Monday on the 8th, Nintendo outlined their plans for the Nintendo Switch online service. Included for 20 dollars a year is the ability to finally backup your saves to the cloud, Access to the Nintendo Switch online app, some special offers, online play and 20 NES games with added online play.
With the 20 NES games being locked behind a paywall, this raised the question that everyone has been asking since the Nintendo Switch Launch “ What about the Virtual Console?”
And Nintendo put that issue to bed “There are currently no plans to bring classic games together under the Virtual Console banner as been done on other Nintendo Systems”
Obviously fans are upset that there will be no Virtual Console on the Switch. While that’s unfortunate, we still don’t know the entire story.
First off, just because the name “Virtual Console” isn’t going to be used on the Switch, doesn’t mean that we’re not going to see retro games offered on the Switch. It also doesn’t mean that titles newer than the NES will be locked behind the “all you can eat” Nintendo Online Service.
Outside of the announcement that there will be 20 NES games available on the Nintendo Switch Online service, there are no further details available. There are only 10 out of the 20 NES games announced:
· Soccer
· Tennis
· Donkey Kong™
· Mario Bros.™
· Super Mario Bros.™
· Balloon Fight™
· Ice Climber™
· Dr. Mario™
· The Legend of Zelda™
· Super Mario Bros.™ 3
There are no details regarding these games terms and limitations. Will we be able to buy the games that we like outright or will they be ours as long as the Switch online subscription is active? Or will we only get to play these games for a limited time until more titles are released?
There is still a lot to be known and I’m hopeful we’ll get more details as the release date of the service gets closer. But Nintendo needs to put an end to the speculation soon. Fans love to speculate and the speculation turns dark really quick.
It’s been 2 days and the loudest fans have decided that we’ll never get any old games on the Switch and we’ll instead be required to fight each other for NES and SNES classics which Nintendo clearly limits supply because they love the taste of fan boy tears (they actually don’t limit supply but that’s an article for another time)
Nintendo simply needs to communicate the plans when they’re ready to announce it. The online service has evolved over time. First it was 3 games each month with the option to buy now it’s 20 with more on the way and no further details. The trickling of information only shows that Nintendo just isn’t confident in their online service and the more they delay or fail to communicate, the more fans will continue to over-inflate their expectations setting themselves up for spectacular disappointment.
But until we get the full picture:
Comments