Nintendo Reveals More Details About its Paid Online Service

Ewww, first?

But seriously we already have online Dr. Mario. I can't believe how rushed this system was that they can't even piece together some online services.

$20/year is like an impulse buy. I mean I know people who complain about pokémon bank's $5/year but this gets you a lot more. So glad it's not $60/year like PS4/XBone

Not really interested in playing a "classic game" yet again. At this point I feel like I've been buying and playing these games for decades.

$20 per year. That's not even expensive. A fancy dinner can cost triple that amount of money.

20$ a year? Sold! Heck I'd have to pay triple that amount for my PS4

As long as the connection is good, that definitely sounds worth the price.

It's not as bad as it could be, but the fact that paying a subscription to play games online is still awful.

So in aussie dollars? Well it will be more than 20... it better be worth it because so far everything switch comes at a premium price and this just adds to it even if small. Cant believe i need an external app. Just How underpowered is my switch?

Allow me to pay for it with eShop funds and not have to set up a credit card and I'm sold.

I'd be more hype if the Nintendo Switch Wi-Fi signal wasn't weak as fxck, then I could actually ENJOY the services being provided. I can't get a good Wi-Fi signal with the Switch to save my life!🙄😩

Honestly this could'ave been worse.

Not troubled over the price. As far as classic games... Does that mean we have to wait that long for Virtual Console? And like somebody else said, why the worst version of Dr. Mario? I have Dr. Luigi and the new one on 3DS. Thats a bit silly. Mario 3 has been sold and sold and given away so much that it should have been preinstalled on the Switch! Lol! The classic games incentive is just silly to me... I'd be more excited for Mario All-Stars or NSMBWii. That'd be cool with the joycons.

I can already hear all the disgusting anti-fanboy trolls out there going on about how even $20 is too much. Whatever. Don't stuff your face once-twice in an entire year at a take out place and you're set. Such hardship! A supposedly solid network setup finally, a free game rental a month determined by them, and some tied in phone app goodness as well. Really doesn't seem very unreasonable to me at this point.

I never could justify that $50 for what PSN gave me, despite the free game as I just never had the time for them as it is. But $20? That's nothing.

This kind of confirms VC won't be arriving until sometime next year then.Not even a window in 2018 so it's still anywhere between 7 to 19 months off.The price is great,the delay is not!

@bolt05 It's nothing to do with power - the original Xbox could run online chat (including distance fadeout) while running it's most graphically intensive games on 512mb RAM. Nintendo has made some really weird choice to make the voice chat run through an app... I'm wondering if this is something that can be changed down the line with a firmware update.

I guess I'll pay for the first year and see how much I actually use it to decide whether it's worth continuing with it or not.

Nope. While better value than the competitors, the cost of a game should more than cover the price of servers.

I scoffed when rumors said it would be around $5 a month. But the fact they actually hit twenty bucks a year is pretty amazing. For all the maintenance the servers have to go through I'm more than happy to pay that and play the free online games month to month

@DanteSolablood I think it makes sense given the portable aspect of the console, I'd wager that almost every person who owns a switch owns a smart device. Still, a system side client would be appreciated.

As long as you don't need to use a credit/debit card on the eshop to pay for the online subscription, I'm in. Glad it's delayed to 2018 though as fall 2017 could've killed off the Splatoon 2 and ARMS communities, at least this gives about half a year free for both.

Well for those who never got a NES Classic Edition, at the very least Nintendo will give you 3 of them 30 for the giveaway. Maybe they'll give you all of them by the time the service actually does come.

That's cheaper than a meal for my family at McDonald's and all I get from that is stomach cramps.
I'll buy in.

@BinaryFragger I hope they're not referring to MyNintendo.

$20 is pretty cheap, the classic game giveaways do not sound as though they'll be games I'm interested in playing, though. Also, are they actually giveaways? I thought I read that we merely got to play one game a month?

@SwitchVogel Oh sure, I was more defending accusations of "underpowered" which is a Nintendoom holdover from pre-launch speculation that the Switch would just be a rehoused WiiU (which could handle voice chat anyway ).

I can definitely see why an app could make sense - but having seen the Hori Switch headset that tethers your phone to our Switch (so you can hear game sound through them, it's not an elegant solution.

Yeah, I was already going to do it, but for $20 I'm sold. I'll gladly support this effort.

Just hurry it up with your VC plans! Never cared about it but with Switch and its flexibility, I'm looking forward to playing some SNES and N64 (or maybe even some Wii titles?) classics on the system. I don't care for online personally but $20/20€ is quite cheap in comparison to Sony and MS.

Shoot, at $20 a year, I'd be fine paying even if I hardly ever used it. And they picked some real winners for the free games, too. I mean, SMB3 is a serious contender for Best Game of All Time. So do we keep them, then?

"Paid Online service will be start on 2018"
Me = Yay...!

"$20 for 1 year"
Me = Yippee...!!

Awesome news on price . No brainer . I am more concerned about getting some concrete details on virtual console .

$20 is great! I can buy one less 20 oz. soda a month and pay for it! (or stop drinking soda altogether......NAH!) Even if someone doesn't want to commit for a whole year but just long enough to play online while a game is hot, let's say the 3 month or 1 month options, the cost is almost negligible! Let's just hope it's the most stable online experience where they don't succumb to DDoS attacks at Christmas.

@TromboneGamer if you well maintained servers paying is the way to go and $20 is very reasonable compared to the other systems online services.

Sounds like the virtual console will be pushed back to 2018. Which makes me think it will not allow you to transfer purchases. Just an educated guess.

People complain about the phone app like this is new. I'm pretty sure Nintendo made it clear when they first announced the Switch that voice chat and setting up play times with friends would be through an app. I'm also pretty sure the main reasoning is because of their partnership with DeNa. I'm not justifying it, just saying we already knew about this in advance. $20 is very reasonable, just have to see how this is going to work.

this... isnt bad, $20 for a year on online service. quite smart if you ask me. since they are lowering it compare to Xbox Live/PS+.

$20 a YEAR? NICE! I'm thrilled they are keeping it affordable! You bet I will be on board, as long as the service is halfway decent. I don't play online very much, but at under $2 a month that's a no-brainer.

I wonder if "Classic Game Selection" **name not final** is whats going to replace "Virtual Console". Its great they are adding online play, (and I hope local wireless!) but it sounds more like a selection of games rather than a library like vc was. The multiplayer would be a huge improvement though

It's really worth it, $20 a year? That's nothing! I'll pay that to help Nintendo Online Services to be better. Plus you get a trial of a VC game each month. The bad news is this means VC will most likely be pushed back to 2018 as well...

Clearly coming off of the strong negative reaction to the ridiculously convuluted voice chat setup. Nintendo's decisions are just so odd sometimes. It feels quite clear what people want and yet time and time again, there is another goofy choice that doesn't fulfill the fan desires. No hassle voice chat should be easy to produce in 2017.

Phew, I am glad about the price, I was worried they would follow the pricing model of Sony & MSN.

I hope the delay is because Nintendo's listening to fan feedback and taking the time to put out a solid online system with built-in voice chat. Also, $20 is a great price.
I don't think that the delay necessarily means the Virtual Console will be delayed too. Nintendo could give us N64/GC/Wii titles this year and early next year, and just hold onto the NES/SNES titles until the service comes out. They don't even have to wait until then, in my opinion.

$20 a year is very reasonable, I feel a lot better about supporting Nintendo's paid online service.

They're calling the classic games thing the "Classic Games Selection" and are describing it as a compilation of classic games with added online play (doesn't specify multiplayer). Their Twitter mentions an "ongoing access to a library of classic games".

Looks like they've changed it from a monthly game rental that you can only play for a month to a Xbox Games Pass style service.

$20y is nice, I also like the option for $4m or $8 for 3m even if those prices far outpace the yearly cost ($48y or $32y), it's still nice if someone picks up a game once a year and feels like 1 month is enough to play it.

Also nice that they delayed t until 2018, gives the holiday Switch gift givers a chance to play online for free for a bit.

Also nice that they got this news out before E3 so they don't have to talk about it as much then.

Wow, that's 4 good things out of one announcement, will wonders never cease?

The price is much lower than I was expecting, but the delay makes absolutely no sense 😝

For those of you wondering, Nintendo's Classic Game Selection will be a Netflix-like service where you can keep your Classic Game Selection forever as long as you are subscribed, rather than a rotating library where the Classic Game Selection games are only accessible for a month before being replaced.

Via Kotaku:
"Nintendo confirmed that this monthly plan has indeed changed, telling Kotaku: Nintendo Switch Online subscribers will have ongoing access to a library of classic games with added online play. Users can play as many of the games as they want, as often as they like, as long as they have an active subscription."

Thank goodness for the change.

$20 a year is great compared to the competition. Just don't try to be too unique and ruin it.

This is all good news, as far as I'm concerned. Cheaper than I thought, and delayed until next year, meaning free for longer. I'll take it.

For that price I'll be signing up immediately.

@westman98 That sounds great,very happy with that.I do wish it was coming sooner though,unlike most who seem to be happy with the delay.

It was bad enough we had to wait for it to come till fall but now in typical Nintendo fashion, they have delayed yet another project. I really hope they take this time to really flesh out their online service similar to other gaming platforms of the sort but with that Nintendo flare. Hopefully they can at least roll out missing basic features in the not to distant future like friend messaging

So no VC game to download to keep forever on the Switch?

Nice price! Im in.

Great pricing. I'm gonna wait further to have an opinion about the voice chat issue (probably seeing it in action will give a better sense on how easy or convoluted it is).

As for the classic games library, I will wait for more info as well. Some seem to have settled in their opinion that this will only feature NES and SNES games. Sure, the press release only names a handful of NES games as examples. But ill wait for a hard reveal that might give a little more insight

For $20 a year that's a steal . No complaints here dropping 40 bucks for me and my little bro .

@westman98 Excellent

After done playing Arms for the first month or two I wasn't sure how much I was going to us the online play, given the price scaling it would be better to pay for a year so I have Online on retainer for if I want to do a few matches of Arms now a then or got another online game.

20 Bucks a year is a great price point overall, but the incentive, if the "Only available for X-time" rule still applies is just sad.
Its basically the 4th time they are trying to sell these VC titles. It wouldn't hurt them too much giving ne of them away per month for keeps.

But all in all, im pretty ok with it, and 20 bucks a year doesn't hurt my wallet at all. But i guess this also means that VC games in general will also be pushed back til next year, which is a bummer.

price is right, still confused about the NES and SNES games, will this replace VC outright or will it be select NES and SNES games with added online and leaderboards?

@Cartune Hmmm, no WIFI problems here.

@Einherjar It's changed from before, we now get to keep the games for as long as we stay subscribed.Nintendo have confirmed this to Kotaku.Another user mentioned it above.

Seems worth it to me so far for the price. Id like to see more games like arms and bomberman with free post game launch for new stuff then dlc stuff over and over for 5 10 bucks here and there.

$20 sounds good to me! Can't really complain.

$20 is a good price and great value for what it is, especially since PS/XB are both double that.
I'm more cautious about the free games, the three games announced so far I've bought multiple times down the years and still have easy access to.
The same could be said for most NES/SNES games too.
This same service with GameCube or even Wii(if that's possible on Switch) would get me way more excited
That being said $20 so I can keep playing Splatoon 2 is nothing really so Im ok with the news.

Oh wow. Right on.

Solid price (originally said $20-30) and glad to see they reconsidered the game distribution plan. Having access to the catalog as long as you're subbed is basically what everyone was asking for. And the extension of free online is appreciated.

My only concern is that they create a quality VC library by the time the generation is over. I don't wanna spend 2018-2020 with one new NES game per week. Even a library on par with Wii U VC would be satisfactory- it had a wide berth of platforms and pretty much offered all the top classics. Just toss in GC/Wii and I'll have literally zero complaints.

@hikingguy I just wanted to say that your picture is my favorite thing I've seen all day. Saturn/Wii U master race amiright?

Huh, I'm probably one of the very few who really enjoys Balloon Fight and has never played SMB3, so those games will be a nice bonus. Never really got into Dr. Mario, but I can't complain about another puzzle game!

And yeah, $20 a year is an excellent price. Hopefully it will be enough for Nintendo to bring some long needed features to the service.

Speaking of which, hopefully the delay is because of the feedback Nintendo has seen from Switch owners and they've decided to make some changes. Probably not, but would be nice.

I was always wary about having to pay to play Switch games online, but $20 a year is a screaming deal. I also do appreciate the delayed start of the paid subscription, means free online longer.

I haven't played too much MK8D online, since most of my video game time is consumed with BOTW, but from what I have played I've noticed much less lag when compared to MK8 on Wii U.

Still though, $20. Very nice price for a yearly subscription.

That's actually not bad. Not so excited on how the VC rental ordeal

@mystman12 Well, they've listened to some things. Back in January when they first announced the service, the free NES/SNES games would only be available to you for a month. They've changed that now; you can now keep the games as long as your subscribed to the service. So they are indeed listening to feedback.

@Donutsavant I think that might be the first time I've ever read the words "Saturn Master Race" haha.I owned one as well.

@Einherjar
"4th time selling these games"

4th? Nintendo will still be selling those games when you and I are in retirement lol. I wouldn't even bother counting- those classic games will be the backbone of their classic catalog for generations to come. Our grandkids will see those same games on the Nintendo console of their day.

And that's fine- I only need to buy them once, and that one copy isn't going to go anywhere or expire. I just choose to buy them more than once for convenience sake of having on the latest system. I've got a real reason to buy them all again this time though- I want them on the first HD handheld to play anywhere. After this though? Think I'm good. Unless they release them in VR or AR or something. Oh who am I kidding, I'll probably rebuy all the top classics every new generation, but only the very best. My complete and thorough collection will stay on Switch indefinitely. I said the same about Wii U but... no portability warrants a new investment I think

I do not pay a single penny to play games online ever because it's a waste of money. If I have already bought a game, I've spent all I'm going to spend to play it. It really bothers me that so many people are willing to waste money on something so useless. You might as well set your money on fire. Either way it's gone and you have nothing to show for it.

Very pleased with the price of the service. But now I'm worried that VC has been replaced by the Classic Games Selection (that better not be the case not necessarily for my own sake but for the sake of the internet).

One striking detail to note is the use of the words "classic titles." On Nintendo's page it shows some NES titles but what if "classic titles" extended to stuff like SNES and N64 (heck, maybe even GameCube... although that one isn't necessarily considered "classic") games?! Now that would be very awesome, but I'm not holding my breath.

It's pretty cheap, overall. I do wish a VC service would be announced soon, though. Despite all the Switch games that I have, I do want loads more . . .

You can argue that $20 isn't that much in general.

But my question is, what are you are actually paying for?

All multiplayer games released so far and to be released seem to still be peer to peer (as I don't see how MHXX could have dedicated servers for the Switch but still be peer to peer for the 3DS and have inter-connectivity online).

Voice chat with strangers flat out disabled in some Nintendo games.

To voice chat at all you need a wonky device that connects to your smartphone and your Switch at the same time.

None of these fabled improvements to online that were supposed to happen because you're paying for the online now have happened.

Are you saying having to pay to play online is justified, just because Microsoft and Sony are doing it? It's still free on Steam, and usually, the online for games on PC is superior to consoles.

Free to play online can be an amazing selling point if Nintendo can get the same online 3rd party games on the Switch that are on the PS4 and Xbone.

Now to make up for poorer graphics, the Switch version has both portability and free online.

They can still charge $20 for the monthly VC game, but the online multiplayer itself be free.

I like that the classic games will now feature online. Iirc when they first announced it, you'd have access to one classic game a month, then it'd be gone. Now it's an ongoing compilation. This, I can get into.

@CheezIt umm that's the price of experience..... ever pay to go on a carriage ride? A boat tour? You don't necessarily get any "thing" to show for it .... u pay for the experience: similar to online play. You don't have anything to show for it other than the experience of it. If u don't want the experience, then don't pay for it and don't say other people are "burning" their money: it's their choice.

@JaxonH
If Switch has Gamecube VC, wanna see Harvest Moon Magical Melody in the future.

Online used to be, and is still currently free.

But sure everyone just go ahead and be cool with now paying $20 a year, just so you can get 30% off buying Super Mario Bros 3 for the 9th time where us non payers will only get 20% off.

Given how bad the Switch's wifi reception is, I don't think I'll be able to take full advantage of this system. Especially for it's "Always Online" approach to it's classic library.

@JaxonH It's been confirmed by Nintendo that it will be a Netflix style renting system.So we may never need to rebuy the same games ever again as long as we stay subscribed.Well at least NES/SNES ones anyway.Maybe by the next gen,64 and Gamecube will be added to the service.So the days of 3 or 4 purchases of the same game may be behind us.

@OorWullie
True... but I insist on ownership. I just like knowing I have the game forever. Hopefully they'll offer said games at a slight discount for members. Instead of $5 make it $2.99 or something.

It's why I never download PS+ games. Because as soon as you do the store remove the option for you to purchase it. Which is completely backwards because a lot of those games I wanted to go purchase so I permanently owned them and couldn't do it lol!

This is great news. I dreaded another monthly fee coming out of my account, but 1.67USD seems doable.

I love the console, but if I can't own the classic games I can't continue to own a Switch.

1. It makes me feel like game progression is pointless.
2. This is a mobile device, so if I leave the router I will have no access to the server these games are on. Similarly, I use cheap phone service, and have no need for a fee like 4g if they would integrate that.
3. Streaming is detrimental to game quality; sometimes even unplayable due to connections.

Please listen to the customers Nintendo. You're the last different option out there in the console world.

@VR32F1END It did say "Online Features" so I'd imagine Leaderboards will be a large part of the games with no real Vs multiplayer or one worth making online. Provided hackers don't ruin the boards, think of the new fun to be had with Super Mario Bros if you were competing to beat your friends' best times?

@JaxonH As it stands, it sound like they plan to handle it all on a server, which would mean no virtual console at all. I think we need to express are dislikes toward this as much as possible before they make a really bad decision like "Playstation Now."

$20 is a great price. Also happy to know that Super Mario Bros. 3 is one of the games... it's one of my all-time favorites!

@OorWullie Ah cool, thanks for the headsup !
So its the basic PSN model then. I can live with that ^^
Not the greatest incentive, but for 20 bucks a year, this surely adds up quickly !

$20/year is peanuts. Still, I wish we got to keep the games: I'd love to have SMB3 on my Switch permanently.

EDIT: Just discovered that Nintendo will apparently be allowing continuous access to games available on NSO. Fantastic. This is even better than VC if they regularly support it with different games.

My best guesstimate was $25... this beats it.

I hope their online service is good enough, because Wii U had some problems and it lacked voice chat. This feels similar to the classic Xbox Live on X360 + a mobile app.

Is not bad but I still need to know about how the app works, about web browsing and apps, about virtual console, cloud saves and if I have to buy one game multiples times if I have two Switch in the house.

I'm hoping we still a chance to by VC games outright on the eShop (independent of subscription)

wow!! this is seriously a good deal! (^_^ )/
Like, I'm actually pretty excited.

Before I get this though, I'll need to convince my friends to either get into Splatoon with me, or find a good multiplayer game to lose myself in (an online Pokemon game or Monster Hunter may convince me).
Hopefully we see a lot of online games because this is much better than PS Plus (I think XBGold is better than PS Plus, even though it is more expensive, you get 360 games to keep even after your account expires).

Be interesting to see how this does. While most are pleased with how its priced, there are still some questions like will this be as profitable or more then the older Virtual Consoles, will there be an option to buy Classic games without a membership (And if the games are tied online, is there an option to pay a discount fee to have a game download on the console for offline keeps? And would our previous purchases on Wii U/3DS tied into this somehow too?), will the exclusive discounts on eShop titles be any better then the MyNintendo offerings, will 3rd party consoles like the Turbografx and Mega Drive/Genesis have to do their own thing like the Neo Geo games will Nintendo have some kind of arrangement for those (And for that matter, WHAT about 3rd Party NES/SNES games?), what are the plans going forward for N64 onwards, will the Gameboy to GBA line be considered, and of course the one thing that always annoys me, will there be a 300 downloads at a time limit (Should I ever have a large enough MicroSD Card. XD)?

All these answers and more.....probably not at E3 but 6 months from now I guess.....

Impressed with the price, even in Canada that'll be pretty cheap. Also like the flexibility for the shorter terms. The delay extending the free period is fine too. What's the rush to spend money?

@Einherjar Apparently, they've changed their stance on that.

According to @westman98 in regards to this article:
http://kotaku.com/nintendo-details-switch-online-service-will-be-20-yea-1795743981

Nintendo has decided to opt for an always available library of VC games to play as long as you keep renewing your subscription. Will have online for some of these games.

Now if only they could make voice chat less funky or implement a web browser so we can use Discord.

@SwitchVogel You might want to mention this in the article.

@JaxonH

Same here. PS+ is a great service, but it's not for me. I'd rather pay a a bit extra for a game to know that it's mine-all-mine forever, and I don't need a service holding it hostage to keep me. My backlog is so huge that it is often years before I ever get to a game that I require (I just started Scribblenauts Unlimited on the Wii U the other day; I got that game in 2014). Knowing that the game will definitely be playable when I'm read for it is extremely important.

Besides, with every other console that doesn't belong to Nintendo, games go on sale pretty fast anyway. I'd never buy a PlayStation game within the first few months.

As I've said before as long as the option to buy a select classic will be made available. Don't wanna rent or have games disappear off the eshop after a month not knowing when they would return back! Just add to the library and grow it weekly?? And why the heck should virtual console be delayed because the online service is??? Can't they just get started and add the online options later?? 2018 is ways off! Better be worth the wait. And bring back systems like Genesis, master system, T16, C64, VIRTUAL CONSOLE ARCADE and we expect to see GAMECUBE and adding DREAMCAST AND SATURN would be nice!! How bout ATARI 2600/5200/7800/Jaguar/ARCADE?? Need to really have it be a robust service with tons of games!! Soooo much can be done with this service!! Hope we hear more about vc at E3!!

I'm not going to gripe about the fact that it costs because thats like fussing about death. No I don't want it, but it's gonna happen. The question as I see it is
1. What do I get for the money? SO far, playing online, which I do infrequently when it's free. ANd access to games. This is where I'm interested, the potential to make me not even think about paying is to give me access to games, and Dr MARio and ballon fight ain't doing it. Give me indies, or GameS like advance wars and river city ransom.

2. Is the price prohibitive? They have done better here. Less than $2 a month I am less than what I spend on gum a month! They have a decent pricing but scheme, I just really want to have some better games listed.

@CheezIt have you ever built your own network of expensive servers to host thousands of simultaneous gamers? Probably not. It is expensive. Very expensive. These kind of things have ongoing costs that you may never think about.

$20 is a great price, and pushing it back too next year lets the splatoon 2 community build up over the Christmas holidays. great moves all-round

@Jessica286 I can answer the last one. You can log in with the same Nintendo Account on a second Switch and download your games, however you cannot have the account activated on more than one system at a time. You'll have to deactivate the account on one of them, which you can do in the eShop.

How...... Could it be.....NINTENDO ACTUALLY LISTENED?! Not only $20 a year, but FREE classic games (with the subscription, of course)! All they have to do is fix that dumb headset and release MORE games (like SNES, N64, and Cube) and we're all good!

Edit: Now that I think of it, will the classic games have to be played with wi-fi or do you just need the subscription to play them? I would be pretty annoyed if I couldn't take them on the go.

@Noonch Rushed, lol; the Switch couldn't get here soon enough.

Besides, weren't you tired of seeing Nintendo get beat over there head with the failures of the Wiiu, knowing that the company deserved better? And, you know, things could've been worse, at least we know that the online service is coming.

Not a bad idea, gives early adopters more free online time before it's taken away. $20/year is sort of, kind of reasonable, and barring that $4 for the odd month is not too terrible. Still, it would feel weird to have to pay to play Monster Hunter or Mario Kart online, though...

That said, as someone who is used to not needing to pay any subscription fee to play online for a wide variety of PC games, (except for MMO's, which actually do have more rigorous always on infrastructural workloads), this antiquated console model of needing to pay just to have access to online multiplayer for less intensive ad-hoc workloads seems quaint. Especially since the service for the NS won't offer anything remotely approaching what a PC can do. So when I do eventually get an NS, I may just keep it offline and only do single & local multi...

And to those claiming this money is used to pay for servers... There are many ways to do that without placing the entire burden on the customer base. This basically just lines their coffers, it doesn't necessarily all go towards maintaining servers... You're not getting anything more than what is standard elsewhere.

@BinaryFragger It's the Nintendo fan effect. If someone else does it, it's wrong. Especially in the past before Nintendo implemented these policies. If Nintendo does it, it's okay. Then some even call others trolls for reminding ourselves of memory lane. Human psychology is a mysterious thing... I'm always amused by the comparisons people concoct to create a dopamine reaction to paying more money, rather than less.

From IGN:
The free version of the app is still on track for Summer 2017. Nintendo also said subscribers would have access to special eShop deals including discounts on select digital games and content.

@IceClimbers Thanks! so if I deactivated my account in Switch 1 and activate it on Switch 2 go to eshop and download the games and the activate the account back on Switch 1; will the downloaded games on Switch 2 still work?

@Chanchozoka WiiU had voice chat, I used it regularly and aside from less players on third party online games the server's were as good as the other systems. And that was with three wiiUs running on the same WiFi. If you had any issues with your wiiU online it doesn't sound like the issue was on the wiiU end.

@Senpai_Bruh Mabey the extra time needed to implement the service is so that they can find a way of determining if you are subscribed when not connected to WiFi so you can play the classic games when you have no connection.

You can't spell Virtual CoNSOle without N-S-O!

That price sounds fine. If the app is nearly ready it sounds like Virtual Console is holding back the service, which is a big misstep. A service that should have been available at launch not appearing until a year into the device's lifecycle does not sound good.

Well $20 is a very good price, and Nintendo's online population will be a fraction of MS or Sony, so upkeep should be easy. The ball is in Nintendo's court to prove that they can maintain and manage servers, connections, the inevitable Christmas DDOS/switch purchase attack, etc

@foodmetaphors if you're paying 60 a year for PSN or XB Live, you're doing it wrong.

As a there is a general consensus that all other Switch add ons are overpriced, it's good to hear this is relitavely cheap.

Have Nintendo got a really exciting E3 planned if they are giving us info like this now?

I don't really play much online so I was in 2 minds over signing up for the online service but to be fair that's a really good price so hardly the end of the world.

I'm more interested in the vc side of things and would like more info on the games we'll get to play for our subscription after the initial 3 games mentioned.

Also as I'm in the UK does $20 mean we'll have to pay £20?? Wouldn't be the first time we've been shafted like that so wouldn't be too surprised

"The mobile app will be launching alongside the service"

That's the real headline. Nintendo STILL aren't ready. They are so far behind the competition it's unreal. Won't be launching fully for a whole year? Unbelievable! And what about Virtual Console? The Switch is missing so much. Features that should have been there at launch are nowhere to be seen. Not just that but they're making the online and voicechat needlessly complicated.

On a positive note, the price is alright I guess. I don't agree with paying for online though, especially when it's shoddy.

Less than a third what I'm paying for Playstation online, perfectly happy with this.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE
No, the real headline is that Nintendo's service is 66% cheaper than the competition.

If you want to focus on the negatives that's cool (and standard practice it seems) for you.

But let's not pretend that your perspective is what the majority will, and already have, taken from this info.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE
Be patient !
Virtual Consoles are being prepared.
And what's next ?
Complaining again after VC has been released because of "This", because of "That" & Blah Blah Blah ?
And what's next again ?
Switch is doomed ??
Your Wii U is unable to get Better Next Nintendo games. It will supported for Switch !
Your comments itself shows how complicated to Love Nintendo Switch !

This is to expensive!!

Just kidding, that's a great price. Hopefully this will help improve Nintendo's online offerings and network servers.

@Doc_Brown Not criticising you/calling you out specifically, but it's interesting that so many gamers share your outlook (although i'm aware many also don't). Is there no such thing as a timeless video game? People have been playing the same card games/board games for decades and nobody really seems to complain when a new version of Monopoly comes out. People haven't stopped playing Solitaire just because it's old.

I realise it's a false equivalency in some ways to compare computer games and card games, but it's still interesting to think about why these things are viewed differently.

For me, it all depends on how many classic games are made available once this thing really gets into gear. If it's always going to be three rotating games (one gold, one silver, one bronze/garbage), then I'll pass. If, on the other hand, it becomes a Netflix-like library of dozens of games, then I'm in.

@rjejr There is nothing good about this delay.

The only reason they delay it to somewhere 2018, is because they rushed the Switch to market and can't get all the online features (mobile app) and Virtual Console ready in time. Hence, the delay.

They can't launch the Online service and then tell everyone they have to wait a year before they start getting the benefits they pay for.

Yay more free games that I already own 😅

So I'm guessing there will be a killer app coming alongside this? Smash DX maybe?

Very low price, eShop deals, and unlimited access to a selection of games. I'm down with that. I don't use voice chat so that part doesn't interest me, but it's worth it for the rest.

@Dr_Corndog no during e3 last year they said it would be free during that month but after that month you will be locked out of the game unless you buy it but you get a discount during that month, but they might change that down the line but its hard to say.

Reasonable price, it'd be nice if xbox and playstation followed this model. Especially as they both have seperate paid services for "free" games.

I think people need to realise what yoir generally paying for with these services, and thats a seperate voice chat. Ps3, steam, wii, they're all free to play to online because they dont offer you that. On PC if you want that at good quality you gotta pay for something like teamspeak.

Your paying for the convenience of being able to add a friend to a party and then be chatting to them no matter what your playing.

2018?! Ugh...

@TromboneGamer Not at all! I am happy to pay only $19.99 a year to support the services that I use - funding allows a much higher quality of service - Plus - I'm, pretty sure the eShop deals that Nintendo will give us will easily cover the $19.99

I'll probably only get the online thing for Splatoon 2 or if they release a main series Pokémon game for the Switch.
Controversial opinion though: I really don't care about these 'classics'. I appreciate that there are those who do but personally these aren't the games I grew up with (being born in 1993, I really only got into gaming in the late nineties and even then it was mostly Pokémon and those terrible movie tie-ins that children like) so I'm not sure why Nintendo is so obsessed with offering them as rewards for things. It was the same with the 3DS ambassadors prize. As much as we might venerate these games the fact is that there's a huge portion of gamers who have no fond memories or rose-tinted glasses about them, to whom they're nothing more than blocky, ugly, and out-of-date. I'd be much more interested if Nintendo were to offer old games in the form of Gameboy Advance, Gamecube, Wii, and DS games as rewards for purchasing an online membership or, better yet, discounts on brand new games!

I pay more than that for lunch every week... This is way too good a deal. I'm sold - even if it is trash like everyone thinks/expects it to be - you're still paying 1/3 of what you're paying for PS4 and Xbone online services. Yeah, there might not be those monthly games coming, but when you think about it, there's already plenty to keep you busy anyway. And the fact that its launching next year gives people plenty of time to start saving now so they'll have nothing to whine about when the time comes.

Splatoon 2 & Arms online free for the first couple of months? Who can say no to that?

It's so cheap but what am I getting.
I really hope it doesn't fall into mynintendo rewards type program online service where it will feel like a joke

Would like to officially know what the UK price will be. £17 would be absolutely incredible. But more than likely will be £20. Either way its cheap, and having a netflix style virtual console makes it a no brainer for me.

I want to know what features the app will have. I am a little sceptical about having to have TWO subscriptions for all the features, but the app to me sounds more than purely teamspeak.

I can live with that. I don't like paying for online services since I don't play online very often but this sounds very reasonable.

@cfgk24 You see, I'm not at all convinced that subscriptions lead to higher quality service. The discounts might make up for it especially if you make enough purchases, but in the end, a feature that was provided at no extra cost is now locked behind a paywall. There's no indication, to my knowledge, that companies are burdened financially enough to ask for more money to provide "quality service."

@Hikingguy I've only played the first two, but j will play Panzer Dragoon Saga some day. It's on my bucket list. NiGHTs is my most favorite game ever, I want it on my Nintendo console... some day.
I have a huge essay I've been writing breaking down the similarities between the two, I just have to find a way to get it to the audience that would care. They are my two favorite that mean a lot to me personally. We are probably the only two people in the world who think that. BROTHERS!!!

Cheap...I spend more than that on a round of drinks on a Friday lunchtime. If they throw in a library of old school Nintendo classics, that's a bonus too.

$20 per year for online is not a bad deal considering what Sony/MS charge.

Will just leave this here"

“Nintendo Switch Online subscribers will have ongoing access to a library of classic games with added online play. Users can play as many of the games as they want, as often as they like, as long as they have an active subscription.”

Pay for the console, pay for the game, pay for your internet access, pay again to use part of the game you already paid for, pay for a needless mobile app.

hope they take the extra time to make something that works & is easy to use

@RainbowGazelle
Exactly
Nintendo should be paying me money to play their consoles and games, not the other way around.

Launching in 2018.
Just like their Virtual Console service for Switch.

Ba dum bum.

@Cartune I have exactly the same issue at home. I use my mobile plan to hotspot for mario kart now.
Its annoying as my switch is technically closer to my router than my other consoles , and yet it is the only one that doesnt get a good enough signal.

On topic, im okay with that price for online, id prefer they give us virtual console at e3 then give us those games.
Also , can we please have rocket league ?

@cfgk24 You're passion and belief in the company is admirable, but my argument still stands. At this point I have not seen proof compelling enough that a subscription has a meaningful impact on the online service that couldn't have been provided without it. Until someone comes forward with meaningful statistics and reasoning to justify this business practice to consumers I'm not convinced.

@crackafreeze double crossed.
But seriously everyone's happy because it's cheap but everyone was saying the same thing with Nintendos loyalty program 'mynintendo' it free but meh

@DarkKirby I could not have said it better.

Honestly, this deal is not worth it. We became accustomed to free online from Nintendo which was why many of us put up with the substandard online system. Now Nintendo is asking us to pay $20 a year knowing full well that Sony and Microsoft have a superior online service and no signs of improvements from last generation.

Even as a prospective Switch buyer, why should I spend $20 a year that can go towards more important things (or entertainment that I will get more mileage of) when there is no noticeable improvement from the free offerings we got from Nintendo (and the much superior offerings from PC gaming)? How can fans praise Nintendo for charging money for no improvements? It is simply the result of brand loyalty, which leads to unwise investments and encourages bad business practices like this to continue.

As for the classic gaming catalog, even if it is an improvement over the one game a month subscription, nothing about it makes it worth diving in $20 a year just for that. Nintendo's Wii U Virtual Console was underwhelming because it missed out on so many games that the Wii Virtual Console had and chances are the Switch Virtual Console (or the classic giveaway system) may even be more disappointing because we have no indication that this won't simply be the nth release of pretty much all of their games (I will give the Wii U credit on this in that it has GBA and DS games albeit without local multi-player). Nintendo should really take into account people who actively supported the Virtual Console service and actually start providing new re-releases. If we were to see stuff like GameCube, Saturn, Dreamcast and lots of games not already out, I would reconsider. Right now, I am highly doubtful on this.

Nintendo is throwing away their sole trump card with online. This may kill the online scene once Switch buyers not blinded by loyalty find that Nintendo has done nothing to justify the introduction of price hikes.

Seems cheap to me and that good newd in my opinion as I can spate twenty euro a year for online

@Doc_Brown Exactly! What about the games we already bought on Wii, 3DS and Wii-U? Do I have to pay once more or what about just downloading all MY games again on my shiny new Switch System without paying a 100th time?!

@JaxonH Microsoft's approach for the free games is way better than Sony's and I mean both 360 and XB1. Of course the situation for 360 is best for the consumer (download for free and keep for free whatever happens to XBL subscription) but even the XB1 situation is rather good. You can buy a digital copy at any time, for example Tomb Raider Definitive Edition was free via Games With Gold so I downloaded the free digital copy but later on it went on sale for very cheap and so I bought the digital copy so whatever happened to XBL subscription I would have access to it.

Even cheaper than the rumours had it? Considering the subscription collection and the discounts, sounds like a damn bargain even though cloud save storage is nowhere to be seen yet. Which I do continue to hope for even after accounting for Switch's up-to-25 Gb of local save storage.

That said, I'd also like to hope that VC itself will come to Switch much earlier. Some people might hold their wallets on a leash with NES/SNES library (as PS Plus and digital indie titles indicate in sad irony), but hey - other platforms, anyone? Maybe even including the adamantly rumoured Gamecube? Or even Wii if we dream big?

Hoping that translates to £15.99 and keeping the classic games for the duration of your subscription!

Day 1 and beyond.will be doing the 20 a year

@Noonch We already have Dr. Mario online on Switch? And where can i download that sir?

Awesome news. Nicely done, Nintendo! Was very put off by the whole 'one game per month' thing, but this makes a huge difference. Pleasantly surprised.

"download a compilation of classic titles with added online play"

Why do I get a feeling that this going to be the 30 NES Classic games, In a way trying to appease those who didn't get one but are wanting or already own a Switch.

So it's £15 here then I would assume?... Tis nothing I spent that on condoms last year and that got me nowhere!!! Lol

@Niinbendo
Ya, they're branded as Surge Gripkit in the US and Stealth in Europe. Those are the ones

@NintyNate I posted this in the Nintendo Switch forum.

Nintendo Switch Online

https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Nintendo-Switch/Nintendo-Switch-Online/Nintendo-Switch-Online-1183143.html

Pricing is a straight conversion of $ to €. I don't know if it will show the £ price for you.

Mostly I just hope hope they use some of the $20 to sort out the terrible multiplayer support. I have more issues in a single sitting of Mario Kart than I have had in a year of playing Overwatch on PS4. If they roll out dedicated servers for $20 a year then I will feel I received great value. The voice solution sucks but online voice chat is mostly a racist swear feast. I want to let my kids have fun online without exposure to that so I can at least understand why it is difficult to balance. I really don't care about access to 20 year games though. I got two NES classics as stocking fillers for the kids at Christmas and they have not even been opened.

I also want to hear how this will work with kids accounts. At the moment both my kids have accounts set up under my main account. I hope these will be included in the single subscription.

Give me Super Mario Kart with online play and they can take my money!!!

@GVIL
They've done it before, and they can certainly do it again!

@SCAssassin Glad someone on here actually bothers to read the details

even if that converted to £20 a year that's less than £2 a month! great value with some old games thrown in. Though its a bit dull there starting with the same OLD nes games AGAIN! still if that's part of the package that's pretty cool

$20 a year is very reasonable. I do wonder if you always have to be online in order to keep playing the classic games...

Yeah, I saw this message after taking a break from Disgaea 5 yesterday. 2018.... sigh, man that's a while now. I hope it's worth it. $20 sounds fine though.

@TromboneGamer Sorry - your initial post said that paid subscriptions were "awful" - you didn't say why initially.
But here's a couple if point..
1.Will servers for older games be pulled down if they are serviced by a subscription fee?
2. Do servers cost money to run?
3. If an online/multiplayer game can attract more revenue - as developers - would you aim to improve the online experience through development as you know ( and this will be able to be statistically proven) - Would you aim to create a multiplayer game over a single player offline experience?
4. Sony and Microsoft have proven that Subscription is acceptable and charge more than Nintendo.

I am confident we will all be happy with the online service -I'm looking forward to it immensely!

I'm fine with their offerings for $20/year, seems really reasonable.

But as usual, another announcement that generates more questions than answers for us

Nope still not gonna pay for it.

@xxAcesHighxx will probably be £17.99

Funny how the argument of free online is now suddenly less valid because Nintendo decided to jump on the pay train as well.

I won't buy any console that wants me to pay for online. If that leads me to a apoint where i can no longer buy a new console so be it. The PC is still a great gaming platform.

@JKRiki Just checked your website, it's very nice man, I'll be sure to visit again

Not too worried about the price, as I feel that's fair, but I'll personally need to know more about this "classic" gaming scheme. It sounds terrible if those are the games they're leading with, but it's hard to say at this point.

I won't be buying it for online play (not a fan of it, even when it does work) but $4/month is fine if they get this classic game thing going full speed.

@Jeronan "There is nothing good about this delay."

So, are you saying it would be better if they didn't delay it and started charging people for a broken online experience? I'll agree w/ you that it's bad if Ntinedo can't get online to work, and we've all known since the beginning needing a smart device for voice chat is just plain indefensible stupid, but we already knew that Nintnedo is incompetent and does stupid stuff. This announcement is good b/c they are being up front about it.

And besides, you, and I believe several others, are reading this wrong. Online does work on the Switch. MK8D IS online. ARMS and Splatoon 2 WILL BE online. Their online works. All they are doing is delaying the "PAID" part. That's how I'm reading it anyway. They said the voice chat app will be coming this summer.

And why did everyone in this thread jump to the conclusion that VC will be delayed? I couldn't reply to every single person, all 200 comments, asking them why they thought VC would be delayed bc/ of this, but I dont' see it being related. The paid rental NES games and online is delayed, but they can start selling VC games tomorrow if they want.

I think I read this announcement very differently than you did.

Wow, if they're spilling the beans on this stuff before E3 just 2 weeks in advance, they must have something impressive lined up for E3! That's some confidence!

$20 is great, and I'm honestly amazed it's a straight conversion from Yen. I paid $40+ a year to Sony for years and barely used it. If I pay that to Nintendo for the life of the Switch I'll still have paid less than I have to Sony. And I hardly used Sony's.

Also nice to see there's a VC library. If it's just NES that will be a little awkward, so I hope it expands, but it makes me all the more curious how they're going to expand sales of VC outside of subscription.

Also I'm amazed they're delaying it. They're pushing out nearly ALL their major online games in the first half of 2017, and will be running it free for a good chunk of its premium life. Japan must be having a national holiday today after hearing "Free Splatoon for over 5 months!"

I do worry this means save backups will also be delayed to 2018 though. That part is a bit more troubling. Hopefully they'll announce a firmware update at E3 that allows local backups, like the big OS update during WiiU's first E3.

Overall the paid online is a lot less annoying than it used to be. $20/yr for online I'll actually use versus $60 a year for online I rarely ever do. And an NES library as a (still weird) bonus. Throw in SNES and it's like a kid in a candy store.

$20 for the year is actually less than I thought it would be as I anticipated about $30. That said, it's cheaper than the other for a reason because it offers a lot less than what the other paid services offer. Starting with that horrible chat device thing for the phone app... and I would have loved to see cloud game save services ala PSN and Xbox Live, especially due to Nintendo's ridiculously strict regulations with our save data.

@Folkloner I have it on WiiU and on 3DS.

@Cartune look at your WiFi set up.

A quick search says that's AU $26.91 a year. We already have 3 Switches in my house, and by X-mas will have 4. We can afford that.

And what about cloud saves? They’re far more important than multiplayer at the moment, since most current Switch titles don’t support online multiplayer... Actually, is there even more than one online multiplayer game for the Switch right now?

No complaints abou the price, but not very happy that we'll have to wait till 2018 for the VC to finally come

@MattFox Hey thanks! I hope it's useful. I keep at it even though it's not wildly popular. Whoever I can help with the mental musings, I'm all for it.

Right after the questionable reception of the Nintendo headset, Nintendo just so happens to delay the paid online service to an unspecified number of months. Coincidence?

Still very "eh" about the idea paying annually for the "privilege" of being allowed to use the basic features of a system I already own for games I already own, through the internet I already pay for.

Will at least say I'm glad the window for the non-subscription service has been extended. Sounds like I might get good mileage out of Splatoon 2's multiplayer later this year, regardless of whether or not I bite on their subscription in the following year. So that's something.

I'm not that hyped for paying for online if I'm honest, even at that price. Getting free games is totally cool but for online services... Not worth it for me, I'm afraid. I need money for Switch games. :x

Umm, they really need to support bluetooth headsets and do the voice chat in the game, on the console, and NOT with a smartphone app, at that point I could just CALL my friends on my phone...

@IceClimbers

@Yorumi Quite a few games on Xbox/PlayStation are P2P.

Destiny 2 being a big upcoming example.

Maybe. I can see playing Arms and Splatoon 2 online and it being worth the $20 a year, but a year from now I'll be tired of those games. Depends on what games I'm into at the time. $20 isn't a bad deal though.

Famitsu has confirmed that the Classic Game Selection and Virtual Console will be separate/different services.

Wait, does the mobile app need a seperate subscription to the $20 one?

Man....Things aren't looking good for Virtual Console. After the drip-feed of content that was made available, bit by bit, for the Wii, then the 3DS, then WiiU, I have no faith in Nintendo to make this work well.
Add to that the lengthy wait times (and flatline death) of the 3D classics series and N3DS' SNES VC, and things like 'online features' for classic games start to feel more like speed bumps and more wait time.
Seems to me like Nintendo's VC games are going to come out EVEN SLOWER than ever before.

I mean, $20 isn't very much money, but the online service itself isn't exactly looking great either. Asking your audience to make a lot of compromises just to put together online play sessions is kinda crappy.

@cfgk24 Developers don't have too much trouble providing servers for PC games and PSN was fine last generation. Sure the network was hacked and info was leaked, but that had nothing to do with the money they were making. The Subscription fee is just something that Microsoft introduced and through marketing convinced casual players that they were getting the best online multiplayer. Therefore, the online community on Xbox was/is typically more active and creates the perception of better service. There's no real proof that the extra revenue is providing something they couldn't before.

Am I the only one that wishes the service fee cost more so that the service would FOR SURE be reliable and great?

@tanookisuit

Easy for you to say.

How about the children using this thing?

Nintendo Network was free and 80% of the time, it worked great.

That 20% percent of unreliability is 'NOTHING', unlike like your $20.

So what's more important here, actual currency, or online games? You tell me.

This is absolute bullsh!t!

BOO!

tomatoes

@Yorumi is the only other smart one here!

BOO!

@Dang69 Probably not, but you're unfortunately convinced that a subscription would make the online more reliable.

I'd rather pay PS plus prices and get more thrown in tbh. PS plus is worth it for the games, so it feels like online is free. Access to a handful of nes games isn't worth 20 bucks.

So probably £20 in the UK then?

$20 bucks a year is less than $2 a month. Are people really that petty? If u don't want it just shut your mouth and don't pay for it. Not trying to be rude or anything, but seriously .... $20!!!!! for a full year!

Sweet. $20 is nothing. To all who are complaining, y'all are super cheap.

@Folderoll
Then don't pay for it. See how that works?

@ProjectCafe
Then don't pay for it. It's that simple..

BOO

@The_Gerudo_King

I probably won't, I don't play online.

Hilarious btw, isn't the point of this to discuss it?

@Yorumi
The thing is, if you don't want to pay for it then don't. Nothing you stated is going to change anything so it doesn't really matter and you just come off as whiny.

@Folderoll
Of course not. Don't you know how the internet works? No one wants to hear someone else's opinion on something.

@Ogre
Oh no, whatever shall I do? I have to wait to play video games? That's outrageous. I know in some places people go without food but there's no way I'm gonna wait to play video games. How dare Nintendo do this to me.

@BradC40
Then just do a monthly subscription.

@Yorumi
Aren't you enlightened. Please teach us all how to be condescending like you and tell us how to spend our money.

@Yorumi
Then consider your point proven and move on. My spending habits don't effect you in the slightest.

@Yorumi
Might wanna take that tin foil hat off. Could help with the paranoia.

@Yorumi
It's funny that you keep accusing me of being the reason that paid online is a thing. I don't own a PlayStation or Xbox so I don't pay for crap. I might've insulted you, but you did all the assuming which makes you a bigger ass than me.

Well, I'll check back in 2018 to see if The Switch is worth the money then.

@Yorumi
I'm supporting the right for people to choose how they spend their money.

Save for a couple people, I'm getting really sick of the dumba$$es and their bullsh!t prowling around on this website.

I've been here for over 4 years and I'm really considering leaving.

For one, Nintendo Everything and My Nintendo News permit swearing.

@ProjectCafe
Poor baby.

@The_Gerudo_King

Does that give you pleasure?

@ProjectCafe
No, but somebody had to call you out on your whining.

@The_Gerudo_King

You haven't been here long enough to know that's how everybody comments here.

Noob.

@ProjectCafe
Noob is the best you can come up with? Why don't you update your vernacular and come back with something fresh.

@Chanchozoka The excellent, online Voice Chat from Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on Wii U says "Hai!" (^.^)/

@The_Gerudo_King

It is, because you are.

How much testosterone is in you right now? How badly do you want to fight, like everyone else on the internet?

@The_Gerudo_King

That's what I thought.

@ProjectCafe
Uh oh watch out everybody, we got a real keyboard warrior over here. Don't get caught in his crosshairs or he'll make you pay for it with threatening comments like, "that's what I thought." I'm over here shaking in my boots.

@The_Gerudo_King

You're wearing regular boots?

I thought you were supposed to be in your wee leather ones.

And here we have your typical run-of-the-mill internet argument, where all comments by all participants are primarily comprised of passive aggressive insults and threats.

Looking back from the beginning, it's quite amusing.

Hilarious, even.

It's rather sad on both sides, actually.

@ProjectCafe
Ok.

@ProjectCafe I'm sure you know where the door is and how it can hit you on the way out if you need swearing and people to agree with you so you're in your snowflakey safe space. $20 isn't too much, and really little kids shouldn't be using online, let alone teenagers without some adult supervision. They'd be paying the $20 anyway either through their credit cards, or the kids buying a pre-paid card. Given what allowance goes for these days it's not much. Your excuses are pathetic as much as your entitlement complex. I've got no reason to get passive aggressive when aggressive works fine.

@tanookisuit

The subscription is based upon credit. Not eShop funds, @!^%#$. And neither can a child continuously purchase Visa gift cards to support the fees. Parents won't allow that. Neither will parents care to supervise their TEENAGER playing MARIO KART OR SPLATOON, WHICH ARE CHAT-LESS GAMES, WHICH 90% OF ALL NINTENDO TITLES WITH ONLINE CAPABILITIES HAPPEN TO BE, THUS COMPLETELY WASTING THE PARENT'S TIME.

My entitlement? The consumers CAN be entitled. THEY ALONE keep the company afloat. Bad decisions yield poorer sales, and that's a time tested FACT, SOMETHING YOU'RE CLEARLY UNAWARE OF.

What's surprising is your intense self-centeredness of "Oh, $20 isn't too much, I can pay that!" while labeling everyone else the exact same, while only some of them being supposedly entitled, spoiled, hypocritical brat baby bit**es.

It's also dumb how you extensively assume that payment for, like how the other guy put it, p2p connections are REQUIRED for "smooth" input and playback, when, last time I checked, Nintendo has gone over 12 YEARS with FREE online services, and in those 12 years of upkeep, not one cent from the consumer went into it, yet the difference between Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and Nintendo Network was staggering, not even taking into account of the fact that Nintendo is a MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR COMPANY, WITH A MAJOR GLOBAL PRESENCE.

May I remind you what happened during the ENTIRE GAME of Splatoon?

You were constantly online, REQUIRING a connection at ALL TIMES, EVEN WHILE THE ENTIRE PROGRAM WAS CONSTANTLY RUNNING AT 60FPS WITH A RESOLUTION OF 720P HD, and all the while, there were very little connection failures, which were nearly ALWAYS the switch/router's fault. And of course, this was all happening on a totally FREE service, at which point Nintendo had 10 YEARS of experience on. And a game which entirely relies on a "crappy" service does not simply become the Wii U's 6th best selling title.

What's also truly pathetic is your definition of "aggressive", which is just replacing indirect observations with direct insults. I'm so hurt, I need my happy place because the mean old poopyface called the 27 year old pathetic.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Last question; answer me if snowflakes produce replies of this type. Because every interaction I've had with the damn droplets thus far never have.

Nintendo has no reason to do this, especially after over 12 years of smooth sailing. Obviously, the community has a problem with this. Don't bother reacting, what will killing one ant do to an entire nest?

Here's a hint: It won't do anything.

And no, that is not my actual age.

@ProjectCafe Hahahaha I'm self centered? That's rich. Amazing I'm the bad one here thinking that people should have to pay $20 for deluxe service features. You're right though, kids can't always go out and buy a points card. They shouldn't either, their parents should be controlling the games they get which includes point cards to buy them. If they can not afford a simple $20/yr point card to use a service, perhaps they shouldn't be dropping $300 on a system and $30-60 on a game either? You think?

Nintendo has every reason to do this but you're being very self centered, blind, and short sighted about the entire mess. Perhaps you don't realize there are costs to running a network. To call what Nintendo had going over most of those 12 years a good network is comical at best, it was free because it wasn't what the other two were doing. Now that they're catching (or caught) up with them, you do have to realize to have an infrastructure that size costs money each day to maintain online for them as a business. Certain items can easily be written off for free such as their chart shows for standard no-charge service. But when you're crafting an entire network setup with vocal conversations, multiplayer gaming, and the rest, it requires far more power to do so which costs money. Do you expect Nintendo just to eat the costs, or would you prefer perhaps online games cost an added $5 or so so your server fees ($20/yr) aren't so obvious? Oh that's right, they make billions of dollars, so as Nintendo owners we must be entitled to have them eat the expenses for our fun. That makes sense, if I were a socialist.

I haven't insulted you, you're the one tossing insults. I just said you seem to want to have a snowflaky little safe space around. I didn't actually call you a coward, a pansy, or a snowflake, or cheapskate, or a tightwad, or too ignorant to understand basic economics of running a network now did I? You're right though, you are an ant. No point in stepping on you or wasting a can of raid as business will go along just fine without you, nor are there enough ants like yourself to cause an actual problem either.

I'm not even sure why I'm even responding to you this one more time because I know you'll come back with some more made up garbage that shows a true lack of understanding of reality of what it takes for a company like Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft to run a network and all it costs. And for the record $20 isn't a drop in the bucket for me either due to budget problems, and $50 is too damn much so I canceled my PS+ once I ran out of point cards I had been gifted/earned as it wasn't worth the expense yet at 1/2 that price it would have.

@tanookisuit

K.