetris. Also I’m really surprised they included Link’s Awakening DX when there’s a full price remake on the Switch.

Honestly I doubt anyone is going to play Link's Awakening DX over the remake in 2023 - we're talking a 25-year-old rerelease of a 30-year-old game here. Those who do play it are probably only choosing to play the GBC version for nostalgia reasons, or otherwise wouldn't have shelled out $60 on the remake anyway.

If anything, I could see someone people trying out the GBC version, seeing how much it's aged, and subsequently buying the Switch remake.

@Buizel I'm in another category personally: someone who bought and adored the remake back in April 2021 that is now immensely curious to try out the original to see how things have changed. Should be a good little time-killer over the next few months in-between other releases AND it'll also contribute to my goal of playing every 2D Zelda game at some point 😁

I think the title I'm most excited for out of the launch batch of GB/GBC games is probably a toss-up between Tetris and Kirby's Dream Land honestly: loved later versions of both yet have never been able to play the originals until now so I'm very excited!

I think it's time we re-assess the value of Switch Online.

As it stands, in 2023, here are the benefits and price for each tier:

Switch Online

• $20 per year (single)
• $4.38 per year (family plan of 8)
• NES games
• SNES games
• GB/GBC games
• Cloud Save Backups
• Online Access
• Eligible for Voucher Program

Switch Online + Expansion Pass

• $50 per year (single)
• $10 per year (family plan of 8)
• NES games
• SNES games
• N64 games
• Genesis games
• GB/GBC games
• GBA games
• Cloud Save Backups
• Online Access
• Eligible for Voucher Program
• Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion
• Animal Crossing Expansion
• Mario Kart 8 Booster Course Expansion

Now. Is the service "worth it" in February 2023? I think that depends on A) whether you value Nintendo's back catalog of games, and B) whether or not you're subscribing via family plan.

Right off the bat, family plans are incredibly high value. There's no reason not to be subscribed to, at the very least, basic online service. For less than $5 per YEAR, just getting cloud backups alone makes it worthwhile. Everything else is a bonus. And honestly, if you're gonna pay $5 for the basic, there's no reason to not just pay $10/yr for the full package. That's so incredibly cheap. Unless you have no desire to play any Genesis, N64 or GBA games, or the 3 expansions, there's no reason not to subscribe via family plan.

As for the solo memberships, it's not so clean cut. I think for $20/yr, what you're getting now is worth it. The cloud saves are clutch, and getting NES, SNES and GB with online access on top of it... ya. That's worth $20 imo. Even if you never play anything online, never play retro games and have no worry of losing save data... it's still worth it for the vouchers alone. One voucher set pays for that year's service. So I can 100% confidently recommend the basic service even at full $20 solo membership price.

As for Expansion Pass solo, that really depends on how much value you place on the added Genesis, N64, GBA and 3 game expansions. This is the one where I can't wholly recommend to everyone. It really comes down to whether you personally like having a full spread of back catalog spanning NES, SNES, N64, Genesis, GB/GBC and GBA. If you do, I think you'll get your money's worth. If you don't, I think it's better to just skip it.

But there's no reason for anyone to ever pay full solo membership price when the family plans exist. I'm in a group with ppl all over the world. Nintendo doesn't care. It's so easy to find a group here on the forums. I cannot stress how nice it is getting all the perks of the full Expansion pass for $10/yr. I feels like highway robbery.

Still needs an option to purchase individual games without a subscription. What does Nintendo or the owners of these games stand to lose by offering them for sale? They are going to make money one way or the other. Even if I could find the amount of people to do a sub I’m still going to lose access to the games I got the service for due to the check in.

@GameOtaku just buy a Wii U or 3ds and buy these games all over again.

Finally got around to messing about with Game Boy NSO (didn't have the time to check out GBA yet unfortunately) and I've got to say: I am very pleasantly surprised by the options available. It has all the usual stuff you'd come to expect from these apps: show/hide controls, EU/NA versions, online, that kind of stuff. But in addition you've got the advertised different screens based on OG Game Boy, GB Pocket and GB Colour and something I definitely wasn't expecting: the option to change the filter AND the option to shrink the screen down to be more akin to an actual Game Boy. That's such a fantastic addition and one I'll definitely be making great use of. As for the games, I've only played (and beaten) Kirby's Dream Land so far but everything seemed to be great on the emulation end so thumbs up from me.

Overall, GB is certainly simple but they've really gone the extra mile to just make the entire package a blast. Can't wait to start GBA over the midterm holidays (SUPERSTAR SAGA/MINISH CAP MY BELOVED)!

@1UP_MARIO
I already have a 3ds with around 80 VC games. It should go like this, “Checking to see if the software can be played” “an error has occurred “ “Purchased games through the apps or through your account can only be accessed in offline mode and without subscription “.

The DLC access is good enough of a value for me to sub solo to the expansion pass. I will likely get those DLC later at some point but for now having them already tossed in plus to keep getting more games added to the service has been great. Haven't been playing online much and that was why i bought it in the first place lol.

@GameOtaku same I have over 200 vc games and I wouldn’t buy these again on switch. I rather the subscription

Can we stop feeding this argument? It has literally been running in one shape or another for like a decade now (there were variations on this pre NSO by the same poster). If you don't like it don't buy into it, nobody is forcing you

Just played through Alone in the Dark in a single sitting. That was nice! It didn’t overstay its welcome, and it wasn’t too obscure with its puzzle solutions (which I was expecting). If anything, it might be too easy.

Still though, for the gameboy color, it’s a pretty impressive little game.

For anyone wondering, it took me about 2 hours, going in without knowing anything about the game.

Ohhhhh it feels good to be back.

(and on a big screen too!)

@JaxonH I agree with your value assessment of NSO. I only want the expansion for Banjo Kazooie, which I have never played. $50 for only one year of access to the game is not attractive. (especially when Xbox One has had Rare Replay for purchase, for a VERY reasonable price ($29.99), since they console's launch.)

@1UP_MARIO As someone who has a lot of Virtual Console games across the Wii, 3DS, and Wii U, I kinda have to agree. It's so nice to have all of those games on the Switch, without having to buy them separately yet again, with the only trade-off being paying for their online service. I bought VC games less and less by the time the Wii U was around.

@WoomyNNYes If you're only interested in that one game, then yeah I wouldn't recommend the expansion pack, especially not the individual plan. When it comes to the expansion, I still think it's best to get the family membership, if you know folks who would want to play stuff like the N64 and GBA games.

How do I change the color palette in GBC mode? This was possible on the original GBC while pressing different directions on the D-Pad, but I don't know how it works in NSO.

@chipia I don't think there's a way to pick one.

I do miss doing that though, basically no other official re-release of these games replicated that function.

@JaxonH Wait how much is it for the family plan? Is it ten or am I getting confused?

It's 80 but its for 8 people so...10. In theory at least.