- Official Post
As unveiled today, Nintendo has finally revealed the plans regarding their upcoming subscription-based online service: Nintendo Switch Online.
Within the details of announcement was a bit of an unexpected surprise: 20 NES games are going to be available on launch of the service that will be included in the monthly subscription. According to Nintendo, these 20 games will all have added online multiplayer capabilities, cooperative and/or competitive! Among these titles is the original Legend of Zelda!
However, despite the news of the NES games being including with their new online platform, Nintendo has announced that they will not be bringing the Virtual Console to the Nintendo Switch[1], as has been done on previous platforms. This news game as a bit of a shock to the community, as seen throughout the respective Nintendo subreddits, but many hope that this is Nintendo taking the opportunity to rethink and rebrand classic gameplay -- the NES game selection coming to their online service may be an example of such.
What are your thoughts on this announcement? My personal opinion is that while it is wonderful we're finally getting saves on the Switch, it still makes Nintendo the only current-gen console that doesn't offer a free method of preserving your saves[2]...I don't think you should have to pay a subscription to a monthly service to have the peace of mind knowing your hard work is safely backed up. Additionally, despite my excitement of NES games with online play, I feel a bit worried... With them axing the Virtual Console platform I worry they could be ignoring their consumers desires and throw away any plans to have older games playable on the Switch. I personally have always dreamed of having a centralized Nintendo hub where I can play their games from any point in their history without needing to carry decades worth of equipment and hardware, even if it forces me to repurchase the games digitally.
