We got a glimpse of some new information about Nintendo's Switch Online Service yesterday during the Direct, but most of what was shown there was already known. To help shed a little more light on just what a subscription entails, Nintendo put a FAQ up on their site. The details are as follows:

• As already stated before the Direct, all Switch users (used to be only launch users) can get a 7 day free trial. This gives you access to online, voice chat, cloud saves, and the NES games.
• Those two wireless NES controllers are only purchasable if you have a current paid Nintendo Switch Online sub.
• The full list of 20 playable NES games for subscribers was revealed: Soccer, Tennis, Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 1 and 3, Balloon Fight, Ice Climber, Dr. Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Double Dragon, River City Ransom, Ghost's N Goblins, Tecmo Bowl, Gradius, Pro Wrestling, Excitebike, Yoshi, Ice Hockey, and Baseball.
• Each month, a new set of games will be added to the group.
• October will add NES Open Golf, Solomon's Key, and Super Dodge Ball
• November additions are Mighty Bomb Jack, Twinbee, and Metroid.
• December brings Wario's Woods, Adventures of Lolo, and Ninja Gaiden.
• Additionally, if you ever lapse in your subscription, you will lose all cloud data. "Save data stored with Save Data Cloud cannot be kept outside of the duration of your Nintendo Switch Online membership." If you cancel or let it expire, you'll lose all data saved on the cloud.
• If you play the NES games, you need to check in every 7 days by going online to verify your account.

Source: Nintendo UK
Source: Nintendo of America

 

[Kioku]

Exactly *what*?!

I asked "Or what" as is "what happens if I don't go online within 7 days?"

You can't play them... You'll need to "validate" the game every 7 days, or else you'll just not have access to them. Unless Nintendo has a time bomb that Uninstalls said games. It's fairly simple...

 

[Pleng]

You can't play them... You'll need to "validate" the game every 7 days, or else you'll just not have access to them. Unless Nintendo has a time bomb that Uninstalls said games. It's fairly simple...

Right. That makes sense then... To play the NES games you have to have been online at least once within the last 7 days.

 

[KingVamp]

For this instant, buying the Switch isn't the problem, the direct problem is people planning to still buy online because it "only $20". Just no.

 

[sup3rgh0st]

You can't play them... You'll need to "validate" the game every 7 days, or else you'll just not have access to them. Unless Nintendo has a time bomb that Uninstalls said games. It's fairly simple...

Where is the source for this? I'm looking at the Nintendo page, but I'm not seeing anything about this 7 day thing.
https://www.nintendo.com/switch/online-service/nes/

 

[Kioku]

Where is the source for this? I'm looking at the Nintendo page, but I'm not seeing anything about this 7 day thing.
https://www.nintendo.com/switch/online-service/nes/

Ask Chary...

 

[Subtle Demise]

Yes...yes...let the hate flow through you!

I'm glad people are starting to see what I've been seeing for almost a decade now.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Where is the source for this? I'm looking at the Nintendo page, but I'm not seeing anything about this 7 day thing.
https://www.nintendo.com/switch/online-service/nes/

https://www.nintendo.com/switch/online-service/faq/
http://prntscr.com/kufuwz

 

[Arecaidian Fox]

Yes...yes...let the hate flow through you!

I'm glad people are starting to see what I've been seeing for almost a decade now.

I've been disillusioned with Nintendo for years now, especially as I've become more involved in scenes like this one, and not staying as an average consumer. It's frankly disgusting to see so many companies rolling out such crappy business practices.

 

[Clydefrosch]

What exactly is your problem here? When do you ever need cloud saves outside of moving from one console to another? The safed save is still there on your console so just re-upload it after paying again.

Also, everyone being pissed when they got 18 months of a service they were originally meant to pay for months ago, God you guys piss me off sometimes.

 

[MiiJack]

Can't we reach out Nintendo about the service, like how to make it better?

 

[SomeGamer]

Cloud saves and NES games are new features though.

True but Online Play and Smartphone App are not so my statement still stands.

 

[huma_dawii]

Iffy much?
Really people, if I were you I would not give a single cent to Nintendo.
The service itself is atrocious and the catalogue of games available from older consoles is a fucking joke.

I don't get why people keep supporting this kind of shit to be honest.
Besides it's not like there are many good online games on the console.
And those that are free to play will continue to be even after the Online Service goes live (like Fortnite and others).

Seriously this service is just plain HORRIBLE. I can't understand how some people want to pay for it .___.

 

[Clydefrosch]

I've been disillusioned with Nintendo for years now, especially as I've become more involved in scenes like this one, and not staying as an average consumer. It's frankly disgusting to see so many companies rolling out such crappy business practices.

If you want that next zelda, you'll make sure Nintendo remains financially liquid.

 

[FAST6191]

Also, everyone being pissed when they got 18 months of a service they were originally meant to pay for months ago, God you guys piss me off sometimes.

A service that has been free for decades, a service which has only gotten easier to spin up and run in said decades (demands have remained fairly static for most things)... do you want to try that one again?

 

[Darth Meteos]

This sounds pretty predatory. Nintendo has childhood characters, but the actual actions of the company are ludicrously harsh, and shit I would expect from companies like EA.

This is... Really bad.

 

[Arecaidian Fox]

If you want that next zelda, you'll make sure Nintendo remains financially liquid.

If Nintendo wants my business, they can use more consumer-friendly practices. Give people a grace on their renewal and cloud saves, take away the absurd NNID restriction on the controllers. Oh, and stop maybe fucking over the fans in general?

 

[MiiJack]

A service that has been free for decades, a service which has only gotten easier to spin up and run in said decades (demands have remained fairly static for most things)... do you want to try that one again?

Better servers might be why it's now a paid service. Unless they just make you go peer-to-peer, that's just bad.

 

[Jacklack3]

It went from simple "pay us a month to play online" to now this confusing mess.

 

[kuwanger]

For this instant, buying the Switch isn't the problem, the direct problem is people planning to still buy online because it "only $20". Just no.

At this point in history, I'd say the online experience should be part of the "buying the Switch". $20/year to play some NES games and have cloud backups of saves (that can be immediately lost if your subscription laps for a day)? Steam offers the equivalent in games for free and basically unlimited cloud backup. Other services cost more but offer a lot more features. This would be a radically different thing if there were substantially more games or you could do save backups outside of this.

Of course, take all of this with a grain of salt since I don't even own a Switch.

 

[FAST6191]

Better servers might be why it's now a paid service. Unless they just make you go peer-to-peer, that's just bad.

If Nintendo can't be bothered to spin up a few cheap VMs (they could probably fund years of most games/systems with a rounding error for them), give users the chance to run their own and so forth then they are worse than I thought (and I have been watching since the gamecube).