Switch Online's N64 Update Is Live (Version 2.11.0), Here's What's Included

Emulation should have worked at launch considering people are renting the service, and shouldn't have to pay to wait for it to work properly. I hope virtual console returns.

The emulation works fine and has worked fine.
One of the benefits of a streaming/rental service is that they can fix things that wouldn't have been fixed if it was just a singular purchase. They can do these regular updates!

I remember when N64 emulation was an absolute nightmare. Those days are pretty much over everywhere apart from Nintendo’s official service.

Ah man, I really just want to own n64 games, not this subscription s%!t. Really stupid idea, rent the games, but also allow people to buy nintendo, like game pass.
That's why I don't bother with subscription, I'll just continue to emulate instead

It would be amazing if there was virtual console in addition to what they’re offering right now. A couple dollars for one game, or pay monthly or yearly to play as many games as you want. Sure, it’d need a few tweaks, like a cheaper subscription plan, but it could work.

Hmm, hope the devs keep tweaking things.

One of my real angers about the N64 emulator is the lack of control remapping and I find it almost criminal how it is not talked about too often. I think some games are downright unplayable and not representative of how they were like.

I do use the Switch OS control remapping, but I still think it's a bandaid to something that should have been in the app to begin with.

I do understand why the default controls are the way they are, but N64 games are usually made with B and A being placed like Y and B on current controllers, especially racing games, Z and L always placed on ZL and L but then you can't use R on ZR which is honestly downright playing with habits, even though the C button macro with ZR I think it is still a good idea but we should be able to change that too...
When I even find the unused text "Change Control Method" for me there's clearly thought about it but somehow did not end up in the app.

Let's just hope the next lineup will actually be good. Three mario party games which amount to the same experience let's face it and two pokemon stadium that are not even complete games without the gb connectivity, plus a couple sports game was a pretty ridiculous lineup. They need to work way harder to bring the goemon and bomberman, the hidden gems like mischief makers and silicon valley. And finally there is no getting around it, they need to release the Rare games. You can't reasonably expect to release an n64 service without those and being taken seriously by your audience. If that was their plan all along to not release these then they are going to lose all credit with their future n64 content.

Why should we pay? It’s not like they even did the bare minimum of 1/100 of the work that kaze emanuar did on super mario 64’s source code

@Moistnado,

I do not think it will ever return to be honest, and most will never notice any of these issues, personally I love how crisp and clean these games look on the online service, and I can have games I would not have considered buying, if I had to pay for them individually.

Plus the online service is far easier to migrate to the next system, rather than a virtual console service, where you have to buy the games over and over, would not like that back to be honest.

@marandahir I call BS on that. If they can upload fixes for regular games, they can still fix their emulation issues for emulated games just fine even if the game had been purchased outright.

@johnvboy
Really i would have loved it if it was similar to what other online services do which is to offer an option to "buy and keep"

though in terms of having to buy games over and over on the next system, since there's an account system in place then ideally purchases would carry over to future systems.

@Mgalens,

@Mgalens,

It has not worked that way though, Microsoft's system is perfection, I bought the original resident evil remake for the 360, and can still re downloaded it on my Series X...... Nintendo are so way behind in things like this, getting better... but still.

A cloud based rental online system is a far simpler and better in my own personal opinion.

I just hope 1080 gets released sometime soon.

How about an update to make Goldeneye actually playable without having to buy the Switch-compatible N64 pad?

@Lebon14 See, the problem is, you've bought the game already. Nintendo has no incentive to spend money fixing it for you, you've already paid all the money you're going to pay for it.

If, instead, you are paying a subscription fee, they have EVERY incentive to keep up the servers and patch issues with the game after the fact. That's the benefit of the subscription model.

@johnvboy
In the case of NSO its not using cloud since iirc the games are downloaded and run natively from the switch but require periodic online checks to allow you to access them. (unless i misinterpreted what you meant in which case i apologise)

For me i really would have loved it if the games themselves could be purchased on their own like what can be done with the DLC tied to the expansion pass (things like the MK8 booster pass)

definitely agree that Xbox has handled things best in this regard, i dont own a series X/S but its nice to know that in theory if i bought one i could still play things like Banjo Kazooie from back when i bought it on 360 over a decade ago.

curious to see how the theoretical "switch 2" handles digital backwards compatibility with switch games and whether they have a more unified store (having funds shared between systems was a good step in the right direction)

though in reality this is just me wishful thinking.

@LuigiBlood
Exactly. And the Nintendo response is something like well that's how we want the games to be played. Completely ignoring the fact that it's an accessibility issue. I finally got hold of a 64 controller, turns out my youngest with a disability can't reach the Z button and control stick at the same time. No way to remap. And then not being able to remap a pro controller so goldeneye is basically unplayable, that's just insulting. My kids shouldn't have go to system settings and swap control sticks to make a 25 year old game playable.

So happy I own an actual N64 with the real expansion pak and the full library of games, plus romhacks and the best Japanese games translated into English. Over 375 games at my fingertips, reliving the Monday Night Wars

@JohnnyMind How does the subscription model incentivize Nintendo to fix emulation problems? They're selling the service, not the games.
The thing "incentivizing" them to fix is loudly getting called out for their mistakes.

@jake1421 I agree. No control remapping is laziness.
That was evident since even the Wii Virtual Console. Every halfway-developed fan emulator ever has had control remapping.

If you buy a game and it's bugged, well, Nintendo already sold you the game. They may have an incentive to avoid bad reviews, as you said — if you shout loudly enough or enough people vote with their wallets and don't buy it — well then they do have an incentive to fix it. But for the most part, there's very little incentive on the part of the seller to provide free update services to consumers who have already bought their products.

But subscription models are an entanglement of consumer and producer. The subscriber can't have the game if they don't keep paying the recurring fee, but the creator also can't ignore problems lest people cancel their subs. There's mutual incentives for betterment of gaming as a whole.

Then there's the benefit that Nintendo can easily port NSO over to the Switch 2, while they had to re-sell you a newly emulated version of each VC game you bought last generation every time their churned out a new console.

Xbox can let you restore your purchases based on your account precisely because it's a computer in a box. Nintendo's console… aren't that. They're also their own different animal with their own coding. Switch is relatively easy to code for compared to past generations because it's based on the Nvidia Shield tablets, but it still has the eccentricities of Nintendo's built-in systems.

Xbox can be so effectively backwards compatible with purchases because its newer releases are iterative, and Microsoft always builds its code on-top of the previous versions for compatibility. Nintendo goes in wildly different and interesting directions that are very difficult to plan for when they're trying to put out one-time purchases. But a streaming -> download service means they can future-proof NSO games for generations to come.

It's the same reason why we have Pokémon HOME now instead of Bank. Bank wasn't designed for compatibility with smart phones or with anything other than 3DS and DS carts, as it's a very 3DS-specific software. HOME is built for long-term compatibility.

1080 Snowboarding, Excitebike 64 and Mario Party 3 is left.