It’s a new era
Nintendo is moving into the brave new future that Microsoft heralded in 2002 and Sony followed up with in 2010: paid online subscriptions for consoles. But while Xbox Live Gold and PlayStation Plus offer up a ton of free games each month, Nintendo is sticking to their guns with retro offerings, a strategy met with a polarizing response after its announcement. Well now we can all judge for ourselves as Switch online is a go this week.
As a reminder, you can see what all of the hubbub is about for seven days, which grants you access to the NES suite — a single download app that hosts all 20 launch titles. Once that trial is donezo you can spend $3.99, $7.99, or $19.99 for one, three, or 12 months respectively (you can also apply Gold Coins to your balance). There’s also a family plan for $34.99 a year that includes up to eight accounts.
You’ll find a recap below as to what Switch online actually entails.
- The shift to paid online for most retail games, with exceptions like free-to-play titles, and paid voice chat (all previously free).
- An NES suite with a “growing collection of classic games.” Right now there’s 20 games available with online play enabled.
- Cloud save backup, which has at least one proviso (if you de-sub you can lose your data).
- The ability to buy two NES remotes for $60 that only work with the NES suite with “more special offers to come.”
- Exclusive Splatoon 2 gear (jerseys for the winning E3 World Championship team) if you buy a 12-month membership
