StarTopic Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack |ST| New 2024 Poll Up

[Abzeronow]

I wonder what will the response be for Nintendo if nobody bites on the new price tier. Would they be likely to backtrack, or would they "fix" that particular bracket with new incentives/features (i.e. subscribing gets you one free downloadable version of a full-priced 1st party Nintendo release annually, etc.)?

They'd just think "nobody wants to play N64 or Genesis games so we're done adding consoles".

 

[Pineapple Pizza]

That's a whooping total of 956 € worth of retro games at my thumbs' reach, and i honestly prefer that to the old Virtual Console style. No, i don't like the price hike, no, i'm not justifying it, but this is the conclusion i have reached

I think that's a strange way of looking at it. If you did the same for Netflix you could argue you have millions of pounds worth of films at a thumbs reach... But you aren't going to watch them all or even want to. It's only value if you can extract your money's worth out of it. I rarely play the SNES and NES games so at present the value lies in cloud saves and Tetris 99 for me. I'd have to really get into N64 and Genesis to make this new offering value to me.

 

[Reinhard Schneider]

I think that's a strange way of looking at it. If you did the same for Netflix you could argue you have millions of pounds worth of films at a thumbs reach... But you aren't going to watch them all or even want to. It's only value if you can extract your money's worth out of it. I rarely play the SNES and NES games so at present the value lies in cloud saves and Tetris 99 for me. I'd have to really get into N64 and Genesis to make this new offering value to me.

You're right, but they're still there. I'm paying the 150+ € Netflix asks for because the content is there for me and my sis to discover. I'm more of an anime guy, but she comes to me with a new show recommendation every two weeks or so, Netflix' perceived value is lower for me than it is for her, but it's still worth it because its potential value is insane.

Same thing happens, in a lower scale, with NSO. I'm probably never going to play half of the NES library and 1/4 of the SNES library, but it's there for me to discover, 1/5 of the Mega Drive launch library will pass me by and i'll go through the N64 library slowly because i'm short of time for the longer, deeper 5th gen games (even if most of the N64 launch library are arcade experiences) I know all of this, but its value is still worth it for me.

 

[AndroidOS]

It's worth noting that while you will lose access to there DLC if you stop your subscription (and haven't bought the DLC outright), you will still be able to use any of the extra decorating features that you have unlocked on your main island: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...rizons-gets-final-big-free-update-in-november

The relevant quote:

“Players can still continue to access certain things they have unlocked in Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Happy Home Paradise on their main island, including adding counters, partition walls, as well as adding ambient lighting and soundscapes, even if their access to Animal Crossing: New Horizons - Happy Home Paradise is suspended," a Nintendo spokesperson told me. "However, it will not be possible to visit the archipelago if players lose access to the DLC. To be able to visit the archipelago and take on requests of designing vacation homes again, you will need to purchase the DLC separately or renew the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership."

Still not the best, but not as bad as it could be either.

 

[someday]

That’s more than I expected. Assumed it would be a $10 increase. Still, I’m not really a fan of this approach Nintendo have taken with their online regardless of the cost

 

[Intoxicate]

We had free online in WiiU. The 20 bucks for cloud saves was already not a nice move, NES and SNES made up for it, but I struggle to see opting for the higher tier, especially since AC is not my cup of tea.

 

[Mbolibombo]

Modern subscription services also tend to have a constant flow of content going away. NSO is in a unique position of seemingly trying to indefinitely maintain content the service provider doesn't actually own, to both new and existing subscribers. As of today, not a single third party title (or first party, but that's less significant to my point) has ever been removed from the service. Constantly adding new content is made more difficult if existing content has a cost to it you can't remove.

That's not to say NSO is comparatively a good value because of that fact; it's just something to consider. Perhaps things can be different now that the price is so high to start; IIRC, the first year of NES updates actually was monthly.

I'm sure dont many would object if Kung-Fu Heroes, City Connection, Star Soldier would get cycled out for new content.

Not saying your point isnt valid because it is - content actually staying is great! But it would hold more weight if they added content that people actually want over tcontent that would never see the day of light unless one didnt pick up a NES 35-40 year old nes cartridge

And I say this as the biggest NES stan there is. I love the NES, but there's a ton of great games on the system which arent in licensing hell that surely could be a great fit for the service.

 

[Mandos]

In something I’m sure will cause more outrage and complaining, Japanese faq confirms irregular updates

Personally I’m going to wait and see on the scope of the updates before worrying especially since we’ll get the first one by December

 

[Hidden04]

In something I’m sure will cause more outrage and complaining, Japanese faq confirms irregular updates

Personally I’m going to wait and see on the scope of the updates before worrying especially since we’ll get the first one by December

You have to be kidding me.

Well, at least the launch lineup is pretty good.

 

[Mandos]

You have to be kidding me.

Well, at least the launch lineup is pretty good.

I mean it’s the same wording the others have been for a while which means around 5 updates a year tho to be fair we don’t know the scope now which could be bigger

 

[AndroidOS]

In something I’m sure will cause more outrage and complaining, Japanese faq confirms irregular updates

Personally I’m going to wait and see on the scope of the updates before worrying especially since we’ll get the first one by December

To be fair that could mean anything from there'll be one update a year, to there'll be monthly updates but the number of games a month will be irregular.

I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see games released at the same speed the NES and SNES ones were, but I do still think we'll see a steady stream of them (that doesn't necessarily mean monthly updates!). I think the only thing we can do is wait and see what actually happens.

 

[Mandos]

To be fair that could mean anything from there'll be one update a year, to there'll be monthly updates but the number of games a month will be irregular.

I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see games released at the same speed the NES and SNES ones were, but I do still think we'll see a steady stream of them (that doesn't necessarily mean monthly updates!). I think the only thing we can do is wait and see what actually happens.

I’m still thinking we might see monthly for the first couple months. Though at the least we have the normal Dec/Feb/May/July/Sept cycle of the last few years at a minimum. I do think we’ll see bigger drops at the least

 

[lemonfresh]

In something I’m sure will cause more outrage and complaining, Japanese faq confirms irregular updates

Personally I’m going to wait and see on the scope of the updates before worrying especially since we’ll get the first one by December

Dripfeed time baby!

 

[Mandos]

Although Nintendo did give us a N64 roadmap unlike the past, they know if they announce stuff people expect it soon. So the fact that even on the websites it isn’t the full or nearly full first party lineup means they’re probably planning to release those pretty briskly

 

[Kingpin722]

For 50 USD we should be getting at least 10 games from each Nintendo system up until Wii U/3DS that updates every month. Obviously it’s optional but damn there was a real opportunity here. People were legitimately excited during the last Direct when they showed off this expansion pack. Given they recaptured a lot of older Nintendo gamers with Switch, asking them to jump in at either $30 or $50 to play a relatively limited selection of classic games is crazy. If you’re gonna charge that much, you have to go all out.

 

[dingbat]

"Titles will be added irregularly."

Ugh.

If they're asking a premium price, the least they could do is to commit to a schedule and target number of games. I want to give them the money for N64 games; it's one of the things I've wanted most since launch, but they're making really hard for me to not feel bad about it.

Edit: I was reading the fine print on that discount you could get when upgrading from NSO basic to the EP, and it seems like you are not eligible for the discount if your current NSO membership was enabled by way of a code redemption. That's one way of getting NSO basic cheaper usually, so keep that in mind I suppose. At least until this thing's out and it becomes clearer how that policy works.

 

[Mrforeignwarren]

Nintendo clearly feel sorry for the sorry state of the UK and decided to throw us a bone. 35 quid is a decent price in my book.

It honestly feels like Nintendo are repaying us for all the years of neglect and high prices - it’s easy to get a first party release for under £40. The high USA price definitely stings…

 

[Dakhil]

I don't know if anyone mentioned this, but I think one reason why the price for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pak is the highest in North America compared to the rest of the world is because Microsoft is charging some seriously high licencing fees for North America.

 

[ArchedThunder]

Irregular could also mean the number of games in each update won’t always be the same and each update won’t always have games from both systems.

 

[Emily]

I wonder what will the response be for Nintendo if nobody bites on the new price tier. Would they be likely to backtrack, or would they "fix" that particular bracket with new incentives/features (i.e. subscribing gets you one free downloadable version of a full-priced 1st party Nintendo release annually, etc.)?

They wouldn't backtrack. They'll just add more additional platforms to the expansion tier. (Game Boy or whatever)

 

[YolkFolk]

Nintendo clearly feel sorry for the sorry state of the UK and decided to throw us a bone. 35 quid is a decent price in my book.

It honestly feels like Nintendo are repaying us for all the years of neglect and high prices - it’s easy to get a first party release for under £40. The high USA price definitely stings…

£35 is $48

 

[Cantaim]

They wouldn't backtrack. They'll just add more additional platforms to the expansion tier. (Game Boy or whatever)

Yea it's not a physical product so I don't see a reason to back track on this. It's an additional tier to their online service. If it is a flop they just need to add more value to it till people think it's worth it.

 

[Mrforeignwarren]

£35 is $48

I understand but it feels cheap. £3 doesn’t get you far. Less than 3 quid a month for lots of n64 games - a few that I’ve never experienced- and a few extras.

 

[storres]

This is more and more looking like something that isn't worth it.

 

[Zalman]

This post could age like milk, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Game Boy added before the fiscal year ends. If that has a killer lineup I think the price of the service will be less of a hot topic.

 

[karmitt]

This post could age like milk, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Game Boy added before the fiscal year ends. If that has a killer lineup I think the price of the service will be less of a hot topic.

Yeah I kind of see them sticking to the price point and announcing more content - either a promise of more DLC, or other consoles.

 

[ArchedThunder]

This post could age like milk, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Game Boy added before the fiscal year ends. If that has a killer lineup I think the price of the service will be less of a hot topic.

There's rumors of Game Boy, Game Boy Color and another non Nintendo system coming, but I'm not sure we'd see any of them this fiscal year.

 

[Reinhard Schneider]

So, if i understood correctly, you can't just pay the second tier and that's it, you need to purchase the whole online+expansion pack, right?

In my case, the whole 70 € minus discount

 

[Deleted member 540]

£35 is $48

That £ just won't stay still. Bring back the gold standard I say.

More importantly, the base price is £18 so the sterling price just about squeaks a pass mark by being slightly less than double. Comparatively the best deal compared to the € where it is exactly double and the $ where is it x2.5.

So we done well. All hail Brexit I guess.

 

[MondoMega]

There's rumors of Game Boy, Game Boy Color and another non Nintendo system coming, but I'm not sure we'd see any of them this fiscal year.

When did a second third-party platform join the rumor mill? Must've missed that one.

Clearly this time it HAS to be PC Engine.

 

[Jersh]

In something I’m sure will cause more outrage and complaining, Japanese faq confirms irregular updates

Personally I’m going to wait and see on the scope of the updates before worrying especially since we’ll get the first one by December

Yeah. NES updates were monthly until they weren't. I get why they aren't committing, but I imagine we'll have most or even all of the games they announced by the end of the fiscal year.

 

[Jersh]

When did a second third-party platform join the rumor mill? Must've missed that one.

Clearly this time it HAS to be PC Engine.

I missed it too. AFAIK it doesn't come from the usual places.

 

[Mandos]

Yeah. NES updates were monthly until they weren't. I get why they aren't committing, but I imagine we'll have most or even all of the games they announced by the end of the fiscal year.

Yup last time we got a road map we got 3 months of 3 each although they did date it then. While not one one they wouldn’t do a roadmap that’s limited instead of the full first party lineup

 

[Merc_]

Yeah, the price is too steep for what we're getting right now so I'm probably going to hold off on upgrading for a while.

I'll buy it in a second for Goemon.

 

[ArchedThunder]

When did a second third-party platform join the rumor mill? Must've missed that one.

Clearly this time it HAS to be PC Engine.

I guess I mixed up some reports or something.

 

[Cantaim]

This post could age like milk, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Game Boy added before the fiscal year ends. If that has a killer lineup I think the price of the service will be less of a hot topic.

If it goes like the last few years of NSO. The big update will come next year in October. Pretty much when the one year passes are about to expire. I think that's when we'll see either a big dump of the last N64 games people want. Or the addition of a new Nintendo handheld/console.

 

[Serebii]

£35 is $48

Yes but the £35 includes UK sales tax of 20%. US price doesn't IIRC

Normally UK prices are £=$ of late

 

[Naru]

I am going to upgrade for the rest of my subscription. Those ~5 months should be enough to find out if it's worth keeping, depending on how often they update the catalogue.

 

[Sander RX]

If I buy the year plan of the upgrade as a user with active NSO, will the benefits simply be added onto my account until it runs out at the original date it was supposed to run out or will I get another year's worth of online usage added onto my account (or at least, have months added for the difference between my account's original expiration and the expiration of the upgrade).

 

[Pineapple Pizza]

I am going to upgrade for the rest of my subscription. Those ~5 months should be enough to find out if it's worth keeping, depending on how often they update the catalogue.

Can you do that? I was under the impression you can only upgrade for a full 12 month period, and that you get a pro rated discount for what you had left on your membership. That was certainly the case when I went from individual to family when my partner bought a Switch.

 

[Discokuningas]

Do we know how much is the discount? I have 11 months left my old family subscription. I would like to know how much it is in euros per day.

 

[SMD]

"Titles will be added irregularly."

Ugh.

If they're asking a premium price, the least they could do is to commit to a schedule and target number of games. I want to give them the money for N64 games; it's one of the things I've wanted most since launch, but they're making really hard for me to not feel bad about it.

Edit: I was reading the fine print on that discount you could get when upgrading from NSO basic to the EP, and it seems like you are not eligible for the discount if your current NSO membership was enabled by way of a code redemption. That's one way of getting NSO basic cheaper usually, so keep that in mind I suppose.

This is a joke if true, I just renewed my family plan a couple of weeks ago after the direct said that it would be a straight upgrade. I bought a code like I usually do because it doesn't look obvious that there's anything different between redeeming the code or uploading funds before resubbing.
I'm not going to upgrade at full price.

 

[CMM1215]

Edit: I was reading the fine print on that discount you could get when upgrading from NSO basic to the EP, and it seems like you are not eligible for the discount if your current NSO membership was enabled by way of a code redemption. That's one way of getting NSO basic cheaper usually, so keep that in mind I suppose.

This in particular concerns me. I'm guessing I'm screwed? I like buying download codes for the memberships so I don't need to use eShop funds or attach my PayPal to my Nintendo Account. Guess I'll find out for sure when everyone else does in about a week, but it sure isn't looking good.

 

[Reinhard Schneider]

I am going to upgrade for the rest of my subscription. Those ~5 months should be enough to find out if it's worth keeping, depending on how often they update the catalogue.

I get the feeling that you have to relinquish your subscription and get the new one with the expansion pack.

I was planning to do the same, since i renew in December, but it seems that you can only relinquish and get the online+expansion pack. If you didn't get your subscription using a card, you'll receive a discount proportional to the days you have left.

 

[dingbat]

This is a joke if true, I just renewed my family plan a couple of weeks ago after the direct said that it would be a straight upgrade. I bought a code like I usually do because it doesn't look obvious that there's anything different between redeeming the code or uploading funds before resubbing.
I'm not going to upgrade at full price.

This in particular concerns me. I'm guessing I'm screwed? I like buying download codes for the memberships so I don't need to use eShop funds or attach my PayPal to my Nintendo Account. Guess I'll find out for sure when everyone else does in about a week, but it sure isn't looking good.

That's what it reads like, but, yeah, hopefully it's not actually the case. We'll find out around when it launches. I'd like to think it's just confusing wording because I don't get why they'd differentiate between getting a sub via code or directly from them.

Edit: I think I may have stumbled on why they wouldn't let the discount work with NSO "download codes". Those codes allow you to extend your membership for more than one year (up to three total, apparently), while the Expansion Pack upgrade discount is calculated on a pro-rata basis indirectly tied to the yearly cost of an NSO sub and the EP is only offered in one-year increments (bundled with NSO), which only works for a scale that goes up to 365 days because you'd start getting weird discounts after a number of remaining days in your sub around/past 365. If they indeed won't let you get a discount if you used download codes for your NSO sub, I imagine it's because of this, unless I misunderstood something in this web of discounts and pricing.

The preferable solution would be that they don't treat it any differently if you have less than or equal to 365 days remaining on your subscription and after that offer the discount based on blocks of 365, e.g. if you have 450 days remaining on your sub and we're referencing the UK pricing, you'd pay (£35 - (365 * £0.04)) + (£35 - (85 * £0.04)) to convert all that into NSO + EP.

This would all be so much simpler if it was just a separate service or if Nintendo just let you have a deal if you paid for so long in advance anyway -- kind of like that XBL Gold + GP Ultimate conversion trick.

 

[Tendo]

Am I crazy or did they show Paper Mario as a future title? Would love to see other rare games make it like Blast Corps or Jet Force Gemini.

Of course my holy grails would be goldeneye and perfect dark but I don't see that happening

 

[Benzychenz]

Can you only buy the Expansion as a yearly sub? No 1 or 3 month option? That sucks. Means there's no way to just sub for a month and binge all the N64 games.

I think I'll wait and see, I don't need to play N64 or the AC DLC day one. If they include most of their big DLC's in this then at 60 AUD a year this isn't too bad a deal.

 

[SMD]

That's what it reads like, but, yeah, hopefully it's not actually the case. We'll find out around when it launches. I'd like to think it's just confusing wording because I don't get why they'd differentiate between getting a sub via code or directly from them.

Edit: I think I may have stumbled on why they wouldn't let the discount work with NSO "download codes". Those codes allow you to extend your membership for more than one year (up to three total, apparently), while the Expansion Pack upgrade discount is calculated on a pro-rata basis indirectly tied to the yearly cost of an NSO sub and the EP is only offered in one-year increments (bundled with NSO), which only works for a scale that goes up to 365 days because you'd start getting weird discounts after a number of remaining days in your sub around/past 365. If they indeed won't let you get a discount if you used download codes for your NSO sub, I imagine it's because of this, unless I misunderstood something in this web of discounts and pricing.

The preferable solution would be that they don't treat it any differently if you have less than or equal to 365 days remaining on your subscription and after that offer the discount based on blocks of 365, e.g. if you have 450 days remaining on your sub and we're referencing the UK pricing, you'd pay (£35 - (365 * £0.04)) + (£35 - (85 * £0.04)) to convert all that into NSO + EP.

This would all be so much simpler if it was just a separate service or if Nintendo just let you have a deal if you paid for so long in advance anyway -- kind of like that XBL Gold + GP Ultimate conversion trick.

It's not really my problem if Nintendo's implementation is weird, like you said they could've just handled it like MS where they calculate based on your existing sub how long your new sub is, they're actively punishing you for maintaining a subscription. They better clear this up because it's a joke and I won't pay extra cos they don't know how to run their system.

 

[dingbat]

It's not really my problem if Nintendo's implementation is weird, like you said they could've just handled it like MS where they calculate based on your existing sub how long your new sub is, they're actively punishing you for maintaining a subscription. They better clear this up because it's a joke and I won't pay extra cos they don't know how to run their system.

It does seem weird. Like, let's take the UK price and say you've got 600 days in your subscription left from redeeming NSO codes. That makes the discount go brrrrr. It's then £35 - (600 * £0.04) = £6 to convert all that into... what?

Will it convert those 600 days into 730 (two years) of NSO+EP for just £6 because the Expansion Pack only works in increments of one year? Or do you only get the EP for the first 365 days at the price of £6? Or do you lose all remaining days of NSO after 365 to then get 365 days of NSO+EP for £6? It would make more sense if, because you've gone past 365 days, they would they instead use £70 as a reference point for the discount. Such a possibility isn't mentioned on the site though.

Even assuming you get no discount at all, let's say you've got two years of NSO from codes. What happens when you then pay full price for a year of NSO+EP? Do you get an extra year of NSO tacked on to those two years you have already while getting the EP for just the first year? That would mean you'll never use up those latter two years if you keep getting the EP. So my suspicion is that you’ll pay for NSO+EP and not get an extra year of NSO at all, just one year of EP at an inflated price.

 

[Vanillalite]

I pay for the family plan (for my actual family not just some people getting together to save cash), and even my kids were like eeesh $80 hard pass. It also doesn’t help that we don’t play AC anymore so that’s just wasted value.

They’ll never do this now, but my son and I agreed that we wish it was just an extra $5 or $10 for each platform you want to add on.

As it stands the value proposition compared to other family subs like Apple One Family that I pay for is crazy out of wack for the expansion pack price.