Nintendo Confirms Switch Online Service Will Launch In Second Half Of September

not on launched. but, i will get it somepoint.

Emphasis on "casual reminder". The online service deserves a mini Direct at the very least. It's ridiculous how little is known about this.

Probably will get it at launch. I'm eager to see how the downloadable games will work.

Thank goodness. I need those cloud saves STAT

For $20/30 a year I'll get it. Nintendo continues to make games I want to play. I can support those efforts and play some NES games in the process and I'm ok with the price.

Oh sweet mercy jebus yes! Can't wait!

Won't be starting a subscription until there's a game I really want to play online. If SSBU runs great online for people, then I'll sub. If it still runs with loads of latency issues...no thanks.

@JTMnM What more do you need to know? We know the price and what we get with it.

On the info I have so far, I'm "ok" with an annual subscription, but I'd definitely like more specifics on the finer points if possible.

@Gerbwmu Agreed. I’m looking forward to the online multiplayer being added to those NES games. Ready for some Dr. Mario!

I mostly play offline, alone or in a local coop, the only title I care is Splatoon 2 which I'm already played enough so run only on Splatfests once per month or so. All other Nintendo games aren't so fun for me with strangers, I better call for my family or friends to share joycons. So even if the price is low, I can't justify throwing money on occasional once per month sessions. Also absolutely not interested in cloud saves or dusty NES games, more likely I'll softmod my console to gain a save manager and emulators, if I ever need them at all.

...And yet they're still tight-lipped about the specifics. Hopefully they're detailed as part of a Direct before then.

They didn't even have the decency to specify an exact date after all this time. Why bother with this pointless tweet?

............hype, i guess.

Just give me a growing library of Sega Ages

"Save Data Cloud backup in compatible games"
So it doesn't work with all games and yet people don't care that they don't let you save backup your games to an SD something that actually should be Free btw

I came expecting at least 50% of the comments to be incredibly salty. I left disappointed.

I’m proud of y’all.

Family plan offers enough value that i’ll sign up day one. Got 4 Switches in my house and we play online regularly

As long as they go eventually beyond the Nes system and add a option to purchase a game for keeps then I’m happy

I'm hoping they clarify in a direct of some sort. Would also be a nice time to highlight some Indies and big third party games, whether or not they have their own to announce.

@MH4 I am looking forward to cloud saves, so it will be a day one purchase for me.....their NES games can suck a big one though. Bump it up to SNES and then I will be excited...unless it is Excite Bike, or Double Dragon 2 or maybe....

I hope this comes with a major firmware update that adds some new feature to the OS.

Would love to see:

Folders
Themes
shop overhaul
Nintendo’s version of achievments/trophies
Streaming services (though not really an OS thing)
A miiverse succesor
Bluetooth headset support
High perfomance mode when in handheld mode but charging
Move mesaging and voice chat to the system itself
A dedicated Nintendo Direct App
And of course more frick’n stability

Bring it on!

@RandomNerds Yes to all of this. I've been thinking a big OS and eShop update will come hand in hand with the Online. We can hope!

@SimplyCinnamon53

The only information available consist of bullet points that barely register as marketing language. So far, Nintendo's first paid online service is described as access to basics like cloud saves and online play. The included game library is shrouded in mystery, and many doubt its significance as a replacement to the recently confirmed dead VC.

Other aspects include community. The Switch hasn't done much regarding connecting its users outside some minor social media integration and a sloppy phone app. The lack of apps like Netflix and a web browser raise the question if these too will be locked behind the service. Asking for these details is fair and frankly should've already been addressed.

I may have my hopes set a little too high, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the remaining ten games are going to be something special. Like how? I don’t know. It just seems bizarre that they have yet to reveal them.

Meh...

Honestly who cares about the added online features of the NES games? Vc is better.

Will subscribe.
Will also read way too many pissy, whining mom's-house dwellers complaining about how much better Microsony's online is because they have meaningless achievements.

“A growing library of NES titles”, this better not mean that Nintendo only intends to feature NES support.

Got an NES classic.
I don't think I'll need this anytime soon unless I get sudden Splatoon cravings.

@gauthieryannick I think you are confusing SD card with Cloud saves, save backups of my own games to an SD card in case something happens to my console especially since it's a handheld console it's important and something that can be done without the company charging me unless you think otherwise, now save Cloud backups requires internet and I can understand if they charge you for it, what I'm saying is that Nintendo won't let you save to an SD leaving you with the cloud saves

Hopefully we'd be able to get SNES, N64, and GCN games as well, especially the last one.

Nintendo is at the height of their hubris with this online service. They think we're just going to buy it because they're Nintendo. They've given us virtually no information but we should just trust them. Get your heads out of your asses.

Unfortunately, I think that there is about a .5% chance of anything beyond SNES games coming to the subscription service. Considering that Nintendo was charging $10 for N64 games, last generation, adding them to the service would basically be them giving the games away for free. The same goes double for GameCube support.

I honestly think that N64/GameCube games will be a forgotten commodity, at least during the Switch era. Sorry, but Nintendo hasn’t done much to convince me that they’re committed to replacing VC with something better, or even on par. That’s not intended as a criticism of the company; I’ve just learned to temper my expectations.

a growing library of NES titles. Yay.

@JTMnM is it ridiculous? Or are people just spoiled these days because information is often available way in advance because of leaks, data mining etc.? Wouldn't it be nice to not know about some, then be surprised by the release and finally get to know the product after the release? You are not pushed to buy the service in advance, so on release day, you can read what it does and if you like it, spend 5 minutes to purchase it. It's not like anything changes if you know ages in advance what you get, especially because for Nintendo exclusives, like Splatoon, you don't have any other choice for online multi-player anyway

@BanjoPickles at least they should release the previous VC titles in the eshop in some other way... Now it's clearly a step back

Not on day one. I'll wait till Smash comes out.

@BanjoPickles Yep I think you're right. If it does indeed launch with only NES games and the subscribe rate is as high as they hope, say around 60% of Switch owners, there will be no incentive for them include 64 and GC titles. If it isn't successful though, then those could be the secret weapon to make sure it is. I'm pretty sure a 64 and GC Classic Mini are planned down the line, how successful would those be if many of the games can be had with a $20 annual subscription?

I do think there will be SNES games though, if only for the fact the NES games that could have online play added are limited. I'd imagine there will be at least 4 new games added each month, so by the end of year one that's 48 titles plus the 20 it launches with. I think anyone would struggle to name 68 NES titles worth playing, let alone ones that would benefit from online play in some form. That's just year one as well, this will obviously be an on going thing.

Meh I'll be getting it and no doubt at least half the people online saying they wont will also.
What with MK and once Smash lands no one will want to be left out.

Reminds me of this guy moaning about the new Dr.Who. Said he would stop paying his TV licence lol.

I'm not expecting anything special with it at all. Heck, they'll probably mess it up and have a late release of the NES games lol

@JTMnM

Yeah, we’re basically about a month away of the launch while still being pretty much in the dark about the service. That’s ridiculous.

I don’t care about a growing number of NES games, I’m only getting the service for the cloud saves. Which is absurd since we shouldn’t be forced into paying for the only option to backup our save files in a legitimate way. This is Nintendo we’re talking about though, so I shouldn’t be surprised anymore.

Maybe, start telling us more about it Nintendo? Like the rest of the free games perhaps? Maybe throw in an online Super Mario Kart on day one just to get the hype going?

I'd like to think that Nintendo's timing to sue those ROM/emulator sites was very specific because they'll be launching a butt load of retro games in conjunction with the online service. Probably not though....

More details needed Nintendo. This is a major part of the future of the console, yet with just over a month to go information available is limited. I understand Nintendo's secrecy in regards to new games but this is something that everyone needs to know and should have complete details about by now to make a decision on whether to get it or not whether they have owned the console from day one or thinking of getting one for Christmas.
Looking forward to the upcoming Nintendo Direct.

@GKO900 yeah I saw that too. I am hoping that it is just PR speak and that all games will use it. They may have said it that way because they can't speak for other devs

@MrGlubGlub totally agree! It also doesn't help when moronic fanboys continually buy all- ALL the stuff they release no questions asked, but they also believe their lies too (like lying about Wii U not being discontinued, then like a couple months later say it's actually true after all, or the DS not replacing GBA as their main handheld). I stopped believing anything Nintendo says, because they've got a king of PR as their NOA rep, and good god can he spin lies!

@mazzel It serves in Nintendo's best interests to market its products and services well. Given their shoddy record with online affairs, it's reasonable to want their first paid online service detailed beyond a few sentences. This has nothing to do with leaks or being "spoiled".

By the way, this is dropping next month (with no set date, mind you). I wouldn't describe that as "ages" away. To know so little about such a crucial service so close to its loosely defined release is questionable.

Let me point out that they never talked about SNES games. Because people are very confident in that they'll come, but they didn't say it. Just as they never said there would be a Virtual Console on Switch and people just assumed and got angry when they didn't.

What worries me is it will launch. And the only voice chat game supported will still just be splatoon. Via that awful app!

Nice, its not expensive and we get cloud saves, unlimited VC games. But still i want to know more what to expect.
online play improvement etc

Wil get it at launch to be honest. It not that expensive and do play a lot of mk,splat on, rocket league and Mario tennis online. The cloud sabes and hopefully a growing library of vc games make the deal better. Just hope that the connection gets better

Just NES ? :/

Will not be getting this until i know more.

Currently as it stands i will never sign up to the online sub until i see its worth it. So far its not. Unless they release an updated Switch and i need to do cloud saves, I'll sign up for the 1 month to do that. I wouldn't keep the sub.

Nes games... Lol, i dont enjoy mobile phone games but loot box games on your mobile phone are more fun to play than 1980s nes games 😂... Gonna need to do a lot better than that.

Why do folk need a Direct for paid online service? That sounds like a snoozefest.

@GKO900 @JaxonH Yes, like I have mentioned various times on Nintendo Life having no free alternative backup method is bad news and Nintendo should be held accountable for it. Another worry is that we may only be getting nes games. No Snes n64 gamecube games. Just nes:(. And we now have a relative idea of when the online service will launch(no solid date though).

Just want a real direct already addressing the online service and upcoming games.

@GrailUK what like a Smash direct? Like we didn't already know too much about smash... That direct they just had was a snoozefest. We know absolutely nothing about their online and its clear by their delays that they have no confidence it will work.

NES Games are not enough for me!

@DannyBoi Well they're still selling Nes and Snes classics so for them if you want retro games you should buy a classic console and maybe they are gonna release a N64 classic later (I buy a N64 classic though lol)

So that's why Nintendo shut down ROMs sites? Now you have to pay to get your NES rom from Nintendo.

As a splatoonist I will be day one

God I hope it's not only NES games...

I'm hoping that it won't stay at NES games.
Other than that, the price for an entire year is reasonable enough to give it a shot.

Oh just give us all the games at once. All thats on the NES Classic off the bat, and start working in some of those cool ones off Wii U and 3DS like 92 Recca, Murasame Castle and Earthbound Zero. I’m sure I got those names wrong. Oh well. Would obviously like to see SNES... Surprised nobody is mentioning Game Boy support. Now that would be perfect!

@Razer Did...did you just really compare a Smash Direct to a paid online service? What are you doing? Anyhoo. Erm...you know nothing of their online? Um, you know when you play with other folk on games, but they aren't in your house but yet they are still playing with you like magic? Yeah, Nintendo are charging for that like every other sodding company in the industry. I don't need a direct to explain to me what NES games are. I don't think I need a Direct to explain cloud saves. Ummm...what do you need explaining?

@donx998 Thanks, I missed that.

Well, time will tell. I don't like the digital rental system, but I don't think I'll buy the games either. Never been a Virtual Console user. Except from occasional cases in which owning the original cartridge was meant for rich guys.

@oji your just like me bud I do t want NES games AGAIN... How about N64 or GameCube???

@JTMnM A Direct before then is pretty much guaranteed even without looking at the online service.

In fact since Direct's began there hasn't been a single year where there wasn't a normal Direct in August or September

What about every other system, other than NES? Can we expect those before 2020, Nintendo?

I don't play online much so they are going to have to bring some good benefits to get me to pay for this, otherwise I just won't play online at all.

@GrailUK You have to remember some people said Nintendo were leaving it late to explain the NX, saying it would need 3-6 months for people to understand it.

They could give an announcement a week before and that would be enough, it needs no more explanation than a phone contract.

@WiltonRoots Indeed. I just fear people think this is more than it is. I for one am glad Nintendo aren't throwing too much into the service just so they can inflate the price. People are going to moan about paying to play online, but I'm afraid they are simply late to the party. It's too late. Microsoft set the tone. Sony sold it. Nintendo are lagging behind (no pun intended O.<)

glad i switched to PC gaming with no online fees

@GrailUK Anyway I'm not going to judge the online until they announce the full package. No point in crying until we know all the details really.

Of course there will be exceptions, but I don't think many people under the age of 40 are going to be that excited for NES games or even bother playing them. Unless you had nothing else on the Switch. It's an era that's difficult to love unless you went through it. N64/Gamecube games would be an amazing gesture and perfect on the Switch.

@GrailUK Did you just try to compare what Nintendo has for an online service to what Sony and Microsoft have? ooookayyyy...? Nintendo's online is light years behind both of them and does not warrant a fee at all in its current form, a comparison would be foolish.

with the news we have so far on Nintendo's online compared to every other online service on the planet... well yeah Nintendo is still not worth it. Especially not next to their nearest competitors.

also, not every gaming platform charges for online service... tablets and phones do NOT charge for online gaming services and they are portable... and most importantly PC... do not charge for online gaming.

Nintendo NEEDS to address this, a direct is defo needed and it is a LOT more important than more news on Smash, that we've been hearing about non stop for over a year now.

Because as it stands, i don't see the benefit in paying Nintendo to play Mario Kart online, Splatoon 2 or a handful of nes games. and clearly just by the comments section on a Nintendo fan site, im clearly not the only one that doesn't see the point in this.

@Razer I'm afraid the only comparison I made was the 3 console companies charging for online. Anything beyond that was inferred by you But, mate, I have to admit I am bloomin' stupid when it comes to this stuff (you have probably guessed I don't find it interesting lol). So what does their competitors do that Nintendon't as it were, and what do you actually want to see in a Direct?

They need to stop with this "growing library" nonsense.

This service should be launching with a huge library already in place, and not the paltry handful of titles that's been announced. This is the third generation in a row that Nintendo intends to drip-feed classic games onto a modern platform, and the shtick has gotten really tired.

@GrailUK Both give away free games every month and on many occasions they have been free AAA such as assassins creed or Call of Duty - NOT nes games lol... they also have big discounts on many new games, they have an achievement system that actually pushes people to compete with each other on games for trophies, they have a voice chat system that does not need to go through a 3rd party device.

Also their online services actually accompany many multi media apps and features, Nintendo has none of that, these are not chargeable services but they sweeten the deal, make the whole online experience more robust... so far Nintendo is missing that.

What could a direct show? address all of the above.

@GrailUK in fact, just to add, the free games they give away in a year far exceeds the cost of the yearly sub for their online services... by hundreds of pounds. That alone makes their online much better even without the other services they provide such as digital discounts and better friend/chat system.

@donx998 The way I see it is, Nintendo planned on NES and SNES games that would be playable for only a month (i.e. certain games available each month and you can only play them during that month). When they backtracked on the "playable for only a month" part, they also backtracked on the SNES part.

@gortsi @bimmy-lee you might want to book a seat for this...

@Razer Fair dos about apps like YouTube etc. Their omission resembles their previous consoles not playing DvDs lol.

Didn't know about free games though! Like to keep? I only know about the ones folk pay an inflated online sub for that you lose access to when you stop paying.

@GrailUK yes Monthly free games to download and keep, granted if you continue to pay the online fee... but the worth is over 500 quid a year... why wouldn't you keep it? How do you not know this though? i get that you love Nintendo as do i, but you can't blindly defend everything they do without knowing what the competition has up their sleeve. That is the prime definition of "misinformed".

https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/explore/playstation-plus/this-month-on-ps-plus/

https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/live/games-with-gold

Before defending ANYTHING... first find out what exactly you are defending against.

@mazzel

What Nintendo should have done all along was have a unified account system in place. I gravitate more towards Nintendo than Sony, for the most part, but it’s nice being able to download a game to my Vita AND my PS4 without having to buy it twice. It’s the one huge stumbling block that could have easily been rectified.

@GrailUK @Razer The titles given away through the Games With Gold program on Xbox are not available to play without an active subscription. True, the value of those titles in a year well exceeds the $60 sub, it’s still worth noting.

@GrailUK and did you just actually try to claim that Sony and Microsoft's isn't worth their fee? LOL.

@electrolite77 i did actually say that.

@HobbitGamer yep i said that

@Razer I just see it as a scam. I don't like having to be tied to anything. I don't like opting out and having nothing to show for it. I don't like being force fed what they want to give me for the sake of the extra fee. If I'm being charged to play multiplayer online, I want it to be as cheap as possible. I get the competition have lots of games, but man, I feel like they have their hands in my pockets using them.

I can appreciate this is a tough thing to swallow, especially if you are already subscribing to Sony or Microsoft (some folk will be both!). What's worse is when EA, Ubisoft, Activison all start doing it. Then you have Disney, Netflix. Heck even applications such as Office are becoming subscriptions. We are in the stage where everything seems amazing value because they want your subscription. And once you start paying, it's hard to stop because of everything you lose. I find the whole thing depressing if I'm honest. And nothing you said is really free. You just fell for the illusion of it.

@GrailUK But by this logic, Nintendo is committing a bigger scam, sure their online sub is 1/3rd what the others are, but the worth is 1/10th of it. I don't see this doing particularly well, i don't buy Nintendo consoles for multiplatform games that are big online like COD ect, nes games wont sweeten no deals here... i don't see Nintendo making this work in its current form.

Yeah i see what you mean though, in the bigger picture sense, it is all a bit depressing, who knows where we will be in 10 years time, prob paying a monthly sub just to use the app store of our blimmin phones... i see it coming

@Razer Exactly man. At least (and worth aside because I can't value it) from my perspective, the price for playing online isn't intrusive and I can mess around on some NES games / cloud saves whilst carrying on as I am. I only own a Switch, so I'm not interested in what other companies do ultimately. I chose a Switch because of what games are on it, not how many.

@GrailUK but this is exactly my point... how is this going to help Nintendo shift their online sub?

their current fanbase isn't big on online multiplayer, me and you have both just admitted to this... how are they going to get 20m switch users to sub for an online service that more than 70% of them don't believe is value for money?

Like i said i don't buy Nintendo consoles for their online multiplayer - multiplatorm games, or nes games, maybe cloud saves but i wouldn't cry if i didn't have it... how would they convince me to pay them then and others like me?

@GrailUK the burden is on Nintendo to convince people to cough up money to pay for their online.

and you've just admitted they are releasing a bare bones service.

where is the value?

How is Nintendo's stock not going to drop after this becomes active?

their going to go from 20m online users to less than a quarter of that in a day... a direct is badly needed, to cushion that blow... and it will be a huge blow

@Razer We will see. Your argument is exactly the one I was saying when Microsoft announced it for XBox360. Lol. It worked out ok for them eventually. So, I'm sure Nintendo will get there as well. I can't argue anymore about Nintendo charging for online because the precedent has been made. If you only own a Switch, it's not so bad. If you own everything, then yeah, folk may start to moan. But ultimately, Nintendo are doing nothing that Sony and Microsoft have not done.

@GrailUK The difference here is time bro... and deep pockets, Microsoft did this in 2006, Nintendo are doing this in 2018, Microsoft have had and currently have money to burn, Nintendo are not poor but they can't really afford to take these sorts of risks after the WiiU.

i hope it does work out for them, i hope they actually do more than what we are expecting, i actually hope that Nintendo prove all the naysayers wrong come end of Sept...

But judging by what we are currently going to get, it will defo crash and burn, it needs to be more than what they have announced, this currently isn't worth it, if Nintendo doesn't see that, they will soon.

@Razer I think it will do well enough for them to be able to invest in. And like you said, Microsoft did this in 2006. That's where Nintendo is. I'm happy to support em to catch up

@GrailUK well you go right ahead.

I'll remain unconvinced because i'm not from 2006, i'm from 2018, and the money i earn is also from 2018, so i will use this money to purchase services that make sense in 2018, not 2006...

If Nintendo wants money that is from 2018, they need to find themselves a time machine asap, because you are certainly the minority even within the hardcare Nintendo fanbase. The hate for this is real.

@Razer Shoulda hated back in 2006 mate.

@GrailUK i did. I wasn't down with it then and im not down with it now. More so then because the service Microsoft offered at the time is worse than what Nintendo are offering now.

But that was 12 years ago, Nintendo can't justify releasing this sort of service 12 years later.

I didn't pay in 2006 and i wont pay in 2018...

@WiltonRoots - I only scanned the page, but I saw “online service” in the headline, and now I’m triiiiigggered!!!

Here's how I see it, the online app will still be just as crap with only Splatoon on it. Yes you will be able to continue to play the exsisting online games but with no added voice chat. The NES stuff won't be worth it as most people own them 10x over and won't care about online leaderboards. The cloud system is worth it but will only back up selected Nintendo titles so if you've got 1000hrs ploughed into Minecraft or MHGU then your starting over if your system develops a fault. As as for awesome special offers these will be the same as the crap we have on Nintendo rewards now.
Most players will be buying this junk just so they can continue to play the online games they like. The voice chat and other features will remain unchanged. By Christmas we will still have just 2 games with voice chat. Splatoon via the cr-app and fortnight via the excellent native chat!

The nes games will honestly be the main reason I will get it - some (hopefully) quality 2 player games, including original super Mario bros. I don’t really own many games with a great multiplayer option, so this could solve that, and £18 a year is dirt cheep.

@WiltonRoots people complaining about £18 a year to play online. My visit to the pub last night was two times this amount, where's my money Nintendo?

@gortsi To be fair, the price of pints at a pub are not funny anymore, defo no value for money but thats because the whole price rise around drink and smoke, its actually quite bad.

ok... this seems fun... Nintendo doesn't own pubs but if they did, they would charge you to drink from old glasses you use to drink from before, they would serve the same drinks with no variation on their lines and unlike the other pubs that give you free drinks every hour if you "pay to sit", Nintendo will charge you to pay to sit and talk to your friends because "that's what everyone is doing". All while charging more for the drinks to begin with.

Their pub doesn't look great lol...

Will get it as soon as GameCube games are released. Double dash and wave race on the go!

@Razer it was £6 a pint but it's London so it could have been worse. You've got some points but you need to realise that a lot of people wouldn't necessarily care. I don't personally care about VC. There are three options out there giving you a ton of VC games, the Wii, the Wii U and the 3DS. I own about 30 VC games on the Wii U and the 3DS and I'm happy. If someone is dying to play VC games, there are 3 options out there, nobody is stopping you from buying one and play to your heart's content

@gortsi oooo okay... so i own a Switch but i have to own other devices to access other Nintendo content... yep... very consumer friendly... i can see you didn't really think that one through though, you can't expect people to purchase other devices to access what should be available on a premium 300 quid gaming console.

weak argument mate, but saying that. i do own a 3DS, and VC is not the issue, if it was the issue, you'd have lost that argument based on your logic of "just buy other devices".

The issue is:
Bad chat System
Not enough multiplayer games to justify paying for multiplayer - especially 3rd party games.
Bad friend-adding system
25 year old games being drip fed to us like we're on nostalgia life support
charging for cloud saves (this is just evil)

NAH bro, you can't justify paying them for this, i mean even if they were asking for a 5er a year i'd tell em where they should go. i have principals, let them get away with a shoddy service like that, they think they could do anything, nah mate im good.

@gortsi Half the gripes people are crying about I really don't care about because I don't waste my life glued to a screen playing games, most of my friends don't own a Switch and gaming just isn't that serious. Fun to watch the Very Serious Gamers™ get rattled because they're too impatient to wait for all the details though!

@Razer no you don't have to buy a 300 quid system to play these games, you bought it to play newer games. They don't owe you anything, these games were made for systems of the past so if.youre so interested in playing them then yes, go buy these systems and play along. Sony is also charging for cloud saves, do you moan at them as well? The not enough multiplayer games is also your opinion, most people have more than enough and wish we could play 24/7 like you do so we can also moan about not having enough games . I'll concede the bad chat implementation, but other than that my principles (not principals) are not generally related to video games, I'd rather have principles for more important things.

"the second half of September."

I never in all my life remember somebody referring to the "second half" of a month. Second half of a year, yes, happems all the time, but never of a month. Months don't have halfs, they have 4 weeks. It's either coming out in September or at the end of September. The entire month only has 30 days in it, just pick one.

"Late September" would work for all the Rod Stewart fans.

@WiltonRoots in one of the warmest summers ever, you'd think people would be out enjoying the sunshine than worry and whine about Nintendo's online service.

@gortsi you don't read everything that is replied do you? i can't really debate with you until you go back and read everything i wrote, its very clear you didn't do that.

Trying to debate with someone who only listens to half of what you say is like trying to reason with a child. i won't waste my time.

Just to sum up, i don't care about VC... but you'd know that if you bothered to read everything.

@Razer I did and for the most part it's incoherent ramblings. I did say you've got a point about the voice chat. Other than that I don't see much merit so I'm not interested in debating either, and certainly not about something that costs £1.5 a month. There are more important things in the world

@Razer Too many people keep wringing their hands over "it's not as good a value as Sony/XBox", and saying the service is worse...and I just don't see it. I subscribe to PS+, XBLG, and now NO. That's $140 worth of subs per year to get.....what?

Ok, XBLG/PS+ give away game rentals. They're rentals, not freebies. Since you have to subscribe to play, though they present them as "free games" what they really are is "slow drip feed Netflix library, and you can only add more to the Netflix library if you stay subscribed when it's added." Imagine Netflix. You can stream anything while you're a member. Now Imagine Netflix where the only things available to stream were things added whiile you were paying. So if you didn't subscribe January 2017, and Game of Thrones Season 500 was released that month, oh well you're going to have to pay retail for the season, $60, please!) I'm a fan of the free games, but they are what they are: A really really shady way to encourage forever subscriptions, because if it lapses, you're missing one of the things that's built into the price. (Sony listed the free games as one of the reasons for the last two price hikes.) NO is 1/3 the price. Stripping out the procedural Netflix library is more than acceptable.

The sales/discounts however are indeed a bit feature. In this respect it's like a Costco (US chain, not sure if they're on your side of the pond, where you pay a membership to shop there and they sell wholesale priced items...or so they claim.) I do use that feature heavily. Nintendo have also said there will be sales for member, but I doubt as good as on the other two. This aspect of the loyalty program looks better than any other.

Trophies/Achievements aren't part of the online subscription, everybody has access to that for free as a system feature (for now) so that's not really part of the paid online debate as much as just platform preference.

Voice chat...well, Fortnite proved that so does Switch. For some reason Nintendo games choose not to implement it. I've got no explanation for that one

The multimedia apps are made by 3rd parties, and are also not locked behind the sub (ok, on X360 they were, and it was a disaster, but not on X1.)

All of these distractions aside, I really don't see, for the actual paid service, what Sony/MS are offering for $60 that Nintendo isn't offering for $20. They all have laggy P2P gaming (actually MS does it best, main series like Forza, Gears, Halo get dedicated servers.....Sony doesn't do that.) They are all "paying for nothing", Nintendos is slightly less offensive a pay for nothing, however the value of "game sharing/home xbox" and the deep sales definitely justify the costs for me on those platforms. For Nintendo I'm not expecting that. But it's also 1/3 the price (or less on a family plan.)

Not justifying paying for online that's free on PC (for now) at all, but I cringe whenever people compare the others as "better" they are all basically the same thing, those offer a little more, for a lot more money (but you do make the money back if you heavily shop on sales.)

@gortsi ahh okay so i guess you generally just lack IQ, that's actually a shame.

I'll try and simplify it so a child, or someone with the intelligence of a child can understand.

I repeatedly said that VC was NOT what i cared about, it is NOT something that needs to be present in their online offer and to be quite honest i don't care if they never bring VC or nes games to any platform from now until ever.

you keep mentioning VC like i cared, i thought it was because you were not reading my whole replies, but it seems it's because you can't actually read properly. oh well.

You also said nothing about the other points i DID mention, but i can hardly be surprised at that now can i.

@NEStalgia You should have just started with the "but you do make the your money back if you shop for sales"... that's really just it though isn't it?... You said you don't like it when they compare the services, but when it really comes to it.... the other services actually give you MORE for your money, i guess it isn't really nice to hear a comparison with other online services that are actually better value for money than the one we are due to get.... with Nintendo we are not even sure if the £20 they want to charge is worth it.

The value on the free games alone if you continue to stay subscribed all year around is 500 quid for the year on Xbox and over 300 on PS4... that doesn't include the games they actually sell digitally on discount, there entire online offering from the services you do pay for to the ones you do not pay for are soooo much better than Nintendo's, it is so far removed that if you were to compare the value of one with the other, Nintendo's should only cost 5 quid a year. not 20.

No trophies are not something you need to pay for, but it does add to the online experience, the competition between people, the fun of it, Nintendo has none of that, Nintendo doesn't even really understand why people go online to play games, let alone give them trophies to compete with each other.

The extra bells and whistles that come with the other online services are not paid for but they all add to the experience, Nintendo does NONE of that. We will see how this turns out, but with the mixed response even from Nintendo's own faithful's, it doesn't bode well at all.

So they shut down ROM sites than only offer NES games? This has to be a joke. The competition offer free games every month for current gen systems. What is Nintendo thinking?

@Razer I don't understand nonsense mate, sorry. And you shouldn't be one talking about IQ levels when half your sentences don't make any sense, you don't know basic spelling (principals, lolll), and cry over £1.5 a month. You can't simplify things when you're a simpleton yourself

@Razer The catch is I said if you participate in the sales. Not everyone is interested in digital purchases for a myriad of reasons (insufficient internet for large downloads, data caps, a huge issue in US/CA), preferring physical media, for a variety of reasons including loss of all your content if your account is compromised etc. A very real risk too few talk about regarding digital.) I have been taking advantage of the sales but it's not for everyone, rendering that feature a non-feature if that's not the way you intend to use your system.

In those cases $60 for nothing but online play and cloud saves is worse than $20 for nothing but online play and cloud saves. Which was the case for me for years. (Worse your paying money to subsidize other people getting free things and discounts.)

All this would be a moot point if it was an optional service on all platforms. "Would you like to join our digital savings subscription club?" "Sure!" But it's not optional, they lock you from playing games you bought online until you pay for the digital savings club even if you don't want it, can't use it. If all 3 companies made it optional I would still subscribe. The savings and cloud saves are worth the money to me. But they don't let you pick services that have value to you. If you want one you buy them all. Nintendo offers less so they charge you less. It's the better deal if you're not interested in the other services.

I'm not debating whether NO is worth $20 or not, but rather, that it's really a worse thing than $60 for the other two. It's basically the same service. The other features for the extra $40/yr maybe worth it to some people and not to others, depending on their usage. Someone that just wants to play SF V, or Splatoon, or Halo and do little else, PS/XB have an awful value in contrast.

I'll be honest, I've never understood the appeal of trophies/achievements. I know some people love them. They're a wonderful instant gratification when they pop up like a slot machine, but for me, personally they're meaningless. Keeping in mind I come from "old skool" PC online....we had no trophies....Nintendo online play is the same as PC online play was for me. I pretty much just ignore the trophies/achievements on the PS/XB. (It's totally off topic, but I figured I'd throw that in there with the "Nintendo doesn't understand why people play online" thing) You connect...you play with others like an arcade....what else does it need to be?

In terms of value for money I don't really see a problem with Nintendo's pricing as a comparison of the other two. Different features for different prices. (Again not a debate of whether online should be free on any platform or not, just regarding the comparison of the companies' offerings.)

What I think is the bigger source of trouble for switch is, if they were going to require it it really should have been at launch to prevent confusion. Just like with subscriptions, once people subscribe they're likely to subscribe forever. Similarly once people are used to free they're likely to be much more resistant to that changing. The new console was the time to do it. If they had to delay over a year and a half, they might as well have held off for the next console and most of the controversy would have been limited and contained.

EDIT: NL is throwing random forum multipost fits again, yay!

@Razer I think we read it the first time...lol

@gortsi Well let me think so far:

1. You have tried to stupidly justify people should spend additional money for other devices to access Nintendo content (very anti consumer friendly)

2 You wouldn't stop banging on about VC like i even cared about VC, or even mentioned VC, clearly you hadn't read my posts and are just trying to play it off like you did, which actually further proves your lack of intelligence.

and yet, i am the simpleton, you can be deluded if you want, in fact judging by how simple you actually are, i wouldn't expect any less from you. but i refuse to contribute towards this, not because i can't afford 5p a day, but because doing so will give them justification to not try. No, i refuse to do that, i'll let sheep and drones do that.

Be my guest.

Edit: I guess a simpleton like you wouldn't fathom spellcheck errors.

@Razer take it down a notch dude, no need to reply 100 times, we get it. Send me your sort code and account number, I'll chip in the £1.5 via direct debit so that you'll hopefully stop crying.

@WiltonRoots Multipost was a mistake, lol. posting from my phone, didn't work out too well this time, website crashed while i was on the train, i press send like 4 or 5 times in 4 mins before closing the page but i guess they all went through

@Yorumi Truthfully, I imagine if it were optional the numbers would actually not change much. Most would probably still subscribe. Or, at least the heavy users would. The sales, and monthly games would attract many. Sony locks the cloud saves away, and is the only reason I payed the first 2 years of PS4 before dropping it when they hiked the price (then resubscribing when I started going digital for the sales.) MS gives cloud saves away free, but I'd subscribe for the sales. Nintendo's only $20...I'd pay for the cloud saves if they let me swap between machines.

I think the "all I do is play Halo online" group wouldn't pay....and for MS that's traditionally been a big group. Thus their introduction of this nonsense as required. I wonder if that's as prevalent on PS considering Fortnite is probably the big one for that, and that's not even locked.

@Yorumi The higher ups always think a lot of things. Microsoft started this and got the ball rolling. They did it because they needed to make up the money they were hemorrhaging on the XBox division I'm sure. They weren't really moving a lot of games and they build an ecosystem around a handful of online games that didn't move many software units.....monetizing online players was the only way to make the money losing numbers of selling consoles to people who buy few games work. Ok, I get it.

Sony did it just because they could. But the thing is PS+ was already doing well when it was optional, and leaping in the digital age would have seen the number rise organically. PS doesn't suffer the same syndrome of players that only play a few online games nearly as much as MS does, it's more vital to them to move more software units.

Nintendo....I do admit there was a secondary tier starting with WiiU of people that just buy the system to spend as little as possible and play Splatoon/Smash/Kart only. That was something new for Nintendo to deal with, they're used to frequent short term title sales. I'm sure that's a big part of it. A fear of losing their traditional rate of revenue due to the rise of online games (think of people playing just Splatoon constantly and buying no other games....they exist. Same for Smash. The people I used to play Splatoon with, they still pop up daily in my to corner....always playing Splatoon....I never see them play anything else. They bought one game and milk it's endless replay. I can sympathize a little with Nintendo, their finances aren't built on that model...that's a painful disruption.)

But I also think the panic to follow what Sony is doing is uncharacteristic of Nintendo. It seems strangely short sighted for them, and at $20 with a $35 family plan, it's not really designed to maximize revenues like Sony and MS's. I still feel there's a hidden force in all this from the big publishers who want it for some reason.

Still, we all know the day is coming when play is per-publisher subscription on any platform including PC.....and our monthly gaming statements will read like a Comcast bill. you know it's going to happen....

I could see some form of price fixing and collusion in this industry. It has become a kind of Hollywood "ol' boys club". More specifically I think the big publishers effectively hold the platforms by the sweetbreads now. They tell Sony, MS, and to a lesser extend Nintendo what their platform will be. And what it will be is a bog standard content delivery system for their PC games. Nintendo tends to shrug and do something else which is in part why "the industry" seems to write them off.

@Lord Please mind your language!

@Yorumi Maybe not on PC, but in general I'd assume the majority of players on any platform including PC are not editing binaries or managing traffic at the switch level, so while it may be possible It's safe to say the majority are using the systems and softwares as delivered, so if they put it up for that kind of system most will have ot use it. Plus, Ubi is still talking 100% streaming-only within a generation. And you know that means a Ubisoft subscription pass. And you know EA plots the same. After them? 2K, Squeenix, Warner.

Sadly EA remains some of the most popular games. They have occasional good stuff. Mass Effect, the back catalog of stuff, Titanfall is decent. They can put out quality. But they're always on that tightrope of monetization and control schemes. Ubi may be worse but they have interesting ideas, unlike EA so we hold our noses.

I agree though, honey is always more attractive than a stick. Force payments yield a grudging "fine, I guess I'll pay, but I'm buying nothing else!" where little temptations of gluttony are gobbled up "well, it's ONLY this much, and I really wannit." Executives come from "business school" where they teach textbook thinking based on statistical outcomes of past ventures usually rooted in ancient models as the fossils of academia always are. They are all authoritarians at heart, drunk on power. As such they miss the obvious that selling people what they want nets more money than finding ways to force purchases people don't want. Another part of it is these people live and die on spreadsheets. Selling X units with X required subscriptions to use it balances well on a spreadsheet. Selling X units with ?? sellthrough of optional accessories doesn't look goon on a sheet. It's a variable. These guys hate variables. They like absolutes with statistics and percentages so they can plot out the next 5 years revenues based only on what's in front of them.

Those guys don't deal with people. They don't deal with customers. They give orders, and deal with numbers. Someone else that's paid a lot less gets to think of annoyances like people and customers.

@Octane I always do, the words used here are demmed suitable for all according to the BBFC and PEGI classification boards.

@BanjoPickles basically a Nintendo-Steam. That would be great...

@JTMnM I get your point. But again, what would change if you know all the details one year, one month, one week or even one day in advance? You might get excited, you might be disappointed, but in the end, it doesn't change anything. It will be take it or leave it...

@mazzel

Yes! Nintendo doesn't need to play catch up in any other way but the way that they handle their digital purchases/user accounts.

@gauthieryannick It's 'unrealistic' to want to back-up saves to an SD card, which the consumer bought separate? Guess the 3DS was make my aliens then if that 'unrealistic' to you.

And I love how the narrative of people like you changes to fit what the Big N does. "We live in a capitalist world. Nothing is ever free. Everything comes with a price: if they’re not asking for money, then you’re trading something else (like your picvacy rights, for instance)."

Well then, guess the entire world hasn't been a capitalist world until the second half of 2017 when the Switch online service tried to launch, since the online of the DS, Wii, 3DS, & Wii U was free. Amazing how quickly the whole Earth changes when Nintendo does. That and or all those years Nintendo was gathering everyone's personal info and possibly selling it, in which case that's even better.

Definitely a day one purchase for me, if for nothing else, just to show my support for this unique “virtual console” like experience. Hopefully they will be open to bring us some N64, SNES, etc in the future. 🤞

Most likely to launch 11:59pm on Sept 30 at the International Date Line.

@JTMnM maybe we already know everything, sad to say.

Only a month away with unanswered questions and nothing pointing to signs fixing previous issues.

They were smart to price it at $20 because it would be laughable to charge as much as the others do.

Things that need to happen for me to pay for online on the Switch.

1) On system chat solution.
2) Better friends system (ie. more like how PS, XB, and Steam handle friends).
3) Better account system (ie. more like how PS, XB and Steam handle accounts).

This month alone I got 6 free games on PSN+, 4 free games on XBL, as well as extra discounts on top of already discounted games. I also cross chatted across several games, jumped on to another Xbox, signed in, and instantly had access to all my purchased games and game saves. My nephews even came over, signed in and had instant access to all their games saves even though they don't pay for XBL Gold. All this was enhanced by very easily joining friends and strangers online for some online games, across a wide range of games. I can do all this on Steam for free too.

As a service, Nintendo Online falls extremely short and isn't worth even the £20 they are asking.

I'd much rather have a virtual console with reasonably priced games instead of this hogwash.

The hands on the joycons in the top picture suggest the buttons are in the wrong place.

Do we only get a growing NES library? No SNES? At least give us not only the obvious NES titles please. Would love to play Over Horizon again.

I am not buying an online subscription now. I said I was, but I have lost confidence in Nintendo regarding the online service. There are not a lot of details on it, there is no option to copy save files to an SD card/USB PenDrive, only going to be nes games, no snes, n64 or gamecube games, and it seems likely that Youtube and Netflix(plus maybe even the internet browser) will be llocked behind the online service. And I also have lost faith because of Nintendos anti consumerism with certain things.

Looking forward for this service to launch but Nintendo need to reach out at us with a direct to explain exactly what is what with the service and what's included....

I hope to hell and back that they at least have leaderboards, if they can't employ an actual achievement or trophy-like system. I'm excited for the service, and am going to go ahead and sign up. That said, I hope Nintendo doesn't drop the ball on this one. They have the world eating from the palm of their hand right now, and a good, or even great, online experience could make the Switch a true standout console. Getting a little acknowledgement for beating Super Mario Bros in under six minutes, or getting all of the bonus stages on DKC, or beating Street Fighter II on hard difficulty, with no continues. It would be pretty cool to get a little gold star for things like that.

Sorry if I sound like I'm being overly critical, and I don't think it will break the system if Nintendo doesn't go all out with their online service, but it certainly wouldn't hurt. I have been a hardcore Nintendo fan for over thirty years now, but I still often buy a game on PSN before my Nintendo systems, just because the trophies provide extra challenge and recognition. Not trying to troll here, and just being honest as a gamer.

@Richnj

Agreed, and a full leaderboard system tied and searchable by account, plus their own spin on achievements/trophies (stars?), would be nice as well. I would be willing to pay extra for that.

All I want to see is app support ie YouTube twitch and spotify and a proper online chat system and I'll be fine paying my 25$

@DannyBoi Sigh I believe they will bring more than just NES games. You are jumping the gun here, dude. And being obsessive about it is not helping your argument, man.