Soapbox: Why I'm Not Excited About Playing NES Games On The Nintendo Switch

I want virtual console to return!

I can totally understand that, but I am more excited to play NES games on the Switch when I have time. Right now, I am gonna enjoy the Online Service.

A lot of NES games to date aged much, MUCH more poorly than SNES games, so the average gamer will probably find it completely irrelevant when buying Switch Online. I do believe we will get more additions down the line, but the pacing will be likely more akin to the Wii U eShop virtual console than, say, the Wii, which would be unfortunate.

That said I really still don't see the issue with the Online service and its pricing to me seems completely fair. I suppose not everybody can just allocate and throw extra money around when they have other priorities - but people on this website? I don't know why I still see complaints here. I mean, if you frequently visit a gaming site for a specific company, wouldn't you already be more than invested?

It’s more of the same really. If they had enabled some features to change the games up a bit (I know, would have required putting a little work in) like having co op for single player games such as Zelda or Metroid, I’d have been much more interested. Something different would have gone a long way. Or take those Wii U/3ds remix games as examples of messing around with them to play differently. Samus in Super Mario Bros for example.

We have soooo many ways to play these games already. Or move on from the NES entirely and get the SNES/N64 games first.

Everybody has enough with the NES games. Don't get me wrong, they are great, but we have had them so many times that it is not absolutely entertaining at all.

Is this what Nintendo can only do? Some NES games? Give us much more and by "more" i mean GameCube and Wii games! We don't want Super Mario Bros. 3 anymore, we want Baten Kaitos, the Metroid Prime trilogy, Super Mario Sunshine, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, Skies of Arcadia or The Last Story!

This is what we long for! Give us those games and we would be more than happy to pay you even more than 20 bucks per year!

But of course, no. This is Nintendoooooooo and Nintendo don't give a darn about what the fans want.

Some games sure I want to play but how many times do you have to play stuff like Urban Champion and Ice Climbers? They should do SNES/N64/Gamecube games along side these.

Was excited when we had nes games come to the Gameboy pocket then the Classics on the Gameboy advance then Wii, then 3ds as it was portable console retro games then Wii u and then the nes mini then so on and on and on

I hear you, but dont you dare yawn at RCR, and Lolo.

Still waiting for GameCube games. So far I'm ok with Dolphin performance on my phone but I'd pay money to download em on my Switch.

@Alantor28 well if you enjoyed the online service before I’m sure you would enjoy the online service now. Nothing has changed much

@Alantor28 you have been enjoying it since you got your Switch, except it was for free

I wish they’d dip into the Gameboy library.

I think most Nintendo loyalists have these games elsewhere, probably multiple times.

Everybody else probably doesn't even care about the NES.

I think we're all in agreement that Nintendo need to step it up a bit. I'll try the free 7 day trial, but might just not bother subscribing and using my Switch to play Fortnite for now. (as it's free)

I doubt I’ll even play any of them once. I just don’t care anymore. SNES maybe but I already have most of the games I like on that across my 3DS, and Wii U. If this doesn’t pave the way to eventual GC VC I don’t know why Nintendo is bothering.
I’m getting online for save backup and that’s it. I don’t care about NES or online play. I’m almost getting online out of obligation.

if baffles me that they never spoke about ANY FORM of network infrastructure enhancements. Not a single time have they ever said that online game play would be improved, or would feature dedicated servers, matchmaking solution.

so, how many ducks do you think I give to those "online features" ? NES games? get lost. Special offers? They can't talk about this just yet...why...why can't you start off with a 30 % off your greatest online game for a couple of days? Smarthphone app for voice chat? no I'm fine. I already have discord.

The only thing that makes sense is the cloud save.....but if you can't afford the online subscription, there is no local way to back up your stuff....

This service is terrible in 2018 and everyone knows it.

I'm actually quite looking forward to playing some of these online. Double Dragon should be a laugh as shoukd Tecmo Bowl, Ice Hockey and Soccer, as dated as they are. NES Tournament Golf I'll also enjoy playing competitively. Online play will breathe new life into many of the games. How long that novelty lasts though is another thing. I've never really been a huge fan of the NES, always preferred the Master System despite games like SMB3 being better than anything on that system.The NES games were never really good looking and felt pretty aged even when the console was in its prime.

I'm confident SNES games will start to arrive in the next few months. Super Mario Kart Online is inevitable.

Well, whatever suits you. I've personally played less than 10 NES games myself (mostly classics like SMB, Zelda etc) so this has quite a bit to offer me. Especially in the future when the library keeps growing.

I'll probably just start them up once, and then never touch them again. But honestly, I don't care at all about these NES games.
I'll pay only 6 euros each year for online play and cloud saves. I don't need more than that, although I don't mind having free GC, N64 or Wii games ofcourse, but it's not something I really need / expect for that amount of money.

I have a NES mini and don't play online games. I won't be buying the online program. But I don't really have hard feelings about it

@doomgc Eh, peer to peer servers are so much better than dedicated servers. It's too bad Nintendo put a bad wifi chip into the Switch, though.

Very well stated. Completely uninspiring.

Sega Ages should offer us some solace, and Capcom and whatever those Hamster folks are piping in this week 3DS situation this ain’t

If Nes classics is just the beginning and we will see more consoles added to the mix then I'm fine with it. If this is all they plan to release, I'd rather they stick to mini classic consoles and give us something else for our money...

NES Mini sold out everywhere gave Nintendo the wrong impression that people want more NES games... so there you have it: a bunch of 30 years old games re-released for your enjoyment.

Nope, I’m excited. Sorry that some folk aren’t. Hopefully this section of the service will evolve and offer more for those.

Who else is ready to be destroyed in Dr. Mario??

Here is my one and only complaint. Nintendo is going to drip feed these titles. The inclusion of free NES games was compared to a Netflix like service but with games. Could you imagine if Netflix released 3 movies/tv shows on their service every month. All Nintendo has to do is dump the ROMs. How hard could it be to add the online functionality to them? I bet fans could make this happen at a faster rate.

There's not an exact choice on the poll for me. I do want NES games on the Switch, but not really in this way. I would much prefer a Virtual Console-style service with a wider selection of games. Again, I would have no problem paying for these games individually, or even paying a higher yearly rate for a more comprehensive service. But trickling out NES games yet again is nothing to get excited over.

The whole thing just feels unNESessary...

Are you Excited in Dr. Mario?

I’m looking forward to these. Playing them on the switch will be good. It’s a good selection and clearly will expand into SNES and beyond.

To me the Switch is perfect for playing retro games but restricting it to only nes games just seems so very limited. The thought of being able to play, for example, Paper Mario at home on my telly and then take it with me to play it during a bus journey or lunch break is very enticing. Nintendo should be offering games from ALL its consoles, from nes all the way up to Wii and Game Boy all the way up to GBA.

I am a Rad Racer at Super Sprint. No, seriously. Love that game.

i'm buying online pass 80% for play NES games

Getting 29 NES games that can be played in portable and TV mode by December essentially for "free" with online play added in is not a bad deal...

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed though. I'm especially itchibg to play some N64 games in HD lately, and online SNES games would have made me so incredibly happy.

I'm going to love playing Dr. Mario and a few other games online though.

Already have NES/SNES classic edition. Why is NES games bring to switch. Already have one.

It should be SNES games at the very least 8 bit games are just too old now being able to play them online is a great idea but the SNES has some great games that would suit online play I just think the nes is too old so I’m holding off for a while to see what else comes along

I spent the weekend playing Shovel Knight, so I'm up for some NES action.

can they please just port the whole virtual console from the wii u over to the switch. I want to be able to play Donkey kong 64 and super mario 64 on my switch on the go. I would rather have a virtual console to pick and choose the games i want to buy rather than a service like this. you would thing they would make more money by selling the game individually on a virtual console type market since consumers can pick and choose games and buy the ones they want individual game sells on virtual console has to make more money than this online service. i could easily pass 20 dollars by buying just one classic n64 game on virtual console.

Perhaps because NES games are crap.

I really hope these NES games are just a proving ground for a subscription-based Virtual Console service. Nintendo would easily get £10 a month from me for a NES/SNES/N64/GC/GBA library.

Everything's just better on the Switch. Did I relish NES games on the 3DS? No not really. Yet I'm kinda excited they're hitting the Switch. I hope the enhancements are actually that, enhancements. I don't expect it to provide all the video game entertainment I need in my life, but I do think it'll be some nice icing on the cake. Part of me is also just excited for the anticipation of the one or two NES games I'm vying for (e.g. Castlevania III, Metroid) not to mention the eventual release of SNES games, GB games? GBA games? N64? GC?

Not particularly excited because I have them on NES Mini -and if not, I can add them... ahem-, and prefer to play them in a mini version of the legendary console, hooked to a TV screen and with the original pad in my hands (short cord aside).

Besides, I use my Switch mainly on the go, so competitive or co-op features is something I won't be taking advantage of. And most of all, I already have a huge backlog of Switch games and a fair share of Arcade Archives releases, so... I don't think I'll be playing these games so often. But every once in a while I'll do it. Mostly games that I don't have on the NES Mini, just out of convenience.

But yes, they should add other systems' games, of course.

6 months of NES then 6 months of Gameboy, maybe a couple GBC sprinkled here and there, then finally 6 months of SNES. It’ll be 2 years by the time we see some N64 and 6 months after that, GameCube.

I do know that those of us who have stuck with Nintendo hard will have played these titles in some shape or another and are good on the re-re-release of them. A few will be entertained by the notion of online NES Co-op (yes RCR... Yeesss...). But these games are here because they're quintessential retro Nintendo and kinda have to be "around" one, and two, it's an appeal mechanism for the uninitiated, such as casual enthusiasts or those that have stepped away from Nintendo since the Wii.
I think the NES games wouldn't be so complained about if they would just splat like, 100 NES titles from jump and feed from there. What would've also helped is games from SNES, N64, Game Boy, etc, and release 100 games across those-- that would have given more of that "WOW!" factor. I just think Nintendo is starting too slow, too safe. Hopefully they ramp it up and get other console games on the much sooner than later.

I'm actually pretty excited for the NES games on here. I personally didn't buy many of them via the Virtual Console due to having them already via other methods. But, the online aspect of these are what has me excited. Being able to play Ice Hockey with my friends online? Sounds like great fun! And also, some of these I have not played before so, to me, they are "new" games to try out. Granted, there's only a small selection of them I have not played, but still.

I just wish they would give us SNES or Mega Drive games instead. Heck, the Master System would have been a better choice.

From the launch list, this is how I feel:

** Soccer (no)
** Tennis (Mario Tennis spits on this)
** Donkey Kong (alright, but just play the Arcade release)
** Mario Bros. (nothing that great)
** Super Mario Bros. (classic, can't really complain)
** Balloon Fight (this game is awesome)
** Ice Climber (terrible controls)
** Dr. Mario (where's Puyo Puyo?)
** The Legend of Zelda (never liked this game)
** Super Mario Bros. 3 (one of the greatest NES games)
** Pro Wrestling (...)
** Excitebike (decent enough racer)
** Yoshi's Cookies (Yoshi!)
** Ice Hockey (sports game, go away)
** Baseball (come on...)
** Double Dragon (no 2 player mode)
** River City Ransom (this game was fun)
** Ghosts’n Goblins (good port, but tough as nails)
** Tecmo Bowl (AAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGG!)
** Gradius (there are better shooters)

Also, where is Super Mario Bros. 2? That's like the best one!

Never had a NES, never played any NES games, it's all new to me. Bring them on.

I hadn't been excited for NES games for about 10 years.

Gamecube games!!!

Contrary to this article I am excited to play NES games. This time I don't exactly buy them and they are all offered as a bonus for being a Nintendo Online member.

will prob have to wait a year for snes ,just in time for renewly time. why do nintendo always getbhjdebwrong

Snes would have been way better...

I find most NES games are too old and clunky for me to enjoy, SMB is probably the only exception. I'd be far more interested if it was SNES and onwards.

"When you are tired of 8-bit Metroid, are you tired of life?" In my experience, I'm tired of 8-bit Metroid after about 5 minutes of having to play it...

All totally valid points, much more variety in platforms and games would be ideal.

That way the launch might go with more of a bang than a whimper.

@HobbitGamer I'll happily destroy you on Dr Mario. I'll need some time to adjust to the NES version though. If it was the Wii/Wii U version you wouldn't stand a chance.

Actually I'm not that good but I'm alright. My Wii ranking was something like 7800. I never quite reached those heights on Dr Luigi.

I can’t wait to play these NES games online!!!!... and then never play them again after 30 minutes.

I agree with this. I find Nintendo's offerings online to be lacking imagination if I am quite honest. I am sure there is more in the pipeline but they have had a lot of time to work on their online service. A mushroom, flower, star achievement system is a no brainier for me and would inject a lot of replayability into games like Zelda. It's a cheap service I guess and I will still be buying it, let's wait and see.

@OorWullie I'm not great either, but that music is soooo addictive. Not that I'm looping Chill here in the office, or anything....that would be crazy. Just grab my code from my sig, I left the Switch at home.

I'm actually impressed to see more than a handful of folks in here mention this game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ax00m4-7Nw

This Online scam should be a embarrassment and if you look close enough it is quite a knock towards their own supports, fans, and customers.

They think we are stupid, apparently.

It is not only stupid, it is very, very lame.

Total pass from this lifetime Nintendo fan. I hope they get their heads together on this, I think it is a big mistake for them in this day & age.

Why doesn't anywone get it?? Nintendo is doing it right, it is just the marketing that is wrong. People complain that it is not fair to pay for something that was free, but the Switch Online Service was never supposed to be free. Nintendo however decided to give it for free until they can add something more. We were lucky, and nobody seems to see it. Nintendo assumed the price of the online service maintainance when it was supposed to be paid by us.

It is as siple as this:
1) Nintendo planned to charge for Switch Online play at launch.
2) The offered price, 20€, was already competitive with PS4 and XBOX one. Yeah, you wouldn't get any "free games", but you were just paying for the online service. Many people would prefer to be able to play PS4 online for a chepaer price, and they wouldn't care if that included games. So yeah, If you ask PS4 users if they would preffer to pay only 20€ for online play and not have any "free" games, many gamers would accept that deal.
3) However, Nintendo thought, even if we are offering a good value for money, we should add something more while keeping the same price.
4) Therefore, Nintendo decided to give us temporarily for free a service that wwas going to be charged from the beggining util they could add something more to the service, even if the value for money was already right. And in the mantime, Nintendo would pay for the mainteinance of the serves, something that was supposed to be maintained with our subscriptions. That is why there is no improvement on the servers with the online subscription, because this servers were already designed for a subscrition system.
5) Nintendo then decided to add the NES games for free, as a plus to the service. This means that when you are paying the online service, you are not really paying for the games, you are paying to play online, and the NES games are just an added present.

If at launch Nintendo had said: "You will have to pay 20€ to play online from day 1" (without including any free games), then people would have understood that it made sense, and would ahve also udnerstood that if they wanted an online service with games, they would have to pay a more expensive online subscription.

Howver, nintendo didn't communicate this correctly, and people just think "why should I pay for something that was for free?? A yes.. we are paying for NES games".

it is as simple as that

Homebrew and emulators already gave me NES games on Switch. Honestly I'm still sad that Nintendo is making us pay for online games. 😥

I think making such a push on this service rather than glossing over the details of the switch online service has definitely left a sour impression with people. I see potential in this growing library and online multiplayer but really to get the ball rolling, it can't just be a few nes games per month. Hopefully recent trademarks hint at gba, gamecube, gameboy and snes support but we'll see. Honestly it's moreso Nintendo talking down and trying to sucker people to buying overly expensive dual kits of nes controllers that only work for these is a niche of niche, waste of plastic and product and showing really some ignorance on their part of the market. You can get good enough nes bluetooth controllers or mod a snes classic controller if you're worried about compatibility with other games. and way cheaper. I just see how perfect it slots in to the side of the switch and i just think that it'd be perfect for vertical arcade stuff, shooters except unfortunately they might not see it that way.

We aren't idiots nintendo. We know and bug you over what we are talking about all the time. If it means some weird button combinations to replace other button functions, we can handle it.

I think it's an excellent selection right now, but in a few months when people are getting just 3 NES games each month the novelty will be gone. They really need to make sure the offer is better once it comes round to annual renewal time. (And I'm hopeful that they are deliberately holding back on SNES/N64 for now so they can give that another marketing push in a few months.)

Speak with your money. The service is weak, and giving me games that I've played a million times is not going to cover up that fact.

This whole initiative from Nintendo only serves as another argument towards retro gaming needing to get on with the times and become as simple as all other media out there, namely, movies and music.

There is absolutely no freakin' reason (other than greed) for companies to rerelease their games over and over again and asking us to pay for them over and over again. Granted, this is a bit different, adding some features like online play, but this feature seems to be tied to the "emulator" running these games and not the games themselves (someone correct me if I'm wrong).

Think about this. What if Apple required its users to buy their music and movies all over again whenever they upgrade their phone or tablet to the new model? Do you think Blu-Ray would have had any kind of success if it didn't allow people to play their regular DVDs as well?

It seems videogamers are a strange breed indeed, as they're often willing to put up with stuff that wouldn't fly anywhere else. You even sometimes see some fiight in favor of such nonsense!!!

Videogames need to mature. At least the retrogaming aspect. They need to become like music tracks/albums or movies. You bought it, it's yours and there is no reason why you should be asked to pay for it again (not talkking about remasters or new editions of those games - in that case, paying is ok - like having bought a movie on DVD doesn't grant you the "right" to the superior Blu-Ray edition in better definition).

It would be interesting though, if instead of selling us these old games over and over (individually or through perks), companies like Nintendo would instead sell us their emulator (improved each generation with new features) to allow us to play the games we bought (digitaly) from them since forever... That, I'd be on board with. And I'd have no problem buying new emulators each generation (kind of like upgrading your Blu-Ray player, or Music player to get better features).

@skail I think the timing is bad. They originally said paid online would start late 2017, so it's already a year late. If they'd come out with this level of content a year ago people would have been much more forgiving.

@liveswired Mega Man 1-6, Castlevania 1-3, Mario 1-3+, Rygar, Zelda, Adventure Island, Final Fantasy, Lolo 1-3, Turtles Arcade, Tetris, Super Dodgeball, Double Dragon 1-3, Punch-Out!, Metroid, RC-ProAm 1&2, Rad Racer 1&2, Faxanadu, DK Junior, Goonies II, Willow, Crystalis, Battle for Olympus, Boy and his Blob, Blaster Master, The Guardian Legend, Shadowgate, Snake Rattle’n’Roll, Excitebike, Tecmo Bowl, Blades of Steel, Star Tropics, Rolling Thunder, Dig Dug, Bubble Bobble, Dr. Mario, Chip’n’Dale Rescue Rangers, Batman, Spy Hunter, Clash at Demonhead, Mario Golf...

Those’re all quality NES titles. They’re certainly not ‘crap’

To be fair, Nintendo, if you want more people to play NES games again why not try putting games that haven't been re-released before? I mean, games like Super Turrican (The European exclusive NES game, not the SNES game), Devil World (In the US and it should be possible now), just more of the obscure ones!

@BlackenedHalo if you want all those games 'netflix style' you'd be looking at more like 20 bucks a month

@chardir it is. And oviously if it has been delayed it was because Nintendo though wanted to, but because preparing the NES games took more than expected. EMulting those games on swithc, plus online play, plus improvements, plus filters, plus reduction of batery consumtion (emulated games usually consume a lot more battery) took them more than expected, and as a result we received more free months of something that we sould be paying for.

I mean, it is clear that these servers are much better than teh Wii U ones. Play MK or Splatoon in wee and comparre it to playing on Switch.

Oh OK.

2 reasons to pay the 20 bucks :
1 - Splatoon 2
2 - Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate

Seems like childish contempt being that way about it. The fact is the VC is thankfully dead and buried. This here is just one of many perks a cheap online service includes. Not only that, unlike the actual dead VC this one has the ability to play online with friends and outside of the WiiUs piddling efforts you have HDMI on the stuff too. This is at no added cost instead of $5 a game.

There's no reason to rationally hate, piss and moan about this freely included upgraded NES library in HDMI that has online play. You couldn't take RIver City Ransom on the VC-Wii online and kick ass with friends, nor could you torment a buddy in Balloon Fight ending them into those weasels for sadistic fun either.

In a way this is like Amazon and not Netflix. With PRIME you get the 1-2 day free shipping for that $120, but as part of that you get a decent but not huge/great library of movies, same with music, and other perks. This is just a perk among a few with the service. Hating on it just seems shallow and pedantic, just petty.

I guess I will have to remain hopeful that Nintendo will introduce additional console sources in the future. The NES library is very limited in terms of games that are still worth playing and that we haven't played to exhaustion. The SNES is already worlds more appealing.

Alex kidd and Wonderboy 🤩

It reminds me of Ghost House,if you remember this game you're probably too old 😁

Anyway I'd kill for a new ghost House, i'm serious !

I'll probably spend 5 minutes playing the ones I haven't played before, such as Pro Wrestling, can't see myself spending more time than that though.

@BornInNorway81 Play Wii, Wii U or 3DS then.

@skail Yeah, they announced paid online right from the start so I'm happy we got so much extra time for free. And I'm certain the supposed 'outcry' on sites like this bears no relation to what the general public are thinking.

I do love NES games, but it is baffling that they, save for the HD treatment of Wind Waker and 3DS release of Luigi’s Mansion, have ignored the GameCube outright. I mean, I’ve had access to PS2, via PS3 and PS4, for about a decade now!

They’re a big corporation. How did they not see this as a huge step backwards from Wii, Wii U, and even 3DS?

NES has some ok games but personally I'd prefer SNES or N64, if not Gamecube. Even if it was a smaller selection, the games themselves would be more substantial.

I won't be happy until the Switch has Mario World, the Donkey Kong Country trilogy and A Link to the Past dammit! I'm sure the NES and SNES Classics were developed as a lead in to this though, in particular the emulation, so I'm sure we'll at least see SNES titles once they've burned through easy wins with the NES.

@Moon You don’t need to subscribe to the online service in order to play Fortnite.

It's not even that I'd want a steady stream of SNES and N64 games either (although it would be nice). I'd just like some! Plans may change, but I don't plan to play these NES games at all!

Smash is the only reason I'll be signing up for the service later this year. Not thirty + year old NES games.

Small correction - playing Splatoon 2 online is not a benefit. Nintendo are taking the ability to play Splatoon 2 away and selling it back to you.

Bring it all on!

We (Nintendo gamers) really have to get over the Wii's virtual console. All Nintendo's 'partners' didn't believe it was going to be successful and happily let Nintendo pay for the privilege. Now they know better and all have their own retro releases launching on multiple systems and even mobile.

Nintendo just isn't going to get that library ever again.

With a little luck we'll burn though these NES games and we'll get SNES titles soon enough

I think we have a right to be a little discouraged but at least were getting those and not completely without classics to play. I just hope we get more consoles in time

Why didn't they just bring back Virtual Console? I just don't get it.

It's just too tedious waiting for your favourite systems to (maybe) turn up.

I'm not sure I'm ok with waiting years this time and may just get a GPD XD Plus to play a bunch of past digital and physical games I've already payed for and still own. There isn't even a guarantee we'll get our favourite system in the entire lifecycle of the Switch. And that's an unacceptable level of non-information.

There is simply no need for Nintendo to tease in this way. I actually thought Nintendo would at least throw us a surprise last minute treat with something substantial like Metroid Prime Trilogy HD as part of online. Something like that would have given us all faith in the service. I believe they need to offer a bit more than they are.

yay, Balloon Fight and Ice Climbers. Give me a frickin break, Nintendo, giving us a bunch of (mainly) early NES games is hardly an incentive. I'll be getting a subscription regardless, but this does not sweeten the pot at all.

I speak for myself: NES games especially this preliminary list (Soccer! And Tennis! etc.) is not persuasive at all. I wait for Nintendo to add better games and also other platforms. If not, no 20$ from me.

@KoopaTheGamer Be ready for disappointment, just saying. Most decent NES games probably won’t ever come out given copyright issues with third party publishers.

A Daz soapbox!? That's good to be rarer than a typo-free Dom article.

I'm ready for this launch already. Simply put. All nintendo systems will be out for the retro games on Switch. Eventually.

I'm real excited for nes games. I'm playing Super Mario Bros 3 right away.

Overall though I'm not happy about just nes games. A year and a half to just include nes games and nothing else is a bad move when all previous consoles VC had so much more.

The two key points in your article I think were:

"While these [Xbox Live and PSN] subscriptions cost significantly more"

"You can argue that these NES games are a freebie and Nintendo didn't have to make them available at all."

Together, these explain away pretty much everything you're complaining about. Nintendo online costs 1/3rd of what an Xbox Live subscription costs, so of course they're not going to give away the same calibre of games. The main point of the service is online play and cloud saves.

@rushiosan Nah, I'm not expecting too much for less than 2€/month. Just the ability to play Dr. Mario online and experience some classics like Ninja Gaiden is more than enough for me.

I'm paying to play Mario Kart, Splatoon and some other games online, so this is a nice bonus.

I’m surprised by the poll (showing at the time 53% against NES games). I am interested to know which set of console games people would be most interested in playing on Switch. NES, GBA, SNES, N64... I feel more and more confident that Nintendo will likely remaster GameCube games rather than give those to us for free with switch online. Why give people Metroid Prime 1&2 when they can charge you $60 to get them and 3 in a trilogy pack? Luigi’s Mansion 1 is coming out shortly for 3DS, and Windwaker was Remastered a few years ago, so I suspect it’ll receive the porting treatment to Switch eventually. Further evidence is the fact that other PS2/GC era games have been/are being remastered for Switch and other consoles with games like Katamari ReRoll, Rogue Trooper, etc...
I think that I personally would be more excited for NES titles if there were games with a bit more longevity. I love Super Mario Bros, but I’m certainly no good at it. Not good enough to reach its end. I’m looking for some RPGs or at least, less arcadey experiences.

What a boring, negative article.

Just imagine a world where for whatever reason you didn’t buy all those NES games on Wii/3DS/Wii U/NES Mini/GBA/GameCube... Bet you’d be excited then.

Personally I’m happy with the versions I have got, but don’t begrudge Nintendo making them available again to an audience that isn’t me.

People gonna complain either way.

As someone that has NES classic and SNES classic, the only hope of me buying this service since I don't play much online play with my switch was that the NES games were at least going to be more unique than what we've seen. There are a ton of titles I'd love to replay, though bigger problem is probably a lot of these are going to be 3rd party games. The 1st party I've played over and over, only game I play online on super rare occasion right now is Rocket League. I also have Splatoon 2 which due to the online has now become a worthless game for the once or twice a year i might feel like hopping on it unless I buy their cheap, but undervalued online service. I'm really disappointed with the online launch thus far, I don't even pay for PS+ anymore unless something really interesting comes along to get me to pay for it.

@doomgc Online games already run great on Switch. I do it every single day, via WiFi, without a hitch. Family Account for me.

@TheDragonDAFan I edited my original comment for clarity, but yeah, I know it's free. That's what I meant. I will probably not bother subscribing and just continue to play free games.

The real draw for me is that I can play them with friends over the internet, no emulator has ever truly done that reliably without lag.

I feel the same way.

I feel that the offering of the NES games is an attempt to distract us from the lack of features that Nintendo's Online service is offering.

After the service launches today, if I still can't send an invite or a quick message to a person on my friends list, I'm seriously throwing my hands up in the air.

I get that the service is drastically cheaper than the competitors, but for frig sakes, can we please get some basic features! What is the point of a friends list if I can't even invite them to the game I am playing. It's so frustrating to see that a friend is playing Monster Hunter, but I can't communicate with them to set up a room or organize a hunt together.

To me this is the main draw to the service and yet I also feel like the NES is not enough. If it was mixed with Super Mario World and maybe some SNES games not on SNES Mini and then topped off with an N64 or GBA game or two...

Baseball, Tennis and Soccers are almost unplayable. The gameplay is so dated and sluggish.

Abandoning VC was a dumb move. The Switch could have become the ultimate Nintendo machine! It could have had access to decades of Nintendo classics from various systems.

Instead, we get the same NES games we've played 100 times before, but now with online multiplayer.

Bleh!

@Ralizah No offense but I don't get that thinking you and others in here are having as it makes no sense. How does being handed individual multiple times over re-released Nintendo games for $5-10 a piece weekly/monthly make the system the ultimate machine? What's that say about the games made for it? Not good enough?

All this is is just a notch thrown into the belt of a list of offerings for the cheap yearly service charge and that's it. If someone actually did buy it all not that I think they would that's $100 up front and $15/mo in NES releases through 2018. The ACA setup is better, has far more variety the past lacked and with a much better constructed tool set in the options panel as well.

Waiting a whole year for this is underwhelming to say the least...If it was released on launch date it would have been acceptable and the library would already be massive with snes/n64/gc games.For what cost ? 20 bucks or more ?

Waiting one or two years again expecting more from this service is annoying as hell.There's no guarantee at all snes/gc/n64 will be released at a later date and i won't hold my breath tbh.

The switch is an amazing console and to me they're clearly failing to provide the ultimate retro/nostalgia experience atm,while refusing to improve the Nintendo Switch, blatantly forcing arbitrary restrictions because why not...

They're totally diconnected from their customers and their expectactions. I'd gladly pay for an instant library of quality legacy games but they're providing too little too late.

I probably won't subscribe and i really wanted to, but it doesn't look like a "service" to me, at least not atm.

Their games are amazing but they treat their customers like crap expecting us to forgive anything.

Level up your game Nintendo, nostalgia won't save you forever.

I haven’t bought any VC games before on my 3DS or Wii U so, in my case, I’ll be playing those games again for the first time in over 30 years.
So, for me, these games are a very nice addition to the Online Service.

@VmprHntrD The ultimate Nintendo machine. Because they're Nintendo classics, and the Switch is a Nintendo system, also a fully portable one. That has no bearing, one way or the other, on new games being released on the system.

I also don't see why one would object to paying $5 - 10 for classic games that you'll likely get way more than 5 - 10 hours of playtime out of.

Bah. Kids the days!

Anyone know what time the update releases today? I’m in the US.

I love the NES, I even shelled out for an AV Famicom with the High Def NES mod so I can connect it directly via HDMI to my TV but I’m not interested in Nintendo’s online offer.

We’ve had three systems now (Wii, Wii, 3DS) where Nintendo slowly dole out ROMs on an achingly slow schedule and I’m sick of it. The lack of SNES, N64 and handheld games also makes this a less exciting proposition.

I love the NES but I can play all the games that will never be released on this service on my AV Famicom. Nintendo really needed to launch their online service with loads of games from all systems. I don’t play online so the only real incentive are the classic games and this selection is just paltry and not worth the money.

I’ll be first in line to pay when there’s 20+ games from every Nintendo system on there.

I'm sure they will offer more down the line. They'll just keep raising the price as they do so, you can bookmark this.

Since there's no actual service being offered -Nintendo's not paying for any dedicated server as far as I know- I wish they'd kept the Virtual Console for those who want it and left online free, which would be a selling point for Switch in itself. They'd still be making a profit.

@Ralizah My point was having a lot of rehashed emulated games doesn't make it a better product. And against your logic, then why should anyone object to getting the games in a amazon prime/netflix style fashion at no charge other than the fee for the larger service then.

It just comes off as a whole lot of whining and entitlement culture drama with all the multi-person ranting about the service sucking because of old NES games being there and not far more or charging for each thing. Be happy it exists. They could have reasonably did $20 for what's there with no games too. Then you would have just had the complaining it was too much from the same group who whine about online paid service fees.

I often hear people be very vocal about these things, especailly virtual console, but...

I don't need it. I don't want to play these old poorly aged titles. People can say they're timeless, that they're some of the best games ever...

And while that might have been true, gaming and games have evolved. No matter how good these old games are, I feel like new games are better. Modern games have quality of life improvements that some would call "making them easier", while I'd call them... Quality of Life improvements. Fast travel instead of hours of backtracking, bite-sized great story-telling instead of 10 hours of running around for a dialogue box with 20 words in, and so much more (cutting it short because I could make this list terribly long and I'm already bad at shortening my comments)

I mean, I'm a huge freaking Pokémon and Fire Emblem fan... And while Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword might be the ONE old game I'd replay forever... I still think newer games in these franchises are inherently BETTER. They have deeper gameplay, more quality of life improvements, they look good and they play smoothly. They're also accessible and let you connect with people from all over the world.

Heck, I had a friend who loved Fire Emblem but couldn't get into it properly because she was so terrible at it that she was incapable of progressing... Enter casual mode. Yes, people who are experienced or good at Fire Emblem hate that mode. Phoenix mode too.

But I think that most of these new features and improvements make the franchises better. So I don't need the old games or the virtual consoles. I'm content with the current generation of quality games we're getting.

I wish Nintendo would just release a collector's edition cartridge with a couple dozen of their best games. They could release one for the NES, the Super NES, and the N64. Heck, make it a dozen per cartridge and sell multiple volumes. People would pay good money for this, Nintendo!

@Whalehome GBA and Wii are the ones for me.

@VmprHntrD Yes, having access to more games makes a system better. PS3 and Vita are better for their ability to play PSOne Classics, and the Wii U was better for having a decent selection of VC games.

Well, I actually wouldn't care if the online service offered a wide variety of games across multiple systems, but there's no evidence of that happening. Moreover, once I download a game, I have access to it permanently, whereas a subscription service requires me to pay forever.

As I said, though, I'd still be satisfied with a Netflix style system across multiple systems.

But that's not happening, and we both know it. We'll be lucky if we get SNES games in this service.

If you're happy with what's being offered, that's cool, but don't lecture others because we're less satisfied with how things are panning out. I am under no obligation to be satisfied with this arrangement. Nintendo has every right to design NSO however it likes, but it ultimately needs its customer base to pay in so it can thrive.

@superpotion that is not a problem, for quality one has to pay

LoZ, LoZII, Mario 1, Mario 2, Mario 3 are timeless classics that never, ever get old. Some third party games like Castlevania 1, 2, 3, TMNT, and all the Capcom/Disney games are also timeless. But so much of the rest of the NES library has either aged very poorly or was effectively rebooted on the SNES in superior fashion, mostly replacing the need for the original upon release. The NES was amazing in its day but few of its games really stand out as the remaining definitive version while the SNES really was more than an NES successor, but an NES upgrade where a lot of series returned, basically redoing the original game more in tune with the original vision so it's hard to pull a large number of NES games together that have so much meaning. The classics should never stop being available, and a I miss a few outliers you don't see as much (Little Nemo's Adventure, Mappy Land, Adventures in the Magic Kingdom, Millon's Secret Castle.) But really the heart of games people long for are SNES and Genesis/MegaDrive. Plus back in 2006 not only was all this retro stuff newer, but we had 12 less years of NEW content competing with it, including boatloads of new classics to relive. Xenoblade 1 wasn't even out yet...that's already a retro classic of its own! The old games should never disappear, but they're also not very much of an incentive to play, even for free, compared to the volumes of more interesting content already available.

In a sense, Square dumping almost the entire FF history on the console in one announcement makes this look worse. Almost the entire catalog of what a week ago was Sony's finest retro collection for nostalgia, is now coming to Switch. And it's a lot newer, and more relevant than the NES games.

Nintendo is looking at the value of their intellectual properties differently. I see no reason why they wouldn't release a tiered system. $20 for online and NES games, $30 for previous tier and SNES games, $40 for previous tier and N64, $50 for previous tier and GameCube, $60 for full access to all Nintendo systems (including Wii)

@Ralizah Thanks for the last sentence, you proved my point entirely with that: "Blahblahblah you're so entitled because you don't kiss the feet of the multinational corporation I love." Anti-business moron who wants to whine about what companies do with their stuff like you're entitled to it. it has nothing to do with kissing their feet and you know it.

@electrolite77 See now that I do agree with. People should think about what they pay for, why, and how much to anyone. Single guy up to the big business. It's the demanding problem about feeling entitled to a service that was not intended and won't be happening just because it was there in the past. What is there is what you get, and as a person you either pay for it or don't, but gffsiv about it isn't going to fix it as they don't care. Not paying makes them care, money talks.

I suspect most people have but a limited number of games they are willing to buy and replay multiple times, especially after having played them substantially or thoroughly before. So is this two-line kind of knowledge worth dedicating a whole article to? If you aren't excited to get and play all these NES games again, don't; from what I hear, they require a unified 58 Mb app that you'd have to download separately, so it's not like we even have to "tolerate" this yawn city (sic) in our Switch storage. Just like PS+ games are something you aren't even forced to have in your account's library if you don't want them.

Comparisons with competition are natural (even if not very effective in terms of customer rhetoric because Nintendo largely DOESN'T view it as competition since they exited the graphics race - in their eyes, even the underwhelming sales of Wii U have been ascribed to its own marketing shortcomings rather than to competition having cooler specs and services), but if it's "hard not to compare", then why don't we COMPARE rather than pretend to? Comparing brings us to GwG which launched long after Microsoft's paid online and IGC which launched long BEFORE Sony's paid online (and launched with relatively small casual titles, too - the ante was only upped to combat the userbase's temptation to "look back and whistle"(c) at successful PS3 hacking). CCG is pretty much the first platform-specific online sub that packs an explicitly tie-in "collection" bonus. It's also the first legacy-themed collection perk I know of (unless XBox's Game Pass has a whole lot of BC stuff right away); it's not like Sony was even out of PS1 classics by the time they stopped giving those out at
all. And the only thing it offers to the "nostalgia bearers" (who, as is par for the course with fans, like to delude themselves that decades-old brand loyalty is everything Nintendo thrives and survives on) is the platform's natural perks (like portable one-screen local multiplayer, one of Switch's least rivaled offerings to this day) and NSO's added perks like online multiplayer and interactive spectating (the latter of which, frankly speaking, is the one thing I'm not looking forward to and will probably opt out of as long/soon as I can help it).

Otherwise, "everyone has had enough of NES games" is a narrow-minded and egocentric mentality that continues to dismiss the influx of future gamers who may have not grown up to access the classics even around the time Virtual Console was all the rage. Now there's yet another opportunity, this time bundled with what many people will have other reasons to use anyway and offering a bit more than Virtual Console did for its whole digital ownership (the ownership that a lot of fans STILL write in parentheses for its digital nature). Forget online multiplayer, I can only wish my Pokemon Blue and Gold had online trading, dagnabit! XD

But it's clearly not Virtual Console even to Nintendo themselves (hence different versions of the same games like Mario Bros and SMB on the same platform), let alone to third parties who continue to roll out their own archives and ages and whatnot. And it should be crystal clear by now that Ninty primarily expects people to subscribe because they're still willing to play Splatoon 2, MK8D and ARMS online, not because they will have a stellar chance to have a bunch of frequently re-released classics and applaud their friends while watching them play those classics.

Once again, it just boils down to two things - either you subscribe or you don't. The rest Nintendo most definitely listens to - it's us who still don't comprehend the simple concept of listening and simply NOT complying. Most of this so-called "anticonsumer" stuff is the result of conscious choices, so it's time we acknowledge them and tend to the respective conscious choices on OUR part. Rather than sit here and act like - pardon what qualifies as an expletive in my vocabulary - fans about it.

@BubbleMatrix82 that would be best

There is nothing wrong with any games being played on the Switch, per se.

But my Switch was purchased as a home console (hd aaa games played on a big screen), and could also play the same games on the go.

As long as that criteria is met anything additional to that is a bonus. Like nes games, Indi or ports.

But Nintendo is struggling to meet that criteria with AAA games and instead we are flooded with those other games.

The Switch has evolved into a hybrid between a handheld and a home console, with the handheld taking the lead.

Until Nintendo can sort out the shortage of choice of AAA games (including giving us new third party stuff and not so much 5 year old ports) then they should have held back on churning out more nes stuff. N64 and Cube games? Yes.

The thing is Nintendo are gonna win this in the end.

I've said it a few times, its a dirty trick but its very clever and will likely work. They'll get really high sub rates and we'll all eventually fall in line one by one.

This service costs nothing for them to do, putting up this paywall doesn't cost them anything, they have no overheads here.

They hid a bare bones online gaming access behind 2 features they know people will either want or badly need... Cloud Saves and VC...

Nintendo knows you hate this and they know it will start off bad, but watch sub numbers double when they allow cloud saves to be stored for 3 months after sub ends.

Watch sub numbers double again when they drop SNES games... Then again when they drop N64 games... Then again if voice chat is added... Ect ect...

All while it costs them nothing and we one by one sign up.

We lose
They win

Nintendo needs better in-house developers... 18 months and this is all they are offering for their online services...? It's cool, I guess, but it isn't offering much in improvements, just a couple of additions... I guess I'm glad developers are taking things into their own hands, like Rocket League running on their own servers.

@BubbleMatrix82

As i saw no reason for them not to release VC...people have too much faith in Nintendo, as i did, forgiving because they 'll do it "for sure and really soon, why wouldn' t they after all ?"

We did that for a year and we're supposed to do it again ?

Yeah...nope...

They rely too much on fan's expectactions and Nostalgia.I want proofs not promises.

@VmprHntrD Well, I edited that bit out because I realized there was no point in being rude, but that is how the tone of your post strikes me. Everyone who complains about Nintendo's approach to their version of the IGC is "entitled" and a "moron." That's the mindset of a toxic fanboy who can't handle other people being unhappy with something his or her pet multinational corp is doing.

I have no obligation to pay for NSO, just as Nintendo technically has no obligation to make me happy with its services. But that mindset isn't going to lead to a fruitful consumer/producer relationship.

I love the classics and can't wait to play them online.

Some people just need something to cry about.

@SuperZeldaMaker I mean you do you and be bitter but virtual console was a failure, maybe not to you but from a business standpoint it had very low adoption rates. By building the games into the subscription package it allows people who aren't internet or computer savvy to adopt it. Sure, it's a bit underwhelming, but that's your instant gratification talking not your wallet

@Scrummer Right? The games have aged a lot better, too. I mean, SMB3 isn't a bad game per se, but come on.

@daveh30 Some people sure like being quick to being sycophantic for Nintendo too, so..

@BlackenedHalo It would work really well and kind of matches the tiers for cell phone plans so it is a tried and true system. Also most people pay $60 for live or PSN anyways so if you climb to Wii games then it makes the incremental price hikes look worth it.

Throw in Netflix at tier $30 a year and Twitch at $40 then it starts looking sweeter

@Ralizah I haven't been a fanboy of theirs in many years. N64 era pushed me into Turbo Duo, then into Sega and Sony after. The spit Wii name in general broke my confidence entirely with them and the U was the first console in 33 years I've sold off in total disgust while it was active with no remorse.

I'm just taking it as, it's like Amazon Prime, you get a lot of catch all things in a bundle. You either like the price or not, but whining over or worse fanboys demanding they get more games, more systems, more old stuff as part of a catch all smells of entitlement to me. You're entitled to support it or not, that's it, and the way to screw or not Nintendo is to not pay them. That's how I see it, same with the VC.

They gave up on it years ago with each iteration having less games, less frequent releases, and less care into it as it wasn't making them money and fewer cared to waste time on it. So I kind of take VC is dead, been dead for years, get over it type of attitude with that one. That's why I'm happy you get some tossed in NES games monthly, and that the ACA and other things exist as they're doing it far better than Nintendo ever did at a respectable price. Hamster ACA is the model but others have done a few nice things too in that line.

@electrolite77 what you describe is a hyperbolic mentality likewise befitting a fan rather than a human (so you can BET those seriously suffering from it are the most readily bound or wired to explode in their own parasitic entitlement later on). Sane people don't blindly "lap up everything a corporation does", they just weigh the offer and the price and decide the worth, priority and likelihood of them getting on board on these terms. If any of the three factors falls short, they move on to what they percieve as greener pastures or just bite the bullet and tone down their hobby through a possible "draught" of those - PRECISELY because they can live without playing these games. Fiction is precious, but it's not food or water or medical and communal services. Only fan love, the inherently detrimental mentality born out of obsessions and addictions, can drive a person to lecture, denigrate and attack a creator or publisher for not acting "consumer-friendly" enough for their interest, because the very idea of simply turning down the current unfavourable offer and NOT getting another dose of the selective aesthetic drug in question as a result is ever-increasingly foreign to them. "I love it so much! - so give me more, more, MORE, and don't you DARE create, let alone obnoxiously maintain, a situation where I end up not getting what I love!"

Outside the bane of fanship, it's much simpler. New entry unsatisfactory or full of undesirable mechanics like lootboxes and such? Wallet zipped, better luck next time. Online service ultimately not worth paying for? Zip, clasp, click, better luck with Nintendo Swiitch Advance and Splatoon 3. And topic closed.

@BubbleMatrix82

I know and i understand that but how is this supposed to be an improvement ?

I'm not against the Netflix subscription type at all,but i don't call that a service.

I'm not sure what i'm paying for here...Underwhelming online service or underwhelming netflix-like service...or overpriced offers...

"give it time it will improve" is not enough for me.

Sorry nintendo but what was the year delay all about again ?

To me it was supposed to be a top notch Netflix service, online access and cloud saves are almost secondary.

But none of these features seem well implemented in the end.Nothing stands out here except dumb arbitrary restrictions ala Nintendo.

Personally i won't sign up now but I'm old enough to admit when im beat.

Nintendo have me up against a wall with my save data and the pittance it costs to back it up.

Soon as SNES games drop or even when the NES game library reaches 50+ i can't really ignore that... No matter how many times i own them or how old they are. If SNES games drop before NES games hit 50 then i will sign up that day.

Im just being real with myself... I'm angry at Nintendo now but eventually this deal is gonna get better as more games are added and my anger will abate.

Half of you will sign up if they allow cloud saves to last 3 months after sub and the other half if they ever add voice chat...

NES games and online gaming aside

Virtual Console is a console staple. But I think it's STUPID that they're using this to market their online service. Nobody cares anymore. It's nice to have them for the few people that haven't played virtual console but to have it as a main selling point of the online service is completely tone deaf.

I'm not terribly bothered about paying $20 for a year of online, that's not really a big deal to me.

But the NES games don't interest me at all. I have all the NES games I have ever wanted already on my Wii, 3DS and NES Classic. Not to mention I still have a working NES with games.

I'm just shrugging my shoulders about all this. Move along, move along.

I simply do not care about NES and SNES game, period. If there was a Virtual Console, I would not buy them. I certainly won't be subbing to this service for them and I refuse to pay for only save backups (which should be free!).

I want N64, GC, and GBA games at the very least. Especially GBA because those aren't on 3DS

Having these NES games on the go, and to pick up and play for a while will be great!

Like others, I'd love some additional systems, and there are probably some plans on the horizon. But this is a nice start (NES being their first major console, after all).

I really like what the Switch is doing for retro gamers. The fact I now have the original DK arcade, Neo Geo, and NES titles, in addition to PS1 stuff like Crash, and soon, FF7, is unimaginable to me (someone old enough to have grown up with the original NES).

We aren't getting it "all at once," but I am confident Nintendo will start offering more legacy games over time. By the end of the Switch's lifecycle (if it ends), the breadth of classic games has the potential to be massive.

Also, many of the old VC titles looked terrible and muddy. I'm hoping they avoid that, and HD remasters is a cool start.

With NES and Famicom, I prefer the ritual of blowing in the cart and then resetting multiple times, without it it just isn't the same experience

@SuperZeldaMaker The issue is you are a niche retro gamer who values classics over indie games and the other things the system has to offer, but the system isn't being made for you exclusively. The system is being made with scarcity and demand side economics in mind. They tried the "make it and they will come" supply side approach with the Wii U and they never came (I did but not many people did). So they are going to force us to do things in waves. Surely out of boredom you will try a game you never would have liked because it is available and now you are a newcomer to a genre you thought you never liked.

Look I want access to my childhood favorites too like Lufia 2 but if the game industry wants us to not have access to that then we have to wait until they do or go on eBay and buy original hardware and the game at top dollar.

The real issue is, $20 a year is too little to pay for better games. Clearly they need cash flow to build a server farm and the appropriate network load balancing still. You may think Nintendo is this rich company but in reality, Nintendo only has a games division; Sony has music/movies/Tv's/walkman/etc and Microsoft has Windows/Office/MSNBC/Bing/Etc. It just isn't a fair fight at the moment. Give them time to evolve.

One more point is Nintendo is a culture, they need Smash to release before they take out the big guns; they make more money on Smash than any other franchise (Zelda included).

The article here is spot on.
If you really love old Nintendo Classics you of course already own the NES Mini and maybe even the SNES Mini. Getting it all over again on the Switch is just... sigh… a drag. However!! The prospect of playing some of these games online multiplayer... like the fantastic Ice Hockey is actually super neat.

Meh, if you don't want the NES games, then too bad.

I'm still waiting for GameCube VC and SEGA to release some of their Saturn games on modern systems (then just more Mega Drive again) but you don't see me complaining (mainly cus lets face it Nintendo nor SEGA listen. )

I have mixed feelings. I love NES games, but the majority of the Nintendo NES library is somewhat bland. Super Mario Bros, Legend of Zelda, Metroid and Punch-Out are examples of classics that hold up. No one needs Urban Champion, Baseball or Tennis. Then there are games like Donkey Kong, DK Jr and Dr. Mario that are okay but show they come from a different era.

Much like we learned with Wii U, the retro offerings only are worth it if everyone is involved. Without the Capcom, Konami, Square and other good publishers from that era it all wears thin fast. Throw in that some of the best games were licensed (Batman, TMNT II, Little Nemo, Disney Capcom, Little Samson, Willow, and others) that will never appear because of licensing nightmares, and the service looks thin.

I look at it this way. This is just the start of this service. IF they had skipped NES games, folks would be whining about that. Better to get down to brass tacks and start from the bottom and work their way up. I say give it time, plus with no VC publishers are more likely to release collections rather than piecemeal games out via VC and having to go through all the licensing hoopla. Nintendo might do the same and create collections. Also...its a free perk to the online program.

@frogopus Good points, and I agree with the sentiment. I'm not buying an NES or SNES Mini. I don't want another item to hook up and only be tethered to a TV. This service offering is a good alternative for folks like me. I don't want to buy the games piecemeal again, either. I've already done that on the original system and the Wii. This is a value to me.

i wish the poll had a second question after answering the first one age group question, cause im pretty sure all my buddies who are in thier mid 30 to late 30s(the age that grew up with NES) cant wait to play theese online or on the go...personally my friends are all over the country but with this i can bring back my old tournament brackets for exitebike, hockey, soccer, and the best tournament game out there for the nes balloon fight. I feel like the kids look at theese game and instantly get turned off to the graphics which is why alot of them like the SNES better

This is underwhelming and has no wow factor, but I can’t complain that much either (as long as snes games etc come too). Better than buying these games again.

Did nobody tell Nintendo?

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/amp.timeinc.net/fortune/2018/06/11/net-neutrality-what-now-fcc

This online service with no dedicated servers may well be banned soon...

I just learned this..

ISP will have the right to block p2p connections... LOL

Apparently something many of them have been pushing for...

How does Nintendo not know this???

Why I AM excited: Christmas 1989 my brother and I got an NES with Super Mario Bros and The Legend of Zelda. Those were the only 2 games we had for a couple of years and we had a blast playing through both of them while our dad sat on the couch and watched us. Now almost 30 years later I'm now the dad and get to watch my 2 boys play through them as well. Excited for the service.

@Aneira sorry but your wrong, if you love NES and SNES classics, then why would i buy another system that requires power and hdmi and either requires me to buy wireless controllers, use short wires, or buy extension cables for controllers. its not convenient in the least bit and was a flat out money grab to stop people from buying rasberrry pi and running roms with ANY bluetooth controller. i never bought the mini systems cause i saw what they were a money grab and in nintendo style they made sure they short shipped us so the demand seemed higher then it was...

cant wait to play a few of my friends online with balloon fight

If I can play Splatoon without getting booted every third game I'll be happy

Peer 2 peer is gonna be dead soon.... Either this means Nintendo will defo have dedicated servers or multiplayer gaming will not exist as your ISP wont allow you to.

Theres no 3rd option... Either it WILL be dedicated servers or no online....

Rather read a book than play some archaic NES game at this point in my life.

I appreciate the past, but zero desire to relive it in 2018.

@Razer That happened in June. Last time Comcast down-throttled P2P they got hit by an FCC fine, as well.

ISPs are unlikely to destroy P2P gaming connections because the ISPs do not offer a competing business. The entire concern of throttling comes when it intersects a product like netflix with Comcast (who offers their own VoD service)

@BlackenedHalo

Truth

@HobbitGamer oh really??

Didn't read it?

Here...

"It’s finally happened. On Monday, U.S. net neutrality—the rule that says telecommunications network operators must treat the traffic they carry in a neutral way—died at the hands of the current Federal Communications Commission (FCC), led by Ajit Pai."

The part in bold.... FCC killed it....

I am excited by the NES games but I would rather pay for them and not have to go online to “verify” my purchase.

And yes that does include me paying $5 for yet another way to play Super Mario Bros 1.

I have no interest in playing games online. I would have paid for the service at a price point of ps plus if the games had been there. The monthly games on there is more than worth the asking price.
Bloodborne against NES games. Yes some of these are bonafice classics but as the article points out- I have all the ones I want on VC.
Plus I finally have arcade Donkey Kong- why would I go back to the NES version.
Someone st Nintendo needs to wake up.

Warning: Long post ahead.

To the topic of games, no, you're not alone. As an old fart gamer who grew up with Nintendo, I played all of these games when they were initially relevant and have watched Nintendo milk them through continuous repackaging since Super Mario All Stars on the SNES. They've been repacking and reselling those games ever since. It's almost as much of a joke these days as Square Enix's constant reselling of the Final Fantasy franchise. I see a lot of differing opinion on the Virtual Console among the comments and I can understand the pros and cons but at least the VC was continually growing and making inroads into Nintendo's larger library. With this, VC is dead and buried and we've all taken two massive steps backwards from where VC was even in 2006.

As for the service itself... The people claiming "It's only $20, that's 1/3rd less than Microsoft or Sony" are the very people Nintendo is preying on with this service. A deep dive comparing what each service offers — not just the 'free' games component — illustrates how what Nintendo is offering isn't worth $20. Period.

On Xbox Live, cloud saves are free for everyone. Not just Live Gold subscribers. EVERYONE. Sony is the only other company that paywalls their cloud saves. Both allow all games with local saves to be backed up to the cloud, not just some games with caveats like Nintendo's half-arsed system. Both also allow users to manually back up their own saves on external devices, also unlike Nintendo. Neither Microsoft nor Sony hold your save data hostage like Nintendo is attempting to do.

Xbox Live and Playstation Network offer a significant network of social tools for gamers. Clans/communities, calendars, and LFG on Xbox Live just to name a few. This is on top of the decade-old standard social functions of on-system text messaging, voice chat, and party systems. Nintendo's online system is STILL a decade behind, not even allowing us to send messages to our friends on-system. On the Switch, the "Friends List" is aptly named because it's quite literally JUST a list as we can't interact with friends from it in ANY meaningful way. Can't join them, can't message them, can't group up with them, can't send game invites.

It's 2018 and both Microsoft and Sony have (somewhat) gotten with the times pioneered by Steam; Both of them regularly have deep sales on their games and flash sales throughout the year. Nintendo's eShop sales have been lackluster at best on first party games and I doubt they'll ever embrace flash sales. Both Sony and Microsoft's online storefronts are far more robust than Nintendo's eShop on the Switch as well.

I'm sorry but if you think what Nintendo is offering is worth $20 a year, you're not paying attention. Because what they're offering is a "service" that isn't even up to par with what we had in 2007 from everyone else.

PS: Anyone who's paying $60 a year for XBL Gold or PS+ is doing it wrong too. Plenty of sales to be had on those throughout the year. I haven't paid more than $40 since forever.

@HobbitGamer here...

But what will that actually mean in practice?

The unravelling of the net neutrality rule—which was introduced under President Obama’s FCC—theoretically means companies such as Comcast, AT&T t and Verizon vz can block certain content on their networks, or slow it down if the companies behind that content don’t pay for it to be delivered quickly and at good quality.

Read it... Its the exact opposite of what you just said.

NES Ice Hockey is pretty awesome. It should never be placed in the same sentence as NES Soccer.

@HobbitGamer peer 2 peer is very high on this list...

Eh

I agree with you Darrwn wholeheartily. When Nintendo kept pushing over thus year that the service woukd launch with NES, I had dread. (Not Metroid Dread unfortunately.) I want SNES games, N64, and NEO GEO.

@Razer fine with me. Get players back in their living rooms-together.

@HobbitGamer I’m excited too! I’ve never gotten to play any NES games and I’m interested to see the origins of some of my favorite characters and added online play sounds great!

I'm really pretty bitter that the Virtual Console has gone under. I foolishly believed that the many games I purchased for past systems would carry over at least in some form. Many have repeatedly told me that I can simply keep those consoles to play those classics on - but I think a home-console/handheld hybrid would act as the perfect way to showcase Nintendo's incomparable legacy in the video-game industry and I'm honestly shocked that this is how they capitalise on that heritage. I'm also not going to keep multiple consoles hooked up to my TV. It's completely unnecessary and counter to where we are technologically right now.

I agree that it's good value for the price - but it certainly isn't where I was expecting the Switch to be this far into its life cycle.

Nintendo has been very clear on one point "growing library of NES games". Don't expect even snes games unless nobody pays for this.
In my case I don't really enjoy most of that generation games due to tank controls, I couldn't care less about online multiplayer which means that for me unless there's discounts I am not going to subscribe

There are good points in the article. SMB3 was either the first or second game I ever played (Duck Hunt was the other one). While it wasn't the first one I owned and beat (that'd be SM64), I would eventually go through it four times. Twice on the original, then the All Stars version, and then the GBA port. It's a fantastic, enduring game, but I've experienced it already, multiple times, in different forms. And although I prefer SMB3 to Sunshine, I'd rather play a the latter on Switch, even if they just put the GCN version there without any fixes because it's had no release other than the original one.

But it's all rather moot given the pricing. For what they're charging, you're not going to put together a great argument that you're not getting what you pay for. Not as good as it could be? Sure. But not that the service doesn't match the price. Letting people use their gold coins (which have extremely limited use, especially for those who had the last system) is another way. If you've been buying Switch games on a regular basis, there's a good chance you don't have to pay anything extra to use it. That gives them a lot of power (on top of already having more than with VC because they're not selling the games to you, but rather giving you access to them) over what they do, because relatively little is being asked.

I wouldn't mind a progression where they keep adding tiers and access to each console comes behind a price. $80-$100 a year for where you have access to NES, SNES, N64, and GCN (with each one being around an extra $20 a year) would be a good deal (maybe you can add Wii too, no real point in Wii U since pretty much everything is being ported) and not a bad model because revenue can be extracted from those who don't want full access and are willing to pay less for less.

I bought quite a few back on the Wii (when this site was VC Reviews!), I thought the VC was such a great Idea back then, it still could be I think.

It was a shame we saw the same old 50Hz / 60Hz issue play out, which did limit my interest as I was already aware of modding PAL consoles to have retro games run at their correct speed.

I picked up a few NES games on 3DS and qualified for the 'ambassador' games, which all ran in 60Hz. I skipped the Wii U, but did buy the SNES Classic Mini for its 60Hz gameplay, the NES Mini didn't interest me as much.

This limited licence model on Switch would not appeal to me at all for retro games, personally.

@darthstuey sorry granpa but peer 2 peer doesn't include peer 2 server...

Either they get dedicated servers or drop online... In 2018 a tech company dropping online is suicidal.

They'll dedicate servers...

@Captiosus this is the ‘rightest’ thing I’ve read today. Nintendo are unbelievably backwards in this area.

Playing Tecmo Bowl or NES for that matter never gets old

@Razer sigh- I was being facetious 🙄

@darthstuey wasn't clear and im in super research mode right now. Im surprised this isn't bigger news...

"Comcast’s decision to throttle P2P traffic was quite likely motivated by competitive fears—file-sharing was a threat to cable TV, and P2P voice services threatened traditional telephony revenue. Under the new rules, if an operator tries to worsen users’ experiences in an anti-competitive way, people won’t get to complain to the FCC, though.

Instead, they’ll have to go to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC,) which already has enough on its plate dealing with the rest of industry. FTC investigations are also slow, and are limited to antitrust violations—which depend on companies having clearly dominant positions in their markets—and the breaking of public commitments.

So, if your cable company does start slowing down Netflix in order to give a boost to its own services, relief could be a long way away."

This is HUGE...

@BubbleMatrix82

"The issue is you are a niche retro gamer who values classics over indie games and the other things the system has to offer, but the system isn't being made for you exclusively"

I never said that, you're just assuming i'm stuck in the past when in fact Nintendo's brand recognition is all about Nostalgia and fan service.I'm more than happy with what the system has to offer now, it's simple, fast, efficient and provides what i loved in the first place with video games.Something Sony and Microsoft struggle to provide more and more with few exceptions ofc.

That's why in canceled ps+ and barely touch my ps4 while i'm stuck for hours on jrpgs, classics,indies and welcomed quality third-parties.

If you believe indies are not based on classics and provide a whole new experience you probably don't understand why it works so well on Switch in the first place... thanks to niche gamers like me.

I'm a versatile "hardcore" player and i know exactly what i'm for Nintendo. I just don't understand when they fail to provide what they're supposed to.

"The real issue is, $20 a year is too little to pay for better games. Clearly they need cash flow to build a server farm and the appropriate network load balancing still. You may think Nintendo is this rich company but in reality, Nintendo only has a games division; Sony has music/movies/Tv's/walkman/etc and Microsoft has Windows/Office/MSNBC/Bing/Etc. It just isn't a fair fight at the moment. Give them time to evolve."

It's also a choice from them.They don't want to compete and honestly it's too late.If they did why would i buy NINTENDO anyway ? It's exactly why i buy Nintendo.

You make them sound like indies struggling to exist on the Market...

To my knowledge they never mentionned dedicated servers and online improvement.Thinking they'll improve everything once the cash flows is a supposition.I'll believe it when i see it and i usually pay for what i get and not what i may get in an hypothetical future.

Why should i pay for peer2peer ?

Well now i know dedicated servers are 100% sooner or later

If Nintendo offered this bundle of 20 NES games for $20 on the e-shop, I suspect many people here would buy it no questions asked.

I think a sticking point is people's idea of permanence...of owning something "forever" vs. the temporary/subscription based model.

The idea of "forever" in technology is an illusion for most...and a reality only for those hardcore fans who collect and preserve retro hardware and software. Even those, one day, will become inoperable.

Like it or not, streaming, in some capacity, and subscription services will be the future of this industry.

@Razer Net Neutrality or no, P2P is the core function of the internet. The whole Net Neutrality debate was discussed here in a thread I wrote considerably on some time ago but the TL;DR is that monstrosity they called "net neutrality" here was anything but. It was a tangled web of complicated preservation of the status quo in a document longer than the Manhattan phone book written mostly by lawyers for big tech such as Google. There was nothing helping consumers in there. It was another battle in the ongoing war between Big Data trying to use government as a kudgel to force data carriers to help them profit without having to pay and negotiate what they want, while Big Telecom tried to use government as a kudgel to force data services to restrict what they use to help them profit from carrying said data. Neither side was helping consumers a bit, and the "anything but neutral" neutrality bill was a convolution granting Google and friends ever greater control of how the internet works, while pretending it was about preventing granting Comast and friends said same control. Of course it emerged during an administration that was tightly in bed with Google and friends.

Real net neutrality, should it ever exist, will look nothing like that disgrace. It shouldn't just be rejected, it should be stamped upon, burned, and thrown into a chemical toilet. Sadly I doubt we'll see real net neutrality at any point. Just more "legislation" drafted in Silicon Valley corporate boardrooms for their own benefit, by using government as a weapon to acquire what they want. Until then, as consumers, we're far, far better off leaving the status quo and hoping neither side ever actually "wins"...whichever side "wins"...we're screwed.

As for what the real crux was? Video. Nothing more. These companies are in a contest for video delivery. Netflix and Google were cutting heavily into the video services from Comcast and other ISPs and throttling was their way of trying to favor their services. But it's all about video.

Even Windows Updates are P2P...there's no general conspiracy against the backbone of the internet from the ISPs. There's no profit motive in that. It was "ISPs" or really "cable companies" protecting their video monopoly. They don't have game server monopolies. Additionally, online gaming actually uses very little bandwidth. Even if the connection were heavily throttled, it would actually have very little effect on gaming. Torrenting movies applies tremendous upload. Gaming uses a fraction of the bandwidth of 1080p streaming let alone 4k streaming. They could shut you back to ISDN speeds and you still would game at full speed. It's a non-issue for gaming. (now with net neutrality, metered internet connections were a thing.... imagine downloading that other 10GB of L.A. Noire when you're billed for each GB? )

@Razer While the repeal of Net Neutrality is a big deal, I think you're A) conflating P2P gameplay systems and P2P file sharing systems and B) overestimating the impact the repeal will have on online gameplay.

Comcast throttled peer-to-peer file sharing and high bandwidth VoIP systems. Yes, likely as an anti-competitive move. But the key phrase there is "high bandwidth". The amount of bandwidth being consumed by your average P2P multiplayer game is TINY compared to the huge chunks of data being moved when, say, you stream a 2 hour movie on Netflix at 1080p.

Throttling online game data would almost cost more to implement than it would save the company doing it.

Where it gets sticky is in the form of modern day game updates. Depending on the game, those updates can take a good chunk of data and may become subject to data throttling by an overzealous ISP.

E: Beat by NEStalgia with the same comment!

@Almighty-Koz

Look up hakchi2 and you've got the answer.

Just go for emulation!

On a sidenote: Seeing as the Switch has already sooooooo many downloads they better use that exact same library on future consoles FROM THE START. It would be god-awful if they start from scratch yet again!!

I'd much rather have a proper Virtual Console, but as someone that held off buying any of the classic mini consoles in case they got released on Switch, I'm happy to see them included with the online service. Hopefully it'll be expanded beyond the NES one day, but for now I'm happy enough with it.

That's just fine, we get 20 NES games for 1.67 per month. It's great to have cheap games, but, anyone expecting Gamecube, Nintendo 64, and Wii games at this price isn't living in the real world. And, to expect that at launch is even more ridiculous.

@Razer although in all fairness- I don’t ever play games online and do prefer multiplayer in the same room. What you have high;ighted sounds as though it could affect all aspects of WiFi ness. Eg- kids online playing their games- me streaming movies or tv and music- wife on whatever social media. ISPs can start throttling at will is what you are getting at is it?

Honestly, I'm fine with these games. Yes, they have been re-released time and again, but I'm alright with it, doubt I will sink that much time into them anyway. What I would like to see for the Nintendo Online service is some type of achievement system akin to XBL and PSN. Why can't we get something like that? Seems kind of like a no-brainer at this point. Hell, even different games on the switch already have achievements in them and logs for those achievements. Come on Nintendo.

@NEStalgia @Captiosus @darthstuey It's okay, he clearly doesn't want to understand the issue. I already pointed it out, and he's spread it 4 times. Conflating a 'sky is falling' supposition that still hasn't taken place and bending it to fit a narrative isn't new.

@HobbitGamer I’m off to see Kylie now- I’m over it already. 🤗

@SuperZeldaMaker

Nintendo is rebuilding their brand identity after that businessman president got them out of bankruptcy risk. I don't know if you know it but the new President (a Millennial) has a very radical vision for the company and their goal is to expand beyond the "Nintendo equals nostalgia times family friendly divided by hardcore gamers plus Apple 'we are the best' arrogance" that they once had. The fact we have publishers like SquareEnix and Bethesda supporting this system is a sign of a huge shift in Nintendo strategy (reminder: SE still hates Nintendo for wasting their time on the SNES CD and forcing them to go to Sony for FF7 so this is a breakthrough).

I get it though man, $20 is worth a different value to you than it does to me. I buy $40 to $60 worth of games every week, so to me $20 A YEAR is nothing and should score me nothing besides paying my dues to get cloud saves and special deals. If the service were $50 like PSN or Live then I would be complaining but $20/year is nothing.

In comparison, Netflix is $156 a year for a very limited spectrum of content. Funimation or Crunchyroll (individually) costs $96 a year with a great range of content but not enough imho. Amazon prime costs $120 a year and it doesn't have a very robust range of content either since most is gated at a rental fee instead of included with the service. So paying $20/year for a library that is certain to grow over winter do to popular DEMAND then I think you are being childish and entitled.

But alright man you be salty and hate on this startup cost for a service that Nintendo has never done before. Nintendo is new to DRM so giving this a trial and error to me seems reasonable. Just like how our Switch system menu doesn't have folders yet or even menu music, it all needs to develop over time.

Welcome to HaaS, hardware as a service

Back on Wii (10 years ago) I bought 10 of those games each for 5 bucks: Ice Hockey, Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, The Legend of Zelda, Yoshi, Solomon's Key, Metroid, Wario's Woods, and Adventures of Lolo. 50€ for 10 games. Same prices a couple of years ago with the Wii U and 3DS, with a couple exceptions being DK and Balloon Fight on sale for a few pence.

And now we get 20 games for 20€ with online, plus 3 more games each month. For someone who never played those games it's definately something to be excited about. Some of my favourites are Solomon's Key and Mighty Bomb Jack.

14 out of those 20 launch games seem to have online multiplayer which is pretty cool for games such as Mario Bros., Ice Hockey, River City Ransom. And I'm still excited to play the few games I haven't played before, like Pro Wrestling, Super Dodge Ball, and Ninja Gaiden.

Wario's Woods with online should be awesome.

But yeah, the surprise is gone, the games are predictable. After the announced bunch we will get the 16 games that are still missing from the NES mini and then all the other games that are already available on Wii, Wii U and 3DS VC.

I totally understand this feeling. NES games aren't that exciting besides the classic franchises. That's the reason I hardly played the NES Mini when I got it. Too many high score chasers that hold your attention for only a little time. But it's a good starting point for getting SNES and more eventually. Even though I struggle to understand why they didn't open it up to SNES and other consoles, and launch with a huge library from the start. It's the drip feeding that irritates me. Just get them on it, and get it over with.

Anyway I will say it's good we don't have to pay individually for each one. Although...I'm wondering can we even play these if we don't have an internet connection?

I definitely think Nintendo has milked the NES cow dry, especially after releasing the NES Classic mini. I love playing some of the NES games but I feel like they are pushing the NES games and neglecting everything else. It’s time to start seeing everything from SNES to GameCube coming.

@HobbitGamer To be fair, virtually nobody understands the situation which is the whole root of the problem: Everyone understands the version painted for them by a monied interest seeking to weaponize their support

But I grant exception to Razer, he's a Brit, so the particulars of something that nobody here even seems to understand are but a distant concept on the other side of the pond. He's got the same mess to meander through with the two sides of Brexit before he can worry about US's Googletrality.

@NEStalgia That’s what I meant, he’s just seein an article that’s written by a company whose parent company has a vested interest in one outcome.
When both sides pay for ‘studies’, no one learns. No one that makes decisions, anyway.

I’ve already got an ISP that is a co-op so they’d be interested in doing things that keep consumers rather than drive them into the arms of competition For now

@BubbleMatrix82

You didn't get my point but whatever i'm a salty snowflake who can't afford a 20 buck subscription.I'm out to find a decent job and man up 😂 thank you 👍

You like to assume things don't you ? Sorry for being poor, i'm sooooo jealous of your Netflix/amazon/starbuck/McDonald's subscriptions while i struggle to get NSO...like for real...

We'll see how this awesome service will end up.If it changes I'll be the first one to admit i was wrong.

The popular demand wasn't about Nes games btw unless you've been living under a rock.

Smh...

Indie games celebrate nostalgia in a much better and creative way than this classic but just outdated offering.
I would be willing to pay a little more if the service was more like psplus.

The value is there, it's just the same rehashed games that people are getting bored of.

Like the author I was excited by these games over 10 years ago, (remember they were re-released on GBA before Wii) but now I can't stomach the thought of playing them again no matter how classic and great they are.

It feels like Nintendo taking the easy way out to add value to a new service.

The way I see it, there's a lot of these like pro wrestling and baseball that I would want to play, but not spend $5 on. There's also games like SmB3 that I wouldn't want to pay $5 again just to play on Switch. It's fine if you're not interested in NEW games, but considering the quantity for the price, we're actually getting access to these games for DIRT cheap. That's why I'm kinda surprised people want to go back to the old way of VC, spending $5-10 on each game versus getting access to a wide variety of titles for a base price. Each to their own though.

@Aneira well that doesnt answer like 75% of the things i said, doesnt solve teh wire issues doesnt allow me to play on the go, doesnt allow me to play theese games with friends across the country, and requires me to buy a 50-75$ devicethat i would now have to hack/mod to play roms that i can already play on my laptop.. your comment added nothing just made you feel superior to say hatchi. id much rather this then to go through all that and spend extra money, its litterally gonna cost me 5$ for the year of switch online and they will give me nes games that i do actually like most of them that have added online features to play with my friends who live all over now that we are adults....no brainer share a family plan with 7 of your buddies....shouldnt be hard.

@electrolite77 What's textbook is all these babies wanting something NINTENDO NEVER PROMISED

I'd love to play any game on Switch right now, but the battery broke and so it's sent to be repaired. Problem is Nintendo UK are doing a stock check and so can't bring any other parcels in. It's a 3 week wait, which means I won't have my Switch back before my birthday which sucks, thanks Nintendo...

@electrolite77 Then pay a good price for a good service cheapskate! $96/year is the cheapest for a good service, not $20

What a pile of croc!

@HobbitGamer Yeah my ISP is one of the "big evil ones" yet they were co-advertising with the XBox One X launch, and had a "sign up now and receive 6 months of XBox Live Gold promotions....so clearly not anti-gaming Which is good. Because a few months ago I saturated them with 3TB of XBox One X downloads which Comcast would have booted me off the network for. But hey, they encouraged it! I saw it in an ad!

It’s ridiculous we don’t at least have gameboy or snes games on this service.

I've never played an nes game for more than a few minutes so I'm defidently looking forward to this! Hope it expands to snes, n64 and even gamecube. I think they slowly will though.

When nes games were brought for the Wii, it was the first time those classics were available to be enjoyed on a modern console. And when Nintendo brought virtual console to the 3DS it was the first time those games were available to be played handheld (besides those GBA-ports).
But now that we have so many official ways to play NES-games, I don’t get that exited. Cos, you know, i already can play those games on a modern tv with a modern console, or take them with me when I travel or want to play laying on the bed.
There simply is not real need for NES-games on the switch. Nintendo should focus on titles that never got any other way to play them than the old original hardware / are rare and expensive.

All NES'ed out, eh? Well, we'll just see how you feel after we take away your precious ROM sites for a few years. You'll be singing a different tune then, I bet! You'll come crawling to Nintendo Switch Online for your NES fix! Mu-hu-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Seriously, though, I think the NES launch is just a proof-of-concept for SNES, N64 and WiiWare games at some point. You have to start somewhere and Nintendo is known for dipping their toes tentatively into every new pond, especially when it comes to digital distribution.

I guess everybody don't realize vc is dead, but look at all these collections coming to the switch. Nintendo online with nes games to start with. Sega mega drive, Atari flashback, snk 40 ann, namco museum, neo geo, various arcade games, compilation series. That is a heck of games that you are getting, and you can take them anywhere.

@NEStalgia you see...

I am billed for each GB 😨😨😨😨😨😨😥😥😥😧😧😧😭😭

I hope this doesn't make its way to the UK!

I live on a boat and use a wireless router.

@Dazza It's a sorry state for Switch Online to launch with really. We lose free online access to many games we've been playing, get shackled to cloud saves (can't quit if you don't want your saves to be deleted from the cloud), and you get some NES games you probably already have on your NES Mini (or definitely have if you modded yours).

okay they come with the subscription but fffffffffffffff nintendo want you to rebuy the same games every console enough. I can play my xbox 360 games on my xbox one x

I like the fact that they are launching with all the old sports games I loved as a kid, now with online functionality. I can’t wait to play hockey against my friends that live out of state.

i absolutely 101% agree with every word in this article

Problem with NES games and even game making in 2d hadn't been perfected like it was during the SNES era.

Even modern retro games play better because we know how a good game should play.

Which is why even original Game Boy games were better than NES. Links Awakening or Zelda 1 and 2? LA hands down. Mario 3 vs Land 2? Eh, toss up.

I have a soft spot for the NES but I will admit they could at least add some more interesting games to these lineups. But hey, as long as the emulation is better than the Wii U's (which I don't see how it could possibly be worse) then I guess I can't complain too much.

Bring on the NES goodness! I, for one, am absolutely delighted that I get to play these games on the go on the Switch. Instead of hauling some other device and trying to find a TV available, all that is needed is a Switch and a charger. I've literally been dreaming of this since I got my original Gameboy for Christmas in 1989. The future (from 1989) is NOW!

"While it would be unrealistic to expect Nintendo to give us the Netflix for classic video games overnight"

But I want a Nintendo Netflix

@Razer Haha! Yeah I hear you. I couldn't get decent internet for various reasons for a long time and was using cellular myself. The constant push for digital everything and "patches" that weigh in at 15+ GB wasn't fun. Though I'd have dreamed of just being charged by GB in some ways, instead I had these weird "unlimited, unless you use too much, then we throttle you back to 128Kbs for a month".

Funny thing with Ubisoft's dreams of "everything will be streamed in a generation" is in the US telecom is cutting back on rolling out wired internet, halting expansion of new rollouts, and expecting the future will all be in 5G wireless delivery. Wireless. In high frequency 5G that has no range and falls back on 4G. That will become standard internet through most of the US. I don't think the streaming future looks the way they think it does It's actually going backward in time while the game companies dream of the all connected future!

Despite Nintendo suing tons of emulator sites before the launch of the Nintendo Online Service, people having been playing NES games for free on emulators for years already.

You can play NES games on your phone through an emulator app, which is actually more convenient than on the Switch, even if it wasn't free.

So the perception of value for NES games is practically nothing at this point.

@Razer Over 50% percent of the people here, on a Nintendo focused website, including a writer, do not care about the NES games. It's right there on the poll.

Like I said before, you can add 10,000 NES games, but if people don't care about them, it's not a selling point. Meaning the only selling point left for Nintendo Online is the access to online, and the cloud saves*. This page is just proving me right.

*for some games, and definitely not your favourite ones like Dead Cells, Dark Souls, Splatoon or Pokemon.

@Richnj i also voted against NES games... But that wont matter 😁.

I can't be bothered to get into this again. Lets just wait and see.

@Richnj

*poll

@Franklin Yes, poll. I missed that one, thanks.

Nintendo uses its NES and SNES games when they want to attract the masses. It worked with the GBA (NES mini games), the Wii (there were people that bought a wii only to play those games), the Wii U and 3DS when they were bombing and of course the NES Classic Edition which was intended for collectors and fan and ended up being sought by all kinds of gamers of all ages, even the ones that didn't born on that age.

So obviously, this is intended for the masses. Not for the jagged Nintendo fan boy that keeps whining about Mother 3 over and over again. We may see this as "one more time" for many could be the reason to get the service. To play those NES games on the go.

Remember that not all Switch owners had a Wii U or 3DS or even got a NES classic.

My path through the world of games started with the 8-bit computers of the early to mid 80s then went Sega MegaDrive, PC, GameBoy Advance, PC again, PS2, PS3, PS4 and now Nintendo Switch so I haven't played a lot of these games and certainly not in their NES guises. I've played some in arcades, some as ports or clones on other systems. I'm looking forward to playing some of these NES games especially Ghouls N Ghosts which I played in the arcade and on MegaDrive (though I don't think the NES version would be as good).

Yes, I'd prefer SNES games but I can see these NES games being a nice distraction at times.

The only complaint I have is the dripfeeding of games.

I completely understand that the emulation and new network features need to be tested, but Switch has been available now for around 18 months, and in development for much longer. That should have been plenty of time to provide a more fleshed out library.

In fact, I would rather have paid more for a purely a la cartè retro game service.

Why is crossbuy such a hard thing for Nintendo to understand?

Why do they have to restart from the ground up every single time they start releasing retro games instead of offering the already available library and just continuing to add to it. I've said it many times before but I'll say again why not a unified VC service (star tropics no longer exclusive to wiiu and Recca no longer exclusive to 3ds).

I've said it from the beginning, how many times can they sell/offer the same NES games? Let them die already. I don't even care if you think it's convenient, or a fun diversion, or more choice, or whatever. It's an absolute waste of time and resources.

If they want to be serious about virtual console type titles, start bringing GBA games, that would make sense - the Switch is giant GBA. I'm a 3DS Ambassador - they had GBA games running on the 3DS, what was it, six year ago now? And they wonder why people are so voracious about getting their hands on roms and emulators. Trickling 3 completely not exciting NES games a month would be a joke if it wasn't already happening.

Sega is putting out a collection of what, 60 games? Figure it out Nintendo. Either produce something new on the virtual console front, or stick a fork in it. It's done.

@lillith "xhow many times can they sell/offer the same NES games?"

How many times those games have sold?

exactly.

No surprises here. Yet again, even though people will pretend that we are complaining about the price, the real problem is that we would gladly pay more for better features.

No one cares that it's $20; we care that it offers few features and attempts to pimp out the same games as always. It offers no new features that are wanted and hides things we already had behind a paywall.

I'm sure it's been said a few times already here but, GAMECUBE! GameCube games, get them on a VC type thing on the Switch, charge €10 for each game if you sign up to Online. A higher price if you don't!!!

Jesus Christ Nintendo, GameCube games! What's wrong with you!? NES games!? That I can play on my fridge!? For free? (SNES new mini, raspberry pi, phone, 3ds, Psp,GBA, etc...)
Rolls eyes to the back of my spine!

@DK-Fan Who knows? Nintendo hides those numbers.

The NES Classic was the pinnacle. Even the people being milked know they're being milked.

@BubbleMatrix82 do ps and Xbox charge $96 a year for online?

What good service is Nintendo offering for $96 a year?

This $20 service is all they are offering and many here have repeatedly stated that they would pay more for a better service, wider selection of games. The fact that this is all that is being offered a year and a half into the switch's lifespan is very disappointing.

Will it get better? I sure hope so but it's still sad that for now this is the best they can come up with.

I admit that I would like more from Nintendo online retro service. However, I think it is just the start too. We all act like Nintendo just has no clue, but they can’t just flood the eshop with 2000 retro games and just say your welcome. This website prob is less then 1% of Nintendo gamers. To think 10 people here are upset about what Nintendo is doing is such a small minority that it doesn’t matter. I am a lifelong Nintendo fan, and I miss club Nintendo during the Wii era. I also see why it went away. I don’t think I bought any retro Vc titles, but still have like 100. Not just that, but they all in my Wii U, which will always be hooked up to the family tv since it’s has been the main entertainment hub for every member is the family. It’s used daily for gaming, YouTube, and netflix. It’s a tablet that you can control your tv with. We have a smart tv that we can cast too with phones as well, but I walked in from work to my son watching some YouTuber playing Minecraft, while he was playing it on his switch. I took it over to put some music on from YouTube.
I have a 3ds with prob like 50 retro games on it. I haven’t told Che’s that since I got my switch, but it’s still there and I know plenty on people still use theirs. Now we have both nes and snes classics. I was getting my butt kicked last night playing sf2. Now I have to get the family plan for Nintendo after today. It goes againist everything an oldschool pc/Nintendo gamer like me has ever said. I refused to pay for psn+, making my kids pay for the 3 years of it for the PS4 since I never cared for it. Never got an xbox because of it. Just think of the years of wasted money that I saved playing cod on my pc instead of Xbox like everyone else. Now Nintendo has found a away to such $35 extra out of me each year. I am not happy, but in no way is it going to make me miss out on anything the switch has the offer. Every person on this site has a vice that they waste $ on, and I bet it costs more s year then switch online going to cost, and, like I said, as an old school pc gamer who has had several PCs die, having a cloud save for a game like botw with 150 hours of master mode, or your 5th pkaythrough of dark souls, and then your switch does and everything is lost. That could mean whether I ever play that game again or continue to play it occasionally every few weeks. Everyone needs the just stop complaining about every little thing, and just look at what they have. Switch owners have the the first true portable home console, that with the steadily growing library of AAA ports, 1st party exclusives/ports, 1000s indies(high and low quality), I think switch is the birth of Nintendo’s steam. Didn’t nintendo day they want switch to be around like 10 years? Just think of the games...cough up the $20-35 a year and move on. Don’t drink like 5 lattes and your will be calmer and have money for switch’s online.

Thank you for reading.
And don’t say anything about the few AAA games ps4/Xbox get because they don’t get Nintendo games. End of discussion.

If only Nintendo would just bring out a worthy virtual console successor with N64 and Gamecube games.. Then it would be a no-brainer.

As of now, a NES library just doesn't cut it. At least Square are bringing the ps1 FF's to the switch soonish.

Dude, the extensiveness of my agreement acknowledges no boundaries. The overused nostalgic factor of the NES games and reiterating it for every generation to the expense of other generetations of treasured... Uh, treasures of video game titles. I suppose it's a method of preservation, but there is also a history that other, younger players hold close to their heartstrings and other cardiovascular organs. I for example, grew up with the late GameCube and early Wii era, so the titles of that time have memories of enjoyment and childhood delight that cannot be surmounted. There is more to the the classic days of Nintendo than simply the beginning. If we'll have to make do without a virtual console, then so be it. Make the titles of later consoles available for us to experience again.

Like, uh, the GameCube, please? What I wouldn't give to play games like Mario Sunshine or Metroid Prime once again. Oh and uh, perhaps experience Sonic's more formative 3D years (Adventure games and Heroes) for the first time.

I have nothing against NES games per se, but as has already been said, by and large they haven't aged well. Many of them were heavily inspired by the arcade machine era, and games were often brutally difficult as a result and to artificially pad game length. I never had a NES so I don't have the nostalgia, so really the only reason for me to bother with those old games is from a historical perspective to see where these various franchises started from.

I guess it's hard to complain since they're more or less a freebie if you're paying for the (honestly hugely disappointing) online service, but it's still hard not to be annoyed given how much we lost in terms of the VC and backwards compatibility between the Wii U and the Switch, and how perfect the Switch would be as a VC platform.

@tedko They just want people to adopt the service right now; this isn't the final product. HaaS and SaaS are the new pilots of the Switch; if you are familiar with the aaS market, basically they release something (anything) into the world and then they improve appoint it over time. Example: Final Fantasy XV was released then immediately after they added 3 Episodic content to fix holes in the plotline and patches to improve the overall experience of the game. This is considered "Software as a Service". The Switch is "Hardware as a Service"; meaning the system starts bare bones with little R&D invested into it besides security/stability/functionality and then they approve on it from the baseline position without overloading the system or the end user. I don't expect this level of service to be "all" that they are offering.

There is a lot of people who haven't played any NES games, So why not have them. I've played a few but I guess people. I'm just glad we have that option to play the games. Sometimes I think people forget there was a time when the game industry was going to be no more.

I am different. The reason why the Switch itself is unique over the Wii & Wii-U of the virtual console is PORTABILITY. Sure there is the DS but the DS is not what a 2018 or even 2017 portable device should be. We have our 1080p Tablets and Phones and after looking at the DS, we can see meh it terms of display quality. This is why people run emulators on their phones. To enjoy the classic gaming on the GO and not tethered to the couch/TV.

All 2D games SUCK. They were loathed in the late 90s for a reason.

As for these NES games, they all suck.

Nintendo are reselling you the games YOU already own. Super Mario Bros is my property end off and I can upload and download it anywhere I want. You don't rebuy your own house every 10 years.

I skipped all but the biggest titles on VC as I felt too many I might not like weren't worth $5 a pop (especially as I made less back then). Now I'm happy for the all-encompassing subscription setup. Yes, just NES is a bit lame...but I doubt it'll stay there. A slower drip doesn't hurt as bad when there's more new stuff worth playing, too.

Nintendo has been remarketing NES games even before the Wii. Not only were NES games included in Animal Crossing, but Nintendo released a whole line of NES Classic games on the GBA.

The thing is while they most certainly should be rereleased on some form of VC on each system, they sure as heck are not special anymore. We've had so many opportunities to get them. Even having them portable is not special, as we have the 3DS.

Advertising these as a special, amazing benefit for the NSO service is a bit insulting to me. Not only do I (personally) not want NES games, I don't want to have them merely tethered to a subscription service. I want to be able to buy individual titles and keep them.

I would actually be quite fond of a subscription based service that offered access to countless retro titles, instead of paying $5 to $20 for individual games, but I just can't get excited over mere NES games. And the online features don't make them much more appealing, although online play could be huge for certain titles.

Don't get me wrong. I will play many of the NES titles on offer and enjoy doing that, but they really need to start bringing SNES games and adding other platforms with a relatively quick succession. They need to make this subscription based Virtual Collection (see what I did there) its own thing, instead of just a small bonus for those who bother to pay for the NS Online.

NES is lame. Sorry but as someone born in '99, I can count the number of NES games I actively enjoyed playing and 5 of those fingers counted Mega Man! SNES games on the other hand...

I don't have a NES Mini nor do I have a 3DS, so a pile of NES games that I can play on the go is fantastic to me. I've only bought a few in the past on VC, so for many it has been 10-20 years since I've played them, if at all.

Plus I can introduce them to my son.

@INKT My pipedream since Animal Crossing New Leaf was announced was for your character to be able to get a gameboy. You'd be able to play gameboy games as you played NES games in the original AC! I can dream...

I don’t mind the same games being available across different consoles, as it means any new adopters of Nintendo consoles don’t lose out from what was previously released. I think the problem is that ALL of these games from previous iterations of the VC should be available from close to day 1 of a new console as a bare minimum, certainly the ones where Nintendo owns the rights. And we shouldn’t have to pay full price for them again (I don’t mind paying a small fee if I must).

Take the Wii U VC for example. It took years for it to get even the same games as the Wii, and even now it’s missing lots of them. Admittedly it did end up getting new games, like the GBA, which was great, but now with the Switch we’re back to square one. By this point in the Switch’s life, it should already have the NES/SNES/N64/GBA games that released on the Wii and Wii U, and we should be on to Gamecube games.

Why can’t console makers get this right? Or am I missing something that makes this extremely difficult to implement?

@BubbleMatrix82 I actually don't mind the idea of delivering classic games as part of a subscription service. I just think they could have started with a much better selection of games. Even if it had been 10 nes games and a few snes or gba games, a lot fewer people would be complaining. The service just seems so half assed at the moment.

I'd also like the option to buy the games outright if I want to and play them without any restrictions if I stop paying for the subscription. More options for the consumer is always better.

What I am strongly against is the entire games industry moving towards a subscription model even for new games. I want to be able to buy only the games I choose and be able to play them forever. I don't want to be forced to buy a package of mostly games I don't care about just to get a few games I actually want, and I don't want my games to vanish when the subscription expires or the service is cut off.

@GravyThief 100% agreed. Nintendo's attitude towards their classic games is so frustrating. A year and a half into the switch life span and this is all we get? I feel like it's just a sad joke at this point. All of their first party games from at least nes to n64 should already be available. I refuse to believe it takes that much work to set this up.

@Saego I'm kinda in the same situation... though admitedly this might be the very first time I'd try out River City Ransom myself for the first time so that's a thing I'll be curious to try out.

Otherwise I see the NES Online as a work in progress, which could become a "classic game netflix" in time and of which the current selection is just the first wave. SNES might even get released as it's own app later which might further give NES an excuse for not announcing SNES title for the app yet.... because they might get released as their own app.

@tedko No one likes leasing because everyone knows buying is a better ROI, but the truth of the matter is that buying is not good ROI on publishers who have to recoup $1M of dev costs; many have to do shady things like crap DLC to cover loses. It doesn't help that the used game industry still exists and are dipping into publishers profits. Top it off with people who give their passwords to other people to play their paid digital games purchase and you have entire communities that thrive on pennies of a dollar that takes hundreds on a penny to upkeep.

There will always be a consumer vs producer war; let's hope Nintendo delivers an acceptable DRM Netflix style platform to feed your hunger. Clearly your goal is to own a game that sells on eBay for $90 used for a fraction of the cost, but that's up to Nintendo and their partners to decide if that's part of their updated EULA of the product to do.

That’s a lot of “NES games”!