Nintendo Switch Online FAQ - Everything You Need To Know - Pricing, Cloud Saves, Retro Games

Seems like Nintendo will be focusing on NES games at first, as the 10 unannounced games also seem to be NES games.

Those NES titles are a pretty decent selection- I’m more than happy with that as a starting point - I’ll have more than a few hours fun with them.

@sinton - agree that nes first seems what they are doing

I’d think the 10 would be ones from the nes mini list.... but who knows

We really don‘t know much, but i know for a fact, that if i am allowed to download my purchases to a second Switch without buying them again, i will definetively go and buy one or two or even three more!

I hope there will be an update where you can backup your saves on SD card or something else, not just the cloud.

I don't mind paying €4.40 a year for cloud saves, but it's just a nice option to have.

I'm probably going to hold off at the moment considering I have no Switch online games, and NES games don't really appeal to me at all. That said, if they make this the replacement for virtual console, and start adding SNES, N64 and maybe even Gamecube games games to this service as a Netflix of all their virtual titles, I will happily pay for this. At the moment though, even with it's cheap price, I'd rather just spend that £18 on an excellent Indie game.

Watch Hulu be behind the paywall lol

@FoxyGlen
You made a guide, why not go further and include Euro, CDN and Australian currency prices as well? [2]

@BranJ0 but what about the cloud save? This alone is a strong reason for me to spend 20 moneys per year...

Note: Nintendo have stated that online leaderboards and rankings will remain free. Best add that to the last but one section above.

@gatorboi352 low effort trolling bro. You can do better than that

I personally dont get much of the fuzz,
What they revealed sounds way better than what they originally promised, what sucked.

Based on the information that has been provided I am okay with buying a year subscription and am excited to have access to the ten games announced. I am excited for them to reveal the other 10 games and other games in the future. I suppose it depends on how they continue with this service wether I will be excited or just indifferent to buying future subscriptions.

Based on how the wording on their website, I imagine you will be able to download the games onto your switch. They say you can play them anytime, anywhere. Unless I missed the fine print that states, "anywhere you have a secure internet connection", I think you will be able to download the games on your switch and play them anywhere.

Of course we will learn more as time goes on, but to those concerned about not getting to keep the games, it is possible that as long as they are downloaded on your switch they stay there. To stop people from paying for a month and downloading all of them and keeping them perhaps with a subscription you will have access to everything online, and can download 3 per month to keep or something like that. Just a thought.

Not sure you can call this a guide, it's just a cut and paste from the official site.

Bottom line is WILL THEY FIX THE CHAT!

Hmm, yeah. Putting this information in FAQ format doesn't make the service sound any better.

I also feel that no effort will be made to add chat to games which don't have it.....mario kart, arms, resident evil co-op, MHGU, doom, etc.

"Would be nice not to have to pay for them all over again, wouldn't it?"

you will be paying! I'm so sick of reading this stupid "free" word when there is nothing free about it. I would be happy to buy retrogames as I did on Wii and 3DS and other consoles, but if we want to speak about playing those games FOR FREE, well, it's more than 20 years that you can collect and play Nintendo games REALLY FOR FREE, if you have a computer and an internet connection.
Not only you are not going to play those games for free on Switch, you will not even be free to buy them if you want. You have to continuously keep paying to play them. Paying only once their given price was not enough for Nintendo.
They are just disrespecting us as customers.

How does everything go right for the Switch apart from this!

@Jake-06 yes the wii and wii u had better voice chat and online and Nes classics

This is so lame...

"Can I still play these games if I cancel my subscription?"
It doesn't seem so, though we're not 100% clear on that. Given that they're exclusive to Nintendo Switch Online, we'd bet that once you cancel your subscription you lose the ability to play them.

Laaaaaaaaaaaaame, no thanks, that's a really asinine rental model.

@gokev13 Unfortunately, I doubt you will be able to download any at all. Otherwise people would, like you said, pay for a month and download the lot. Even if you could only download a couple, that would be incentive enough to not pay the full year sub if you only care about certain games. Maybe, just maybe, there will be a client on your Switch that can cross check your membership to enable downloaded games to be played on the go without a connection..I just don't see that happening. I really would like to be proven wrong.

They’re giving us games from the 80s they should’ve started from the 90s at least

When Nintendo originally announced online multiplayer for classic titles, I immediately thought that they're going to use streaming rather than downloads (doesn't require any work to implement online MP that way). Nvidia has plenty of experience in this area, and the bandwidth requirements would be low for non-HD games. Dropping the VC name makes me think that is more likely to be how it'll be implemented.

@BensonUii: Microsoft tried shenanigans like that.

Yes, praised be Nintendo for holding our saves' safety hostage for money.

Cya
Raziel-chan

@BensonUii saves backup has multiplayer online functionalities? Ratrogaming ever had any online functionality before?

@Razzy

Under his eye!

@BensonUii To be fair, when I had an XBox 360, we couldn't watch Netflix after our Gold membership expired, so its not out of the realm of possibility. BUT since the video database is held on Hulu's servers and not Nintendo's I doubt that'll be the case.

@setezerocinco I think I'll have to see how many titles actually support it, because Nintendo do imply on their website that not every software will be compatible with it. If it's like the video recording where it's only first party titles and a couple of random third parties and indies signing up, then it's definitely not worth it, but if it's the majority of games, then I'll consider it. Still, I see absolutely no reason why they can't give the option of backing up my saves via a hard drive like the PS4, or even the Wii!

So we still get the rubbish app? And it look so like just NES games! You can play retro NES games for free with a retro box these days so it’s not a great appeal although taking classics on the road is fine. But most of those classics I’ve already got on my 3DS.
Cloud saves will be good and the price isn’t too bad but overall it’s a very disappointing start.

Don’t mind paying for cloud saves, just wish there was an alternative way to back up saves for free. I can understand the near paranoia they have with piracy but this may be a case where they should just allow it.

Heck they could even make some convoluted system where the save back-up to Micro SD can only be done by using an online check that ensures the files being transfered are legit meaning you can only back-up with an internet connection. As long as its free.

“Meh” on the NES games but hopefully SNES games will follow. I wonder what a multiplayer Super Metroid would be like with multiple players exploring Zebes to see who beats Mother Brain first and trying to stop one another.

@BensonUii no it does not but it could be included in the rip-off... I mean... privilege...

Super mario 64 online would be great

I'm looking forward to super Mario 3

wait so this tabloid website has more info than the official Q&A on Nintendo.com or is this just looking for attention

@BensonUii No, we didn't. We had something better in previous Nintendo consoles and in other consoles today. I remember doing backups of my saves on Wii and I still have them both on DVD archives and on my free google cloud. I'm doing the same with PS4. Always for free. I should pay to have something that anyway is less good (you can't manage and copy your saves for yourself and choose yourself where to keep them) on Switch.

Really wish Nintendo could just follow suite to other comsoles party chats and clouds instead of always having to make a name for themselves.

@Baldspur Well if you forget about doing thing in a legal way. If you don't own the game, you legally don't have the right to use any of these on a "retro box"

@LuckyLand
> I remember backing up my saves on Wii

Well, with a normal Wii without any mods, that is not possible. The saves does not exit the Wii (or WiiU) either.

I definitely plan on ponying up the $20, day one. That was never a question:

All I hope for is that Nintendo will treat the retirement of Virtual Console as the unbuckling of the shackles. The Virtual Console, great as it had the potential to be, DID suck! Mind you, I absolutely HATED when Nintendo quietly killed the service for 3DS (which still, frankly, makes zero sense to me), but they have been mishandling it since the launch of WiiWare:

1). The drip-feed pace of releases was awful! For the first three years, they would typically release two to three games a week---and then it got bad! Really bad!

2). The pricing structure was a complete joke! Star Tropics was worth $5. Donkey Kong Jr. Math was not.

3). The lack of some very high profile games. Supposedly, Capcom contacted Nintendo and told them that they wanted to release Bionic Commando on the VC service, and they were denied (Hitler, Schmitler! That game was awesome)!

Why not set up an all-encompassing retro service that includes ACA, Johnny Turbo, Nintendo's own retro library, Sega Ages, etc. Bring them all together for what amounts to a digital game room! Even more ideal would be if Sega, Namco, whoever owns Midway, etc. would pool together their resources and release some of the best arcade titles from the 1990's! I would love to throw down on some classic Virtua Fighter II, or Virtua Racing, Soul Blade, Mortal Kombat II, TMNT: Turtles in Time (licensing issues, I know), etc.

Honestly, after giving it some thought, I think that Nintendo has the opportunity to create something that FARRRR exceeds anything they ever did with Virtual Console!

@gatorboi352

nah, i don't think they're as dumb as MS was on that one.....

but they never fail to impress how dumb they are so who knows.

@BensonUii

issue is that other companies allow it so N should. however sony gets around 'cheating' with saves on the ps4 isn't magic (or maybe they don't care i dunno).

but yeah, saving to sd and being able to use that on another switch (at least if you are signed in with your account) should have been offered day 1.

N isn't just paranoid; they wrote the book on it.

The two things that bug me are the voice chat and cloud saves. Cloud saves are convenient but what if you don't have internet access and you lose your saves. I would like to be able to back my saves on a usb flash drive. You could do it on the
Wii u for crying out loud. The price doesn't bother me $20 isn't that bad, but it would be nice if Nintendo's big online games had dedicated servers. I would like to play smash bros. and others games with out lag. Just wishful thinking lol.😄

I'm as enthusiastic over the Switch Online model as I am over the MyNintendo model :/

I really only want the cloud saves at the moment. The Special Offers might improve both services, but we'll have to wait and see what those turn out to be.

Games aren't free if you need to pay a subscription to play them.

I was going to cry like a child about voice chat but I'm late to the party.....never mind.

@gortsi He's reaching more than Dhalsim, Mr Fantastic and the entire roster of Arms combined. Bless him.

I'll definitely sign up for 20 NES games with more to come for 20 bucks a year. Way cheaper than Virtual Console.
Hopefully the "special offers" are something I'll enjoy and use and not just be for garbage games that noone wants.
Please no 90% off Vroom in the Night Sky only for subscribers! 😂

I don't have an Internet connection at home so all of this sounds fairly stupid that to back up my saves us have to go someplace else to find wifi and pay rather than just put the sd card in my PC and backup there instead!

I'm quite peeved that vc is not coming to switch, it was what I was looking forward to the most. Instead I'm left with not many (legal) options to play classic games. I have lots of vc on my 3ds but a lot of games are still exclusive to wiiu (bayou Billy, double dragon 3, star tropics, ice hockey, earthbound beginnings, euphoria the saga etc....) and some games not released yet although groundwork was laid (Castlevania Legends, solar striker, f1 race etc) or greedy moves to keep snes vc off of the original 3ds.

So you managed to say the same thing as the official announcement, but with more words? Well done.

I think a lot of people are getting the family subscription wrong. I have 3 children accounts in my Nintendo network ID so I don’t think it’s individual nnid. It’s for all the child accounts you setup on your nnid
@FoxyGlen

Re finally implementing cloud saves, albeit whilst charging for the privilege: "praise be to Nintendo!"
They are masters at managing expectations and getting praise for doing basic stuff - impressive!

It sounds kinda meh, but as someone who hasn't played many of the old Nintendo games, it could be worse.

@BranJ0 I totally agree with you! I have no need for online gaming at this point and I already own NES games on the mini-NES, 3DS and i have some NES-classics cartridges on te GBA. I maybe join when the Gamecube is announced!

@gortsi I'll be better next time.

@dsparil that they did!

@GameOtaku "I don't have an Internet connection at home"

checks calendar

I wish NintendoLife and others would stop writing that the NES games are free. They are not free. You pay for them.

Same thing of PushSquare.

It's annoying and the marketing teams at Nintendo/Sony etc have suckered you in like gullible sheep to the slaughter...

Between games like Pokemon, Mario Kart, Smash, and Splattoon, Nintendo is the only one of the big 3 that I would pay for online. I don't play any first party Sony games that require online. It helps alot that Nintendo's is only $20. However, I would much rather it all be free. 😂

Many of the missing details make no sense. Why is Nintendo purposely holding back information?

• Will you keep the games once you unsubscribe?
• Will the games be rotated out or will the library continue to grow with new games being added and none taken away?
• If the games are to be rotated, will subscribers lose access to them or will it work like PS+ where you keep the games as long as you are subscribed?
• About the family plan and 8 accounts. Share all digital games or just the ones from the subscription service?
• Can all 8 accounts be online at once with 8 Switch consoles?
• Will we see SNES, N64, etc... games on the service. Just answer us directly and quit dropping vague hints.

I am sure there are many more I am missing. The big question, why aren't game journalists pushing Nintendo for these answers.

One more question, how do you do bullet points on this site?

@gatorboi352 I have faith in you my dude, don't disappoint me

@Godzil in some games it was possible, in others not. My Wii was not modded for its entire life cycle, then I modded it when I saw that I did not like the Wii U and wanted to try something new on Wii to have some more fun with it instead because of the disappoimtment Wii U was for me. With the mod you were able to copy all the save data, but most of my games allowed save backups even without the mod.

Hey @foxyglen you mention under the cloud save section....

'you'll be able to upload all of your saves directly to the cloud'

but Nintendo state 'Please note: not compatible with all software.' on their FAQs?

Is that Nintendo just being cautious? Or did you get carried way? 😁

@BensonUii so I should be happy to renounce the possibility to have my save backups for free because the other way people who play online (NOT me, I don't like multiplayer and I HATE online multiplayer) are afraid of player that exploit Splatoon equipment?
I have paid for my console and my games exactly as multiplayer gamers did, I want Nintendo to respect my right to keep my saves backup as much as you want them to keep cheaters away from your onlibe games.

@gatorboi352
I don't plan on getting one at home either!

@BensonUii I will buy a lot less games on Switch than I planned at first for sure. I will buy exclusives that I like and some "must buy" games like Sonic and Golden axe that I always buy for every system I own, but I will buy everything else on PS4.
3rd parties and indies will have much more support on other systems from me at least until things will change on Switch.
I really wanted Switch to be my favourite console of all times and it could easily have been but I am starting to hate it instead, and I promise that Nintendo will get much less money than I expected to invest in it at first unless things will change.

Not to mention that while I understand that Nintendo has the right to get paid for the services it offers, they should give something for free if they decide to not give alternatives. So it would be ok for the cloud save to be locked behind the subscription if they gave usb backups support as well but if they don't allow any other alterntive than just their own cloud they should make it available for free. On Steam you can have cloud save backups for free. This is something I could accept as a compromise. But Nintendo is just trying to steal our money by locking those features behind the subscription instead.

Well looks like I'm going to have to pay in order to play MK8 Deluxe and Splatoon 2 online. Guess I'll be adding Rocket League and Arms to that list at some point so should be worth it.

Would like to see Ninja Gaiden for NES and where's Super Mario Bros. 2 and The Lost Levels?

@ThatMusicFan "or at the very least implement a feature into the eco-system that makes having the service a must so that everyone will just buy into it anyway"

I'm sorry but this is just crazy. Making a problem mandatory does not solve it. Forcing people even more to pay something that not everybody needs don't make it less unfair. It would make it even more unfair actually. I would probably just sell my Switch and wish all the worst things possible to Nintendo if something like that happened. This would be even worse than what Nintendo is trying to do right now! D:

I’m in! Not big at online gaming (I do FIFA but that seems not to be impacted by this implementation) but I am in for the rest!

I may be in the minority, but Nintendo is spot on. The price point, value, main and extra features, and consideration of PS+ network for $60/year, this is an incredibly deal comparatively. I don’t like what Sony gives as “free” games and “extras” per month, and I think THAT is worth $20/year...and I have had PSX, PS2, PS3, and PS4 (all bought at launch except PS3) and have paid for PS+ since the service started, so I’m speaking from a long time Original user.

Nintendo made it IMPOSSIBLE for me not to subscribe, simply if I just want to play a few matches online once a week or a few times a month, for $20! It’s all I needed at the only price I deem tolerable and acceptable, and fair, for console network subscriptions. Anything more (and I dont mean the even greater value of the $35 family plan, making it less than $2.50/person for the year!) and I’d definitely not be eager to pay whatsoever.

Thank you Nintendo, for being reasonable.

I’m excited for the online service to finally launch. Really surprised how many people are complaining about the price. It’s $20 a year! That’s 5 cents a day! You could pay for your subscription with spare change found on the ground on your way to work each day. I’ll be opting for the family plan as we now have 3 Switches in the house and will be adding a fourth in November. Online access for all 4 of us will still be cheaper than a single yearly subscription to PSN or XBL

As of now, what's offered for the online is alright. Not great, but I feel like it can only improve from here. Nintendo's been dead silent on the mobile app, which as stated on their site, is at least going to be applicable to other games, and I feel like more can be added. Of course, while they're older NES titles, I feel like some gems could come (I want to play Star Tropics 1 and 2) and I'm still a bit hopeful that other systems can come. Fingers crossed for a version of the Online that just uses the Switch, without the phone (and allows wireless headphones)

I feel more optimistic about this after thinking about it than I thought I would, mainly because it feels like a lot of info still needs to be given out. Info on the cloud system is yet to be revealed, we're in the dark of well over ten upcoming games and how the service will work (do you download them and keep them after the service runs out?), and I'm clueless about what's coming with the smart phone app. I do like the Splatoon 2 app, and while I think some features should be viewable in-game, it's a cool way to look at how you're doing when you're away from the system. I'd love for that to be expanded on and brought to other games in some capacity.

"Would be nice not to have to pay for them all over again, wouldn't it?"

No, it wouldn’t be nice. You now have to rent the game forever. That single NES game you want that used to cost $5 on the Wii will now cost you $100 over the course of 5 years at $20 a year.

@BensonUii

I'd be really surprised if Nintendo is able to counteract hackers with cloud only saving. The Switch is already hacked and there are unofficial ways already to access/backup save data. These hacks will become more prevalent over time. The only thing DRM does is hurt the legitimate consumers along the way.

https://www.extremetech.com/gaming/267341-hacker-needed-just-2-weeks-to-add-save-backups-to-nintendo-switch

@Andrew5678

"Not great, but I feel like it can only improve from here."

The problem is the competition's services are improving too and Nintendo isn't closing the gap.

@Thisismycomment

"Would be nice not to have to pay for them all over again, wouldn't it?"

Ironically that was the original purpose of VC. A way to keep your games on a console from system to system much like Steam works today. Sure, there may have been an upgrade fee. But assuming you don't have a really large library, $1-$2 a game would likely have been less than the $100-140 you'll pay in online fees over a consoles lifetime.

@cleveland124 Also that upgrade fee was optional. Nothing was stopping you (after doing the Wii Transfer) to continue to play all your VC games for free by booting up the Wii menu on your Wii U. You only had to pay to upgrade to play on the Wii U menu (and thus also use the Wii U gamepad). So not only are the game none transferable to the Switch, but you have to pay monthly. And if you only want a single game (as I mentioned) then it makes the cost even more ridiculous.

Can’t wait!!

I'm sick to death of Nintendo milking their NES catalogue. Give us GBA, N64 and GameCube games from your other nipples, please.

I need Bubble Bobble with online multiplayer. C’mon Nintendo.

Not stoked right now, but dang... 20 bucks for the year? Can't beat that.

And yea, I've had both PS+ and Xbox Live. Very rarely did I enjoy the games they would offer every month. For 60 bucks a year, I probably still got my "money's worth" (though online gaming should be free, which is why I play online stuff only on my PC these days), but it's total garbage that Live or Plus offer a lot more than this. Value is in the eye of the beholder.

@ThatMusicFan

I think the problem with the cloud saves is that Nintendo took away the ability to back up ones own saves. They are the first home console to do that. So while cloud saves are something that everyone would be interested in, certainly fewer would pay if they could back up their own save. So this is Nintendo pushing an online service by offering a stick instead of an incentive.

I'm curious to see what the family plan restrictions are. Since it's Nintendo I'm guessing they'll be stricter than we are thinking. But either way Playstation did at one time allow 5 systems on an account for no additional charge. Now they only allow 2 since that was abused. I mean I would love for this to mean that I could just access my games on two different systems. But likely if people are able to save money on the online Nintendo will find a way to nix it.

@Shellcore Well I guess at some point we will all know for sure. I really didn't think we were going to be able to play the games without an internet connection until I read on the Nintendo website that we could play classic NES games anytime, anywhere. It made me optimistic that someway, somehow we will be able to play them without a connection. I'm just trying to figure out how that is possible without some kind of download.

I suppose it wouldn't really be hard for Nintendo to let you download it to play anywhere but lock you out of it when your subscription expires. I just try to remain optimistic until we know further details. Though I am not really expecting to keep the games after the subscription runs out or the online service is over but it is still technically a possibility.

I haven't played a single switch game online, and I have enough retro games through classic emulators, i think i'm gonna pass on this. Good for those that play online and don't have these games though

This article doesn't mention how much it will be in Canada?

@BensonUii I'd also appreciate that. Canadians don't have our own Nintendolife alternative or anything, usually I just have to estimate our price to be ten or twenty bucks more than USD. People like to say Canadian prices balance out for our crap dollar but they rarely do, at least for tech. They get rounded up or down kind of randomly. I've been told that we actually get some pretty deep savings on Steam pricing.

@Thisismycomment

Yes, I agree. I think this should show people that Nintendo is first most a business designed to make money though. I think retro games are part of the online now because 3rd parties were reluctant to join the Wii U VC because of the paltry ugrade fee and Nintendo themselves didn't make much on Wii U VC because of the discount. So my guess is that retro games at some point (probably Switch 2) get cut from the online service because they aren't popular enough and replaced by something like free Nindies. At that point I could see them launching something like Nintendo Classics for the people that do enjoy retro games and there being no upgrade discount ever again. I think they view this as an interim step to break from one of the key features of VC and giving them the opportunity to launch under a new banner. So I wouldn't count on "free" (rented) for life.

@cleveland124 Do you mean recent improvements, or improvements from the last generation? I'm not up to speed on the details of XBox Live and PS4 Plus, I just know about the basics (voice chat, free games, etc.)

I do agree that the service could be better, and I feel like a few more perks will make it worthwhile. For free, we got a very basic online service, and for $60 you get all of the bells and whistles on the other consoles. Charging $20 does give leeway for there to be less features, there should just be some fairly significant additions/improvements since it's $20 more dollars than what people paid before.

@cleveland124 So why did third party developers support cross buy for the PS3/PSP/Vita for PS1 Classics? If say Final Fantasy 3 (SNES) and Chrono Trigger didn't get sent to the Wii U VC because they would only make $1.50 per game from those who bought them on the Wii then why did they bring FF7, FF8 and FF9 to the Vita for free for those who bought them on the PSP or PS3?

@gatorboi352

Lmao

@Crono1973

I'm guessing because PS1 classics were originally setup as crossplatform(since Sony was trying to push that benefit) and the were getting $10 for the initial sale. I mean if you look at the PS4 they are doing something similar. FF7 is "remastered" aka upscaled and is $16 with no cross play.

@cleveland124

Nintendo's mostly always behind

@cleveland124 You aren't listening. Not all PS1 Classics made it to the Vita, the ones that did make it to the Vita were obviously approved by the same third party publishers who wouldn't send their games to the Wii U. I am saying it had nothing to do with the upgrade fee as games sent to the Vita didn't even have an upgrade fee.

Also, many PS1 Classics were $5.99, cheaper than an SNES game on the Virtual Console.

@Crono1973

You aren't listening to me. Sony makes the requirement to be a PS1 classic on their system. The initial sale was tied to the game being cross play with PSP. At some point they were trying to work with developers to bring PS1 classics to Vita and were working with developers to bring it over and then Vita bombed and they gave up on that initiative. They didn't give a free portable copy away so much as they wanted to release a game for $6-10 for 100 million users PS3 users and were okay with those users having a portable copy because that was the price of access to Sony systems. Sony is 100% responsible for cross play and they are 100% responsible for giving up on it. Nobody gives free copies away and nobody wants to sell games for $1-2.

I mean what's your argument here that Square wants to make free games for people? If so why is FF7 so much more money on PS4? The companies have found out their classics are a goldmine and they undersold them last gen and they want more money now. I mean the biggest argument against VC has been they sold too well and constantly were topping the chart so other 3rd parties couldn't sell. When did Nintendo ever base their release schedule on 3rd parties and when did they become so charitable to forego releasing games on their own system? The only other explanation would be that they really do think retro games are that important to the success of their online platform and getting that setup was more important than VC to them to get that revenue stream from online.

@cleveland124 Ok, listen carefully.

You said that third parties weren't interested in bringing their games to the Wii U VC because of the small upgrade fee. Follow me so far?

I am telling you that wasn't the reason because those same third parties DID bring their games to the Vita and some did not meaning that the ones who did chose to and they chose to KNOWING they would get no upgrade fee at all. Still following me?

If they were concerned about only getting a small upgrade fee on the Wii U then you wouldn't have seen them CHOOSE to bring their PS1 classics to the Vita. The Sony cross buy thing only included the PSP and the PS3. Not all PS1 Classics made it to the Vita like the Crash and Spyro games.

Whatever the reason that third parties didn't want to bring their VC games to the Wii U, I am certain it had nothing to do with the upgrade fee.

As for FF7 PC/Mobile port on PS4, they are doing that BECAUSE PS1 Classics don't work on the PS4 at all and is outside the scope of this conversation.

@Crono1973

"I am telling you that wasn't the reason because those same third parties DID bring their games to the Vita and some did not meaning that the ones who did chose to and they chose to KNOWING they would get no upgrade fee at all. "

Wasn't their choice. They had a contract to bring those games to the PS3 and PSP and it was later changed to Vita. Sony dictated those terms. They could choose not to make any PS1 classics, but they didn't choose to later bring those games to Vita for nothing. I don't have access to those contracts, but I strongly believe the contract either stated that Sony would bring those games to a future handheld they were working on, or they were given an ultimatum to either bring the cross play to Vita, or we are dropping your game from the PSN store. Unbalanced business relationships kind of suck. A relationship where choice exists would be the Wii U/3DS cross platform games which there are some. But not many as Nintendo didn't mandate that games on Wii U/3DS be cross platform. If they did, you'd see a lot more of them.

"Whatever the reason that third parties didn't want to bring their VC games to the Wii U, I am certain it had nothing to do with the upgrade fee."

That's a pretty dumb thing to say. Every business only cares about making money. That money they make is Revenue-Expense X Volume. So I thought it went without saying that the poor Wii U sales also factored into that decision. But the Wii VC was supported pretty early on with other systems and was supported through the Wii end of life when Wii sales were poor. So I think it was pretty telling that Sega (a big supporter of the Wii VC) didn't bring any of their games to the Wii U. That was 100% based on revenue which obviously factors in with the discounted upgrade fee. So you could say that the poor sales of the Wii U factored more into the decision, but that still doesn't explain why it was so poorly supported up front. And more support that the discount bothered companies was when Nintendo finally got TG16 games on they only had a 50% discount for upgrade fee instead of the 80% for NES games, 81% discount for SNES games, and 80% discount for N64 games. So it seems the discount clearly mattered to them.

"As for FF7 PC/Mobile port on PS4, they are doing that BECAUSE PS1 Classics don't work on the PS4 at all and is outside the scope of this conversation."

PS1 classics didn't work on the Vita either until they made them work and it would certainly be very easy to get a PS1 emulator rolling on the PS4 and attach the rom from the PS3 store. And Nintendo had no problem giving free NES games away with Animal Crossing on the Gamecube. That has about as much to do with this conversation as third parties creating cross platform games years ago on the PS3 which you somehow equate to them giving games away for free and validating why you think they would be okay with selling them for nearly free today. I mean does that sum up your argument well?

Not sure what the heat rising from GameCube and Wii U is coming from, but Ill say this in regard to the choice for throwback classic “free” game release (which is what PS+ started with, and their rollout of paid PS+ was absolutely embarrassing and a large basis of my critique and perception of this new console network)....

i think the NES choices are perfect

This is why
1) I always keep in mind, this is Nintendo,and it all started as NES.

2) as much as my favorite systems as a child on Christmas morning were SNES and N64, and although my life began on NES as a little toddler (in fact, i dont remember even getting my NES at the age of 6, that’s how little I was when NES debuted and i was born in 84), its still not the original, as much as it feels that way

3) this is the rollout, again, remember....who knows how it will evolve, i have no doubt in my mind well see an incarnation of SNES N64 gamecube, Wii, Wii U and anything else, because the current price and status of PS+ is FAR different monster than what was conceived at paid launch 5 years ago

4) the titles are classics, and I’d even say they are quite extensive for a premier...20 titles, and i know its old, NES classics, but still, nonetheless, the way developers are these days, 20 is a lot of free games, and they have NEW online capabilities that....(which also lead to my final point)

5) We still have to see what OTHER things are coming with it that we dont know about.

We really need to be patient, because Nintendo isn’t going to disappoint with what will be the only competition Sony is going to have for the next 5 years....too much riding on this launch play for nintendo, its the future of their biggest console to date and a shot to take over the console war for the current gen

Just imho

@chrislisting

If you are appreciative of the launch lineup, that's great. It's just hard for me to get excited because many of them were the original VC releases for the Wii, then the original VC releases for the Wii U, then on the NES classic. So while 1/2 of them are great, it would be more exciting to launch a new service with games that haven't been available previously in digital form.

As for improvement, I'm guessing it will. But Nintendo has a tendency to devolve as well like with what they did with ClubNintendo. So in my opinion it's always best to look at what they are offering and make your decision whether or not to buy it. Like I said before you are obviously excited and I wouldn't try to dissuade you from that. But to me, if the program improves and I think it's worth it at that point, I'll purchase it. I make my purchasing decisions on what the product is, not what the product could be.

As for Sony/Nintendo being the only competitors, you need to whoa up a little there. Sony is like coming out with the PS5 in 19/20 and Microsoft the Xbox Two in 19/20. Their products may be an evolution of their existing boxes or they could have something like the Switch as they've seen the success it's had. I guess what I am saying is since Switch launched mid-late gen, it's competitors haven't really been determined yet.

Not eight switches per account, guys. Eight accounts per switch... That is very, very different.

@BensonUii Yes! This has bothered me pretty much as long as I have read Nintendolife. Why can't they just include other major currencies that are used in the Nintendo gaming world...especially euro. I mean come on, UK is just small part of europe and they include that currency. I get it, the site is UK based that's ok, but euro and Australian currency should be totally included.

Many readers, me included are from Euro countries, and just because there are no native english speaking Euro currency countries, doesn't mean we are stupid and don't know english. In fact, for many european countries, like Finland where I am from, english is the only language for us play games and to get proper news on any gaming and tech and stuff like that. So yeah, point is again, please include Euro and others in prices (...though Euro prices are usually same as the US prices even though Euro is more valuable..which is stupid and kinda unfair for Europeans...)

All I care about is how well (or how worse) they handle the online system. That's the thing I'm most worried about. Everything else comes later. Improve the voice chat and interface and I'll probably happily dig in

I really don't like the idea of the NES games unless you can permanently buy them for yourself. I just don't like playing games on timer or the idea that they are just a side dish for something I am paying for due to completely other reasons. But I don't think Nintendo even cares, I feel like they have been becoming more and more like EA recently...if ya know what I mean...

@Rekiotsu "I feel like they have been becoming more and more like EA recently"

Exactly.
I'll be honest, I don't think that Nintendo was 100% fair in the past, but it was still acceptable if you liked their products, and often I liked them a lot. I never complained because I was willing to accept some compromises, but this is becoming too much and all of a sudden.
The worst part is that Nintendo actually makes good games. EA can do what they want, their games are like garbage for me I don't lose absolutely nothing. I wouldn't buy them even if they stick to the fairest of rules as producer and publisher, it's just like they don't exist for me. But with Nintendo I'm going to miss a lot.
Probably internet and the new ways to publish games are something that give them more power in the way they can abuse of us as consumers. Maybe they would have behaved like this even before but fortunately it was not possible back then. At least we have had some great consoles that were not ruined by this kind of bs.

Would be nice if there would be a basic package for cloud saving only. That is the only thing I will be using the online subsription for. I'm also curious to find out what they mean that cloud saving will not work for all games. I guess they will have a file size limit.

@MadCow74 it will also probably won't work for those games were having the possibility to manage backups could give the player a way to exploit the game mechanics, like on the first Wii you was able to copy saves of most games but not all of them.
It was not a matter of the file size back then but today certain games with 5 gb save files would be a big problem too of course.

I still think Nintendo really came up short here. This was a good opportunity to create some pre-E3 buzz and to lay a solid fountain against the notion that - on many levels still - Nintendo is stuck in the past, esp. when it comes to anything and all online.

What they put on the table is the most basic of basic packages. I guess you could do away with the "enhancement" of the NES games, but other than that, I feel, it's impossible to even imagine a more generic and featureless online offering.

I sure hope that this is only the fist step in many, but alas, if it is, I have to wonder why this one took so damn long in the first place. Plus, I fail to see the Nintendo "twist", if you will here. It's just a cheaper but proportionaly less comprehensive offering vis-a-vis the competition. "Enhanced" classics are nothing new really. Xbox does something similar, albeit less extensive, by making classic games available on X1 with upgraded visuals and (renewed) access to XboxLive (for instance in the case of Phantom Dust).

In fact, when it comes to "virtual console" this gen, Microsoft is leading the pack. Yeah, I know, there exclusives barely exist and all that, but when it comes to honoring one's legacy and making accessible in the best possible way to players, new AND old, they are doing an amazing job, despite not nearly have the same kind of legacy content that Nintendo has - not by a long, long shot.

I wonder if the Switch will ever see a VC. If I know Nintendo, it be at least a long time before anything might possible happen after that statement they gave, and - on top of that - their previous VC iterations were drip feed affairs that took years and years to build a library worth mentioning. I guess the only hope is that the SwitchU2whatever will be fully backwardscompatible, otherwise they might as well leave at that indeed and never bring VC to the Switch.

Finally, I'm stunned by this if simply for the reason that other companies have proven that legacy content on the Switch is absolutely economically viable. All those NeoGeo games are doing rather good from what I can tell, and with even games like Ikaruga making an appearence, one would assume that the a Switch VC - done right - would be an absolutely gold mine for Nintendo, financially and culturally.

On the other hand, it's probably precisely because this is making so much sense (to me at the very least), that Nintendo is NOT doing it. After all that has been their modus operandi for years now!

Long story short, outside of the miniscule chance of seeing some kind of amazing discount system or something like that, this is hard pass for me right now. I just can't find the time right now to spend much time playing online as it is, thus paying for the priviledge makes no sense, and the rest ... no, I just don't care enough about a couple of 30+ year old games, to have another subscription on my books. N64 and Gamecube, depending on the selection, would have been a completely different story. I never had a NES, so I also lack the emotional connect others might have. To me these are mostly just objects of hitorical curiosity to quite frank. Even SNES games would be vastly more appealing really :.-)

I think the pricing is very fair compared to what I pay on PS4 for a year. Really looking forward to playing the original Legend of Zelda too!

@FX102A Nintendo has gotten increasingly greedy over the years, that's all. Notice how every little Switch accessory costs an arm and a leg. Now they don't even let you back up your games to an SD card.

This is on top of selling you a console with only 32GB of storage space.

I love the Switch, but damn Nintendo.....what's happening to you? I understand they're a business, but they reaaaally refuse to simply "break even" with certain things. Every little thing has to deliver a profit, no exceptions. The lack of SD saves proves it, along with everything else.

@pAq that what I'm waiting for. If they let me actually own all the content I buy I'm in! But if next Gen I have to re buy it all again I won't spend a dime on this.

@gatorboi352 that alone would make me not getting it.

@Rekiotsu the horrors of Amiibo Festival and DLC of Fates is pulling back to me..
in a way there were already sorta like EA back in 2015 to today.
on a bright side... Nintendo makes great games like BOTW and Odyssey, unlike EA. but at the same time they make you pay extra to play some of their worst games, or expansive DLC like Amiibo Festival and Fates.

I'm probably in the minority in that I actually want Ice Climber, Balloon Fight and SMB3 on my Switch those three make me consider Switch Online. Also I recently got ARMS, so I finally have a game that uses it (aside from Puyo Puyo Tetris).

@Falito well i don‘t want to actually own it, since games are, like music or movies, work of art, and as such should belong to its creators, but they could expand the license to at least a second switch, and therefore make me buy one

I still think Nintendo Online will probably flop.

I still don’t see mention of an option to purchase any classic games. I hope it will be there. Not looking to “rent” old games.

@TDS_Computer A family plan account can have 7 other Nintendo Switch accounts, and they can all have their own Switch

@MarioBrax It won't. Pokémon and Smash will force a lot of people into paying for it.

"Nintendo Switch Online - How do cloud saves work?"

By not including Splatoon 2, cause you know, cheaters, so no one gets it!

Some NES games from the list have aged pretty badly. SNES was the way to go yet here we are...

NintendoLife will review the Nintendo Switch Online service...

...and give it a 9/10!

Free games <> paid subscription service with rentals while you pay

NES games tho... IMeanReally!?

I'm not waiting it, but want to continue playing online, so...

Will the exclusive discounts be better than my Nintendo rewards

@MoonKnight7 Given that Splatoon 2 is going to be the main reason for millions of people to subscribe, not allowing cloud saves is just plain stupid.

The fact that your ranking, which only has meaning online, is stored purely offline is just plain stupid.

I find it hard to believe that cloud save for Splatoon just couldn't happen without cheating. It'd be impossible, apparently, to just update it and start storing your rank online so if your save says you're a rank x player but the server says otherwise it could just send you down. Splatoon is one of those games that players invest hundreds of hours into. It's exactly the kind of game I want a backup for in the first place.

A lot of negativeness for £20 a year, seem like a snowflake reaction.

Ugh. So I still need one Nintendo account per Switch in the household? I can't have a "Family Account"?

I'm not biting. There aren't any games I can think of (except maybe Dragon Quest Builders 2, and who knows when that's coming out) I would be playing online, I can do without cloud saves personally, and all the NES games I truely care about I already have on my 3DS. I can use that 20 bucks a year toward something more substantial.

@chardir

Exactly. I've got over 200 hours of gear, and what's worse than not allowing cloud saves, you can't physically back up the saves either. It's utter madness!

I can't think of a single NES game that would make me pay any attention to this. SNES maybe has 2 or 3 at least

Does it mean I can no longer play Splatoon online if I don't subscribe?

This doesn't feel right...

@puddinggirl

Correct, and even if you do subscribe, you can't save your data. That also doesn't feel right either. No one wins.

So if you stop your subscription, what happens to cloud saves???

I doubt I'll be getting online it's not worth it

"There's also a family membership option that provides Nintendo Switch Online to up to eight Switches for £31.49 / $34.99 per year. That's less than £5 / $5 per user if eight people are signed up.

What isn't clear, is what the restrictions are. We don't know whether you all have to live under the same address, have the same surname, or anything like that. It would be pretty sweet if you and seven friends could team up and get the family account super cheap."

This was my plan. At least you can form a Family Group between unrelated friends and accounts at the moment. There's no restrictions mentioned. You just send invites at https://accounts.nintendo.com/family to e-mail addresses that are used to register Nintendo Accounts and that's that.

I know people want snes games but I am secretly hoping one of the unknown games is pokemon yellow so i can play it while i wait for the new game 😊

@NintyNate If you want to play online games, then you need the service. But if you don't, then I guess there's little reason to subscribe. I guess we'll know the details of the cloud saves after the Direct. I bet they will keep your saves for a set period of time after your subscription ends (a year maybe).

@Nater Making a Nintendo Account is free, as you should know, so why would you want to use one account on multiple Switches, especially if multiple people are using them? Each player should have their own Nintendo Accounts.

Regarding online, you can make a Family Group at https://accounts.nintendo.com/family and invite up to 7 other Nintendo Accounts into it, in addition to your own account.
Then you can buy a Family Membership with the account that you used to make the Family Group, that is one payment and all of those 8 different accounts included in the Family Group will get the Nintendo Online service and presumably their own space for cloud saves.

EDIT: Oh, do you mean that you want to buy a game from the eShop once and have it playable on multiple systems?

@Moshugan so in other words there is zero point to this online lol ... I feel bad for the folk that have to get it for Splatoon and MK8

@MoonKnight7
Darn. It's bad enough to sell a service, cloud save, then tell you it only works sometimes, but removing the main feature from games like Splatoon unless you keep paying?!

This is bait and switch fraud.... not cool Nintendo, not cool.

The price is nice, but it hardly offers anything compared to Xbox or PlayStation. I'll be passing up on this until it catches up to where everyone else is at.

Spoiler alert: this will not go well.

@Moshugan

That'd be cool if that's how it worked. But it doesn't. I opened a Nintendo Account. Added my two sons in the family group as members. Now there's a nickname, and a sign-in ID. So it's already confusing.

So we buy a second Switch because they were HEAVY into Zelda, as was I. That way the rest of us can play MarioKart, whatever on the 2nd Switch while one guy is getting his Zelda on.

Nope. Couldn't just sign into my Nintendo Account on the 2nd Switch without first logging it off the first Switch. What's the point of the "Family Member" profiles if you have to change over the ENTIRE account?

Had to make a second account using my wifes name, e-mail, credit card, etc. DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN.

Now throw in Nintendo Accounts, Member Nickname, Member Sign-In ID, and put some Xbox Live! account gamertags on top of it. FREAKING NIGHTMARE.

And yeah, for single play games, especially when we OWN THE PHYSICAL CARTRIDGE, it'd be nice if the "cloud save" made it seamless to switch (get it) between Switch consoles, hit your profile, start the game, and voila, you can pickup in Zelda (or whatever) right where you left off on the other console. But I severely doubt that's how well it will work, because well, that'd be logical and make sense and be the BEST use of saving to the cloud.

Also, yeah, on digital games, I don't like the idea of having to buy games twice just because one kid who wants to play might have the other switch. Buy it once = one instance open. I'm not asking to buy it once and have it playable on BOTH consoles simultaneously. In this household, it is KILLING their eShop sales to us. I'm a lot less likely to drop the coin because it's such an inconvenience to have to buy a game TWICE that's probably only ever going to get played on ONE console at any given time. So when they ask I just say no, everytime. Only exception has been MineCraft.

If they changed that, we'd probably be enjoying dozens of eShop games, but the fact I can't just pick-up a Switch and play the game I paid for, because one of the kids happens to have the Switch I bought it on....f' that noise.

The things they are offerin a time launch don’t entice me to buy day one unfortunately

@Nater I don't know what you mean by "Member Nickname" and "Member Sign-In ID". You should make individual accounts for each of your kids through https://accounts.nintendo.com/family and assign them Child Accounts and then make individual user profiles on the Switch consoles and link the proper Child Accounts to them. I don't get what the problem is with that?

Nope. Couldn't just sign into my Nintendo Account on the 2nd Switch without first logging it off the first Switch. What's the point of the \"Family Member\" profiles if you have to change over the ENTIRE account?\"

EDIT: Oh, I just realized that one kid will play a certain game on one console and then go on to play another game on a different console, and that's when they would have to log out on the first and log in on the second, and that's the hassle?

https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Support/Nintendo-Switch/Usage/Linking-a-User-to-a-Nintendo-Account/Child-Account/Child-Account-1199100.html

\"Also, yeah, on digital games, I don't like the idea of having to buy games twice just because one kid who wants to play might have the other switch. Buy it once = one instance open. I'm not asking to buy it once and have it playable on BOTH consoles simultaneously.\"

Unfortunately that will never change. Enabling what you want would require online authentication every time you want to start a game, or it would enable people to use one account between multiple users simultaneously provided they play offline.

I would stick to physical cartridges for the ease of using them on multiple systems. Too bad a lot of family friendly indies are only on the eShop though. ;p About the cloud saves, I do believe it would work serviceably if you just get used to logging on and off between consoles.

Remaining ten games:
-5 snes
-3 n64
-2 gc

@Moshugan

You should make individual accounts for each of your kids through https://accounts.nintendo.com/family and assign them Child Accounts and then make individual user profiles on the Switch consoles and link the proper Child Accounts to them. I don't get what the problem is with that?

^ I already did that from the get go. When we got the 2nd Switch though, I didn't understand that is how it worked. I was totally lost having to create another Nintendo account, so they got two NEW profiles under my wife's account. I'm sitting down right now to go through it all again, after having spent 3 hours on the phone w/ Microsoft this morning trying to get their GamerTags unblocked (a whole nother nightmare)

EDIT: Oh, I just realized that one kid will play a certain game on one console and then go on to play another game on a different console, and that's when they would have to log out on the first and log in on the second, and that's the hassle?

^ Yeah, a big hassle. Almost to the point where I was going to return the 2nd Switch. Hassle enough that's it's completely ruled out buying a 3rd Switch.

On the 3rd point, (sorry I don't know how to do quotes and such); um, isn't the eShop ALREADY DOING ONLINE AUTHENTICATION to purchase/re-download the game to begin with?

You telling me that's a one-time local memory write?

@Nater "I already did that from the get go. When we got the 2nd Switch though, I didn't understand that is how it worked."

Oh, okay. What you should do now is to delete the Child Accounts from your wife's Family Group, and then add your wife's account to your account's Family Group. So that there's ONE account for each person, and every account is in ONE Family Group (with you or your wife being the admin). All of you need to be in the same Family Group in order for you to be able to use the one Family Membership online subscription.

"isn't the eShop ALREADY DOING ONLINE AUTHENTICATION to purchase/re-download the game"

Yeah, sure, for downloads. But we're talking about playing on the console when it's already downloaded. If there was no check-up, then you could start the same game with the same N Account on two consoles at the same time if they both were offline.

"Yeah, a big hassle. Almost to the point where I was going to return the 2nd Switch."

Can you tell me what the process is to log off from one console to be able to use the same account on another console? I've only used a single Nintendo Account on one Switch, so I don't know how it works.

Don't worry Nintendo I still love you

@FoxyGlen you missed the section about voice chat!

Currently only sedulded to support Splatoon, Diablo and those Nes online games (that nobody wants)

whats the current betting odds that this is a disaster at launch.

@puddinggirl
"Does it mean I can no longer play Splatoon online if I don't subscribe?

This doesn't feel right..."

I think quite a lot of people are going to feel like this, especially the people who don't pay much attention to the directs and gaming in general. The people who keep going on about "it's only $20" are missing the point too. It's not about the low price, it's the principle and being tied to a company through a subscription that a lot of people don't like. Just wait, it'll be up to $60 a year soon enough. The low price is just a teaser to get you tied into the ecosystem so you can't back out when they decide to raise the price (the true bait and switch).

It's also a shame to see Nintendolife being so sickeningly positive about such a weak offering from the online and the sub. They clearly have the greasiest of palms. This whole thing benefits no one but Nintendo and the minions they'll promise to throw a bone to as long as they don't offer any criticism of them.

I have 1 switch with multiple accounts.
1 for me and my kids all have their OWN account(3 in Total).
Do i need a family membership so we can all play online with our Own accounts or Will 1 normal fee be enough, cause it states that family membership is for multiple switches

So not even the cloud save which was the major thing alot of people was gonna pay the sub for isn't a thing for their own games specifically, so what reason is there to pay for it now, to get access to the NES games? Way to go Nintendo.

@LuckyLand Seriously? Nintendo acting like EA? What were you smoking when you thought that?

Nintendo will never be like EA. You must be pretty stupid to think that.

I never play online, so I am only interested in the “free” games (if they are not bringing the VC to the Switch). Although I do love the NES, (it was my second game home console, after the Atari 2600, in the 1980s) I will probably still wait to see what else they may offer after the service launches.

Does this mean that unless I join, I will loose the ability to play mario kart and fortnite online?

@Alantor28 You must be pretty stupid to be happy to get scammed by Nintendo. Because what they are trying to do is a scam for gamers.
Nintendo is worse than EA because Nintendo games are good so Nintendo is ruining something that would deserve much more and much better than that. EA games suck so they are not ruining anything good, their game would be bad enough themselves anyway.
So what Nintendo is doing is worse than what EA does.

@LuckyLand Pot calling the kettle black, dude. Pot calling the kettle black.

People seem to forget that paid online was revealed from the start. This 1,5 year has been our free trial.

@Psmithuk99

yes

Never liked the way Nintendo drip drip drips out their classic games. I would have gladly paid $100 to play their entire NES SNES and N64 library on Switch.

Fair price but still, doesn't really offer me anything I need so $20 saved

This isn’t updated. You don’t have to search anywhere other than Nintendo’s official site. There is an updated FAQ.

Wait doesn't it drop in the US today 9/18? I'm anxious.

What time does it start at?

Why is the article saying the main reason to pay for the service is to play Splatoon 2? What happens to Mario Kart 8? Will it be free to play?

It's not really much of an updated article when it's still missing the full lineup of NES games and extra features they will have.Neither does it mention the 2 Special Offers.

Here's your times:
https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/41814

Here's your FAQ:
https://www.nintendo.com/switch/online-service/faq/

Kinda odd, that the service is about to launch and we still don't know anything about those "special offers". I am kinda hoping that this will provide some additional value and I do have some games on my wishlist that could use e.g. a further discount ...

The fact that we still know nothing though as well as the rest of the 'features' kinda makes me feel like this is wishful thinking at best :-/

@Moshugan "I've only used a single Nintendo Account on one Switch, so I don't know how it works."

Did you really spend all of that time telling @Nater how easy everything is yet you've only used 1 account on 1 Switch? I appreciate you linking to the Family account page and trying to help a fellow gamer out, but as a dad and husband with 2 gaming teens in the house I can tell you it's never as easy as it sounds when you actually have to sit down and do it all and keep track of it all. My teen sons were, according to their accounts, both born in the early 90's b/c I couldn't deal w/ Ntinedo's handling of kid accounts as it was.

Besides setting them up for NNID on the Wii U, and accounts on the Wii U, and NA online and nicknames and user accounts you guys didn't even get to MyRewards accounts. My kids each have those but so far we've only ever purchased stuff on my account and they dont' play mobile accounts so they haven't even bothered with MyRewards.

Dealing with this family stuff on the Sony side on PS3 and PS4 has been easier - we've always only had one PS+ account and we all get to share it for online play, playing one purchased PSN Game like Minecraft on 2 consoles simultaneously, everything. Not sure about cloud saves, I never bother, we use USB sticks for backups. Though I did return my PSP the day after purchase b/c that would only really do 1 account no matter what they promised about it being like the PS3. And my kids both have 2 accounts, foreign lands on PS3 but US on PS4. But even with them each having two accounts it still seems easier than what I've set up on Switch and we haven't even tried NO yet.

I think I have all of our accounts squared away now - been looking over it the past week or so, my kids are old enough now to have multiple emails addresses so I was updating those as well - but I'm still not signing us up for anything yet, not even the free 7 day trial. I'm not even sure if we can do a free 7 day Family trial to see how that works. No rush though, I'm playing DQXI, my oldest Kingdom Hearts 1-6 HD Remastered, and my youngest DBXV2 never ending DLC, all on PS4.

Well anyway, replies aside...

This is going swimmingly, and it hasn't even started yet.

My kids and I were discussing at dinner last night all of the problems that could arise. Remember, this is the company that forgot to code the year for keeping track of how long you played Zelda BotW on Switch so accidents are bound to happen. Now we don't think there will be too many problems with 1 account on 1 Switch, though there may be, but all of these people signing up for the family plan, and people with multiple accounts for buying games from different regions, and accounts on more than 1 Switch. Well even if we were going to pay for this any time soon - maybe when SSBU releases - we'd still wait at least a week to let all you canaries in the coal mines fly back out.

@FoxyGlen - Just an FYI: your list of confirmed games not supporting cloud saves is missing Pokemon Let's Go.

@Ralek85 The special offers are some gear for Splatoon 2 and the NES controllers. There are no discounts (currently).

This "updated" guide isn't worth the paper it's written on.

Why do some people think this should be free, they are giving us an online service that someone has to pay for, free games each months and I know that NES games are not for everyone but Nintendo have to start somewhere hopefully over the years they will bring more console games like SNES.
All other consoles have a monthly fee so why cant Nintendo.
Hopefully this fee will lead to better online services and better games.
Free to play games will stay free you don't need the online service for that and if you dont want to back up your data then that's fine but please stop moaning about it.

@chardir Oh so that is it? Now I am even more confused. I guess those are technically "special offers", but I can hardly believe those are supposed to be "the special offers" we were supposed to hear about later.

That doesn't sound right. $60 NES controllers ... that is not even in the ballpark of what any sane person would consider a special offering in this particular context! I know Nintendo likes its crazy from time to time, but that's ...

@Saego Then the same issue of save game editing will arise unfortunately.

If I subscribe to the online service, would all profiles on a singular switch system be able to play online? Or would it just be the profile that is associated with my nintendo account?

Why is the eshop getting an update or am I missing something??

@Duncanballs To support the new service, and also to show if games require it or not (for online) and if they have cloud save backup or not.

@Jackflap101 If you buy a single plan only a single Nintendo account will be able to use it (yours). If you buy a family plan everyone in your family group (up to 8 people) will be able to use it. (on one or multiple Switches)

Are any online features for games like Lets go Pikachu unavailable for non subscribers like if there's trading or battling other players.

Does anybody know about the country restrictions for Online? Havent found it on the nintendo FAQ so far...I am asking because of China, eShop worked so far, havent tried after the update.

Has anybody signed up for the service outside of their region. I'm in the UK but the cost of the service is much cheaper on the SA eshop but don't know if there's any restrictions ?

So in other words, my Splatoon game is now useless because Im not pyaing to use the internet when I already have to pay for the internet itself. Great system guys, no screwing people over here.

You know that little black strip at the bottom of all the NES games that reminds us what SELECT and START are? Any way to turn that off? Ideally, it would appear at the start of each new title loaded and then fade away after a few seconds.

@wrathofcon I sold mine a few months ago. In fact, I should stop buying games, as I said that the day Nintendo starts charging for online play, would be the day I stop supporting the entire industry. But I'll simply do as I have done the past few years, and stick to single player and local multiplayer, as those are way more enjoyable than online anyway. Even with the free online up until recently, I actually barely made any use of it.

Here in Belgium we have some of the most expensive internet providers with the most limited download capacity, so frequent cloud saving would make my internet even more expensive, while I would already be paying extra for online. And I won't even get to play a game I bought once with my partner except for split screen.
No thanks.

So why won't the Final Fantasy re-releases support cloud save? They aren't online multi-player.

Just saw Minecraft on the updated list. My kids are gonna flip. I think I might call Nintendo support so they can hear them cry.

They should have called this console the Nintendo Bait & Switch.

Ive jumped in with a yearly sibscription as its not much to pay for a year. im more interested in the games and the discounts and hopefully next year will bring more like snes games at the very least!

i will eat my hat if the special offers are discounts as big as ps+

@BensonUii and swiss francs Romain lei. I will forgive them not having Venuzualien Bolivar as it would be around a Billion Bol and that would make the online seem even more garbage at the price.

@Guiltygear that is one safe hat then lol.

@Nater It`s not like they told us this service would be charged when they launched the Switch. Oh wait, they did.

Wow! Good work NL. Yeah I was concerned about the cloud save functionality for Rev1&2. But I found out myself that both utilize the cloud functionality. Thanks for the thorough breakdown.

I can't cancel the auto-renewal. There is no option to cancel in my eShop!

@30mm I have a very similar setup, just one switch with 5 (in my case) Nintendo accounts. I also had your question in mind, and couldn't find the answer anywhere, so I tried it out using the 7 day free trial thing.

Signing myself up to the 7 day trial only gave my account access to the online service, so I think the answer is that you need the family plan to allow all accounts to access online.

You can however sign up each account for a 7 day trial, so everyone can give it a go. I had to turn off auto renew for my account, but not for my supervised family accounts.

@Tirza Do it in your switch user profile settings

Not letting some games have cloud saves is utter BS. Nintendo is just being lazy. Sony and Microsoft already have this sorted out. I'm particularly furious about Animal Crossing, which is a game I want but I'm not sure I want to risk investing time on a savegame that I can still lose despite paying for Nintendo Switch Online which was SUPPOSED TO BE THE SOLUTION TO THIS VERY REAL PROBLEM.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2018/09/09/nintendos-explanation-for-limiting-switch-cloud-saves-is-baffling/

Seriously…. what is the chance anyone is going to need cloud saves? I've never used it on any platform and I sure am not going to throw coin at a monthly subscription because of it. If anything the super slim chance of a lost save file just adds spice to that true "Game Over" nobody in the last couple of generations has ever experienced. I could not care less about such a feature. Take a chance on life in gaming as well for !"#¤ sake. The moment there's a bigger chance you get run down at a pedestrian crossing than losing a save game, you really should be doing something else.

The only cool thing about an online subscription would have been playing retro games online... with random people in matchmaking…. but no. They !"#¤% that up as well. Have a friend list who happens to want to spend their valuable time on games from the last millenia or you're left with no opponent at all. It blows my mind how they could ruin this as well. But knowing Nintendo they will always find a way.

@JimbobLink

Nope.

I even followed the Nintendo instructions and I can't cancel it. I tried in the website too and I can't find this option. I can only change to Credit Card or Paypal, but not cancel.

Please NintendoLife, halp me!

It is impossible to turn off the automatic renewal.
I follow the steps in the eShop "Turning Off Automatic Renewal", but there isn't an option to that.

I can only change between "Credit Card", "Paypal" and "Available Funds".

I think that I will need to spend my funds so Nintendo Online won't renew automatic.

Man, this sucks, really.

Can I buy it from South African eshop (as they belong to Nintendo of Europe as well), profit from the currency exchange and afterwards switch back to Netherlands and still having valid Switch online subscription?

@Tirza you turn off the auto renew after you buy it, if you are wanting the free trail choose funds it wont charge you then you can turn off auto renew

My questions are, When will they update the NES emulator to allow button mapping? It really is a pain in the you-know-what to use X and A in some games. It just feels unnatural. My other Question is, Why in the world is the online play for the NES games limited to people on your friends list? I'm not going to pay another $60 or whatever for NES controllers. If I ever decided I no longer want to pay for the Subscription, they'd be useless. I wonder if they will do this again when or if they release Snes games. At the prices they want, you could get a classic or even the real thing if you look hard enough online. As far as the voice chat feature, I could just call my buddy up. Same thing right? (I know it isn't but still...) I rarely ever use a mic when I play any online games, TBH.

@JimbobLink
Hi man, thx.
Just bought the family pack, all are able to acces online.

How does this online check in work? I don’t play games online but am getting the service due to a few of us clubbing together so it’s a couple quid for the NES games. Does going on the eshop count as going online?

@Psmithuk99 yes to Mario- no to Fortnite.

No confirmation about other systems is deflating.

@darthstuey just play the NES games I believe, if you're connected to the Internet at any point over the course of a week it'll check that you have an active subscription.

not sure I understand how this resubbing works. My NSO membership expires 26/01/2022 yet if I want to upgrade to NSO expansion I need to pay 35€. Wasn't it supposed to be that if you have existing NSO membership you'll have to pay for expansion only months you have left until your membership expires?

Is the price 49.99 for both the expansion and the basic, or is it 49.99 + 19.99?

“Every game that has an upfront cost and contains online multiplayer will require Nintendo Switch Online to play the online multiplayer component. Here's the full list:“

This surely isn’t the full list? Where are Smash, Animal Crossing, SMM2 just to list 3 off top of my head?

What happens to my cloud saves if I drop my subscription and then get it again later? Will all my data be wiped?

@Jasspur If your Nintendo Switch Online membership expires, you won’t be able to access your Save Data Cloud backups. However, Nintendo will allow users who resubscribe within 180 days to access their previous Save Data Cloud backups.

https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/22521/p/897#s3q4

@CodyMKW Got you. Half a year, thanks. This is very important for people to know.