The Switch Online Service is a good value for me (and it should be for nostalgic fans too)

[Deleted member 36622]

I've seen a lot of negativity towards the Switch Online service in the past 24 hours, and most of it for good reasons like how bad the voice chat app is or locking backup saves behind a paywall, but for me i realized how the Online Service is actually not that bad.

Disclaimer: My internet connection is bad (usually it's worse than that) so i want to spend as little as possible for online gaming cause i will inevitable deal with issues, that's why i skipped consoles of the last two gen, using PC as my platform of choice, and i came back only last year cause i really wanted to play Breath of the Wild and now i'm using the Switch regularly.

The service is incredibly cheap: 20 dollars for a year is a very small fee, and i'm planning to share it with some friend, so it could be even smaller if you find up to 8 friends to share the family plan:
- let's say you have 5 friends, you'll end up spending 7 dollars/euro for a year (0.5 cents for each month)

But the point here is the Retro Collection: 20 NES games available at launch with more added regularly, all of this for "free" (as long as you pay the service) with online play added.

- the average Virtual Console title on 3DS currently costs around $4.99-$7.99.

So this service is substiantially cheaper than what you used to pay on Virtual Console, i think this is going to make happy many people who were sick and tired to buy games like Super Metroid 4-5 times, but also those who wanted for years a Netflix-style service for Virtual Console, because that's actually what it is!

I think it's fair to call up how convoluted the voice chat app solution looks (and i did it too here on Era), but at the same time we shouldn't overlook the fact that this service is incredibly cheap and it's much better than what Virtual Console used to be.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

Lets wait for more details.
20 NES games with online play is hardly a deal maker.
They could have sold those as an NES REMIX 3.

 

[Wiped]

I would actually prefer if it was just £20 a year without the NES games.

I think they are so old and so crappy they are likely to put more people off than they interest. I can't imagine a kid getting a Switch for the first time will be impressed when booting up NES Soccer.

 

[Deleted member 36622]

Lets wait for more details.
20 NES games with online play is hardly a deal maker.
They could have sold those as an NES REMIX 3.

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They said they will add more games regularly, it's not just 20 games.

On top of that there is also online play added "for the first time" which could be just a disappointing leaderboard or tournaments and other more exciting activities.

 

[Conor419]

I think launching it with NES alone taints it a bit. If there were SNES games in there from launch then I'd have been thrilled.

 

[cw_sasuke]

I would actually prefer if it was just £20 a year without the NES games.

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Well...this is an opinion.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

They said they will add more games regularly, it's not just 20 games.

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Still doesn't matter in my opinion.
A yearly online payment should go towards competent online.
The games are a nice bonus, but not a replacement for a decent service.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

They said they will add more games regularly, it's not just 20 games.

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Let's be real though...."regularly" in Nintendo-speak, particularly when dealing with classic digital re-releases, doesn't mean all that much.

I generally agree with your take on this btw...but for a lot of folks, this service is understandably really disappointing.

 

[Galactor]

A Netflix for old games with VERSUS could become a great selling point. I would LOVE to play Legend of mana or Tetris attack online

 

[Keldroc]

all of this for free (as long as you pay the service)

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I'm not sure you know what "free" means.

I think launching it with NES alone taints it a bit. If there were SNES games in there from launch then I'd have been thrilled.

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Truth. I have these NES games three times over or more in some cases. SNES would hold much more appeal.

 

[Deleted member 36622]

Let's be real though...."regularly" in Nintendo-speak, particularly when dealing with classic digital re-releases, doesn't mean all that much.

I generally agree with your take on this btw...but for a lot of folks, this service is understandably really disappointing.

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I know, they will add more games just not as regularly as you would expect, but do you really believe they won't add at least SNES games in the future? cmon.

Considering how much they are pointing the fact that those games will have online play for these games, i'm expecting events / tournaments for retro games, it would be really cool.

 

[Galactor]

Besines SNES netcode hacking has to be more difficult than nes. Another great thing would be gamelink for GB gbc And gba. They already did It for Pokémon VC on 3ds

 

[Galactor]

.

 

[Vidiot]

I don't care to return to many NES games and the ones I still enjoy I've played to death. Sadly I'm in for cloud saves mainly.

 

[Protome]

Yeah, it has the potential to be a pretty good classic game subscription with a terrible online paywall connected to it.

 

[Deleted member 36622]

I'm not sure you know what "free" means.

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I said it they way all companies sell these bonuses these days. Free1!!!1 (except it's not free cause you still have to pay for the service)

 

[mindsale]

I don't care to return to many NES games and the ones I still enjoy I've played to death. Sadly I'm I'm for cloud saves mainly.

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Yep. I'm basically subscribing for cloud saves.

 

[Conor419]

I know, they will add more games just not as regularly as you would expect, but do you really believe they won't add at least SNES games in the future? cmon.

Considering how much they are pointing the fact that those games will have online play for these games, i'm expecting events / tournaments for retro games, it would be really cool.

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Honestly, for a PAID online service. I wasn't expecting that, once again, we'd have to face the slow trundle of going through NES, then SNES games, then a massive gap, them a few N64 games. I was expecting a few Gamecube, N64 and a heap of SNES/NES games from the beginning. Having only NES from the beginning is ugly.

 

[Dardan Sandiego]

You do you but the only thing it has going so far for most people is that it's cheaper than other companies' subscription.

 

[Wiped]

I said it they way all companies sell these bonuses these days. Free1!!!1 (except it's not free cause you still have to pay for the service)

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Yeah only in the US. In Europe they don't use the word free anywhere for PS Plus or Live because it's not free and it's illegal here to call it so.

 

[K Samedi]

I want to see it in action before I make any judgement on the online service, but the classics sounds like a good value for 20 tbh, especially when we get to the good stuff from SNES, N63 and Gamecube/Wii.

 

[Datajoy]

It's not about the cost, it's about the selection.

 

[Cudpug]

I'm happy you made this topic to counter the negativity over the last day or so and I hope it isn't derailed by further negativity.

I'm fine to pay 20 quid a year. I fork out like 35 a month for my phone so it's just another in a long list of payments. I imagine Nintendo has some neat long-term plans for it and until it launches I don't see the need to judge it too harshly.

 

[unicornKnight]

It's like getting a NES classic inside my Switch so yeah the games are not bad imo. I hope it includes the classic console conveniences (rewind, save states) as well. My problem is still with the other stupid staff like the voice chat through app.

I'm also intrigued by the online multiplayer / co-op part.

 

[Deleted member 36622]

Honestly, for a PAID online service. I wasn't expecting that, once again, we'd have to face the slow trundle of going through SNES, then NES games, then a massive gap, them a few N64 games. I was expecting a few Gamecube, N64 and a heap of SNES/NES games from the beginning. Having only NES from the beginning is ugly.

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Yes but it's PAID in the sense that you're paying 1 dollar each month, for how cheap it is don't understand how people were expecting all the games available at launch, it wouldn't be sustainable.

That's my main point, cause usually you get more from these services, but you pay a lot more too: like 5-7 dollars/euro monthly (even more for Netflix).

 

[Chalfonts]

Its really good value for money

The voice chat solution is absurd

 

[Conor419]

Yes but it's PAID in the sense that you're paying 1 dollar each month, for how cheap it is don't understand how people were expecting all the games available at launch, it wouldn't be sustainable.

That's my main point, cause usually you get more from these services, but you pay a lot more too: like 5-7 dollars/euro monthly (even more for Netflix).

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So we're paying £20 a year for a service that is inferior to the Wii's or 3DS' online services, and we should be happy with that, is what you're saying?

 

[Phoenom]

The possibility of getting the whole package for a year for cheaper than PokéBank makes it a no brainer for me personally. Even if I hardly ever play online games as is.

That might change with these retro offerings though. I'm not too fussed about NES games in general, but I'm very interested in seeing how they fare with online functionality. Makes it worth revisiting the lesser ones.

 

[Deleted member 36622]

Yeah only in the US. In Europe they don't use the word free anywhere for PS Plus or Live because it's not free and it's illegal here to call it so.

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I live in Italy as you may have seen in the Speedtest result posted above, we hear that all the time from mobile carriers. lol

"Join "3" and you get the new iPhone X for FREE!!1" (except you still have to pay for the service)

 

[.exe]

I personally don't really care that it's cheap. I'd rather they give us a premium sub and offer more compelling content like Xbox game pass and the PS Plus games. I'm all nostalgia'd out with Nintendo. I have all the classic games I want on 3DS already, so they could've offered a hundred NES games to up the value of the sub and I still would have zero interest.

 

[The Almighty Tria]

It's $20 and will have a constantly growing classic library. The embarrassing overreactions on this website has just been indicative of the gaming community as a whole.

Seriously, we have people saying shit like "I'd prefer it if they didn't give us any games with it!" Fucking nonsense.

 

[Mark1]

Yeah the inclusion of a Netflix style retro game service is definitely a good inventive for older gamers.

But when they start putting up SNES (and onwards - GC is way overdue now for a downloadable service) games, that will be when this becomes more worthwhile (the price is already really decent).

The only true beef I have with this online service is the voice chat app. Everything else I can live with.

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

You do you but the only thing it has going so far for most people is that it's cheaper than other companies' subscription.

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Only because it offers a lot less and Nintendo know they can't get away with similar pricing.

 

[Risq]

I'm keen for it. Lot's of negativity around anything to do with Nintendo these days.

 

[Deleted member 36622]

So we're paying £20 a year for a service that is inferior to the Wii's or 3DS' online services, and we should be happy with that, is what you're saying?

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Okay so first of all, it's not £20, it's £17,99 if you live in the UK. (if you want to say 20, use euro or dollars)

As i said in the OP i don't care that much about online cause my internet connection is bad, i would never spend 60 dollars for a year even with a better service, so the point of the thread was more the fact that the Retro collection is a really good value, and potentially much better than what Virtual Console used to be on Wii, 3DS and Wii U especially when they will add SNES, N64 or even Gamecube games.

 

[Dardan Sandiego]

Only because it offers a lot less and Nintendo know they can't get away with similar pricing.

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No shit.

 

[Egida]

The negativity comes from locking multiplayer and backup saves behind a paywall. I don't think anyone would criticize a NES netflix service. I mean, I wouldn't pay for it, but if you're interested on it, good for you.

 

[requiem]

20 NES games on Wii U would've cost $100! It's an absolute steal tbh.

 

[I Wanna Be The Guy]

Online play shouldn't be part of the equation. Nintendo should just have a virtual console subscription service encompassing many of their platforms. Paying for online is shit. Paying for online as shit as Nintendo has is even more shit. Giving a bunch of NES games with it is not appealing. The NES is not appealing. Platforms past the NES are.

Go all out with a virtual console subscription. Don't lock your terrible online behind a paywall and act like a bunch of NES games makes it worth it.

 

[Dreamboum]

You really think ppl are going to throw receipts at each of their seven friends for the online service ? Is this the rise of socialism?

 

[Conor419]

Okay so first of all, it's not £20, it's £17,99 if you live in the UK. (if you want to say 20, use euro or dollars)

As i said in the OP i don't care that much about online cause my internet connection is bad, i would never spend 60 dollars for a year even with a better service, so the point of the thread was more the fact that the Retro collection is a really good value, and potentially much better than what Virtual Console used to be on Wii, 3DS and Wii U especially when they will add SNES, N64 or even Gamecube games.

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I'm from the UK and £17.99 = £20.

Ah ok cool, another Nintendo fan who doesn't care about online gaming lecturing those who do on what a good online service is.

 

[Conkerkid11]

I would rather own my games than pay a subscription fee for them. A large part of my disappointment in this is that they're introducing Virtual Console, or whatever the fuck they want to rebrand it as, as a subscription-based service. In my mind, this means the releases will be slow, and there will be less of them.

I'm not even remotely interested in playing any NES games. I want to see SNES, N64, and GameCube.

Also, completely opposed to the nonsense idea of paying to play games online, and Nintendo was the last hope at potentially getting rid of it. Now I don't see a future where paid online for consoles will ever go away, and it's ridiculous.

 

[Kiraly]

It's $20 and will have a constantly growing classic library. The embarrassing overreactions on this website has just been indicative of the gaming community as a whole.

Seriously, we have people saying shit like "I'd prefer it if they didn't give us any games with it!" Fucking nonsense.

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What makes you so sure we’re going to get anything but NES games? Nintendo goes out of their way to call it a NES classics service.

Yeah the initial announcement said they were looking into SNES as well, but that has mysteriously disappeared and if it does show up it is going to be the same drip feeding bullshit of the past two generations where you’ll have to wait three years for the library to mature.

I don’t see any reason to time and time again give Nintendo the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Batatina]

Once they start bringing games from other consoles then I'll jump in. Just NES really isn't enough to get me going. I might still jump in if Fire Emblem's or Pokemon's online is interesting though.

 

[.exe]

20 NES games on Wii U would've cost $100! It's an absolute steal tbh.

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Honestly, how many of those would you have bought? Like Zelda and Mario 3 I can understand, but Soccer, Tennis, and Balloon Fight? And how many copies of Super Mario Bros and the rest of the games on offer have all of us already purchased (multiple times!) since the Wii? I don't see the value.

 

[Deleted member 37917]

I hate voice chat, but this is just not acceptable.
As for the virtual console mess, I prefer not to even mention it. The Switch is such a great machine, and it could be so much better. Nintendo, you absolutely suck.

 

[Ge0force]

Online play shouldn't be part of the equation. Nintendo should just have a virtual console subscription service encompassing many of their platforms. Paying for online is shit

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Couldn't have said it better. Online play for games you paid full price shouldn't be locked behind a paid game renting subscription.

 

[Chalfonts]

Honestly a much better value service than psn plus

• 1/3 the price
• An ever expanding library of reworked retro games instead of limited time availability of old native games

As far as i understand it also has discounts for members and cloud saves.

Other than a voice chat solution made for human beings, what does psn plus offer that this doesn't?

 

[TLZ]

Well, hopefully this time it means they have a service that can be used across systems and not having to rebuy games with every new Gen.

 

[Abylim]

Honestly it’s great that it’s so cheap. I’m sure Nintendo knows that most people are paying for Live or Psplus. So making it as cheap as they have means I have no problem paying for it alongside my other subs.

I also have a friend or two that’s expressed interest in doing the family plan so it’s even cheaper.
If they were charging more I’d start to question its value proposition. Honestly offering games I’ve played the shit out of over the passed 10 years even isn’t huge to me. They are 30 year old games lol.

But it’s something. And again it being so cheap helps.