Poll: Will Mario Kart 8's Deluxe Booster Course Pass Make You Buy The NSO Expansion Pack?

do I own the dlc 'forever' if I buy the pass or do I 'own' it for as long as I am subscribed?

Still not enough for me. I'd much rather just own the DLC than have it through a service. It's good that they're expanding the service, though. Just add GBA games and I'll buy it in a heartbeat.

@Poco_Lypso You only own the DLC as long as you're subscribed.

Actually regretted buying The expansion pack for NSO instead of just buying the ACNH dlc before but now with the mario kart dlc being part of it all regret is gone.

I’ll buy the DLC on its own then also the inevitable physical release Mario Kart 8 Ultimate with all 96 tracks when it’s released in 2024

I am still a no, mainly because I have played all the games on the list. But the tactic of adding the free dlc will get me to buy, but not right now.

I skipped the NSO expansion pack & bought the DLC for $24.99. Yes I could have just upgraded my current plan but I want to own the DLC without being reliant on Nintendo’s online.

I’d rather just buy the DLC to own.

Yeah, it's cool that we get access to the DLC this way... but I really can't stand the idea of it falling out of my grip the moment the content isn't available anymore. I'll probably be looking into buying the DLC at some point in the future because of it.

DLC rentals really freaking suck.

Would rather own so it's not much of an incentive to me. I have no plans to buy the expansion pack for the N64 games or the Genesis games for the immediate future so it saves me $ to buy the DLC at $25 versus paying $30 to upgrade the online plan.

Nope. I did preorder the dlc though. The service still ain’t what it needs to be, for me to take the plunge. Nowhere near it

I'd rather own the DLC.
A phone I had 10 years ago ran N64 titles better than whatever emulation Nintendo is using.
So, no.
But it's easier for me to pass because I still have all my old consoles

A begrudging, grumbled "yes". Barely. Still don't like the idea of the DLC disappearing if I ever decide to stop paying the $30, but this seems like it'll only become a better value over time with more games getting added.

The fact that you forfeit the DLC once you end your subscription gives me pause. I’m happy to have these things for free with my subscription, but someday in the future when I move on to another subscription service on a new Nintendo console, I’m going to have to buy all this DLC anyway, if I ever intend to revisit Animal Crossing or Mario Kart.

@Yosher

They really should give a discount price on the DLC if you are part of the expansion pack plan. That would add alot more value to me. It would be awesome if they gave 10% gold points for all purchases too if you had the plan. Then I think you are getting to a plan that starts to looking tempting.

Have NSO but I'd really like to keep the content so yeah, bought the pass anyway. I do like meself some Mario Kart. I've put in 250+ in 8 Deluxe so it's fair to say i'll get some mileage (pun unintended) out of it

Subscription for DLC never. I will buy things outright every time.

@thesilverbrick

I also wonder if the DLC requires the weekly internet check. I was burned by this in the past when I was running out my house and grabbed my Switch and wasn't able to continue playing the SNES game I was playing because it wasn't able to check if I was eligible. Wouldn't need to check if you owned.

Not enough content yet to bite. I am not paying for something to be eventually a good deal. I too, as others mentioned like owning versus renting because you know NSO will not be around forever and/or might want stop paying for it some day.

If we get one more thing of good DLC I think I'm in. Banjo is the N64 game I want to play that I don't already own. I'm not certain about purchasing the Animal Crossing DLC, but I like the idea of trying it "for free" if I'm getting the expansion for other reasons.

I don't even have MK8 😂 (fine, I'll run away from the pitchforks)

I find much more value in buying the DLC standalone so I'm staying with base NSO. I feel the same way about purchasing games standalone instead of subscribing to Game Pass.

No. I have enough games to play without having another subscription to pay for. I'll buy the DLC separate.

I just want the dlc. Now, if they started including previous dlc packs, like Splatoon 2, SSBU, and Pokemon SS, in the expansion pack, then they would have me interested.

Let's see:

$25 to own them and play whenever I want

Vs.

$100 over 2 years to play them until I stop paying $50/yr

I mean I guess it adds value, sure, but as long as the expansion pack is just renting, buying the DLC outright to keep presumably for the rest of your life is a much better deal.

(Awkward wording but you get what I mean.)

It’s currently £16.85 on ShopTo which is an absolute bargain

@Poco_Lypso NSO Expansion Pass only grants access to MK8 booster pass, not ownership. When your NSO expansion sub ends, so does that access to the MK8 dlc tracks. (Although, anyone can still encounter the new tracks when racing online. But you won't have control over which tracks are randomly spawned) So, if you want ownership, you have to buy the dlc from eshop.

I had a month to resub the normal plan so I just went ahead and got the upgrade. I'll play banjo and kazoooie for n64 an I'll play Mario kart tracks and my daughter likes the dlc for animal crossing. So yes it made me think it was worth it.

@HamatoYoshi yep that's how I bought it and I have no regrets, the NSO expansion pass is still terrible value for money.

My question is, if I decide to upgrade to the expansion pass, does my year of Switch Online renew from the upgrade date or does it still only last the period of time I renewed the base service from. So I renew every September. If I upgrade in August does that mean I only get the upgrade for a month and have to repay again in September or will I have a new Switch Online renewal date beginning every August?

Hmm, lemme think this over. $50 for a one-year subscription to SO+Expansion Pack that will need to be re-upped every year in order to maintain access to that "free" content, or a one-time, permanent purchase of the MK 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass for $24.99.

There is no reality where you can sell me on the notion that the former is by any measure a "good" deal, let alone better than owning the DLC outright. In fact, everything Nintendo is trying to justify the Expansion Pack's cost seems to underscore just how grossly overpriced and what an endless black hole for people's money it is.

@HamatoYoshi Thanks for the heads up. Just pre-ordered it

Maybe I’m just a cynical bass-turd, but boy does it feel like Nintendo is really trying hard to collect money while giving nothing. I mean I’m not really opposed to the concept of renting, but this whole thing was very much cooked up in a business meeting, and certainly doesn’t spring from a desire to bring more fun and entertainment. (All games are a business move, I know, but there’s a difference here between deciding on what type of gameplay will bring the most dollars, and what type of service… one which provides things that can all be resold again at a later date after they pull the plug on NSO.)

EDIT:
And don’t get me wrong about the new MK8D tracks. I’m actually one of the few people who prefer this over Mario Kart 9. I just feel like 8 is so polished and awesome… we’re good on Mario Kart. (Give us a new 3D Mario adventure.) We can wait until the next Switch for Mario Kart 9.

@Half-ShellHero I believe they pro-rate your fee so you only pay for the upgrade for the time left on your existing subscription, so if you upgraded in August you'd only pay for a month's worth before it's time to renew. I think. It might be the other way around though now I think about it haha, but you definitely get a discount based on how far into your subscription you are.
Edit: ok confirmed that it's the 2nd one, you get a discount based on what's left of your current subscription as when you upgrade it starts a new subscription period.

I finally bought into the Expansion Pass for this, for one main reason. I already paid for a Family plan, for myself and my family, and some friends. Upgrading the pass now will allow all of us (who ALL own MK8D already) to have access to the DLC courses. Plus the Animal Crossing DLC (which, again, we all own) now, and the N64/Genesis (love live Shining Force!!!) systems? As a family plan, it seems a lot more viable to me than for a solo pass owner, since we can all access the expanded content, not just myself. So yes, the MK8 DLC finally pushed me over the edge to get into it.

Defenately not. I will just but it stand alone and know i own it. Im not renting tracks.

We just pitched in with a couple of friends to get a family membership. I don't get why more people do this, you can even do this with random people. I hope Nintendo adds a whole lot more to their subscription though, because for the full price it still is very lacklustre.

I felt like I had to get the expansion after receiving a switch N64 controller for Christmas from my sister. I was a little meh, even though I do love playing those classic N64 games with the original controller. The problem is I won't play most of those genessis games since I already bought them. This was a pleasant surprise and made me feel a little better about my upgrade to the explansion.

No.

No to paying for online, even if it means missing out in future. I doubt Nintendo is ever going to invest the money into the online infrastructure, and the experience is no better than the Wii U or 3DS online,

It has been 6 months now, and still going fine without it.

@Otoemetry Since I just upgraded from my regular NSO account, to the Expansion, I can say for sure that you pay for a whole new subscription that has a new start date from the time you upgraded. The pro-rated amount you pay seems like the difference of what you would have already used in your old subscription (for instance, I paid about $60 now instead of the regular $80 which I will next year). My old NSO sub was from September, but the new date is now in February (and a year from now).

@Highlar thanks for clarifying, I've edited my comment to confirm.

@cleveland124 That I could certainly get behind and would make a lot of sense too. But Nintendo and making sense don't always go hand in hand unfortunately.

@Savage_Joe Me neither. I have it on WiiU and have tried to avoid re-buying games. This DLC though has me very interested in getting the total package. I would just buy the DLC though, not the NSO Expansion Pack.

@Otoemetry Thank you. That makes it slightly more tempting.

Yes, this pushed me over the edge to get it, because this being the second DLC added in short notice means more will be on the way, and I own quite a lot of Nintendo games so this will just increase in value for me, probably.

Not for me. These feel like they just chucked something together in a rush because the expansion wasn't doing well enough and MK8D is popular. I'd actually be more tempted if there was half the amount for the same price but they were actually up to the same quality as the other MK8D tracks, but with them being Tour level quality I can pass. In this rushed state it just makes me think they're not going to be that great, they've clearly cut corners in the visuals, they've likely cut them elsewhere too.

Nope

I keep the regular Online and get this loose.

Just like the AC expansion.

At this rate, each high effort DLC part of the expansion pass is coming out every 6-12 months. Probably the next game will be the Splatoon 3 DLC. Value-wise when you consider the DLC + retro lineup + freebies like Tetris/Pac-Man 99, it's not terrible but it still feels cheap relative to what Microsoft & Sony are doing with their online services. Also if you are like me, the small demographic that does not own MK8 or Animal Crossing, this still feels like a major rip-off. Now if Nintendo reversed their stance and made DLC thru NSO permanent even after unsubscribing, then I'd reconsider.

I’ll upgrade once they add a dozen GOOD games to the n64 catalog AND a dozen or more GameBoy/Advance games as well. Until then, nope. And I just got MK8 last fall for only $30 new… so I’m still enjoying the courses it came with.

If you subscribe to Netflix, Amazon Prime or Disney Plus, do people similarly expect to always be able to watch their movies and shows there?

It’s just the same thing here too. NSO has more content for me than PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now as well.

nah I'll buy the dlc and just keep getting the tier 1 NSO membership

I might eventually upgrade when they add more to it. I seriously thought about it when they added the MK8 DLC. But I want to keep that DLC. It's better to spend just 25$ now than an extra 30$ a year until the final wave of courses releases and even more for as long as I want the DLC, to then also spend the 25$ to keep it after my subscription expires because I wanted to keep it.

The ACNH DLC seems cool but not cool enough for me to buy it individually. If they add more DLCs for which I feel the same, I might upgrade for a year and play them all for just 30$.

It convinced me. If Nintendo wants to keep outputting DLC like this with the pass then I'm all for it and want to encourage them to do so. Also, it gave the tracks to everyone in the "family" without having to cost us $25/ea. But I still feel like I want to eventually buy it separately for ownership purposes.

also if you mainly play random worldwides you have no need to buy the dlc cause you will still be able to vote for the new tracks when their in selection regardless if you own the dlc or not

I plan on getting the DLC separately, but if they can add one or two more things to the expansion that interest me, maybe I’ll finally bite.

Haven't had the base nso for half a year now but when the expansion is released I'll be renewing it to play online again. And as for the n64 and genesis stuff I already own all the titles I care about with digital backups. So your gonna have to do a lot more than that Nintendo!

Nope, but getting there! Now make the n64 library worth it (Also, getting there! )

I'm a Game Pass subscriber that is looking forward to hoping Sony's "Spartacus" is a good buy, but nothing about NSO seems like it will be a reasonable value until at least years of DLC are added by which point most of us will have already bought what we wanted. Still a terrible value.

Will never get NSO expansion whatever

Apparently I didn't select an answer after pressing No then Vote on five occasions! Lately this site is swamped with ads and bugs, can't even open comments without a new tab.

Not even remotely interested in getting it.

No... God NO. For just a little bit more you could just buy the ACNH DLC & MK8 DX DLC to own them forever, and a year of NSO. I'd still rather just buy the actually N64 games to play on my N64 than spend $60 annually.

Where's the maybe option?

But if NSO gets that rumoured Goldeneye addition then yes, maybe, perhaps I'll take the plunge and get the expansion pak.

It's in my backlog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@Otoemetry completely agree, I don’t subscribe to NSO as I just don’t think it’s worth it.

@ImagineerNik nice one! Works out about 30p a course!

I already had the EP but I had hoped they would make a habit of bundling DLC in here. If they ever put smash as an add on pack it would make great bait for some folks.

No, I'll jusy buy the dlc

@Poco_Lypso I saw a couple different people answered your question but they were different answers and you used both "buy" and "subscribe" in your question so I just wanted to clarify: If you subscribe to NSO + Expansion Pass, you will be able to access the DLC for as long as you are subscribed. Once your subscription runs out, your access is revoked. If you purchase the DLC pass by itself from the e-Shop for the one time fee of $25 USD, you have permanent access to it regardless of any NSO subscription. So if you PURCHASE the pass and ALSO have a NSO + Expansion Pack subscription, then once your subscription expires, you can still access it.

The expanded online is $49 for a year! $4 per month?! I still do not see why there is an uproar over it? I remember hearing people complain about paying so much per game for old games on Wii and then having to pay an upgrade fee to have them on Wii-U. Then we heard rumors of a "Netflix-style" service and people were intrigued. Now that it is here, they are dissatisfied anyway. Oh well .I guess it shouldn't surprise me. You can never please everyone.

It's $25 worth of dlc that will be dripfed over 2 years.

I don't think Sony or Xbox will be getting too worried about loosing their subscribers to this service.

I suppose it makes the expansion pack marginally better but compared to the competition, its still shockingly bad value.

$25 is basically nothing when it comes to the expensive world of video game consumerism, so it seems like a no-brainer to me.

Nope, if I were interested in the Booster Course pass I'd buy the DLC outright rather than feel like an obligated subscriber to access the content.

I'm upgrading but not because of the DLC. My NSO expires this month and I'm moving to my sister's Family Plan that includes the Expansion Pack. Though I will buy the DLC to own it, even as a subscriber, if/when the eShop dies.

Nope be cheaper just to buy the dlc & wouldn't lose access to it once subscription ended

I’ll buy it when it’s on sale. I’ll enjoy it for the next two years with the expansion pass

No, although it’s a slightly better deal. It is still not worth it and I would prefer to own dlc not rent.

No, the Nintendo 64 emulator getting fixed including adding expansion pack support will.

Well, I already have the Expansion Pack (family plan) but it did make me download the game itself. I already had Mario Kart 8 on Wii U so I had no reason to get it again on Switch but now that they're basically doubling the content and I get to enjoy the additional content just by already having the online plan, I might as well.

I'll just buy the DLC eventually. I don't think these DLCs are a good draw... it would be better if they adopted a Games with Gold model and gave away retro games.

Or so I think. A lot of other Xbox gamers hate GwG.

I am just going to wait a year or 2 and then pay the expansion and get everything in 1 go. Have 12 months to play everything which is plenty of time for me.

It still doesn't get me to buy the expansion pass but I would it is a step in the right direction for me to buy it.

Option 5: I don't own Mario Kart.

I don’t think so, but I do expect Splatoon 3 will be one of the titles that gets dlc added to NSO EP.

I have it since day 1 with other 2 friends and I pay the same of the normal online. 20€ for years is nothing

Let me understand. If I want to play this DLC for the next 5 years, I could either:

Upgrade my NSO base for an extra $30 per year, totaling an extra $150 over 5 years and still lose access after this time.

Or

I could just pay $25 one time and own it forever.

This isn't intended to be angry or anything towards Nintendo, I just don't see the value personally.

Don't own animal crossing or Mario kart so...

I haven't had the NSO thingy for a year and a half, no intention whatsoever in paying for it again.

NO WAY !!!!! I´ll never pay this price for expansion pack. Money is not problem. It does not have value to me.

@GamerGrandpa Sure, if Netflix gave you 4-5 shows to choose from with hope they might add another 90s movie in the package every few months.

@StarPoint what I thought. thx but no. this is a dlc worth owning and I would need to buy it anyway some time in the future

@rjejr @Astral-Grain

Your analyses only work if you assume the SOLE reason for purchasing the Expansion is the Mario Kart DLC... which would be silly.

If someone is already a standard NSO sub, and interested in the N64/Genesis, and the Animal Crossing DLC... the Mario Kart DLC via NSO Expansion becomes a huge value.

I don't use the online service at all but will pay for the tracks.

All of this becomes much simpler and less of a debate if you join up with a few friends and get a family subscription.

SPOILER: The answer is no.

Its only really worth it if you own the games and a hard-core fan, I don't own animal crossing but I'd rather play my 3ds ver. Of HHD.

Seeing as how I already have the Expansion Pak with a full family all chipping in, it comes out to be about $10 a year for me. The whole family benefitted with the ACNH DLC, and I at the very least will be picking up Mario Kart to play the new content.

I get the argument of paying once and it's yours "forever", but as time moves on I've found myself less and less willing to go back to games unless they're special to me. So I don't mind paying $10 a year for three or four years, getting full use of the DLC for both ACNH and Mario Kart, and anything else they add over time, and then moving away from the Switch when that day comes.

Unless they add new courses to the battle modes... no.

I find subscription based DLC weird. Once a sub expires its back to an 'incomplete' game. Would rather just buy it!

I only ever play MK8 online and all the new tracks will be free there anyway. I've no need for the paid DLC or the + expansion, thanks NL for the heads-up yesterday!

I'm already Upgraded! It's Seriously not that Expensive; in Fact, I have Xbox Game Pass on top of it!

@HammerGalladeBro The Eshop won't die. The only reason why the wii shop channel died and virtual console died is because Hackers and homebrew ruined it for Everyone. So, like sony did halfway through PS3, We now have to Pay for Nintendo Switch Online.

I may throw down on the switch online exp pack if they throw up some more n64 games... I might perhaps just buy the dlc outright because of actually owning it vs just renting it

Why would I want to continue paying for features that I seldomly use and the only thing that's appealing (Mario Kart DLC) can be had with a one-off purchase?

@NintendoEternity Game Pass at least is a tremendous value proposition.

I love retro games,but hate NSO policy! 👎

I have NSO - and am currently playing through Earthbound - but the Expansion Pass just doesn't interest me. The N64 games that I'd be interested in at the moment I already can play - Mario 64 via 3D All Stars, Ocarina, Majora and Starfox 64 on 3DS and I recently played through Banjo on Xbox via Game Pass. I've never really been that into SEGA so the Mega Drive games aren't really that enticing either. I've kind of reached the end of my time with Animal Crossing, and don't really want to lose anymore time to it, so the Hapy Home Designer DLC isn't for me. Which just leaves Mario Kart. And I decided I'd rather pay £16 for a digital code from ShopTo and own it outright rather than have to sign up for 2 years of the Expansion Pass to get access to all the DLC and then stay subscribed if I want to keep playing them.

@Arbor sure thing! as I mentioned in another post, imo this is one of the more substantial must have dlc. tieing it to a subscribtion wouldnt male sense to me. i must admit I am generally against 'renting' , my backlog is enormous alr (over 100 games to beat...), so there is that.

@Poco_Lypso Is this even a serious question? I mean your first comment.

Unless they offer more games for more consoles, this is just overpriced. In the future, if this has GBC, GBA, GC, and Wii games, then it's definitely worth it. There's a huge demand for classic games and if Nintendo can provide an easy and affordable way to satisfy that market, that would be a big win for them AND for the consumers

@HolyGeez03 It's not silly, it's just preference for what is being offered, which doesn't have much variety yet and therefore appeals to less people with different preferences. I only speak for myself of course. My hesitation with NSO+ is due to it still being relatively new with not much content, but more is being added each month.

If things keep up this way, NSO+ will have more content one or two years from now, assuming it's not abandoned by then. It just seems best to give it more time and see where it goes. In the best case scenario, I can upgrade in one year when it includes much more content than it does currently for the same price.

Buying it this early seems like a bad value when I have reason to believe it will only get better with time. I can be patient.

I don't play that game anymore. The massive amount of things in it is great. Just the mechanics aren't really fun.

@Scollurio True, but it took awhile to get where it's at. Nintendo will get there, which is why I'm Happily Supporting Them! Just imagine Nintendo with a Gamepass selection with every Console/Handheld to Date! Now that would be Incredible!

I'm very close, kids got Animal Crossing, I like Mario Kart.

The tipping point is Majora's Mask and the fog.

I was originally against the increase in price but have put it into perspective. When the Wii shop came out it was about £7 an N64 game, at present there are 8 N64 games on switch online, so to buy them all would cost more than a yearly subscription, not counting all the mega drive, SNES and NES games, or the dlc.
Realistically if I was to buy everything I wanted to play it would legit be more expensive. I can't see myself subscribing for more than two years max either, so if I paid two years as opposed to buying every N64 game on eshop + the dlcs I wish to play, I'm still winning.
I can only assume Nintendo will keep adding too, and that everyone complaining about price will be pirating stuff anyways

I have it on the family plan, but for the sheer fact that it allows my gf and sisters/nieces/nephews to enjoy the animal crossing and soon mk8 dlc without having to spend any more money on their end. And in hopeful they pad the n64 catalog a lot more in the near future (Majora's Mask is a good step, but man do I need some Mario Party games)

I still may purchase the dlc outside of the expansion pack here and there, so that it can be played without always needing to connect online. Overall, I'm content with the expansion pack, but am fine sinking the cost knowing family members are benefiting more (I touch the games/dlc maybe once a month or so - by myself, probably not worth it).

@Astral-Grain

All true... but your original post implies that the the decision equates to paying $25 once or $150 over 5 years for the Mario Kart DLC.

In reality, it is:

$25 for Mario Kart DLC
$150 over 5 years for Mario Kart DLC, N64/Genesis games, Animal Crossing DLC, etc.

Whether or not the Expansion option is worth it to you is a decision to be made, but it's not simply $25 vs $150.

Now put all that other chargeable expansions on there and I will buy.
+Splatoon 2 expansion
+Zelda Botw expansion
+Fire emblem 3H expansion
+Pokemon Bank

Buying the DLC on its own

Tacking game-specific DLC onto the service is not gonna change my mind, no matter the game, no matter the DLC. If it's something I want, I'll buy it to keep. Did it with Animal Crossing and I'll do it again with Mario Kart. If they want me to jump at the Expansion Pass I'm gonna need some GB/GBC/GBA/GC/DS/etc. games on there ASAP

Already have the expansion pass, but if I didn't I would buy the dlc eitherway.

@BTB20 tbh, I wasn't sure. I vaguely rememberthe direct saying: subacribers get the dlc for free. iirc it didnt specify.

@UglyCasanova
Must be some misinformation out there I guess. My NSO has 70+ NES, 50+ SNES, 11 N64, 19 Genesis games, and the DLC’s. It’s one thing if you’re not interested in the Nintendo legacy content and being content to just pay for the DLC’s outright, so that the NSO doesn’t have anything to interest you. That’s different than thinking it not worth the price for what is offered.

I’ve realized that I don’t often come back to DLC as much as I thought I would. It’s the same price, if one day I decide I don’t want the sub anymore I can just buy it then. For now I’m getting games, DLC for Mario kart and animal crossing for one low price.

Nope, this is not enough. It gets better but still not quite good enough. They should do this with a lot more First Party games and it just might become a feasible Deal or add another thing to their expansion pass.

No it is still way too expensive for still very little

I bought the expansion on release, just because I'm a fool. Still happy with it, especially with this announcement. The N64 games are trickling out, Animal Crossing expansion is included, and I'm very glad the MK8 tracks are included. I'm extremely excited for them.

I'll not buy it until they add GBA games to the library.
Too expensive to be interesting for me at the moment.

@Poco_Lypso The direct said it's part of the expansion like the AC DLC. If your subscription ends you loose all access to it, just like with any other subscription.

I get that's how these subscriptions work, and it's also why I'm not interested. But in all honesty, I think the only reason I hate NSO is because it's locking away their legacy games. If NES/SNES/N64 games were also available to buy for a couple bucks, as well as available to play for free with a subscription, then heck, I'd certainly dive in. I'd use the subscription to play games I'm not interested in owning and I'd still probably buy a small handful of classic games that I want to have as long as my Switch works. But as it stands, I DON'T want to subscribe because doing so is supporting the ransom of their back catalog.

When I want to watch a movie, I stream it. When I want to OWN a movie, I buy it. And thankfully I don't need to own three generations of proprietary DVD players from every major film studio to legally own their most celebrated films. So why is it okay for video games?

No, the reason i got the NSO (basic) because nintendo "promised" to bring new ness/sness content every month. Uhhh??

I just bought the dlc, I haven’t upgraded to NSO+ because I don’t think I would play the N64 games enough to be worth it. I love N64 a lot, but I’ve already played most of the games that are offered and I have many other newer games on my backlog. I’d rather pay one time to own something than pay the 50 a month in my situation.

The expansion pack is a kick to the face for NSO subscribers and I only own Mario Kart 8 on Wii U, so "no".

I paid for the Animal Crossing DLC and I’ll pay for the Mario Kart DLC, because I want to own them and not face losing access when the service goes dark or I need to reduce my monthly costs.

So a far as I’m concerned the expansion pass is still a handful of janky running N64 games, and the Genesis Classics pack thats regularly on sale for $15 in the e-shop.

The expansion is DOUBLE the price of the regular yearly subscription, which includes more games and the entire online infrastructure included. I can’t imagine anything they could do to lure me in short of seriously slashing the price.

I just really hope that if Goldeneye comes to Switch, it will be available for standalone purchase

I'd rather own the DLC to play when I like instead of having to pay a yearly fee to keep access to it. I'm not a fan of the direction Nintendo are taking with Switch Online since they announced the expansion pass.

You're not talking about the fact you lose access to this free DLC if you downgrade your subscription. That's a real downside and you should question it more. It should be a free download as a benefit for having the membership, not free access so long as you're subscribed. I'm buying the pass separately despite having the subscription.

I am a huge Nintendo shill, and even I refuse to dive into NSO. Nope, no thanks. I’m fortunate enough to have most all of the games NSO offers anyway, and they’re all legal too boot.

I'm still gonna wait until the NSO Expansion Pack has enough content, because it inevitably will receive more content and stay at the same price.

Actually the reverse for me - the NSO Expansion made me buy Mario Kart 8 hahaha

@Poco_Lypso This is Nintendo. I think you know the answer to that question.

Not yet, it costs me $70 a year for gamepass and I get far more value and free games every month.

@Nameless_Shame ROMS are fine anyways, people who don't like ROMS are the kind of people who don't like libraries or art.

@Jokerwolf oh for sure, I have nothing against ROMs personally. I just thought it relevant to mention that my love for Nintendo classics goes back to before they were classics and that I held onto all the games that had an impact on me when I was younger; hence, with a few exceptions here and there, the majority of NSO’s offerings I either already own cartridges of or they happen to be on the NES/SNES/Genesis minis or I have specific disc collections or digital copies of retro titles (most of which ironically use ROMs as the source code).

Well, I caved. I'm disappointed with myself, but I caved.

@Nameless_Shame I have a bunch of the minis as well, and a ton of old games and consoles from most past generations so I feel you haha. I do love my MiSTer FPGA though and I plan selling my collection over time now since I don't see a reason to keep a lot of it.

I was a yes until I realized I'm locked into a family plan and it costs me $60 to upgrade. It's not worth spending $80 a year to keep getting that content I know we will use years from now. Just the $25 for me thank you.

It's a step in the right direction. But being that the expansion pass is $30 more per year and the dlc is $24 once the numbers still don't add up for me. I don't really care about the Animal Crossing dlc, and while the N64 games would be nice to have, I have other (legitimate) means to play all the games on there, also don't care about Genesis games. This combined with some more new incentives might make me bite, but as of now I'd be content just buying the Mario kart dlc outright

At $10/yr I'm already upgraded.

I’ll buy the dlc by itself thanks!

@NintendoEternity I see what you mean, but then again, today we just got the announcement on the closure of the Wii U and 3DS eShops.

I will download the DLC separately from the Expansion Pack if the NSO dies and doesn't carry over to the Switch's successor or if the Switch eShop closes, which, according to past digital stores from Nintendo, might happen between 2027 and 2030. That would be from 10 to 13 years after the Switch original launch in 2017.

I really don't think they'll close the Switch eShop that soon, but I want to be prepared in case such event comes.

I will upgrade once all tracks are released, but I still dont want to be held hostage by the subscription

I'll upgrade when Killer Instinct Gold is available.

@thesilverbrick agree, the right way to do it is let the people with expansion pack buy the dlc at cheaper price.

Already got it. Two in the household are still regular Animal Crossing players, I'm enjoying the N64 games, and the Mario Kart dlc sweetens the deal. No issue with this in terms of value for money.

I might try it. But I don't play MK enough to warrant paying for a long while for extra tracks. I don't get why they don't just continue with the VC. That was an awesome selling point for Nintendo. I'm probably not getting the next Nintendo console, because the PC is starting to be a better solution. I don't want to have 15 consoles hooked up. The PC has some amateurs making better solutions than Nintendo, not by more effort, but simply by not being stupid about it.

No. A few ancient games and a couple of DLCs isnt enough value for me to be willing to blow an extra $25 bucks. Gamepass for example offers a ton more value for a lot less. Pass.

@tka060681 Or give the DLC packs permanently to anyone subscribed for over a year. I understand they don’t want people to just subscribe for a month or so and get a bunch of free stuff just to quit. But if someone is a committed subscriber for a decent amount of time, they’ve definitely earned the rights to keep any DLC associated with the program.

I don't currently have the EP, just regular NSO-- If I got the MK8D DLC, I'd pay $25 to "own" the courses locally that I will still be able to play online for free according to Nintendo. Yet, if I go ahead and get the EP, I'd pay a prorated price of $38 as of today, but I currently don't see what I wish to play on the N64 (or Genesis, if anything I haven't already played). I'm guessing my specific best course of action is to just wait this all out. On a side note, all pre-DLC MK8D courses are unlocked, unlike how MK8 was, so I wonder if there is any advantage to owning them locally for someone who plays MK8D online only?

Bought it after the announcement of Banjo

I don’t know… I already bought the DLC for Animal Crossing so now it feels like losing money if I get the expansion pass, you know?

Already had the expansion pack so this was a welcome surprise.

I have the expansion pack but will still be buying these separately, so I can keep playing them in the future when I might not have such a subscription (or it is no longer available).

I am torn between yes and no. Yes because you get both that and everything else in that Expansion Pass. No, because you can also pay separately for it but you don't get the others.

I still also feel $50 for a set of those N64 and Sega games that you can get cheap at a retro store used, feels a bit too much. Granted if they would've lowered it &10 cheaper than I would pay a year's worth. $50 is just too expensive especially now in today's world

One thing I don't understand (I haven't read too much into either TBF); is if I upgrade the membership, then I get the Mario Kart extra stuff at no extra cost. Do I then need to keep renewing the upgraded membership to ensure I keep all the new MK DLC? Whereas if I just buy the MK DLC on its own, is it mine to then keep forever more? TIA

I'm probably getting the NSO + Expansion Pack, but the MK8 dlc isn't the only factor. I also want the Happy Home Designer dlc from ACNH, and this would be the cheapest way to get them, at least until next year. And at that point I'll probably just extend it each year

@GuruOfGreatness yeah, if you get it through NSO, you'll need to keep extending your NSO or it will become unusable once your NSO expires

@thesilverbrick IIRC you can only buy the Expansion Pack a year in advance, so it's not possible to get it and then cancel after a month because you'll still keep online for another 11 months

@thesilverbrick great idea!

@raven11229 All the more reason to give the DLC to subscribers permanently, then.

@thesilverbrick I agree. You made a great point. Sooner or later, you'll most likely need to buy this DLC. Makes more sense to just buy it now and not be dependent on renewing a subscription or worrying about when the service ends.

@raven11229

Thank you

Definitely not, I’m just going to buy it separately. I’ll probably get the expansion if they ever add GB/GBC/GBA and GameCube.

@Ogbert the dlc was in the works starting more than 2 years ago.