Talking Point: What's Happened To Switch's NES And SNES Games, Nintendo?

Maybe they'll do something along the lines of adding 8 to 12 games all at once, every season? Basically three or four major updates a year. That would be my hope, anyway.

Maybe Nintendo doesn't care anymore because they sold the subscriptions... ;-(

I'm still not compelled to sign up for the service, especially since before I lost my Wii to theft, I populated it with a lot of retro titles for the NES, SNES, Genesis, Turbografx-16, and N64.

Give us the games please, Nintendo, some of us actually want old stuff still as much as people crave new games...

I was just wondering about this the other day, when they said they would be stopping monthly additions to the service I was assuming that would mean they would have released some by now. I would love to be playing the DKC trilogy right now.

At this rate I'd assume they're just done with the NES games, the last few updates have been real bad and I really can't think of any hard-hitting NES games they've missed besides Earthbound Beginnings. All the other good ones are part of their own separate collections now

Also, what's up with Club Nintendo in NA. It's been stagnant for months as well. Reminds me when Nintendo put the Wii VC in hibernation for a few years then finally brought it back with a huge dump of demos. At the end of it's natural life. Nintendo is probably playing the waiting game like before.

An update is long overdue really, a small batch of 5 - 6 games for Christmas would go down well.....

Erm...last update was three months ago...with 20 SNES games lol. At 3 games a month, we pretty much got 6 months worth in one go. I don't think we have much to moan about lol.

It’s annoying yes, but we can’t get too whiney about it.... firstly their service is a 3rd the cost of rivals, secondly the games are provided for free (as long as you sub).

It wouldn’t surprise me if we get one more NES update and then they’re done there. And maybe 2-3 more updates on SNES and their done. Hopefully they’re bringing N64 and GameCube to the service also.

But honestly, as long as I get Simcity in one of the updates, I’ll be content. Got sooooo many games anyways, not like I have time to boot up SNES games all that often.

We need the Donkey Kong Country trilogy! I expected it in November for the 25th anniversary of DKC.

They want to move forward. I understand that. But why do they have to completely abandon the past to do that? They said that the Classic NES and SNES Mini were just to hold us over until the Switch launch. Okay. It took a year for NSO to launch, another year for SNES games to appear, and now no more updates? Do they even care anymore?

I just want Tetris Attack please
I'll pay extra for it.

This is why people resort to less than scrupulous methods

I would like to some new SNES games not bothered about NES but I bought the SNES controller so wanna get some more use out of it

Please understand.

Is Super Mario RPG really that much to ask, Nintendo? As well as say, Chrono Trigger, Earthbound, Super Mario All-Stars or the DKC Trilogy?

@SeantheDon29 the old Square Soft ganes will never happen.
Square Enix would rather rerelease those games themselves.

I'm guessing we something at the next direct, because at the moment, post pokemon, I have no idea what Switch's next flagship game is. I can understand giving time after pokemon before the next big launch but by the end of January we need a proper direct, Nintendo are going to need to sell something new next year at some point.

Eh.... Honestly i don't play my NES app on my Switch anymore since i have tendency to play with actual cartridge rather than digital download only games. 😅

@CharlieGirl we got final fantasy on the SNES mini.

It seems obvious to me how the Hamster ACA series is the best way to play classics on the Switch, the NES and SNES Nintendo Online apps seem to be kind of half-assed. I would much rather play SNES games on my New 3DS XL.

Thanks for this article. Someone really needed to get people talking about this. These apps aren't freebies, they're part of a paid subscription service. Imagine if Netflix just stopped adding shows for three months.

NintenDon't know the internet.

@DayOfLavos Zoda's Revenge is also missing, which is strange, considering it's a sequel to Star Tropics, which is on the service.

I thought people WANTED updates to be less often but meatier?
I hate to "defend" Nintendo when it comes to giving us less, but people were super vocal about this since the NES App launched.

The assumption my end is they will use the retro updated to plug holes in the release schedule and there are no holes in winter!

That said maybe they're prepping some N64 games for the service or better yet GameCube.

Sega does for ages what Nintendont for months.

I forgot we had a nes and Snes app. I’ve been playing mainly games I bought for the switch, 3ds and the Wii u. The backlog is crazy and I have a nes mini and Snes mini so the app is not really for me

@Anti-Matter I can relate. Even if Nintendo adds N64 games to NSO or—even less likely—releases an N64 Classic, I doubt it would include Banjo-Kazooie, LEGO Racer, GoldenEye, Glover or Toy Story 2.

My sub expired beginning of October and I really haven't been compelled to sign back up at all really. Played through all the classic ges I wanted to (honestly most of them have aged horribly), the main thing I really miss is Tetris 99.

This needs to add in SNES online

Donkey Kong Country 1,2 and 3
Super Mario RPG
Earthbound
Chrono Trigger
Super Bomberman
Final fantasy IV and VI

For NES

Final Fantasy
Mega man 2(I know they had a mega man collection on switch already)
Metal Gear
Ninja Gaiden 2
Battletoads
Duck hunt

@ConanLives yes, but there are games on the NES mini that got rereleased in other compilations (as an example)

Maybe something in December?

N64 please x x bored of waiting x x

They decided to spend there time working on native voice chat instead. So no more games until switch 2

They better not discontinue SNES game additions before adding the stellar Kirby Super Star game.

Be nice if they drop some more in December or January but as I've only completed Super Mario World and StarFox so far there is plenty to keep me busy.

Recently finished Link's Awakening, Ghostbusters and Luigi's Mansion too and only just started Starlink (finally).

And remember it is only £17.99 a year you lovely people. No point comparing it to other subscription services when it is so cheap!

@GrailUK My thoughts exactly!!

Feel sorry for the ones that bought the retro ninty controllers.

@CharlieGirl if you think of comparable services like game pass its about to include all of final fantasy back to 7.

Saw this coming.

I think they explicitly stated they would be coming less frequently. If I remember correctly, you guys reported on that yourselves.

@antonio2244 the SNES DK trilogy will probably be sold as a classic collection for £10!

@Anri02 less frequently is once a year? Twice a year? Or delayed indefinitely

@1UP_MARIO do you have the NES and SNES mini plugged in? I do like the convenience of the games being available on the switch

@sixrings It hasn’t even been 3 months yet.

Nintendo Swatch Online is half ass its not worth it

Little Nemo: The Dream Master on the NES please, and I'll be partying like it's 1993 again (the year I got a NES with that delightful title and Super Mario Bros 2 - great year!!!)

I assume everyone has completed all 20 SNES games?

ThE sErViCe Is ChEaP, sO tHiS iS oK.

@DayOfLavos

Seems like they're missing a ton of great NES games. Aren't they missing all of the Mega Man, Castlevania and Contra games at the moment? I'm pretty sure Bubble Bobble's not there yet. That's just off the top of my head.

@RushDawg Not much they can do about third party games, especially Mega Man and Castlevania. Capcpom and Konami would rather push their collections, then allow them to be on NSO.

I always said that adding SNES games to service was not going to fix it as a whole, I was right, adding SNES games made the service better, but didn't fix it since Nintendo is not adding more games after that.

Don't think that adding N64 games will fix it, we need games coming faster, then we can start asking for more consoles.

The SNES controller have been sold out since day 1, too...

@Branovices Apparently, Nintendo might replenish their stock in January.

What I find amusing is that when we were getting games people did nothing but moan that they were either a rubbish selection or not N64/GC games, and, now we aren’t getting them are people are moaning about that. Never satisfied, but not surprised given what the Nintendo “fan base” has become in the last 2yrs

BuHt GuY iTs oK CaUsE ItS OnLeY $20 a YeAr.

It's like club Nintendo all over again.

This is just pitiful. I knew they’d turn their back on it when they announced they were leaving the monthly drop. They announced and dropped the SNES, and they’ve done nothing.

NES was already an afterthought in North America. I forgot to turn my subscription off or I’d have probably skipped it. Its just not worth it at this point.

You would think that with X-mas around the corner, they'd try to get as many eyes as possible on the NSO service.

Heck come to think about it, what are the big holiday releases for Switch this year? Pokémon seems to be the only thing being pushed lately...or is it just me?

@CharlieGirl And charge £30 for them

😂😂😂 its Nintendo so ITZa Ok!!!

I have been thinking the exact same thing! Dkc trilogy 💔

I got a year subscription when the SNES games came out. I’ve logged in twice, and played for less than thirty minutes total. Unless games from N64 onwards come out, it ain’t for me

It’s a bit bizarre seeing some comments here. Reading them, you’d think it’s been years since they added games to the service. In a week it’ll be 3 months.

LOL so now they don't even care about trying to hide the fact that it's a scam.

@Dpishere same 😣

BTW your pay for this and cloud backups that are free elsewhere. As of now there are zero nintendo games that use server it's all peer2peer not to mention you are already paying whatever little cost is incurred by buying the system and games.

I guess we get a batch in December around the time of Smash Ultimate's 1 year anniversary to draw in those who bought 12 months NSO for Smash and then got disappointed by the laggy matches.

@Thumbsofsteel Pokemon Sword/Shield is the big holiday release. There's some 3rd party stuff like Assassin's Creed Rebel Collection in December but the next Nintendo games are Brain Training (late December in Japan, early January in Europe, ? in America) and Tokyo Mirage Sessions in mid-January.

Switch online is easily the worst service nintendo has ever provided, for reasons that have been thoroughly discussed already. I defend Nintendo on lots of things, but switch online is beyond lame

@MrBelmont yes both plugged in.

don’t expect ANY third party games from capcom, Konami, squarenix. That’s a massive blow. How many good first party titles does that leave? None actually. Unless they add n64 or game boy emulators or major third party games, I think we p much have the final product

@gamerjo sadly too many of those aren’t Nintendo games. Square can and do sell the early FF games separately so no reason for them to give them to Nintendo.
I’d love the turtles games too although with Disney selling lion king/Aladdin pack. Nickelodeon may do a deal for a turtles pack

Stop counting on Nintendo for early era gaming. It’s been declining since WiiVC. They don’t have a good service. Just assume next to nothing will come from them and find other means

I’m fairness to those calling NSO a scam, pretty sure XBlive needs a sub for cloud saves and is much more expensive.
The online is poor(apart from MK8 in my experience and Smash wasn’t bad when I tried it) but between Mario maker and the Twitch deal I’ve only bought one sub and am paid up through 2021.

Im sure no many new NES games are planned, unless they have being working on third party licences and surprise us!
I cant think of many other first party SNES games that deserve a release on the service... Most of the real great games left are third party ones, so I have low expectations for future releases....
I bet they are planning some Gameboy games instead.

The whining in these comments is outweighed only by the ignorance. Whine on, children.

@ConanLives the next BIG game is Animal Crossing. Which should have been the Xmas game but got delayed.

GameCube Online is coming this xmas...

Target put the 12-month sub on sale, so since there's (seemingly?) no pricing monopoly on it, I went ahead and grabbed it since there's clearly no changing their minds.

You guys subscribed for.another year after the SNES games. They told you there wouldn't be month games. They got their money for the next year.

@MrBelmont yes.

@CharlieGirl I second this if its just on the regular eshop, or a physical edition with Yoshi and Dr. Mario.

Oh and Kirby's Avalanche.

@Crockin I agree.

@spirit_flame I guess it’s sarcasm?

Because I have over 100 games in my NES and SNES mini which will never come out in NSO

I feel sorry for the people who haven’t bought a mini and hacked it

Come on Nintendo... release a N64 Classic ... I will still be an NSO subscriber and still buy the damn thing!!

I'd assume they're going to be every six months to a year for updates, maybe using yearly updates to leverage the renewal of subscriptions to the online service. Or maybe they'll shift fully to Valve time, which would be unfortunate.

Either way, would prefer to just be able to buy individual games for the ones I really want.

@ConanLives Animal Crossing, Breath of The Wild 2 and Metroid Prime 4 would like a word...

We have a tonne of retro collections from third parties on the eShop, I'm wondering what good games Nintendo can use for the snes that aren't part of the collections that they still have the licence for ?

@Trajan right, but they conditioned us think that they would drip feed titles every couple of weeks like they did with nes games, and that has not been the case, even if it wasn’t explicitly stated by Nintendo. I don’t care THAT much, but the online service is objectively bad. You know it’s bad

Cybernator fools!

That's all I came to say.

Doesn't surprise me at all. Nintendo was phoning it in with the absolute bare minimum effort they possibly as it was. As soon as they said they were stopping regular updates I knew it'd die. This is something they'll announce an update for next September when the subs are due to expire.
Maybe at the 6 month mark, but I really doubt it.
Third party has better offerings in collections than Nintendo has in their service.

Such a shame. They have a real gold mine they're sitting on with a Netflix for retro games and they're just throwing it out the window. Even without the NSO 'features', I would pay more than the sub is now for a true service and I'm sure many others would as well.

Been wondering about this, too. It really seems like there should've been some new stuff by now. Maybe they'll add like 20 new games for both services every.. I dunno.. 4 months now or something? ..think I preferred the old method to be honest though.

Nah, they're done with it. It's Wii U/3DS VC all over again, so I'm not holding my breath on anything meaningful. See, if you keep your expectations rock bottom, you'll never be disappointed!

@Crockin Nintendo told you they wouldn't. They conditioned you, but then after the SNES games came out told you that was over.

If you really want classic 2d Nintendo games get a SNES and put hakchi on it. Even plays GB, GBC, and GBA games, saving wear and tear on the GameCube.

@elpardo1984 You'd be wrong.

Xbox One cloud saves are completely free for all online users.

PSN users on all playstations, and xbox 360 users need to pay if they want cloud saves.

However, both last gen and current gen playstations and xboxes allow for USB save backups. Which the Switch does not.

And in all fairness, the extra features and support you get for the extra money feels like more value than NSO.

@Dr_Corndog thanks I will.

To be honest, I’m actually satisfied with just owning the NES and SNES Mini’s. Along with the Sega Genesis Mini thrown in there too.

Nintendo are backward.

@dazzleshell cheap compared to what? Are you not implicitly comparing the price to other online gaming subscription services, while telling us not to compare it to other subscription services?

I remember when Nintendo announced the regular updates would stop; some of us were optimistic, we probably shouldn’t have been.

@Trajan lol yea Duh, I’m saying they have axed one of the few cool things about the service, and that’s looking forward to something on a regular basis. Obv going to keep paying so I can play splatoon, Mario maker, smash etc, but the classic games perk just got a little lamer. Of course I could play any of these games anywhere, but I want to play them on my switch.

They know the games have value, but instead of selling them, they are dangling them over consumers heads behind crappy services like switch online, or locked to a console upgrade(new 3DS). Smart biz move for sure, but not consumer friendly from my POV

@Dm9982 I already stood with nintendo on this matter, but they can't keep this way anymore. It has been more than a full year since launch and NSO didn't have any major upgrades. Nintendo is stuck with its online service. There are still no achievments or leaderboards, no default option for voice chat without the damn app. They are not evolving NSO and Nintendo needs to do something ASAP. I get that Nintendo likes to do things differently, but let that alone for games and consoles, not for online infrastructure, this should be the industry standard, that is far ahead. They should make it better so they can keep it up with their rivals. They need to get back to the bussiness as a first choice console, not as a secondary machine for PS4 and Xbox users.

@m8e3point1415 Yeah I think when mine runs out I am just going to forget about renewing, I never really use it and I prefer the ACA games anyways. I got plenty of ways to play old NES and SNES games.

My thought is this- it’s either totally DOA or they’re gonna blow our minds with a killer drop before Christmas. Give me Axelay, Actraiser, and Super Smash TV and I’ll be fine forever. We’ll see I guess.🤷🏼‍♂️

@ConanLives that’s what Animal Crossing is. It’s one of their big system sellers and I’m sure at this point that’s what they’ll focus on once the holiday season is over.

I like the service its really cheap, and the games i get from it are awesome, i hope they add more games to it. But for this price its great, i also play the free games on the eshop, lots of fun.

Also for the next updates i want at least in smashbros to invite a friend to battle just the click and invite. Like in other games.

Oh yeah those two apps are a thing...

@Anri02 This. "We want Capcom, Sega, SNK, Konami and Square games!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!" Hard for Nintendo to do that when these companies along with Hamster are all cashing in and releasing their own collections.

@GrailUK When I see people complain about a lack of games at any given moment (indie, classics, AAA titles) I can’t help but wonder where do people find the time to plat all these games. Have they really beat all that’s available (across all the different types of games) or do they just want to see more and more stuff added.

@Dm9982 "the games are free!!!...at a cost"

@duhsoares21 the way the switch suspends apps when they're not open tells me switch will never get native voice chat outside of games

Put simply, the Nintendo Switch is brilliant. EXCEPT for the online offering. The lack of chat - the app is pathetic - and the NES and SNES offerings dwindling is frustrating.
Nintendo and online have never been good bedfellows but it does feel like the success of the console means they think they can get away with below par online offerings!
Sort it out Nintendo!

@outsider83 Beats me man.

Was thinking the same thing (where's the update?) I love Nintendo but they do seem to get bored of stuff a bit too quickly.
Probably showing my ignorance here but can't imagine it's that hard to do regular updates or outsource the job to a reliable partner.
My online expires in a few weeks. I won't renew until the games are updated.

Hopefully we will get some new titles before Christmas.

I'm hoping for:
Mario RPG
Mario All Stars
SimCity (wishful thinking I know, I think E.A own the Sim city rights nowadays)

Milking the cow

@Pichuka97 Nintendo no longer gives a rat's ass about the NA market. We've served our purpose and we throw money at them no matter what they do, so they're done with us. They don't feel the need to address the fans that pulled them through the dark times and carried them through every mistake. They're back to being arrogant again. When's the last time they did anything special for the NA market or even acknowledged us? Years ago. It's been years. And NA Club Nintendo has been a joke for a very long time.

Mark my words: by the time TGA begin, it will be three months since the last update, and they will announce then the DK trilogy for the SNES, along with a brand new DK (3D possibly) for the Switch, coming out next year.
There you have it.

The reason I find that almost 3 months going by without new games being added to be a problem is because there is no information on what they are doing.

When NES online started we got a bunch of games off the bat and they also gave us a release schedule for the rest of the year, even surprising us with SP games when the games were actually added. After that we didn't have a release schedule but we knew games were added monthly and it gave me something to look forward every month with my yearly subscription. People could complain about the rate games were being released and which games were released but we at least knew value was going to be added regularly. I enjoyed watching the collection grow and have now played through all of the NES games on offer.

SNES games coming was rumored but not confirmed until right before it was released. That was great and I am happily playing through those 20 games now, and they will probably last me awhile. No problems there.

The problem is they told us what they weren't going to do but we have no idea what they are going to do. If they said " here are 20 SNES games but you won't see anything else added until January 2020" it something like that, I would have no problems with that. I just don't really see any reason for them to be so secretive with the information. A subscription service should probably be a little more open with what you will be getting in the future. I like being surprised with things like Tetris 99 but surprise announcements also need to be balanced with something consistent or known as well. At this point I would like more than just vague promises that they will continue to add value to the service without any idea at when or how.

Nintendo is literally silly when it comes to implementing their online services. It's as if they purposely want to stay behind the curb when it comes to running their online services, going all the way back to the gamecube. I mean there isn't even any voice chat for the majority of online switch games. What gives? No wonder people buy xbox or ps4. Nintendo Switch has a. BORING bare bones online service and it's sad because it has so much potential. And why no n64 retro store? C'mon Nintendo stop being lazy, greedy capitalists.

Typical Nintendo. Their whole approach to their online service is so lazy and bare bones this doesn't surprise me at all.

More importantly WHY THE F#CK are the wireless Super NES controllers STILL sold out/unavailable! They've been sold out literally hours after first going on sale back when the Super NES games first released on the Switch!?!

Here is a question for you Nintendo Life:

Where are all the game reviews? The Touryst, Alien Isolation etc. You have seriously dropped the ball with this for the last while.

Oh sure Pokemon article no. 256 might generate all the clicks but some of us would still appreciate some actual game reviews just to get a feel for games if nothing else.

Get on it and stop chasing the drama like a sunday rag.

Edit: The Touryst has been reviewed as it happens but did not show up in the reviews section so I missed it. I maintain there are still too many throwaway articles and not enough reviews though.

My guess before Christmas another batch will be added

I wouldn't hold your breath. Nintendo are awful at online services and doing their best to make piracy look like the most appealing option. I really wish they can sort this out.

I would make a minor complaint about why they should bring the Virtual Console onto the Switch for those who would like to actually buy and play these titles OFFLINE, but..having a modded NES and SNES Classic Edition with all the added titles and roms I would like, it's no big deal to me. But still, it would be nice if they took what they did with the Wii/Wii U and implemented it into their best selling current home console yet.

@SBandy they reviewed the touryst 3 days ago or so. It got a 9

@Mr_Pepperami

Strange, it doesn't show up in the reviews section but you are correct. I shall amend my first post.

Still, my original point stands. Lots of games not very many reviews.

I stopped having the service

@duhsoares21 Oh I fully agree they need to revamp the structure of their online. In this day and age all online games should have fast access voice chat and easy/reliable match making. The idea they had behind the chat app being on the phone is fine by me - I’ve used discord for years for communication, so this is nothing new to me, plus allows me to use whatever headset I prefer, not just a proprietary one. However, the chat app is not easy to understand, isn’t well advertised and not well implemented. Needs much more support than its getting.

The other big deal about using chat outside the system - it saves system resources! This is very good.

@Tao - Lol! I mean I pay $60 a year for PSN to very rarely play games online and get “free” crappy PlayStation 4 games I don’t care to play, or the occasional good one that I still don’t want to play, or already own. So yeah.... even still NSO is still the much better choice, $20 a year for online access and a larger library of arguably better games.

@SBandy I think a practical reason would be that nobody cares about those, and people care about Pokémon

Easy to answer, you don't earn profit by using resources to be giving away old crap for free!

@Crockin

I addressed that by recognising Pokemon articles generate the clicks but I still expect fair coverage of other games.

I seem to recall at one point that Nintendo Life pledged to review every game. Now I don't expect that with 20+ releases some weeks, but I expect more than are being published. And I would much prefer them over "Nintendo's stock level fluctuated again" type rubbish.

Next games will come for the January/February direct and they'll be mediocre is my prediction. Unless they hit us with some dkc..

@SBandy You're right about the reviews becoming a rare thing. I've noticed it for a good while now but recently it seems to have gotten even worse. Also, it's been fairly common for that rare review to be for a game that looks obviously crap or at best average just from the Eshop pics and then unsurprisingly, when reviewed turn out to be crap or at best average. The new style Mini Reviews were definitely on the right track but even those seem to have been cut back after a promising start.

@OorWullie

Yes I remember commenting that I appreciated the mini reviews as a way to deal with the sheer amount of games but I think it was only done once or twice.

This isn't only a Nintendo Life thing, other established sites like even the great Eurogamer are falling prey to it. Controversy over great content as they need the clicks. It is pretty sad.

Edit: Not that I am perfect, I often contribute to those clicks.

@NintendoByNature I have a feeling they aren’t coming. Doesn’t seem like rare games can be published on the switch.

@Crockin You say that we shouldn't expect ANY third party games from Capcom or Konami yet just from the first batch, we have Super Ghouls & Ghosts Demons Crest, Breath of Fire and Super Castlevania IV. Who knows if we'll get anything from Square Enix but we can't rule out the other 2 when they're there from the start. The pair of them have released several large collections of retro games for sale already so they're obviously going to be limited with what they can put on the app, Plus a lot of their games from that era have licensing issues.

@Crockin I'm asking because i truly don't know. How Was dkc1 able to be on the snes classic?

@NintendoByNature @Crockin
The DKC games are also available on the virtual console. I think it is possible that they could appear on SNES online but Nintendo would probably have to reach some kind of agreement with Rare assuming Nintendo didn't somehow acquire all rights to the game at some point. I would really love to see these games arrive at some point though, I never did play 2 or 3.

I also want to see Super Mario RPG appear as well but since there are third parties involved I am nervous that deals could fall through with a lot of these classics.

@gaga64 firm release dates for any of them?

what happened is that they droped the ball.

@OorWullie true, I forgot about those.

Three whole months after the non-monthly warning ooooooh totally worth a whine article.

@Anri02 I think they explicitly stated they would be coming less frequently. If I remember correctly, you guys reported on that yourselves.

Agreed, they said the games would be coming less frequently therefore everyone either has to like or shut up about it. /s

If they had said 'We plan to start bricking 3DS consoles starting in October' would an announcement also make it ok?

After watching their Virtual Console support go from robust to pathetic, this isn't surprising. They don't treat their legacy content very well

Surely they are just lying in wait, about to give us something spectacular for Christmas?

@OorWullie Actually, Breath of Fire was localized by Squaresoft so they likely have their hand in that release.

I'm more concerned about the actual online play.

If it doesn't improve then I don't think I can buy another Nintendo console. It's not just poor, it's bordering on contempt at this stage.

I said something similar about region locking before the Switch, so apparently Nintendo listens to me.

I accept your thanks in advance for when Nintendo provide a real online service.

The writing on the wall was when Nintendo announced monthly updates would be replaced by "an irregular schedule". Kiss of death.

That said, I'll be brutally honest: I've never once played any of the games on offer for the online service. I've never liked the concept of "games as a service" and see it as an underhanded "redefinition" by game publishers to take away basic rights from consumers; I want to buy what I really desire to play and legally own the PRODUCT that I've purchased with real money.

Nor have I played any Switch game online, nor do I desire to. I'm old school in that I prefer to play either single-player titles or experience the camaraderie of playing with friends and family in the same room. I realize that other users' preferences may vary, and that's fine, but we all know Nintendo's shoddy history with online functionality and long-term support for the services they've offered.

The only feature I subscribed to Switch's online service for is the cloud saves (and that itself has been spotty at times). Having the other stuff is nice, but when support for Switch Online was this half-baked from the beginning, it should have been obvious that (aside from revenue) it simply isn't a priority for Nintendo. In short, decide for yourself what you can (not should) realistically expect from them, and whether that makes it worth it to continue subscribing based on that.

And that's why it's a dumb idea to put all of their games up all at once. People are never satisfied and a few weeks/months later they want more. If Nintendo had put out 3 games per month, rather than 20 at the start with the NES, and 20 SNES games recently, nobody would be complaining. Or, what I would have liked to have seen, was a new game every 2 weeks to keep things fresh.

@Ricube i dont think so and lets not forget they need to get permission from 3rd party developers to release some of their nes and snes games for switch online service and plus some of 3rd party games developers that made games for snes and nes have either disbanded or merged with other big devs.

@Crono1973 You're comparing them coming out and saying that games aren't going to come to the service every month, to a scenario where they are rendering consoles completely useless? I fail to see what you could possibly be trying to argue with me here

Meanwhile, Sony and Microsoft can offer games every month with their online memberships.

Yet, Nintendo struggles to add decades old NES and SNES games tp their service.

I love Nintendo, but sometimes they frustrate me by how far behind their rivals they can be at certain things.

@SBandy Come on, man... Nintendoife was one if the first ones to review The Touryst, and Alien Isolation is coming out on December 5th...
And if they do so many Pokemon news (which is is like half, compared to other websites), is because people click in. There is demand.

Nintendo should make a Gamepass-like service which includes EVERYTHING they've made up until now. From NES to 3DS. Every first and second party titles, to play anywhere.
They do that, and they become the richest people on Earth lol

Hopefully they have some games planned for us during the christmas holidays

@AtlanteanMan Agree, I'd rather play on my NES or SNES mini or OG hardware, no internet connection require or subscription required ^_^

Technically you don't own any game you buy tho, just that you obtain a licence to use the game

Granted with physical media, you're still always going to be able to play it as long as said physical media works.. But with switch "cartridges" being flash memory, they are at risk of being lost too one day or another.

Sadly too many AAA games are a "as a live service" type deal now, not so much on Switch but on other platforms it's very common to need an internet connection.

This is why I like GOG, lots of classic games and drm-free so I can back up the games legally and to my hearts content.

Honestly, i am so backlogged on games that i didnt even notice the lack of updates for this stuff. XD

@ConanLives Animal Crossing’s due on March 20th

Usually I'm mad about old craps like these not coming out like they should but considering that the Switch is currently a console that is filled with more old craps than new, at this point I decided it's best to just play what I got. After all, with the success of the Link's Awakening remake, Nintendo already said that they are planning to give us more old craps in the form of remakes for Switch anyways.

Well, let’s look at this logically:

1). Super Castlevania IV is out, due to its inclusion on the Castlevania collection.
2). Contra III is out because of the Contra collection.
3). Secret of Mana is out due to the Mana Collection.
4). Mega Man 7 is out due to the collection.
5). X 1-3 are out.
6). Square Enix would probably release Chrono Trigger, FF IV and VI on the Eshop individually.
7). Wild Guns is out due to the remake.
8). Sim City is out due to copyright issues.
9). TMNT IV copyright issues.
10). Final Fight 2 and 3 could eventually be released.
11). Act raiser 1 and 2 haven’t seen a single rerelease.
12). Zombies Ate My Neighbors could eventually see a release.
13). DKC 2 and 3 could see a rerelease.

@BanjoPickles Logic? Here? You're supposed to foam at the mouth.

Me personally, I have no idea how people find time to play all these games. The only SNES titles I've got stuck into since they arrived are F-Zero, Pilotwings and Zelda, but then Dragon Quest XI came along and everything went on the back burner. It would take me ages to get through those 20 titles and complete them all. I don't have the time!

Which leads to my next point - not every Switch owner needs a constant non-stop drip feed of games. The only people who do frequent sites like this. The majority of Switch owners probably treat the console as it should be treated - a bit of occasional fun.

@Galenmereth Could you define "us" please? I never owned a 3DS or Wii. I had a Wii U but only bought one VC game and hardly played it. I'm talking about Switch owners as a whole rather than within these specialist confines where everyone buys every console.

I literally only have this service for the cloud saves because I have no other option. I have used the SNES app and was quite excited as a big SNES fan but clearly this isn't going to be supported well enough for that to make up what we are missing.

Am I the only one who understands the business context of these decisions? If I were Nintendo, why would I release free games exactly at the time when people are buying video games for Christmas? It was already quite shocking when they released link to the past for free, at the same time that link’s awakening was coming out

@Dm9982 I'm not subscribed to PSN or XBL and likely never will, so I'm not comparing NO to them. I'm only """"subscribed"""" to Nintendo Online because a friend had a spare spot in his family pass, or I wouldnt be part of that either. I either dont or basically cant use its services either, largely down to them being sub par.

In comparison to the other "services" yea, it looks better for the price. Judging it by it's own merit though, it's still an awful """service""" that:

• uses largely peer to peer multiplayer (thus not a service, just charging me to use my own internet) resulting in a lot of online games being pure bad
• dribbles out old 'free' (as long as you pay) games now at a massive shrug rate
• cloud storage that probably doesnt work with the game I'm playing

It looks like a better deal in comparison, but I dont think it's worth the money when just looking at what it offers on it's own. Sony and Microsoft at least have the decency to offer a service that works for that ridiculous price tag.

A smack in the face seems like a better deal than a kick in the balls, I wouldnt pay for either though.

I let my online sub run out.

Just bring the Donkey Kong Country Trilogy over and i'll be happy.

I love this, people moaning to death there were no SNES games, then we go twenty or so all at once, now back to complaining again.

@WiltonRoots,

Listen!, I have told you everybody's opinion on here is exactly the same as everyone else.

I took great pleasure in cancelling my subscription. And I'm going to be very wary about ever coming back.

Oh and I'll take great pleasure in pirating the games. I've bought them multiple times before and Nintendo isn't offering anyway to play them legitimately now, so too bad for them.

@Richnj @BarefootBowser I stand corrected thanks.
I’ve spent £18 for three years coverage. I’m happy with that, but there better be N64 games by the time that runs out(2 years time)!

@Anri02 That announcing something doesn't make that thing ok.

@Doktor-Mandrake Technically you don't own any game you buy tho, just that you obtain a licence to use the game

Oh this nonsense again? Would it be legal for Nintendo to come take my physical SNES games?

@johnvboy of course, our bad. We've all played these games Nintendo!!!!! We all bought them on every Nintendo console since the Wii!!!??!?!?!?!?! We're not playing them again!!!?!?!?!?!?!!

I haven't really played any SNES games since I had a SNES. Filthy stinking casual that I am. Saying that though a pub near me has a SNES classic and I did have a couple of very quick goes on it. This collection would have cost me a fortune back in the day.

@johnvboy theres a saying you cant please some people these days.

@BarefootBowser they do have the right to stop you playing them

They don't have the right to stop you playing your physical SNES games. Where did you get that idea?

@RiasGremory,

You are correct, and we do live in the age of entitlement after all.

doesn't bother me, I can wait, besides all the AcA, neogeo, other retro collections on the switch. I have a lot of games to play with. I can wait.

@Crono1973 I’m sorry these past 3 months, they didn’t add games to the subscription, but really, we haven’t even had a general direct in the same amount of time. If March comes by and still nothing, then I’ll be concerned. I’m not going to go crazy over a measly 3 months when they put 20 games on the service to start with.

@L78MAD that’s a good point about Link to the Past being available. It did actually make me slam the brakes on Link’s Awakening temporarily. I will still pick it up down the line though.

@gamerjo I expect big hitters like chrono trigger are a stretch, licensing wise. They also don't want the switch to be their own snes mini killer. I'd reel in expecations to be more niche games to appear that cost almost nothing to license and just help boost numbers even though hardly anyone will play them.

Then mid 2020 probably a gameboy color or advanced collection launch with a few gems in it.

I blame all the downvotes for the update videos, I think that made Nintendo think “fine; you folks seem to hate monthly updates, so we will do it irregularly”.

@JohnnyC Little Nemo is one of my all time favorite games. I loved the movie as well.

@Anri02 They don't charge a subscription fee for Directs. Not a good comparison.

@NESlover85 Never saw the film. I'd just be happy to play the game again. Probably some licensing shenanigans keeping it from ever happening, though I can't see why anyone would want to be miserly over a game that most people don't care about or ever will care about.

@Crono1973 It’s better then your comparison of them shutting down 3ds’s

@JohnnyC the film is available to watch for free on YouTube. I still enjoy it but probably because of nostalgia. I still have my original cart of the NES game.

@WiltonRoots

I agree. Even if I took out the fact that I have a full time job, a family, and school, I’d still be falling behind on all of the games I want to play. 20 snes games dropped in September, right? Many of those games take at least a few hours to complete—Link to the Past, Mario World, Super Metroid, Yoshi’s Island, Earthbound—and those are just the games that come with the online service. In the past few months, we’ve seen Luigi’s Mansion 3, Pokémon Sword/Shield, Fire Emblem, Dragon Quest XI, Astral Chain, Witcher 3, and countless great games come out on the eshop.

There is more than enough to play!

@BanjoPickles when you lay it out like that it’s quite overwhelming the volume of games to play! I have Luigi’s Mansion 3 and Grid still sitting there, they got back burnered because of DQXI S. Looking forward to dedicating some time to either of them this weekend. Some of those old SNES games will take some time to get through too. I’m pretty much set for a while!

@BarefootBowser No, you own your copies of physical games and you can play them at will, sell them at will, loan them out at will and so...

Stop this anti-consumer nonsense.

I recently took advantage of a free one year extension or I may have not reupped. I think the inclusion of SNES games is great but I seriously have not had time to play in a while. I have DQ, Astral Chain, Genesis classics, the Contra, and Castlevania collections. Too many but a great problem to have.

@BarefootBowser You own your physical copy of the software and that is why they can't take it away from you, prevent you from using it, prevent you from selling it, loaning it out, destroying it, etc....

They only thing you aren't allowed to do is make illegal copies and that is because you don't own the....wait for it....COPYRIGHT.

Before you start trying to rewrite history and tell us that we don't own our physical SNES games, stop and think.

Pretty sure the Wii had a Virtual Console about 3-4x bigger by this point in its life. There's really just no excuse for the Switch's lack of classics. It's honestly just getting frustrating.

The only reason why I subscribe is for the classic games. I never even play online.

@WiltonRoots

Another thing to consider are all of the gamers, myself included, who own more than one console. Aside from the games already listed, I have to finish Shenmue II, buy III, and I have Last of Us 2 on the horizon.

No matter what, backlogs are more of an issue than a dearth of quality software.

if they would just allow you to buy games and to transfer games bought on VC it would be great. Those of us who see great value in classic games would be overjoyed to have the ability to have a massive, self curated collection.

We can't rely on third party collections. They always find some way to screw over consumers. Just look at the snk, Genesis and megaman ones! Both the snk and Genesis collections are missing games (most notable Sonic 3/Knuckles not to mention hardly any third party games like Valis or Trouble Shooter) and the megaman ones were split half digital as well and don't have power fighters , battle and chase, mm and bass or the gameboy titles. I was looking forward to the Castlevania collection but it doesn't have Legends which I've been searching for a long time just to find a loose copy as well as the GB Kid Dracula (which is a completely different game).

@BarefootBowser You believe that Nintendo can legally stop people from playing their SNES cartridges but you are telling me that I am wrong?

50+ games a year for $20 is somehow a complaint?

I just want virtual console. Let me buy the games I already bought 2x already.

It's about BUSINESS.
Nintendo is likely holding back on giving "free" games to online subscribers as a business strategy to make sure people go buy other things during the holiday season. I'll bet there will be a huge info dump in January. Even the SNES controllers say "Check back in January" for a reason.

@BarefootBowser They can't prevent you from using your SNES carts any more than they can prevent you from using your SNES console.

That you think they can legally steal your physical games (by preventing you from playing them) from you just shows how self defeated you are.

@BarefootBowser So why haven't they prevented me from playing my physical Wii U and 3DS games?

What do you think would happen if they released an update locking out all physical games on the Wii U and/or 3DS?

@1UP_MARIO good to hear. I’ve got a single power and hdmi cable shared between several mini consoles, all no more than a few seconds plug and play

It's $20 USD a year for all of that. It's still better then what you get from PlayStation for what they charge.

@Superzone13 If you shop around at the Switch eShop at this point, there's a lot of classics, hundreds actually. Even those that were never officially released on a Nintendo console before. The Wii may had more old Nintendo system games but in terms of variety from other platforms it is severly lacking as well.

With Switch you not only had your Super Metroid, your Resident Evil 4, your Okami, or Hyrule Warriors but also Devil May Cry, Dragon's Dogma, The Last Remnant, Grandia 1 & 2, Tales of Vesperia, Doom 3, the Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, BlazBlue: Central Fiction, L.A. Noire, Cuphead, Final Fantasy VII-XII, and hundreds more which were never released for a Nintendo console before until Switch.

Heck you even still had more classics coming soon to Switch too like Star Ocean, Devil May Cry 3, Panzer Dragoon, Langrisser 1 & 2, and Doom 64 as well as more DS, 3DS, and old school remakes that Nintendo is planning to bring to the Switch soon too.

@CharlieGirl: I've often thought for some time now, that we may get Panel De Pon instead. I don't know how familiar you are with the story, but that is the game that became Tetris Attack for us in the west. (The Tetris co. has later said they regret giving Nintendo permission to use the Tetris name, as it had nothing to do with Tetris.) Later, the game would get re-themed to Pokemon Puzzle League (N64, GBC), and finally have no already-established theme when released on GBA (Dr. Mario & Puzzle League), on DS (Planet Puzzle League), and the DSi version of the game (I forget the name.). Edit: There was also a Japanese-only title for the Gamecube (Nintendo Puzzle Collection) that combined Dr. Mario, Yoshi's Cookie, and an updated Panel De Pon.

@Taarna You don't actually own them either. Once you download them they are tie to the system you downloaded to. If ever that system is brick or broke you will lose it all (unless you transfer all them to a working one before the crisis) and that includes the privilege of ever getting the chance to download them ever again as the server to download them is now gone. Having them saved on a microSD card won't do no good either as they can't be copy to play on any other system but the one they were originally were downloaded to.

@Crono1973 Last time I checked, objective facts aren't nonsense.

You missed the entire point if you think I was implying nintendo are going to come take your games away.

But you also don't seem to understand that Switch "cartridges" use flash memory and you don't know a lot about the technlogoy if you think your physical games don't carry a risk of loosing the data it holds.

Physical things degrade.. That is a fact.

@Galenmereth "Digital games are just varying degrees of rented"

To some degree, but in a way, you couldn't be more far from the truth.

A Switch console is not going to live as long as something like an N64, it is much more complex hardware, the N64 also used passive cooling (i.e no moving parts).. the switch uses a tiny little fan and that bearings will eventually go on it

The physical switch games themselves use NAND memory, which is also susceptible to failure.

Now this next part I'm about to say will be irrelevant I guess to Nintendo consoles, but its relevant to your "digital games are rentals" comment.

I buy my pc games from a site called GOG, their whole USP is that they offer DRM-free games.. This means I can buy games from there, and legally back them up to my hearts content.

Physical things degrade, especially flash memory based things like physical switch games.

Who do you think has more chance of loosing their games? The person with no back ups and flash memory cartridges.. Or the one with digital games that have been backed up on various hard drives, various discs and has plenty to fall back on?

This is why I like things like emulation, because I doubt my nintendo switch or my physical games (I collect physical too) will still work in 10 years from now, let alone 20 years from now.. Where as with roms and emulators? Well, I can back them up and have multiple back up copies.

Sorry for the long wall of text.

@Doktor-Mandrake I thought we were talking about SNES cartridges, not Switch cards. Also, even Switch cards will outlast the Switch eShop. How many DS cards have you heard of failing?

@antonio2244

Such a missed opportunity!

@Galenmereth yeah most certaintly, I always try to avoid switch games that dont offer full game on cartride but thankfully 1st party nintendo games are good for that aside from rare day one patch

In terms of their classic games I rather buy them through mini consoles myself rather then have them on my subscription service

@Capt_N I already am aware of Tetris Attack's history, but thanks for the unsolicited explanation I guess?

@popey1980
I totally agree with you, I don't think they are fans really, they more have fads of favoring one thing or another. Then act all selfish towards there own demands, expectant they will get what they want. Then when they don't they'll moan even more, and let's face it what they keep going on about is never likely to happen, or certainly not for a long time, so they are never going to stop.

@JayJ agreed. The only reason I don’t get too mad about the NES and SNES app is because I own those games on so many different platforms

Can someone please link me to the SMW Nintendo Power or Official Guide from 1992?

with all due respect.

you only pay to connect to a network wich dont even have a real exiciting comunity.

you get old games people have played over and over again for the last 3 decades, no gamecube games everybody wants, no achievements, and lets face it, the 2 year ol mayor titles are full priced.

the whole subrcribtion is to get nintendo out of costs, rather then a adding feature for the players.

to shorten conclussion.

it sucks