Switch's NES And SNES Games Will No Longer Be Added Monthly

Knowing Nintendo I'm taking this to mean one or two games drip fed to us every couple of months.

Well, as long as the releases arent few and far between that's fine by me. Just keep them trickling out and I'm sure people will be happy.

Hm, there's still a lot of SNES games that needs to be added. DKC trilogy, some RPG's. I'm hoping for Lufia 2 too.
Will probably take months until we see those games.

Therefore there could be a new game a week, or one a year, great

Nintendo: drop 60 bucks on 2 of our new SNES pads but don't expect to use 'em much

Two games per month isn't asking too much. It's actually a low bar

It's always one step forward two steps back with Nintendo.

We get all those great snes games and then this. Typical Nintendo one step forward two steps back

I want to be pleasantly surprised by a more consistent release schedule, more than 3 games per month (sometimes 2 heh). It will more than likely be even worse than that.

Wouldn't want to be too generous!

@Mogster To be fair it's more like "two steps forward, one step back".

Woo! New snes games next year then at some point! In that case can we have the n64 ones half a year from now instead of this point next year? Maybe? Please?

No worries, I have a lot to be getting on with for now anyway 😀

Nice to see all the positivity here. Of course this can ONLY mean, that we're getting new (S)NES games every half a year or so. 🙄

Talk about a cold shower after the SNES reveal.

Hope we get more soon!

@sleepinglion Give them a low bar in regard to services and they'll happily trip the f' over it without even trying.

I wish everything else they do could be as well thought out as their games, but alas, at least we have SNES games.

Honestly, this feels like it is having the same problems that virtual console had, so why not just bring back virtual console. Would much prefer that to subscriptions in general.

So 20 snes games from here on...

Sounds like less than monthly

I just want more obscure games, to be honest. Do we really need to play Super Mario World, A Link to the Past, or Super Metroid again?

this online "service" is a joke.
i dont get why console gamers pay for that stuff anyway. i can play online for free on PC. and yes you can get dozens of games for free on PC too. no need for subscriptions

On a positive note, it means that when we get games they're not just gonna be filler (hopefully).

I hope it is more often than once a month. As long as they add soon some great games that are now missing, like Donkey Kong Country trilogy, I will be happy.

@6ch6ris6 Yeah but you can't play Mario Kart online on PC or Smash Bros. They/we pay for it because it's the only way. Victims of the system for sure but that's just the way of it.

Considering how things went in the past year, I see it as an obvious move from Nintendo. Every monthly release of NES games until now has been heavily bashed and criticized by unhappy fans, so why expose themselves to a fixed date for monthly abuse? To be honest, I find Nintendo’s offering quite reasonable. Even now, they’re giving link to the past for free, which could really hurt sales for Link’s awakening

I'm cool with it. Finally we got SNES games, really nice work Nintendo. Now everybody has something new to moan about.. Great....

I'm paying € 20,00 a year.. A year. I love Tetris 99 and play it for the same € 20,00 a year. I get a nice library of NES titles and just now they gave me 20 SNES games. All for the same € 20,00 a year. If you don't have a subscription right now, buy one with a physical copy of Tetris for € 29,99.

Yes, your able to play those games for free, without a subscription. Good for you.... I don't own a PC and have no interest in building too be able to play (S)NES games. So yeah.... I love to pay that € 20,00 a year and be able to play Tetris 99 and all those nice little (S)NES games on one device. That's like € 1,67 a month.... A month... That's like.... you know... € 1,67 a month.. Driving to the supermarket costs me the same...

I'm very happy with the SNES titles. I just really don't understand the moaning.

@m8e3point1415; PSN costs a bit more that NSO, don't you agree with me? You just can't compare it.

well, this is definitely a negative. xbox live and playstation plus both add games monthly, the former adding 4, the later now adding 2. 2 games a month as a perk for your subscription fee is now the baseline, and nintendo was following suit with the nes portion for a year now. now, with the addition of snes, which got everyone excited and optimistic, they decide to drop that minimum 2 games per month commitment entirely?

this can only mean 1 of 2 things in my mind: either they are unable to secure enough licenses via third parties to properly fill out their online catalog due to those publishers opting to release their own collections instead, or the online service isn't generating enough revenue as they'd hoped, and instead of adding value to entice more people to join, they are scaling back to only offer the bare minimum.

bummer.

@FineLerv I would not mind if the just did mini-games, like Street Pass.

Comparing subscriptions with a totally different pricetag is b*llshit.

@6ch6ris6 can you play the latest Mario, zelda or animal crossing legally on a pc? The argument that it's free to play online on pc never really made sense to me! You can yes but not games made for Nintendo consoles or playstation exclusives, if you like those games then what good is your free online play?

@TryToBeHopeful same here and my nephew gets to play the zelda, mario and metroid games that made me fall in love with Nintendo.

I'm sure this has to do with the classic issue of licencing and actually getting games on the service. Third parties don't want to launch their classic titles via Nintendo when they can do it themselves and make all the money. Alternatively, the game contains, or the game itself is an IP without a clear owner.

Do yourself a favour and only expect Nintendo made games on these things, that way the other games are a neat surprise.

I’d prefer regular releases, one game every second Wednesday or something.

I am very happy with my online subscription. 1,50 a month and I get to replay some of my most favourite games ever, in the comfort of wherever I am. Can't wait to get restarted with Breath of Fire. Sure, it holds no candle whatsoever to FF, CT, SoM or pretty much any contemporary, really, but it still holds a very special place in my heart so I am reaheally looking forward to replaying it.

Can't wait to say "Hello, old friend", to that first fountain in the first castle. Spent a loooooooooot of time there.

Oh dear, that most likely means the monthly releases are too taxing now and the pace will almost certainly slow. I’d rather they commit to SOME kind of regular schedule, even if it’s less frequent.
On the bright side, the NES and SNES games we’ve already got along with my game backlog will take at least a year to get through anyway, so it’s hard to be upset by that.
😅

Oh so it'll be like Virtual Console at the end of the Wii's life cycle.

Now it makes sense why they added so many good SNES games from the start...

Hopefully they keep it regular 🙏

Don’t want to overwork the one guy they probably got working on these. Now with SNES they need twice the time

@Aaron101 can you play mario, zelda on pc legally? Why yes, yes you can since...you know.... emulation... is.... legal.

I was only expecting 2 games this month, so to get 20 is pretty amazing. Even if we get nothing for a few months we're still better off.

Nintendo, between the SNES game additions (my only minor complaint with the online service) and the incredible 3rd party support, you’ve got at least one extremely happy customer here. I can’t think of any time I’ve been happier to be a Nintendo Console owner.

The low bar got lower???

I thought the bad news would be they would no longer add NES games and would only add 2 SNES games but kinda hoped we might get 2+2 or some months 3 SNES and 1 nes.

Instead we wait for crumbs

I'm okay with this. Plenty of SNES games to get us started. And if they drop say 6 in one go every few months or so then all is good.

At least I don't have to read the same negative comments every month when the NES games dropped now.

2 SNES games a month shouldn't be too hard when Sony and Microsoft can give subscribers free games from this generation each month.

Well, they better drop Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG, and EarthBound soon.

@sleepinglion

A few games? There will be 20+ games on it and that's too little to get a controller? Excuse me but would you even have time to really enjoy those games if the libary expanded to 200?

For me there are enough games right now to play for at minimum a couple of months... they can slow down a bit if they want to (my wallet would appreciate it even though my brain screams for more)

Just keep them coming

I am OK with that

This does indeed sound like they might be giving us less games in the future. While it kind of blows, I personally am not too bummed out about it since the majority of SNES games that I wanted are already here.

Half a game a year.

Thank you Nintendo take your time. Too many games to play this fall-winter. Hit me with a new batch of SNES games come January, February of next year. And please make Donkey Kong 1,2,3 and Super Mario allstars available in that group.

@dewokkel
I am pretty certain they can't release the Donkey Kong trilogy because those were all made by Rare.

This doesn’t seem unreasonable, the drip fed NES games seemed to garner more derision than praise so not far fetched to see why they want to change it. They’ve just dropped 20 in one go I don’t see why it’s necessary to add more right now or a month from now. I expect it will be themed drops timed with other releases etc probably next one will be around Christmas.

Why Nintendo? WHY? Why give happiness only to take it away again? So 3 games every 3 months? Or worse? Blegh... Was so happy with 20 games at once with the prospect of new games every month. But noooooo. It's gonna be new games on a whim, whenever they feel like it... Makes me sad.

Sorry, still feel like I am coming out ahead. We all know that eventually Nintendo will release the same first party library they always have. So eventually we will see Earthbound, Donkey Kong, Super Punch Out!!, Wario's Woods, Vegas Stakes, Yoshi's Cookie, Super Mario RPG, Kirby Super Star, and NES Open Tournament Golf. We might finally see titles like Wrecking Crew '98, Super Famicom Wars, Mario's Super Picross, and Marvelous: Mōhitotsu no Takarajima., The real question would be what third party titles will release since a lot of companies have decided to try to cash in on their back catalogue via collections.

Besides, I am paying roughly $0.83/month for my NSO service thanks to Twitch Prime. That's less than I paid for the last candy bar I purchased.

@diwdiws
Emulation of illegal ROMS is still illegal. Nintendo didn't shut down several ROM sites because it was legal

@Barbara001
You can soak up your tears with the avalanche of actual new games we are going to get between now and Animal Crossing.

@TeeJay possibly, there's that possibility.
But judging by the size and frequency of their upcoming releases it could be them instead trying to prepare the service to be one they could gear up to synergize with other release.

I.e. : releasing the latest game of a franchise -and- one of it's classic forebears at the same time or within the same week. Something that's harder to do if you follow a monthly schedules but suddenly easier to do if you ditch the idea of the schedule in the first place.

So I can indeed see months with no games at all but also others with a flurry of new titles specifically to build that synergy that was previously not possible under a strict monthly schedule.

@Old_Man_Nintendo they released the DKC trilogy on WiiU, 3DS, and the first one on the SNES mini. I'm sure with Banjo Kazooie in Smash Bros their relationship is getting better with Microsoft, not worse.

That's why I waited to get excited about SNES games. My first thought was "they give us a bunch of good games now but I wouldn't be surprised if that's just the launch". I'd like to be hopeful, but Nintendo didn't give me much reason to.

Glad I have a good chunk of SNES games to while away the months without NES and SNES updates. C'mon Nintendo.

@sleepinglion Especially since PS4 users get two AAA games a month usually. This month is Arkham Knight and Darksiders 3

I’ve got to say, if they aren’t frequent enough, I might cancel my subscription. I don’t play games online, so my only purpose for having this thing is for the retro games. This is super disheartening.

so Nintendo, give us something we all want and then go and screw it up. Why in the hell were the fans and subscribers not made aware of this. who the hell running Nintendo? c'mon big N stop funking over your fans

@Old_Man_Nintendo But it was on the SNES Classic and the Wii U virtual console. Donkey Kong is still Nintendo's IP, regardless of who it's developed by.

There was rumored to be a price hike for the SNES library. Wonder if that’s why...

@FineLerv All other things aside, I feel like this launch line up did a pretty good job of putting obscure titles into the mix. They might not be the specific obscure titles you had in your head, but they're there along with the bread & butter titles that you would expect.

I mean, I wouldn't think anybody was expecting titles like Brawl Brothers, Stunt Racer FX, Super Tennis, Super Soccer, Breath of Fire, Demon's Crest, Joe & Mac 2, and Super E.D.F.

@Bearzilla823 Nintendo didn’t say “we’re only adding games once every three months” or even less. They said they’re no longer doing a strict monthly schedule.

This means new games could appear ANYTIME. Doesn’t mean less, doesn’t mean more. Anytime means anytime.

But yes, let’s go right to “NINTENDO IS EVIL STOP MESSING WITH YOUR FANS REEEEEEEEEEEE”

Why do people immediately fear of releasing SNES games in a couple of months rather than in a couple of weeks or days?

@Barbara001 I've been wondering and elle this might indeed mean slower releases I just realized it might mean less random ones that they let on. Lately for example nintendo has been big on synergy between their titles and announcements and even their mobile games are partly meant to raise the awareness of their traditional titles rather than to overtake them.

It could be they decided the online spe service might best serve them in a similar fashion. From that view point the monthly schedule would be restrictive rather than an asset.

Without the schedule, they can do something like release a brand new title on Switch and, at the very same time, release it's "classic" forebear for the most impact. And be able to repeat this process even if the next release they want to synergize is only two weeks later.

Meanwhile on the other hand slower months may indeed end up with less to no titles.

It remains to be seen what they will do and it's true that they already included some of their personal "best of" collections of IPs on launch day so it's hard to say what to expect yet since that may primarily leave this parties IP on the table which have always needed to be individually negotiated.

On the other end I think that is what make their day one offering that much more important because compared to the bite-sized playtime of most of the NES collection.... Super Mario World, Yoshi Island, Super Metroid , Link to the Past, Breath of Fire in themselves all represents a surprisingly massive amount of play hours (SMW is not just a solid platformer but absolutely massive for the era that it required a save system to have a chance to complete let alone unlock all of it's secrets. LttP and BoF on their ends are literally adventure and rpg games respectively).

But for an hypothetical scenario: considering that game never made it west previously, imagine they decide to not just localize an aged GBA game as-is but to instead literally remake and modernize Mother 3 for the western market to a level comparable to Link's Awakening? With synergy's sake in mind, it would make sense for them to hold off releasing Earthbound on the service unless THAT is ready first?

@Chunkboi79 To be fair, the games we get via PS plus are NOT always AAA games. Plenty of snoozers lately, Batman and Darksiders 3 notwithstanding.

Smells fishy...

'I'm sure next year we'll get the same 20 or so N64 games we got on the the Wii/WiiU service with no attempts to dive in to the back catalogue and introduce more niche games.'

@m8e3point1415 In this batch of SNES games we have

Stunt Race FX - available for first time side the SNES
Super Soccer - available for first time since the SNES
Super Tennis - available for first time since the SNES
Super Puyo Puyo 2 - available for first time in USA
Yoshi's Island - apart from the SNES Mini, available for the first time since SNES

That's a quarter of the initial releases that never made it to VC. So going by that, I suspect there will be a few more throughout the year, just as there was for NES. The N64 releases will likely follow the same pattern, if it is the next console up. I reckon GBA is next though.

@MajinSoul possibly less. Also possibly "we have two major games releasing weeks apart so let's accompany them both with their respective classic forebears by releasing them to the app on their respective launch day as Direct- confirmed 'surprises' rather than a strict monthly schedule"

@dskatter I said usually. However, to say that Batman is a snoozer is absurd. That game is incredible.

I don't really care whether this deliberately vague statement translates into more regular game releases or less often game releases, either way this service is simply not good enough.

This is a brand new revenue stream for Nintendo, and a sizeable one given the success of the Switch to date and the plethora of strong online multiplayer games that encourage subscriptions, yet they seemingly devote minimal resources to developing the service and the offering.

Can that be justified?

@Ludovsky that sounds reasonable. For example if Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles launches, they release the line up of F games for SNES. Could be cool. But then the question becomes, why are there no DK games yet? Is a new one coming??? Would be cool! I just hope a no schedule doesn't mean lesser games.

NintendoLife, where the glass is always half empty.

One to three games a week between both Nes and snes would be ok I guess. Still wouldn’t be near the pace the Wii had when at one point they were cranking them out every Thursday!!
I still want a purchase option for these games!!! Some of these games deserve their own window in the Switch home game menu!

20 in one go, so I'd guess at special events like directs, I'm fine with that the quality of some of the titles released monthly wasn't great.

@Chunkboi79
Akram Knight was a snoozer. I brought it day one on the Ps4 and have still yet to finish it

Ok, no problem Nintendo. Raspberry Pi + Retro Pi it is then.

@Old_Man_Nintendo I know, there are so many. And I'm going to play them al to teeny tiny bits! But I was hoping that with a steady stream they'd eventually had to resolve to lesser known SNES games (like they had to with the NES games) which would mean Lufia 2, Illusion of Time or Prehistoric Man stood a chance. With this no schedule they could stay with the classics Like DKC, Earthbound and Mario All Stars, and they wouldn't have to fill the gaps when they're out of those classic games. So here's hoping those niche games still find their way to the switch even without the schedule.

@OorWullie it makes me wonder if the comments might be too subconsciously prepare us if they give us MORE than monthly releases.

In a way the monthly pace was potentially a mistake that hindered the service more than played to it's benefit.
That could mean more organic paced releases closer to the old virtual console with the bonus that app collection release won't clutter the eshop this time now that they're separate thanks to the app. It could also means online services releases that could synergize with modern Switch releases of related titles or outright sequels of the NES/SNES ones.

There are still worthwhile NES games to add?!!! I’ll be upset when a new obscure NES game is added. I don’t mind them spacing the games out more. I’m sure they’re looking at the precedent this is setting and realizing that people are going to be expecting N64 games next year.

@Chunkboi79 Which is why I made sure to exclude them from my statement, as the Arkham series of games is fantastic.

@KnightWolf "Cause I don't like the game that means it's a snoozer."

From that same caliper that means that all the Telltale games, Undertale, Bastion, and Monster Hunter GU are snoozers cause I haven't finished them yet.

@danemord I'm getting the controller. It's weird marketing to already say you won't get new guaranteed games

It's hard to complain. JRPGs not-withstanding, all of the truly essential SNES games are now available on Switch.

EDIT: I'm also factoring in the Contra, Castlevania, and Megaman X collections. I can't imagine that Konami and Capcom would allow those games to come out for the online service as well.

Haha so much gloom and doom in the comment section. We don't even know that this is bad news yet. They just about doubled the value of the subscription in one day, so I'll withhold judgement for now...

@dskatter Ah my bad, didn't read it correctly. I do agree that the quality is here and there. However, we have gotten a lot of bangerz lately. Borderlands, Sonic Mania, Sniper Elite 4, Detroit Become Human, and Wipeout. Things have been good for Playstation Plus.

@Old_Man_Nintendo what he said was “can you play nintendo games legally on PC”

I said yes. Since you can buy a “legal” game and play it on your “legal” emulator

So back to the original question, can you play nintendo games on PC legally? And the answer is?

I'm in a full family plan and was looking at how many great snes games I got this morning for that price. It wouldn't surprise me if Nintendo have realised how much they have devalued their legacy content with their online service. Maybe a better idea would have been to continue the Virtual Console but release the games at prices you can't say no to. I'd have bought every NES games released so far at £1.00 each. Every SNES game at £2.00 each. It would have cost me more in the long run but I feel this would have kept their fans happier.

@Chunkboi79 I wasn't a fan either, to be honest.

The big twists are telegraphed in the opening 5 minutes, and the new driving and tank combat - which takes up a good portion of the game - just isn't fun imo

@James696 Honestly, I had my problems with the game too. It's def not perfect, I agree with you on the abundance of tank gameplay. Also the twists were kind of lame, especially when they marketed the Arkham Knight as a brand new character.

Thank you for a constructive comment though, you made good critiques on the game. You don't usually see that anymore lol

I am over the moon with the snes addition. I own all the games already and have my snes set up, so playing them is not a problem but the fact I can play Super Mario Kart with my bro ONLINE makes this incredible.

I cannot explain how happy this has made us, it is the best news as I live in south England and he lives in Scotland.

We now can play every week like when we lived together our Favourite Mario Kart, first to 10 on match race Ghost Valley 1......

UTTER BLISS

Hoping they release Sensible Soccer, Cannon Fodder, Battletoads and Super Probotector soon

Suddenly indie games seem a lot less desirable.

@diwdiws
What is a legal rom?

According to Nintendo:
https://www.nintendo.com/corp/legal.jsp#roms

@diwdiws and how many people have the equipment to make there own roms? I'm gonna go out on a limb and say not many! Because it's possible doesn't make it right.

It’s amazing how much people complain. The subscription is something like € 1,50 a month. For that money some of you believe to be entitled to get 2 free AA titles monthly and be guarenteed to get 6 new (S)NES games each month. That’s just really… You know… Sad and unrealistic.

They scream that you can play all those games for free on a PC (that’s not legal) Then they want you to believe that PSN gives away 2 AAA games every month (most of the time those games are far from being AAA titles and the price difference between a PSN and NSO subscription is pretty clear) to justify their moaning.

Glad I’m satisfied with Nintendo right now. The Switch is a great machine and it has a great subscription option. I can play many NES and SNES titles on one device and take that device with my anywere. That’s amazing and fun. And all of that for like € 1,50 monthly. I get to play Tetris 99 for free and love it.

This should make it easier for Nintendo to drip-feed new games! Goooooood...

I don’t mind this. The NES & SNES libraries are not my primary reasons for having a Switch so it’s fine for me to get games randomly added to this collections, especially because we already have 50 games or more that we can enjoy now (between the two services).

Usually, when a company make some changes to their services and refuse to comment about the value of said change to the consumer, it's usually because it'll actually mean less value.

Most companies out there will never miss a chance to advertize how good they are, and how better for the consumers they are, when it's the case. It's good marketing. So when they don't say anything, it's usually because telling the truth would negatively affect their image.

But then, it can also be the sign of a clueless company, truly not knowing a lot or not having a clear plan, and not wanting to overpromise and then underdeliver.

But.... is 2 games a month really something that could be considered overpromise? Like others said, it's like... a minimum.

Maybe... just maybe... licensing issues with 3rd party games is more complex than anticipated... But still, I presume many Nintendo games don't need any kind of licencing since it's their own ganes.... So really... I don't know.

@Aaron101
The whole things people hinge to when justifying roms is they make or download the ROM of a legally owned game for preservation. In case their original ceases to work. However they then play said rom despite their original copy still fully existing which is illegal

@Barbara001 Or we could be looking at more than 2 releases per month. They never stated that the releases will be fewer each month.

@Aaron101 so your moving the goal post now? Pathetic Lol.

Can you or can you not play nintendo games on PC legally?

Most companies are just going to release collections anyways like they already have. Which is fine cause shoot why not? We get a few games for free and then we get a few we gotta pay for. I just want a TMNT collection so bad now.

All I need is Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI and as long as these games are released I will be fine with whatever the release schedule is

@Old_Man_Nintendo Most people don't care and it is near impossible to enforce so meh.

@Old_Man_Nintendo another pathetic one? Did i ever mention anything about downloading another rom? You can Just make one from your own disk right? Its still part of fair use? Since you OWN IT.

Stop moving the goal post. Can you or can you not play Nintendo games on PC Legally?

Bahahahaha!! This cracks me up, just for the sheer amount of annoyance it gives so many. You wanted SNES, you got 20 out of the gate. Added to the 40+ NES, that’s sixty games for $20. And Tetris. And it’s still not enough. Hahahahaha

If the initial SNES line-up weren't so strong that'd annoy me. As is, this is fine.

Anyone else notice you can now play the first four Zelda games on the switch with Links Awakening coming soon. Zelda, Zelda 2, Link to the Past and of course Links Awakening...

@Realnoize :

Usually you don’t get a subscription and get something new along the way and then start moaning about the new stuff you got for free.

I bought my membership may 2019. I had no knowledge of SNES games being part of that membership. Along the way they did without a higher price tag. So why would I complain?

I think this all boils down to the pessimism of Nintendo and their ability to do “online”. As it is their service value will largely depend on the subjective value of these old games (but at least snes is way better than nes, which I found boring). The service itself is still a dinosaur and way behind in any empirical sense.

It’s very cheap but if you never actually play the old games it would be nice if they actually offered more on the online side.

It's 20 dollars for a whole year. I pay 14.99 a month for Xbox. A lot of you would complain if they switched models and you had to pay more for you supposedly so badly want.

For now, you're getting plenty. If virtual console came back you'd only be able to get like 2 games for the price of one year.

@TeeJay my thoughts exactly

Not surprised about SNES games being released irregularly, the Direct kind of gave that away. But I thought we'd have gotten NES most months with the odd SNES month in between.

This sounds like there will be months with nothing.

Well technically we just had 10 months worth of SNES games in one go lol.

Darnit. Folks whined about the releases and now we get less. I suppose it could be nice in that we may get more at a time now though...

This is why we can’t have nice things.

I was wondering what was Nintendo gonna do with the SNES library, I don't see them adding that many noteworthy third party titles since they have their own collections now.

Well, if it takes time for more Snes game, it gives me time to finally beat a Link to the Past. A Link to the Past is one of three Legend of Zelda games I never beat. I have not best the original two and Oracles of Time/Seasons.

@Old_Man_Nintendo and why the hell are you defining rom based on what Nintendo defines it? Is that a legal definition? Is it backed up by law or jurisprudence? The only relevant definition you need is of fair use

I don't mind if they want to change it up, but if they do, more info beyond "irregularly" would really be nice.

The online service is cheap, and we just received 20 SNES games and have over 40 NES games to play along with Tetris & online gaming for Smash/Splatoon/Mario Kart & Fortnite etc... So it's not expensive for what you now receive.
However, if they want us to fork out £27 for a SNES controller, more games will need to be regularly released. You can't release a controller to play games then not commit to a schedule of further games using the controller.... That's just bizarre!!

@FineLerv Ahem, some of us are actually quite pleased to see the old SNES games again. (Mainly because we were Sega kids back in the day...)

Completely get where you're coming from, but there were at least two or three more unusual SNES games in that first batch of 20, which hadn't been seen since that era. I expect Ninty will keep throwing out old favourites (see Earthbound) and throwing in the odd leftfield choice from time to time, as they've done with the NES library.

"BuHt PlAyInG rOMz Is ILlEgAl" grandpa nobody cares if you play 30 year old games on an emulator if you called the cops they would laugh and tell you they have bigger problems to deal with. All I see is Nintendo have brainwashed people to think that ROMs I can easily play on a $100 crappy PC is value.

@diwdiws
Feel free to share a link showing that ROM creation or downloading of ROMs is protected under Fair Use

A couple of games, or even one game, a week should not have been too much to ask, but a couple of games every month was totally unacceptable. As the very first post in this thread said, knowing Nintendo, this could mean every few months, one month, three months, Etc. sadly. Now, if irregular on the scale of a month we wind up with let's say, 6 to 10 games combined NES and SNES at this point, I think that's fairly reasonable randomness. At least in my world I still have to devote time to new game experiences, so I can only speak for myself on this. All I ask is that Nintendo increase the output of these games' release rate.

Alternating between 1 nes or snes game per year!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jsW9MlYu31g

By this logic it'll take them another decade or so just to give us N64, Game Boy, GBC, GBA, and GameCube games. Even before these they'll make a new console soon enough and restart with the NES games all over again.

@607jf

Yes, big bad Nintendo brainwashed people. Amazing how they done that, don’t you agree? All I see is a dude that believes that everyone is stupid by saying that paying the full € 1,50 every month is nothing for being able to play a lot of (S)NES games on one device, get a great game like Tetris 99. I don’t care about ROMs and I have no PC, certainly not one I can put in my pocket and play my (S)NES games anywere.

Hopeless translation: "Next month will be Earthbound Beginnings (NES) and Earthbound (SNES) duo release!"

@6ch6ris6 PCs also do my taxes which my Switch won't but PCs also don't play Breath of the Wild, Mario Odyssey etc. I'll never bow to the argument that PCs are better and why do we mere mortals bother with consoles because for me, consoles always win. I don't need to learn all the garbage Windows throws at me, and I get to play my games instantly without having to boot up a PC. I get that PCs can do all these things, but your argument is dead on arrival on a Nintendo site friend.

@Mykillvee I really do hope so! That would be even better!!!

This definitely sounds like an excuse to release them less, it's already been terrible enough the bad drip feed of sometimes questionable titles.

Brawl Brothers is the one that made me happy. Now please include the Peacekkepers and Rival Turf!! Please..

And what suprised me the most is no Mario Allstars?? Why?? Will it realease with a Mario Maker update with the allstars art??

I guess it's a good thing I have a modded SNES Classic with a near-complete SNES library loaded on to it! I'm pretty sure this article is saying we might get 1 or 2 games for each service every 6 months or so if the Wii U & 3DS Virtual Console release schedule is anything to go by. Sigh.

@Old_Man_Nintendo Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc., 464 U.S. 417

Gah! There had to be a catch! The question is how infrequent will the timing be and how much games will we get?
16 games in 2 weeks or 5 games in a few months?
Whichever the case they'll take this time to improve in other areas of the online service? Snes emulation for no extra cost is nice but i would like dedicated servers to mario maker and smash, plz.

@Cyrax77 baited.

@DarthFoxMcCloud

Thank god the SNES Classic is totally free and the whole world knows how to load the complete library on it.

Awesome news! Now we won't have monthly threads of endless complaining (on this topic anyways)

@Cyrax77
I think it depends on how you see things. Nowadays, all consoles out there figured that you can't just make people pay for online play alone because you're limiting the appeal of your paid service by targeting only those using one feature. Those services, on all platforms, became much more than just "pay for online play". Sony's own service wasn't even about online play at first, this was only added when the PS4 was released.

Personnaly, I rarely play online. It happens sometimes, but that's hardly a reason for me to invest in the service. Cloud saves are a much more important feature to me. And the NES and SNES games are a cool feature I don't mind paying for as well, as I like playing those.

Now, I'm not complaining, as at $25 per year, it still is A LOT LESS than PSN or XBL (for which I don't pay anymore, I used to have both), and it gives, I think, good value for the money. I'm just surprised that Nintendo is probably planning to release less of them, as this gives value to their subscription.

Both Sony and Microsoft realised at some point that they also needed to provide cloud saves and "free games" to provide incentives to those who play less online. Their games are often some older retail ones mixed with lots of indies, not just emulated old games, but then, their sub is $80 per year, which is much more than for the Switch.

I think, even if Nintendo releases less games, that it is good value. It's just that I'm surprised that they probably plan on releasing less of them, as I don't understand why having 2 or 3 per month seems to be unsustainable. Maybe not 2 or 3 per system, but at least 2 or 3 spread across both, that would be pretty fine by me.

Anyway, not going to cancel my sub over that. Just a little bit let down by this.

Ah bollucks, that’s nintendo-speak for less regularly then.

To all of you complaining and crying some kind of prophetic nonsense.... Why? This literally means nothing, especially with the great library Switch has and the great number of titles releasing between this summer and next alone. Since getting NSO I haven't even touched the NES titles, and as excited as I am to play the SNES titles, realistically I don't ever see myself playing them. I've had the SNES classic since launch and might have put 5 hours into it. Same goes for any BC program. If you can't find a good reason to use a modern console WITHOUT BC, then maybe stop buying the modern consoles.

Also I REALLY hope after that last comment you guys realize I'm fishing for fanboys, I really don't care about VC.

I think this could be due to a number of factors really. Wouldnt be surprised if negotiating for the third party games has something to do with it

Honestly, I don’t see it as a big deal. If you just signed on for a full year, you get, what, sixty-plus 8/16-bit games, many of which are classics? There are also a lot of games that simply aren’t going to appear on the service because they’re available in separate compilations (Castlevania, Mega Man, Street Fighter II, Contra).

Also, given the sheer volume of games that are coming out in the immediate future, snes games are somewhat of a low priority. I can’t keep up!

look people talking about PlayStation plus giving two AAA games every month, well if you don't download them, you will lose them when that month is over. Unlike the NES & SNES games, once you get them, they will stay in their categories, and you won't lose them.

@BanjoPickles Exactly. We are deep in multiple 60+ hour titles being released pretty much weekly for the next few months...and suddenly Donkey Kong Country is top priority for everyone?

To those so utterly desperate for these games: if this is such a priority to you in the face of the already large Switch library, why not go down to one of the many retro brick and mortar shops around, or the thousands of listings online, and purchase the hardware and handful of titles you cannot live without?

Yeah, well I wish it meant new titles added every so many hours, but it's more likely months....

I still say Nintendo should absolutely release a cartridge with th we classic games on it. Having the games available to play when there's no internet connection or after the Switch is old and they've stopped online services is essential! Also, it would just be so cool to have a Switch cartridge with all these awesome games on it!

Lol at everyone crying about this. Talk about being entitled. Pay 20 bucks a year for a growing library, meanwhile Square charges 40 for 3 roms.

Actually, Nintendo should let Limited Run do it! They could make a crazy collectors edition with soundtrack CDs etc.

@FineLerv of course we need to!

@607jf so you only follow the law when you are forced to?

That''s great! We already have awesome games on the SNES app, games with a lot of substance, like Super Metroid, ALttP, Super Mario World, and Breath of Fire.

For me personally this isn't a problem at all, there's plenty already, i don't have time to play all of them anyway.

It remains to be seen how they'll do this, but I'm not really a fan. Once a month at least means you'll get SOMEthing every once in awhile without fail. I can foresee a future where the libraries go unchanged for seasons at a time.

@Mallow

Absolutely! Even if Nintendo didn’t release another game for the SNES online, we now have more than our money’s worth! This service shouldn’t be the centerpiece of the Switch’s library, but people are making it out to be.

Also, when SNES games were just a rumor, how many did you think we’d get at launch? Five? Maybe ten? No, they gave us twenty! They gave us almost every first party title in the original launch window (Pilotwings, Mario World, F-Zero), and three of their very best games of all time (LttP, Super Metroid, and Yoshi’s Island)! Apart from the DKC trilogy, Super Punch Out, Earthbound, and a few others, they essentially gave us most of their SNES games in one day! Unlike the NES offerings—many of which were also great—the bulk of these games will take time to plow through!

So, where do we go from here? Bring on the N64 games! What, no Goldeneye?! This service is such a ripoff!

This doesn't bode well, but I'll remain cautiously optimistic here.

Gotta love Nintendo. Look! Here are the same games from the SNES classic but on the switch. Now enjoy one or two games that no one cares about every 4-5 months. How can they be this stupid?

I hope this just means MORE than monthly releases, but I do hope they keep expanding both libraries, esp SNES which needs a lot more games to be compelling, especially anything that's actually 2-player. Also hopefully at least covering everything that was on the NES and SNES Mini/Classics.

@Zequio give me and example of someone getting sued or jailed from downloading 10 year old games mate.

@6ch6ris6 "I can just pirate games" is always the dumbest take. Why would anyone try to appeal to someone who's happy to just steal anyway? What good are you to them?

Hopefully it just means more games given when they do it.

They should put Earthbound up, since I never finished it on Wii U. We’ve had NES and SNES for a few consoles now though. Bring out N64 and finally introduce GameCube games. Probably never gonna happen though.

@607jf that "fact" don't make it legal or even correct.
As photocoping a book, stealing cable tv, for example...
My point is, that you'll do whatever illegal activity you want only when you are not being punished?
I asume you are still a kid, and that's ok. But most grown ups know that paying for the things people make is the correct thing to do.

One step forward, two steps backwards

Screaming for SNES games.. Got it.... Crying that it isn’t enough.... Always wanting more. Gotta love Nintendo fans....

@Roto13 i didnt say anything about pirating

@8bitforever no idea what you are talkin about. gaming on PC is just as easy as on consoles. boot up the PC or boot up the console. start the game and play. where is the difference???

@Aaron101 can you play all the exclusives from PC on nintendo hardware. no. there are exclusives on any plattform, but only on PC you dont have to pay extra for online

Goddang Nintendo really? This is why people emulate these consoles. 2 or 3 a month is ridiculous. 👎🏿

It'll be all good when they add the DKC games, Kirby Super Star, Star Fox 2, Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, and Super Mario RPG. After all the noteworthy games are in it'll be a drip feed like the NES Online (though we still don't have Earthbound Beginnings on NES Online for god knows what reason)

Here’s an idea. Since no one’s seemed to have heard of Terry Bogard, why not release some Fatal Fury games on the new SNES service. Sure, they’re inferior versions, and SNK would probably want you to buy the arcade ones already in the eShop, but this would be a great way to introduce newbie Smashers to the character.

(s)nes netflix, same issues, the whole library isn't on the table, anything worthwhile from a third party is unlikely

@Zequio I'm 22 don't try too hard dude it's whatever.

Fewer games but a good game every time sounds better than 3 random filler games each month.

10-1 odds says that it will be one game every six months.

@Cyrax77 I agree. People just love to complain. It's a low cost for for a lot of entertainment. And we normally need some time to play all these game anyways. I'm glad for snes. I think most of the nes games have age a little to much in 2019. But now we have snes and n64 will most certainly come as well further down the line 😊

@6ch6ris6 Cut it out.

We got 20 SNES games to start with. Talk about being greedy, people. SHEESH

This is just taking one step forward and two steps back.

Nintendo of America told me it was japan only.not the u.s. call for your self. 1-800-255-3700

@Barbara001 same-ish though if we're lucky they might just skip the lesser outings to instead focus on bigger ones when possible

@rockodoodle "I would not mind if the just did mini-games, like Street Pass."

Ah I didn't get much into Street Pass, personally. But, they could surely implement something akin to Street Pass somewhere down the line while keeping NESFlix.

@Galenmereth "It's pretty impressive to dry out that well of childhoold nostalgia so completely, but here we are..."

I think for me personally, I couldn't fathom wanting to start Super Mario World again for the who-know-how-many-times. There's so many games of that era I haven't played and I'd be much more interested in those lesser known titles, especially when I'm not paying for them individually. This kind of subscription service is perfect for B tier releases.

Dang i hope we get at least 2 every month ..id like more than that but we all know nintendo

@Mallow That is truly the best way to look at it!

I see a lot of people who need to get off their parents couch, get a long overdue shower, and take a step out into the real world.

@Darkyoshi98
In addition to what you're saying, the North American website still says that titles will be added regularly. So I'm wondering if it doesn't apply to us.

I called Nintendo of America and they said they had no knowledge of this and games for the u.s. will still be monthly....before people try to troll my post.call Nintendo. 1-800-255-3700

@Mogster definitely lol win big or go home. No BS Satellaview games, which is sad. Glad ton hacks are still the rage so I can blow dust off my 3ds and r4 err floor it

@aSmilingMan play an hour per game. Labor day weekend was around the corner last week.

@Roto13 what is your problem? i did not say anything about pirating games. read my post. you get free games LEGALLY on PC so many times. like half my games i got for free on steam, uplay, humble bundle etc.

We all know this just means they will release games less often. Boo. At least give us a minimum of 1 per system per month, that's TWELVE games a year for each system, Nintendo. YOU HAVE YEARS OF CONTENT TO PROVIDE THIS NUMBER, EASILY.

I just don't get how Nintendo can't manage to dump a few ROMs once a month. There's little to no work involved.

This just reinforces my belief that this service is just an afterthought to them and I expect nothing else to be added until this time next year before the next anniversary to encourage resubs.

@diwdiws
That court case does not pertain to copying or downloading a copy of a video game. It pertained to making a VHS recording of a TV show to watch at a different time or to time jump through the recording. Nice try but find something that actually has to do with ROMs

@Cotillion
Retro fitting HD graphical upgrade, multiplayer support, and save states may take a bit more energy than you give them credit for. On top of all that, Nintendo didn't make all of the games for the NES and SNES, so they have work out contracts with every studio they want to include.

As I see it there is no need for subscriptions or overly charged virtual titles. They made their money back in the day and have done many times over.

They should be priced at a cheap android or ios title now. 0.69p for example.

Its not like they are being remade. Its just emulated. They could license snes 9x if they wanted a helping hand. Heck Sony used an open source is psx mini.

With emulation in place whats the hold up releasing the ROMS.

Knowing Nintendo, they're not really known for being overly generous giving away too many freebies or extra value content. They didn't get to where they are today by doing this and that's fine as I'm fully aware that unlike Sony & MS who have other divisions to fall on in tough times, Nintendo is a gaming (and merch) company only and thus the majority of their revenues come from sales of gaming software and hardware. So I'd expect a couple games for each platform every 2 or 3 months, with maybe more during special events like E3, Gamescom, TGS etc.

@Old_Man_Nintendo You give them far too much credit. None of that stuff you mentioned has been added to these games and they are not porting each one individually. These games are ROM files, identical to the releases made on the SNES itself.
All of those features, the filters, the online multiplayer and save states are all being done by the emulator. Which is the way to do it as there's no more work to release more games. It's akin to making one console and then just releasing games for it, except unlike a new console they already have a plethora of games ready to go and just aren't releasing for any known reason. The ones with licensing issues are understandable, but Nintendo themselves still have plenty they can release.

This is why I believe it's an afterthought. It requires the most minimal of effort to add games now that they have the emulator running (with special features, even) and they won't even commit to releasing anymore at all beyond "irregularly".

I just reckon if you bought a snes title back on wii virtual console (or other ninty emulation enabled system) it should offer you a free download on switch.

Talk about money for old rope.

Backward compatibility appears to be a double edged sword. Yes you past system will be backwards compatible but you will pay it all over again.

@Old_Man_Nintendo the facts of the case is immaterial. the arguments and rulings are applicable to roms. Particularly copying copyrighted materials. I don't have time to write a lengthy explanation to you on the case. If you’re to stupid to understand it, then thats on you

@Mallow Oh we will, this lot cry at the drop of a hat.

I really need to add "one step forward, two steps back" to the bingo card, I've seen it about 496,235 times this month alone. Original posting at its absolute best.

Free games are cool. Too bad Nintendo will drop the service in 5 years meaning all those games will be unplayable. Then, the NES & SNES Classic Minis will be valuable again.

@DawgP "All other things aside, I feel like this launch line up did a pretty good job of putting obscure titles into the mix."

That's fair. I was probably a little cynical in my comment. I just opened the app yesterday and saw a whole bunch of games that I already own on Wii and Wii U, but I still feel like its something I'll look forward to every month or so when something new gets released.

@Krull "Ahem, some of us are actually quite pleased to see the old SNES games again. (Mainly because we were Sega kids back in the day...)"

I get that. I wasn't a Nintendo kid since just before the Gamecube when I bought an N64. (Amiga for life). None of these games hold any sense of nostalgia for me, but I've owned half of them since the Wii and the other half since the Wii U.

Don't get me wrong, though. I love the service. I'm just hoping it's an external love.

@Zequio "of course we need to!"

Hehe. Fair enough.

I think people downvoting all those NES - Online Updates told them this “we don’t want monthly releases”

This is them saying “OK, you’ll get it, when ya get it.”

@HobbitGamer yes some here are some big cheapskates.. that's for sure. They want 100 games for 20$/€. Period

Classic Nintendo Life comments section.

the only games i was hoping for - DKC triology ... at least i will save some space - no snes online app for me then xD hope they will add at least one of the dkc games soon

If Nintendo had any sense they would release large batches of old games during the summer release lull. That way people have plenty of “new” games that they can be playing while waiting for the big release season in September.

Their current strategy where they’ve released NES and SNES right at the start of the big release season is mental. Aside from briefly booting up Super Mario World I’ve not even considered playing the SNES games because I’ve got so many new games to play.

Do us a favour Nintendo and release N64 and GameCube next year when there’s a lull of releases, not at the same time as a massive glut of games is coming.

@Varazadi @BulkSlash
By the time they drip feed the N64 games, the fanbase with any remaining nostalgia will be way too old and senile to remember they had a nostalgia in the first place. You'll be so old that if you play lode runner 3d the nurse will have to change your diaper. You'll be 1000 before they drip feed the GameCube games.

so that means only 20 snes games for switch

I think we'll get a good flurry over the first few months to complement the excellent opening 20, but after that, like the Nes - Ninty will get bored and it'll dry up

I hope a Gameboy app comes alot sooner than we had to wait for the snes one, its the first gaming machine ive played, Mario land and Pokemon Yellow, Zelda links awakening too.

Hold back the NES online games for a while. Let the SNES shine for a while. I don’t mean stop NES completely but maybe leave the games for a few months and focus more on SNES as that just released

So I'm guessing there will be some months where no NES/SNES are added, while there will be other months where a handful of NES/SNES games will be added.

I believe they will keep on adding a total of 2-4 games a month on the 2 libraries combined which is ok pace....
I really hope they won’t do something stupid like waiting entire months without any new games

@6ch6ris6 I know this is unrelated but I hate gaming on PC, the games feel so flat and lifeless playing on a pc of laptop(both of which have no character, compared to consoles). There is something special about playing games on a console.

@Cyrax77 You can find year subs for PSN for $40. Stable internet and party chat makes it worth it. You regularly get pretty good games. Games people on here pay $20 for on Switch are the lesser games avaliable, like what remains of Edith Fitch, Horizon Turbo, Sonic Mania, etc.

@DannyBoi that's 100 percent all in your head.

@Trajan how so?

@Trajan

Still doubles NSO with that price tag. I got PSN, most free games are not AAA.

For me, it's not about when they release games, it's about what they release. The last few months of NES games were crappy games no one really liked. If they didn't release a game for two months but then it ended up being something like Chrono Trigger, I wouldn't care! Most of Nintendo's A list SNES games have been released. It's really about the 3rd party licensing now. Let's see.

@carlos82 tell me about it, I've got a huge backlog to finish atm haha doesn't help when new titles keep getting released

@Doktor-Mandrake I know, I'm currently playing Astral Chain and have also just picked up Mortal Kombat 11. In a couple of weeks there's Zelda, with Luigi's Mansion 3 soon afterwards, then Pokemon plus many others launching in amongst them in the next couple of months and now a few SNES games I want to play as well

@Mogster "I'm always 3 steps ahead"

@6ch6ris6 Last time I checked, you can't play MMOs without a subscription.

@SIMOMEGA there are so many MMOs you can play without a subscription the elder scrolls online and guild wars 2 just to name two

@6ch6ris6 Those and WoW, are the exception to the rule, not that I disagree with you, but if MMOs can't be free, why should Online play on Consoles be.

@6ch6ris6 At the same time I'm glad that Nintendo's subscription service is cheaper than Sony / Microsoft's.

@carlos82 haha indeed

For me I've been busy playing Crash Team Racing, now Spyro since that is out, also Banjo Kazooie came out on Smash so been trying that out, been replaying RE2 but on hardcore difficulty.. And then the other day the new Plants vs Zombies game came out so been playing that

Soon will be luigi mansion 3 that I've preordered

Then Doom Eternal in November

Too many games, not enough time xD

@Tantani
If that were the case they would have said something to that effect instead of being ominous about it with “irregularly” which is vague enough to give some people hope, PR would want to get people hyped if we’re getting games every other week which might be feasible as they have two systems to work with now
My take that this a reaction to them internally deciding not to charge extra for SNES, there was a story a few months ago about the possibly of them adding pricing tiers to switch online, this didn’t happen so we have $19 for all these games with them opting to drip out future ones that makes the awful slow chug years of the VC look like heaven.

This probably isn't good, but tbh there are actually games that I want to play on the SNES app, so the pace slowing down doesn't bother me too much.

In North America, we don’t say “irregularly” we say “maverickly”.

@6ch6ris6 That is not even close to how a PC works. Look, I have worked in the IT field for almost 20 years and I can assure you that no PC just works the way a console does. I'll admit PCs are generally more powerful but they aren't friendly to use. I even struggle sometimes with updates or driver issues and I am considered a power user.

@8bitforever what?? then why does it work for me and millions of other gamers? i boot up my PC (super fast nowadays with a boot SSD) and then start the game i wanna play. that's it.
consoles don't have any real advantages in this regard nowadays. the days where you just pop in a dvd and the game starts without installation or downloading patches is long gone. consoles have moved in the direction of the pc while pc moved into the direction of consoles. there isnt that much of a difference in this gen.

That's correct if its a PC you have had for some time. Try buying a new one and accomplishing that. Look I am not saying playing on PC is terrible but most people don't know what to do when a driver is out on a PC, or they get "x" error. Consoles just don't do that. They either work or they don't. Plus now there are multiple PC game stores to consider, and all of those you have to download and install too.

@diwdiws
I think you have no argument which will make ROMs seem legal in any way shape or form. You just really like free games and hate working for what you have

@FineLerv it would not have to be just like Street Pass, just add something with similar games. They were fun, nice casual type stuff....

@Old_Man_Nintendo huh? What the hell are you talking about? Im talking about making your OWN ROMS from your OWN games to play on a LEGAL emulator. Again if your to stupid to understand then thats on you

Hope new stuff will come soon

Lol two months later and still nothing.