Nintendo Switch Online Service Will Go Live This September

Will it’s about time!

Where’s the info!

So they say.

I hope the free monthly games will have some GameCube and wii games in there too

If Pokemon switch comes out this year will bank be a separate charge or can I have access if I pay the online subscription.

As it is now, I wouldn't pay to play online. There aren't that many games I like to play online (which the ones they have also have problems with playing with friends) also no voice chat built into the system.

Too expensive.

Excellent. Now where's the details and info???

20 bones for a full year of online play in comparison to selling an arm to have PSPlus up for a full year? Count me in (if that is actually still true)

I feel like the details of the service aren't really set in stone at this point in time.

Will the NES offerings offer online play? Weren’t these games, with this online service, supposed to add that in?

I'm so hyped to pay to play online. Only Nintendo

"The Nintendo Switch Online app, which will serve as a companion to the service, will provide players with the ability to use voice chat in lobbies, etc (depending on whether said game supports it)"

nope, nope, nope, nope abort, abort!

20 bucks a year is dirt cheap in my opinion. But Nintendo needs to give us more information. Given it is nice to have a launch date, I think at this point, after 10 months of waiting, we deserve more details.

Also I really REALLY hope that we are going to get more than NES titles in any new Virtual Console type system. A lot of us are nostalgic for more then the NES and SNES. I want GBA, Gamecube and N64 games all on the go personally.

@Joeynator3000 If you have $100, that already covers you 5 years with the online service so how is that expensive? By the time the 5 years are up Nintendo will probably launch the next console anyways so you're not really wasting that much money with this.

@Arcamenel The bank is its own thing, and since it is also on the 3DS It will almost certainly remain its own fee. 5 bucks a year isn't that pricey dude.

@Joeynator3000 Is it?

@607jf I really do hope they change this plan. It's a terrible idea.

@Heavyarms55 First off I didn't complain about the price I was just asking a question. Second going forward this will affect every console that wishes to use games online which includes future Pokemon games beyond the switch so I just figured it could tie in. Okay dude

@Arcamenel That is a totally fair point, but at least until they cut online support for the 3DS, I don't imagine Bank becoming tied in to the Switch service. And it's right in the title "Nintendo Switch Online". If it were just "Nintendo Online" and included the 3DS then I would say it would be much more likely that the Bank would become tied in.

Also sorry man, I wasn't trying to be rude. I apologize if it sounded that way.

If only they would release more info.

So they are sticking to the app. Curses, Nintendo. I can hear the collective cries of Ninty gamers out my window already

Withholding judgement until I have more info. I don’t expect them to outline it in full until E3 at the earliest though.

$20 is a good deal, provided that Nintendo does right by the service and the consumer.

I just hope that Nintendo announces a separate Virtual Console. I have this feeling that Nintendo’s VC offerings may end up being a step backwards from the past two generations. Twelve years later, it’s time for GameCube VC (preferably with analog-triggered joycons!).

If it lets me play Zelda 1 and 2 on my Switch, then I'll be happy.

I'm fine with the price and don't know enough about the service to be able to comment on the features... But why is it taking them so long to put this out? A year and a half from when it was released just seems unreasonable to me.

18 months post launch is a long time. I hope they do it well.

@Captain_Gonru It's coming from their investor's meeting, you doof.

Not too much detail but it’s a start

VC!! VC!! VC!! VC!! VC!! God, let it be more than NES and SNES at launch!

@Heavyarms55 I apologize as well I wasn't in a particularly good mood when I replied to you originally and you got the brunt of that.

@retro_player_22 I thought that joeynator was trolling with that comment which is why I didn’t respond to it lol
I would personally not call the cost of a sandwich every month expensive considering it costs more with other consoles.
I’m sure it will get fleshed out with more features too

Until it gets delayed again. And again. And again.

But in all seriousness, I’m thrilled. I have no desire to start paying to play online. Not with the severely limited options available, anyway.

The pricing seems reasonable, but it's not a service I would foresee myself using very much. I rarely play games online.

$20 to do something you used to let me do for free, but now you'll also loan me one old game a month that you've re-released countless times?

Oh boy, where do I sign up?

Not going to lie, read that as provide players with the stability to use voice chat online

@AlphaElite So don't sign up. It isn't $20 that's unreasonable; unreasonable is to expect Nintendo to bear the entirety of the expense of maintaining the servers. Do you expect any other business to give away a service for free in perpetuity?

“It's certainly a lot more affordable than anything offered by Sony or Microsoft...”

And far less value considering you are getting nearly 50 games a year to keep from Microsoft and potentially more than that from Sony, though Sony’s service requires PS+ to keep those games.

@JimmySpades I will wait to see if there's more to it, but right now Nintendo Switch Online appears to be solely "now you have to pay for online play and you can play one old game for a month", then I will certainly not be paying for that.

I hope this doesn't mean VC won't launch until then. I also hope the service is detailed before E3 but, that's all probably just wishful thinking. $20 for a proper online infrastructure is a steal but it still remains to be seen if that's what this is. Right now Y's VIII can't come soon enough.

@Joeynator3000 20 a year? Sony charges 60.

Alright, I already see this is going to suck hard. What I want to know is if the slew classic NES titles are free with the service?

@faint ....Seriously? Even you fell for it? lol

@Heavyarms55 I agree. it's the worst possible way they could have done voice chat.

Here's an idea:

I recently saw an article here saying that Nintendo was founded in September of 1889. Upon further research, the exact date of founding is Sept. 23rd, 1889.

I believe that Switch Online will release on September 23rd, 2018, in honor of the Big N's past.

Just a thought...

sounds reasonable. I'm sure we will get more details as we get closer to September....

@BanjoPickles They'd probably charge more for analog triggers. If they go the Gamecube route it's probably better for the consumer if they just remap to something that works without analogs (or let us map the controls ourselves)

Or just sell the analog controllers separate from the normal ones (as I seriously doubt they'd replace them for existing owners).

I honestly wish it cost whatever Sony and Microsoft charge. Knowing Nintendo this will be a way for them to get away with not having a great selection of games. Meanwhile I don't think they are going to offer their classic games like they have in the past with Virtual Console. By the time this launches they will have had a year and a half, so the lineup better be good if this is replacing virtual console or I'll be salty and not impressed.

@Ernest_The_Crab

Oh, without a doubt! They should definitely be sold separately! To be honest, I would gladly pay an additional $10+ for analog triggers. My favorite GC is Mario Sunshine (I have a strange fondness for it), and it wouldn’t be as good without the pull of the trigger.

At some point in time, GC games will have to make it to the eshop. It’s such an underrated console!

@brandonbwii How would it "suck hard"? The yearly price is quite equitable and there's probably more features that have yet to be announced.

So an E3 to announce the features of this service, an expansive VC with free and buyable games with discounts to previous owners, Gamecube and Mother 3 as day one games?

This basically a £20 Splatoon tax for me till Pokemon rolls around.
The price is fair though so no complaints, I just wish the free games weren't ones I've bought 10 times over in the past. How about offering that rumoured Mother 3 localisation to early adopters

The price is definitely right, but I'm anxious to see how far that $20 will go.

Yay....
We got Free Online service from March 2017 until end of August 2018.
Better enjoy while last.
On September 2018, time for Paid Online.
I'm ready, Nintendo.

"It's certainly a lot more affordable than anything offered by Sony or Microsoft..."

Still more expensive than PC. Pass

@BanjoPickles i still don't see how analog triggers on Joy Cons are supposed to work.
There is simply no space for them, unless you make the controllers bigger.

Furthermore, imagine the outcry of people going "What? I need to buy another Joy Con? Why didn't the original ones have analog triggers then?".

All in all new Joy Cons with analog triggers seem unlikely.

I thought nintendo would cancel the companion app and let voice chat and lobbies be allowed to run from the switch itself. I actually believed that the delay was because of the very bad press nintendo got when releasing the stupid app and they would try to make a more streamlined online service. I need more info on this but as it is Nintendo is messing this thing up and I'm NOT going to use my money on a stupid online service when it's this poorly made. The only thing I play online on switch is Fifa but if the online service sucks I just won't buy fifs on switch in 2018. Come-on Nintendo. Up you game!!!

@retro_player_22 @Heavyarms55 @Malcrash €20 a year for a P2P server is expensive, not matter how you look at it. You already paid for the P2P server, it's your own internet connection. There are no dedicated servers involved, and there's no reason to suddenly use them either, since their games work perfectly fine without it. And I don't think they're suddenly going to use dedicated servers either, because Sony is charging €60, and their games run on P2P servers as well.

The only reason people are fine with it is because it's not €60, and because ''paying for online'' is expected, not because it's necessary or logical at all. This is an easy way for Nintendo to generate profits. They don't need €20 a year to send a few bytes here and there to connect users for online play. The actual online play is P2P anyway. No matter how you look at it, they're still charging you €20 for essentially nothing, for something that was free for almost a decade. The underlying structure of online play hasn't changed. That's the reason why it's still free on PC.

Lets see what it becomes in my local currency...

They've provided no information besides a date in September.

So I guess I'll play Doom and Splatoon 2 online until September and that's it. After that, I'll just pretend they killed the servers, like it happened with "The Conduit" back in the day.
Good thing I'm not big on online play - no way am I paying them for that. I don't like this new approach Nintendo has had of becoming like the other "big players" - paid DLCs, subsription services, etc.
Yeah, it's somewhat affordable, but that doesn't justify it. Big deal they let me play 30-year-old games that most of us can play on older systems anyway...

No save game backup in the cloud? Only the same buggy service we've enjoyed so far? Hm.

Needs more classic games not just NES titles.

@AlphaElite I think the issue is more around the precedent that has already been set. Most consumers won't know or care about servers and cost of managing a large cloud IaaS; the service has already been in situ for some time.

The price seems fine but we still know little else about it.

Other than the ability to play online (which I very rarely do) what else are we actually paying for? Need to know more about if before I could make any further comments.

@Octane If that is all the online service was going to be, then you would have an argument there. But even what limited information we do have suggests that is not the case. It's going to have a variety of features and have it's own dedicated servers.

@GoldenGamer88 I couldn't agree more. I want support for games up through Gamecube and GBA era.

@Arcamenel don't worry, we all have bad days, I hope yours gets better.

This is a lot more expensive than I thought it would be, I know people will say it’s not that much, but here’s why it is. No way to party up with friends before going into a game. No way to voice chat directly from the Switch, I refuse to use the terrible app, especially if they want me to pay for online on Switch. No way to invite friends to games.
Nintendo have a long way to go before I’d consider paying for it.

At least we have a date. Hopefully u get to keep the games for as long as ur subscribed. 3.99 is steep if they disapear each month. No integrated chat is poor and please oh please say this includes cloud save

Can see this launching with super smash Bros.

The "Classic Game Selection" thing is actually pretty exciting. I can't wait for that.

We knew all of this aside from the September release. I guess, the only thing we didn't know for sure was that it would use "that app" grrrr

No battlefront, no cod, no good version of fifa, no overwatch, no battlefield. The other consoles are pricier but they have tonnes of online games to play and you generally get $70+ a month. Splatoon and Mario kart online and a few nes games aren't gonna entice alot of people, and the communities for those games will just get smaller and smaller

@Heavyarms55 Which brings me to my next point. Those extra 'features' are often more expensive than the online itself. Take PS+, you're not paying €60 for the online. You're paying €60 for the 'free' games and the discounts they offer, and the online is locked behind the same paywall. If Nintendo offers something similar – but on a smaller scale, since it's a third of the price – I can a situation where we're not paying for the online itself, we're paying for the extra fluff. That is fine for some people, but if you're not interested in digital games locked behind a subscription, or if you're simply not interested in the NES games or whatever they're going to offer, you're still paying for all of that if you want access to the online features. That's why I think that the concept of bundling (very cheap) online, which everyone wants, with (expensive) games is a great business strategy, but awful for consumers. There's no way around it, you have to pay for all the extras to get online play.

And who's not to say that the price won't increase in the future? How long until people start demanding bigger games? It happens every month with PS+. People complain about the games, and the result is that Sony increases the price, and offers 'bigger' and more recent games. Whilst the only thing I want is access to online play, I don't care about the extra fluff that is added as excuse to bump the price up. And heck, their online structure is certainly not better than Nintendo's free online structure. Certainly not for €60 a year. If I got a euro for every time PSN was down, I'd be a millionaire.

Lastly, how do you know we're getting dedicated servers? And how do you think they are an improvement over the P2P servers we currently have?

$20 for a year and access to classic games? I'd much prefer ownership, but that $20 is going a long way. On the other hand, this confirms VC is most likely dead.

@Octane Yeah but you're paying to play games on their server though, not yours. Your internet service is just a transportation but it's not the admission. Nintendo's online service here (as well as Sony and Microsoft) is the admission and in able for you to play their games on their territory online you had to buy a way to get in just like how people buy a ticket to enter a concert. The internet is like exploring, just cause you can waste gas money roaming around the city doesn't necessarily mean every place will be free for you to enter, same with the internet. Just cause you waste money using it to surf the net doesn't mean every website or server should open free for you unless you became a member and pay up.

@retro_player_22 Except for the fact that Nintendo doesn't use dedicated servers (nor do most of the other publishers for that matter). You're not playing Mario Kart 8 online on their server. It's a P2P network, meaning that you're playing over the internet you're already paying for. It's not a client-server model. At most there's a small server that green-lights and verifies your connection and connects you to the other players, but the actual online play is a P2P network.

Nice, and its not expensive!

Not particularly excited to have to pay. The games for the Switch are expensive enough and without MarioKart, Arms and Splatoon 2 become a lot more boring.

I do hope the price is per console and not user. My son and daughter both play online and I'm not willing to pay for it three times.

@Malcrash Well PS4 just got RIME on PSN. That by itself nearly justifies the price. Last month was Deus Ex Mankind Divided. Sounds like decent value to me. Don't get me wrong, though. Free is always best right?!

People should REALLY not compare Xbox and PS plus subscription to this. It's not even marginally different, it's way different. For one there is special offers of 12 months + 4 months and extra free games if you were to get this kinds of deals. Another is the obvious games like Metal Gear Solid, Deus Ex, and many other

There isn't many online games for the Switch right now that I have the need for online and the games are cool but not something to get hyped about IMO. If anything, the price is the biggest pros to this but again, I don't see many games right now that I'm justified in buying it at the moment.

The price is OK, but I'm going to hold back until we know all the details about what comes with that membership. Games are already more expensive on Nintendo formats - I know that we're supposedly getting classic games as well but the details are still a bit vague for my liking at the moment. Hope we'll see a direct about it at some point but there needs to be a little more in there, IMO.

@thesilverbrick same I rarely play online myself also, and anytime I play a game online there are always the same people way more skilled it seems and then a bit of lag can mess your game up.
I’m defo a single campaign kinda guy, or playing directly with family and friends.

@Joeynator3000 sorry? It's €20/year for online play and (probably almost always crappy) deals, while Sony charges €60/year for online play and (almost always crappy) deals. How is 20 too much?

20 a year is incredibly reasonable
I have no issue paying that, but that's just me

NOT GOOD!
So that's £20 for the UK based on pricing strategies.
But what are we getting for this.....a crappy VC game which was £5 on Wii u, appauling voice chat which only works with one game, and online play which is and won't be on servers but player to player.
And it sounds like they have no plans To change the appauling voice chat mechanic. So that will be 1.5yrs in and still only splatoon supporting voice chat.
Bad move Nintendo.
WHY DO WE HAVE TO WAIT SO LONG, for stuff we already have?
I'm not sure people will be able to play payday without voice chat. But that's how it's going to be.

Everyone’s been so excited to give Nintendo extra money for this so called service. The longer it takes the better in my eyes!

Pricing seems OK, but given that the only online-gaming I do is on Splatoon 2, not sure if I'm gonna commit just yet...

It seems like a long wait. I don't have a Switch yet. I hope Nintendo can maintain platform momentum. Makes me wonder if they wanted to wait and see if the Switch would sell well and now they're thinking, 'ok, it's a success, now let's make an online service for it.'

Ugh .. right at my bday lol I guess this means that there won’t be a virtual console at all on Switch Like it was before .. shame , was hoping that I can play all my formerly buyed games on the Switch too but It’s Obvious that I’m dreaming of utopia ... still no Word on a browser or YouTube support as well .. oh my .. as much as i Love that Nintendo is so succesful - as much do i dislike what they are planning next - first those cardbox things (I still hope this is an early April joke) that made me rub my eyes , then Mario Kart for phones (wtf) and a Mario Movie (oh god no) - still no word on a new Smash bros (if we get one - it surely is just a „deluxe remaster“) as well (which would be a great title to start the paid online gaming service). My personal disappointment goes on and on - just glad I have Xenoblade and Mario Odyssey to keep me smiling still

Not a massive online gamer, but happy to pay £20 a year for the service. Quite honestly, I just appreciate having been able to have played for free for nearly a year and counting. Always loved the free online with the Wii U too.

Enough of the app.

@Natzore I don’t think Sony’s deals are crappy. Some months on psplus are a bit off, but some are awesome. I’ll be surprised if Nintendo offer anything even close to as good as Sony’s Online infrastructure, I’m sad to say

I hope there's more than NES titles. I don't even mean things like Gamecube and N64 (although that would be awesome) If they just had NES, SNES, and maybe GBA, that would be great.

I am still waiting for the VC, and I am disappointed that there is very little information about it almost one year after the release of Switch. Come on, Nintendo, is it really that hard to port a few already existing games into Switch?

Everyone wants to pay for Nintendo switch online and calling it cheap and want to give them our money for the same servers. Now how many games can you play online. Your lucky if you can count both hands fingers.

Ps+ is more expensive but they do give games like rocket league. Rime is this month. They have many games to play online.

But Nintendos done good if they get majority of people to play online for splatoon and a free nes game.

@Malcrash Well, first of all, we have no idea what benefits and features Nintendo will offer, so any comparison must ultimately fall flat for the time being. Considering there were talks for about $20 a year, that would amount to about half of what I normally pay for a year PS+. That would be good as far as the price is concerened.

Looking at what Nintendo currently offers though, I don't feel even $10 are justified. I mean, there obviously whole generations of progress between Nintendo and Sony (and Microsoft) in terms of online infrastrucre, ecosystem and features.

Right now, the Switch is in many regards barely up to snuff when compared with the original Xbox and Xbox live. Frankly, I rather would pay a bit more and getting a quality of service and a breadth of service that really enhances my experience, than to save myself $20 a year and never get even the basic package.

I look forward to not paying for this.

All I'm looking for is some info on the Virtual Console, and to be honest this update doesn't clarify anything for me. I genuinely don't believe we'll get a collection of Gamecube or Wii games to play as part of this subscription, but I do believe we'll get to play them. So... where does that come in? Is there another service we're missing, or maybe they'll just be normal e-shop releases?

@Ralek85 You're already assuming there will be lots of worthwhile functionality added as soon as you cough up more money. It takes only a cursory look at Nintendo's entire history to suspect this will not be the case, and you'll just be paying to do what has always been and should be 100% gratis: using your own internet connection for p2p multiplayer.

I'm more excited about Mario Kart Tour!!!

@retro_player_22
Don't feed the trolls!

They are obviously developing the Service as we speak - it'snot finished which is why they haven't given precise details about it - however, investors (at this morning's Strategy meeting at Nintendo HQ) require some information - such as a release window. . and the fact that SMASH will be launching alongside it lol

Super smash bros called it wants a nintendo switch game!. This is good news hopefully we will have a direct soon or at e3 to cover this!.

That’s not a bad price. Definitely will be getting this

Look forward to learning more about this. I don't play online much, but I'm hoping whatever free game offerings and support will make my $20 worth it. Show us the games, Nintendo!

Is this going to be required to go on the eshop and friends and such or online gaming only?

@AlwaysGreener For the price it's okay on some level, I'm still highly skeptical about that app though. Will there be 3rd party games to support it? Will you be able to talk to strangers in some games or will Nintendo rule with an iron fist when it comes to online. Honestly I don't care much for what Nintendo does online with their own games but if they're going to start charging money for it, even to play other developers games online, I'd want the app to be easily accessible to Nintendo's new found 3rd party support. It doesn't look like it though.

Well, Splatoon 2, we had a good run. But it seems Nintendo doesn't want me to play you any more later this year.

@luke88 I have been a psplus subscriber for years now because it's mandatory for online play, and I still have to take advantage of it in any way. The free monthly games are very old games I already own or mediocre indie titles I don't have the time and will to play, and the exclusive deals on the ps store are crap since you can easily find the retail version of the same games for less

@Yorumi Go play on your PC then, and have fun when Smash Bros releases and you won't be able to play online

@c2017nlifemedia
'you'll just be paying to do what has always been and should be 100% gratis: using your own internet connection for p2p multiplayer.'
Uummm. There's a little more to online multiplayer than that...

This was going to happen eventually. I think we should just be glad it's only 20 bucks. Nintendo desperately needs to clarify what the service provides. These vague comments do absolutely nothing.

Per account, or per console?

If it's not per console, we're going to have issues.

Here's hoping there's more online titles to play cause at the moment there's only a few to choose from.

@c2017nlifemedia No, that's neither what I said nor meant. There is obviously not automatism in place in this regard, neither with Nintendo nor anybody else. I just said, that based on what we have now, $20 a year would be way too much. Also, knowing Nintendo, I doubt we will ever see the kind of featureset that the competition offers - which in turn more or less justifies the additional cost. I hope I'm wrong about it, but if I'm just looking at the features Sony and Microsoft offer free-of-charge then I have little choice than to feel a little down here.

I mean, simply the fact that you can share digital games on PS4 and Xone addes a helluva lot of value to the system for me. One of my favourite features this entire generation has been Share Play on the PS4, as that turn ANY multiplayer game into a online multiplayer game. That was amazing for games like Chariot or Lovers in a Dangerous Space Time, which otherwise I would have probably never got to enjoy in coop.

These features are essentially free. Obviously, there are alot of other feautes offered as well for subscribers, like cloud-saves or dedicated sales.

Point being, I'd rather have Nintendo catch up on these quality of life and value-adding features, and then charge me accordingly, than to charge me just a couple of bucks and offer none of this or only a fraction. In no way did I argue that any of these issues would be resolved purely by doubling or tripling the price alone.

I'm still waiting for a Cloud Save confirmation..

Pay $19.99/yr to do exactly what you can do now for $0.00/yr but now with the added benefit of having paid money for it!

Unless they add cloud saves. And the ability to play my eShop games on different Switches if logged in, which currently we can't do. That at least is a service.

Sooo late, pathetic!

"Pay $19.99/yr to do exactly what you can do now for $0.00/yr but now with the added benefit of having paid money for it!"

Exactly!

Ah, here's the article. Couldn't find it earlier. So another year without this service? COME, ON, NINTENDO. I am not amused.

"It's certainly a lot more affordable than anything offered by Sony or Microsoft..." Umm they offer a whole lot more. Cloud saves, voice chat from the system not an app, a ton of more current games... not NES classics. 20 bucks is still too high.

I don't play online much but I can throw away a 20 a year.

I guess better late than never. But I really hope Nintendo either incorporates a full-fledged Virtual Console as part of this service, or gives us an announcement about a Virtual Console service. Ideally I would like to see any previously purchased VC titles automatically show up on Switch, although since it wasn't account-based before, that's likely impossible to do.

What about all our eShop purchases on WIIU and 3DS Nintendo? Unified account my arse. If they expect people to pay for online they really need to start giving us some details about the structure and content of the service.

@brandonbwii Well they just now announced the release date for it, which is in September, plenty of time to explain more about it in another announcement or a Direct. Maybe then they'll have something worthwhile, but I think for now they're presenting just a few examples of what they have in store for subscribers. Also I think it's best to just give it the benefit of the doubt for now, until more information about it surfaces. Though you are right to be cautious, since Nintendo has never been infallible.

"$20 is dirt cheap!"

And I agree that $20 isn't much money... BUT what the heck am I paying for?!?!?!

Nintendo is currently providing 'free' p2p access to the internet I already pay for, in a game I already paid for, on a system I already paid for.... but now that free access will soon come with 3 NES games (I already own and paid for 25 years ago) and will now be a paid service.....

Come on, throw me a bone! Give me some kind of insentive here Nintendo!!

Price is good, just need plenty of decent games. But the app needs dropping. I use it with Splatoon 2 and it’s not great.
Plenty of time to sort it for September.

@SuperKMx I'm sure they will, at some point. Nintendo will probably have a mini-direct to summarise what's on offer in the future, there are a few million new Switch owners now. However, their handling of online with NS has been lacklustre at best. This announcement confirms that whatever service it is, has been delayed from the original planned date. At the moment £20 a year for P2P gaming and a few old games doesn't seem like good value.

@Heavyarms55 I agree that 20$ is a low amount, but I'm willing to pay even double the amount if we get something better than the current beta and even if it's equal in quality to PSN and Xbox Live I'm happy. We need details as you said.. God knows when we'll actually get them

@JimmySpades I expect Nintendo to let me have any VC game I've paid for on my WiiU and 3ds that has the same NNID at no extra cost if they are released on the Switch. And I don't mean paying to play them as part of a rental service either.

So what if I have most of those NES games and I’m not really into voice chat?

$20 per console is fine. $20 per person/account/profile would be disappointing.

so Splatoon 2 is free till September 2018? Got it! XD

@electrolite77 yeah I don’t know anybody who has had to pay full price for PSN and Xbox.

18 months after the console released with zero details? is it just a mirror of what we are currently getting for free

@bluedogrulez considering games are shared with all users on the system, online will be too

As long as it is p2p and no decent party or chat I'm not interested. Last time I wanted to play 30 year old games was 25 years ago so zero value there to me. I'll probably get a bit more splat2on in over the next month or so and trade it in.

Can’t believe the amount of negativity here.

I don’t use online that much, but 20 big ones a year (less than $1.50 a month for crying out loud) to continue playing balls to the wall insane races on Mario Kart 8 is a sweet deal for me. Maybe I can have that one cup of coffee less a month.

Also, I’m certain a few great online games will be on the horizon. To everybody else who doesn’t fancy coughing up, it’s clearly your loss.

Seems like a great deal. But what kind of content will it have? GBA? GC? Even WII-titles? DS stuff?
I don’t want to complain here but I don’t think Mario Bros. 3 alone would be a reason to get on board. I think I have played the title on enough platforms already. I mean, it IS nice to have all the classics on one console for the times you get the itch to play them. But if it’s just the same old classics? 20 for a year is cheap. I admit it. Still I need a reason for the cheapness. Otherwise I’d just buy small rocks if someone said they are cheap.

@chewytapeworm Yes, in September you get to pay for what is currently free. That calls for a celebration.

@BarFooToo Last time I wanted to play 30 year old games was 25 years ago

Just having fun here but I can't resist:

You mean in 1993 you wanted to play some video games from 1963?

@Crono1973 yep, you got me there!

@Joeynator3000 20 bucks too expensive? As opposed to what? Xbox or PS4? They’re like 100 bucks a year dude. What world do you live in? That’s super cheap.

@iammikegaines As opposed to free (the current and all previous prices for Nintendo Online Play).

Classic game selection sucks big time compared to the competition. We live in 2018. Giving us few 30 year old games isn't enough Nintendo.

@ValhallaOutcast : i hope your assumption is correct, though I remain unconvinced.

Will pay the £20 but I don't seem to play a lot of games online. Have had plenty of hours out of Splatoon and Mario Kart though.

Fed up of Nintendo offering silly NES games though, it's my least favourite Nintendo console. After the NES and SNES mini they need to be offering up something different.