The long dreaded day is finally here, where Nintendo moves from free online services to a payment model, just like most other gaming consoles have already implemented. The Nintendo Switch was the only console left that came with free online capabilities, however, Nintendo has unveiled their plans for paid service and it will be coming September this year. Since Nintendo is always coming up with new ideas to satisfy their fans (although these ideas don’t always work), there is good news to be found in the announcement as well. Nintendo Switch Online
The pricing of the service doesn’t seem all that high compared to what we are used to from other consoles. A full 12 months individual memberships would only cost you $19.99, compared to the 60 dollar price tags of PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live. Furthermore, there is a family pack which lets one Nintendo Account holder invite up to 7 other Nintendo Accounts to join a family group, and will all receive access to the online features. It is however unclear if all the Nintendo Accounts have to be on the same system, although this will most likely be the case. The service can be bought on their website, the Nintendo eShop or through select retailers in September.
One of the most exciting features of the Nintendo Switch Online is that it comes with 20 classic NES games, such as Donkey Kong, The Legend Of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. But for the first time ever, these old classics will come with full online play. Which means that you can finally challenge your friend to a game of Doctor Mario, wherever you may be in the world. Another feature that Nintendo is finally releasing is cloud saves. Nintendo is definitely a bit late on this front, but of course better late than never and it’s nice that we can finally use cloud saves to back up our data on the Switch.
Nintendo is also doubling down on their already released Nintendo Switch mobile app which hasn’t been received that well by the community. Most people find it poorly implemented or just outright trash and would like to see Nintendo implement voice chat and other features in a different way. Why waste your phone’s battery for voice chat when you can just use better alternatives such as Discord.
Stayed tuned for more info on the Nintendo Switch Online service which will be released on a later date.
