Reminder (7th Aug, 09:10 BST): As a reminder, Nintendo Switch Online subscribers can now go ahead and play Mario Tennis Aces for free until 13th August (23:59 UK time). What are you waiting for?
Update (2nd Aug, 16:15 BST): The same offer has now also been confirmed for North America, although the 'Game Trials' branding has not been used.
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Original Article (1st Aug, 09:30 BST): Nintendo has revealed a seemingly new endeavour called 'Game Trials' which will soon give Nintendo Switch Online subscribers the chance to play Mario Tennis Aces for free.
The game will be available to play from 7th August (09:00 UK time) until 13th August (23:59 UK time); if you're an active subscriber to Switch Online - either as part of a full subscription or even if you're just using a free seven-day trial - you should be able to find an option to download the software on the eShop. It'll also be 33% off during that time, and those who check out the trial will be able to transfer their progress if they buy the full game.
We've had free demos for Mario Tennis Aces in the past, and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker also just received the 'full game for free' treatment in Japan. Coupling this with the introduction of the 'Game Trials' branding has us convinced that more titles will be offered up in this way in the future - perhaps this will become a new benefit of being a Switch Online subscriber?
At the time of writing, this Game Trials version of Mario Tennis Aces has only been announced for European territories. Hopefully a similar option will soon be revealed for folks elsewhere, too.
If you don't already own a copy of the game, will you use this as an opportunity to try it out? Do you like the sound of Game Trials? Let us know with a comment below.
[source nintendo.co.uk]
Comments 82
7 days is really all you need for this game!
Try it without the special powers, and you'll find an awesome game here! Very technical and fun, great to play with friends at home.
For me it was such a surprise, I love it. And the roster is best.
Nice. Good move Nintendo.
Cool, so is this the whole game - single player and everything? I really enjoyed the demo version so will definitely check out the full game. Smart move this from Nintendo as I'm sure plenty of people will end up shelling out at the end of the period in order to keep their progress.
Do this for Fire Emblem please! I need to play it before making my final decision.
What a great idea!
Has anyone managed to get pass Shy Guy on the boat in Story Mode? It's sooo hard!
@Michael_Knight If you just ask nice, i can let you through
Would of rather had Treasure Tracker.
But, ah well, hope they carry it on, and maybe the Online will finally be worth it.
Slightly off topic but has a new character been released this month?
@Bunkerneath You could just set up a Japanese account and download. It may have a language option but even if it doesn't it has little to no dialogue anyway
Imagine you're like 9 yrs old in the USA and the USA version finally gets announced and it's, like, South Park TSOT, that'd suck.
@BigBluePanda No, this month's new content is just new colours for Koopa Troopa and Koopa Paratroopa.
I traded this in just after launch as there wasn't enough content and it wasnt complete.
It has improved from what I hear so will be giving this another shot although unlikely to rebuy even at 33% off.
@the_beaver
Agreed. The game is a good tennis simulation.
@PixelTavern Yeah but you gotta have nintendo Online on your japanese account.
@stocko It's a multiplayer game... Of course to see everything it has, in a week is more than enough, but the same with Mario Kart, Party, etc. The good things with these games is to play them WITH FRIENDS. And one week is not enough for that.
@Lizuka Again, IT IS A MULTIPLAYER game, what do you expect...??
7 days! that is very generous Nintendo, I returned this within a day
@the_beaver Calm down - I owned this game and that is my opinion, don't lose sleep over it.
@the_beaver there is no rooster in this game
Now this is worth admission!!
They might as well just give it away at this point. I got more than enough out of just the demo after winning a tournament. Now I'll be able to play through the single player stuff and be done with it completely. Not that I'm complaining, I guess they're testing this approach out on a game to see if it helps the sales after it has died off.
@Michael_Knight Yes, but I got stuck on the next level. While I like the game, and our family still plays it occasionally, I was not too happy with the story mode. Especially since it unlocks courts to play on. Fortunately, we are most happy with the arena courts, so it is no big deal.
Game Trials sounds like a good idea. Hopefully it will add numbers to the game's online community.
Or, they could give us SNES games, a year of nes has not been enough.
Aces is one of a handful of games I bought and just feel ambivalent about. On the one hand, the post-launch DLC has been strong, on the other-hand the game just feels really flat and doesn't scratch that tennis game itch.
I think I'm kinda done with it now.
Feels like this year could have benefitted from a Mario Golf release (or at least an announcement) and perhaps they should have moved away from Aces sooner.
On the topic of golf, I loved Golf Story, but isn't it mad that there are literally no golf games available on Switch, outside of a handful of terrible low budget trash (90% of which are mini golf)?
I'm not a huge golf nut, but it's a game that is easy to pick up and play every so often so would be nice to have one available.
Perhaps Golf Story 2 is going to be a thing? Could be quite soon too.
Game Trials... Bit of a bland name compared to the Japanese いっせいトライアル but that's a pain to translate anyway (Trial en masse? Mass simultaneous trial?)
Might give it a go after Captain Toad.
Doubt you will need a Japanese NSO specifically for Toad, just any account with NSO, but in case you do, the Japanese My Nintendo has 7-day NSO trial codes available every month for 100 platinum coins: https://my.nintendo.com/rewards/6550cdefd7b95527Edit: Did need an account with NSO set to Japan to play Toad.
@PixelTavern you probably need switch online subscription in that region too, no?
Good to hear. I will go home for a few days break in that period. I will give it a go on the single player but it is a game I will never buy anyway
This is a good idea from Nintendo. For those that haven't brought it already, a week of playing through the story mode and a few online games should be enough to see all this title has to offer. It's a small download also so if your curious you have nothing to loose...
I wish I had not picked this up on release. The added dlc has briefly kept me coming back for the odd game with a new character, but overall I was left a bit underwhelmed....
Nice idea but would wish the select games happen sooner then later
Isn't Toad Tracker going to have a free week on Japan's eShop soon?
I'd be interested if it was free like PS Plus games, but I'm not going to bother if I can only play it for a week.
Well, I guess there's no reason not to check it out
This is great. I've put it on my calendar to remember to download
@stocko
Damn straight.
I love this game, but we need Mario Golf for switch. with a course maker!
Personally I dig this game. Have a lot of fun with it
Fantastic game. Mechanics are great and online is really competitive and matches you with players of your grade.
Game is garbage hopefully those 7 days will keep people that were interested from not buying this junk.
That's great that their doing trials. I was playing this on my channel, but, it got way too hard to finish the single player campaign, and I lost every online match I played. So, I had to quit that walkthrough video series halfway through, something I hate doing, but, felt I had no choice. I guess I'm more used to Wii Sports Club Tennis, Wii Sports Resort Ping Pong, or Virtua Tennis, or Olympics 2020 Tennis, and in comparison, this feels like a completely different genre.
@Glenka You are pretty funny!
I don't mind it. Let's me play games I'd never spend a single penny on like Mario tennis. Hopefully Mario kart gets a trial too.
@nocdaes I hope Golf Story 2 gets the Cadence of Hyrule treatment. Golf Crossing? Golf Story: Earthbound. David Mariner’s Golf Story. Etc etc. (Maybe not that last one).
They should try making a service like game pass and just include past consoles as well as Switch games.
@rockstarvet That would be great!
@beazlen1 Haha yea maybe not that last one, but otherwise a really good shout. Nintendo have featured Golf Story quite a lot and done some work with them I believe, so you never know...
Not really interested in this one. I'll take Captain Toad, though! Just make it so the games only playable whilst a subscription is paid. Done.
@koaeinferno could you tell why you didn't like it?
This game, like Kirby Star Allies, is in a MUCH better place than when it launched. I implore everyone even mildly interested to give it a go. One of the best multiplayer experiences on the system, IMHO.
I'll give it a spin tonight
@commentlife I personally am selling Kirby, it was fun but far too easy, I am going to put the 60$ I get for it towards Astral Chain.
I will enjoy the free week of it, but nothing really is going to move me to purchase this. There isn't enough game to justify a $60 price tag, and even if sold at $30 I don't think it would push me over the edge.
Give it to me as a bonus for my subscription however....
@commentlife I could see Kirby being one of the next "Game Trials" if they continue this feature. Yoshi also.
@tzahn yup, I can see that. It’s a smart move. There’s a few 1st party titles that got a real bum rap as far as I’m concerned. Would love to see Kirby get a 2nd shot, would love to see ARMS get a 2nd shot, maybe even Pokken Tournament. Even if you don’t end up buying the title, it’s a real decent/cheap 7 day rental essentially. I miss being able to rent a game!
@nocdaes Agree but the Switch is weak on sport/racing games...
@Old-Red lol yeah exactly, doesn't take a genius 2 work out that the sales didn't meet expectations.
@the_beaver Sure thing. ( Just to let you know I bought this in July of 2018, so there might be new features I don't know about.) The story was mode was pretty bad and only 3 hours long, no way to play a standard game of Tennis with local players. Simple mode was the only fun way to play this game. All the new gimmicks are just terrible. No local modes besides story. Honestly the N64 and Gamecube ones are way superior.
...Wait, people still care about this game? lol
@koaeinferno I don't know man, the game is fun and made for everyone. Yeah, the story mode could've been better, but at the end, it's a game to play with friends, and for that, it's perfect. It's a bit like Mario Kart 8.
Good. There's no way I'm paying $45 to $60 for flashy vertical pong when there are better games at that price.
“Update (2nd Aug, 16:15 BST): The same offer has now also been confirmed for North America, although the 'Game Trials' branding has not been used.”
That is incorrect; the Game Trials branding was indeed used.
Nintendo of America posted 2019-08-01 17:02:
https://twitter.com/nintendoamerica/status/1156973460590956544?s=21
I will gladly try it out
@Joffe27 Ahh yeah I thought 1 account crossed overall accounts on the console. That's a shame
They should have done this during Wimbledon
Where's the small print? What happens when the trial ends do you automatically get the full game and get charged? Like how many streaming trials work.
@thiz yep, much like it was inaccessible before today (I've already downloaded it in readiness..)
So, everytime I click on the trial it says my user can't play the game. I am the only user on my switch and have the online service. I've tried completely powering my switch off and back on, but that didnt work. Can someone help?
@NicF same situation here , I believe it is August 7th worldwide at this point. Location: North America
You can't actually play it yet. I think they will probably put it out by 12 PM EST.
I have a North American account and it offered this game trial to me. I downloaded it, but it doesn’t work. I do gameshare with my brother, so that could be holding it back from working. Additionally, my copy of Toad Treasure Tracker has a “remaining play time:” listed on it even though I purchased this game like 6 months ago. Anyone else getting all this weird stuff?
no But it weird to hear that.
Played it for half an hour or so. About all I need. Love tennis games. This isn't one. It's like Camelot got paid by each game mechanic they forced into it. Love the forced cutscene at the start and all the dialogue for the story nobody cares about.
@NicF Same here.... It tells me I can't play the game because I did not purchase it, click the link to shop, click download again and still the same...
@CreepyNoodles your right, it’s working now. thanks
Boy I sure am glad I paid full price for this. That was not the brightest move on my part. Regardless, I guess if you wanted to play this but didn't want to be an idiot like me and pay $60, this is cool. It won't take you long to finish. 7 days is more than enough to get your fill of Mario Tennis Aces.
@commentlife I might be wrong on this but I have heard kirby is really short (5 hours is what I have heard) and even with alot of characters I think a one week free trial for it would allow most people to beat in the first day or 2. IMO i think kirby would be a better three day trial (I could be wrong tho).
monster hunter and Xenoblade would probaby benefit from a one week trial.
I wasn't fussed when I tried the original demo last year, but I had a quick go of the full game last night and i absolutely loved it. There's also 33% off on the eShop making it £33.29. I normally buy physical wherever possible but I'm very tempted by this offer.
So much salt for this game!! Each to their own but it's a decent multiplayer offering. Local doubles is brilliant and well matched standard singles is awesome. Second most played switch game behind BOTW. More hours than even splatoon or smash. Those who don't have it can try with an open mind
I still haven’t played it since I downloaded it, going to sink some time into it tonight. I spent most of the time playing the demo laughing, so it’ll be nice to dig into the full game and see a bit more. Nintendo should do this with a few more of their mid-tier games.
@R1spam this is one of those games you play with friends round while getting drunk and trash talking...and rubbing every point won in your opponents’ faces... 😄
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