Nintendo Switch Online

Nintendo Switch Online (colloquially known as NSO) is a suite of features on the Nintendo Switch video game console requiring purchase of a subscription. Nintendo Switch Online features include online multiplayer, cloud saving, voice chat, access to a library of Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) games, as well as other promotions and offers. Following a period where some of its features were available to all users at no charge, the subscription service officially launched on September 19, 2018.

Nintendo Switch Online
DeveloperNintendo
TypeOnline service
Launch dateSeptember 19, 2018 (2018-09-19)
Platform(s)Nintendo Switch
StatusOnline
MembersOver 15 million (as of January 2020)
Websitewww.nintendo.com/switch/online-service/

The service is Nintendo's third generation online service after Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and Nintendo Network.

History

The Nintendo Switch was formally announced in January 2017, with its release on March 3, 2017. Nintendo stated in its pre-release announcements that the system would eventually require purchase of a paid "online service", but that they would be available to all users at no charge until the service launched. Features announced included a companion smartphone app, as well as access to a free Nintendo Entertainment System game per-month. The service was initially planned for late 2017.[1] By June 2017, Nintendo pushed back the service's release until 2018, but did establish the pricing plans for the service, with an average annual price of US$20, depending on region.[2] Then-Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé explained that the delays were to ensure that the service was "world-class", and had enough of its announced functionality available on-launch to justify its cost.[3] Nintendo aimed for a lower price point in comparison to PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold, as the service does not include the same range of features as these subscription services provide.[4][5] Then-Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima stated that the price point was a subject of importance in designing the Switch's online services, and that regardless of what competitors were doing, "it's a matter of getting our content to the consumer at a price point that would make them happy, and then we're willing to look at what else we can do going forward."[6][6]

The Nintendo Switch Online service was launched on September 19, 2018.[7][8][9] A Nintendo Direct two days before the release detailed the full set of features that would be part of the Online service, including a larger and persistent library of NES games for subscribers (with 20 available on launch, and more to be added on an ongoing basis), as well as cloud save support.[10] The initial launch covered 43 markets, with more markets expected to follow later.[11][12][13][14]

In September 2018, Nintendo Switch consoles imported to China started experiencing connectivity issues there, due to the Nintendo Switch Online service using Google's servers, which are blocked in China.[15]

On March 28, 2019, Twitch announced that Twitch Prime members can claim up to a year of free Nintendo Switch Online membership between March 28, 2019 and January 20, 2020.[16]

The service officially launched in South Korea and Hong Kong,[17] on April 23, 2019.[18]

On September 4, 2019, Nintendo announced in a Nintendo Direct presentation that Super NES games would be added to the service the following day under a separate app.[19]

Usage

By December 31, 2018, approximately three months after its launch, the service had gained more than eight million subscribers.[20] Nintendo reported in late-April 2019 that the service had 9.8 million subscribers.[21] The service reached over 10 million subscribers by July 2019,[22] and over 15 million by January 2020.[23]

Features

Multiplayer

Nintendo Switch Online is required to access online multiplayer on the majority of titles. Some free-to-play multiplayer games, such as Fortnite Battle Royale and Warframe, are exempt from this requirement, and can be played online freely without a subscription.[24][25]

Cloud saves

Cloud storage allows save data for many games to be synchronized online, so it can be recovered if the user must move their Nintendo Account to a different Switch console or if they use multiple consoles.[26] The feature is not supported for some games including those with certain forms of online functionality such as item trading and competitive rankings, citing concerns surrounding the possibility of abuse that could "unfairly affect" gameplay.[27]

Users will lose access to their cloud saves should they allow their subscription to lapse, though there is a grace period of six months to renew the subscription and recover them before they are purged.[28][29]

According to the list below, there are currently 53 games which do not support cloud save functionality.[30]

Communication

Users can voice chat through the Nintendo Switch Online mobile app on smartphones. Voice chat functionality is not available natively through the Switch console; Fils-Aimé justified the decision by explaining that "Nintendo's approach is to do things differently. We have a much different suite of experiences than our competitors offer, and we do that in a different way. This creates a sort of yin and yang for our consumers. They're excited about cloud saves and legacy content but wish we might deliver voice chat a different way, for example."[31]

Classic games service

Past Nintendo consoles (including Wii, the Nintendo 3DS family, and Wii U) with online functionality had offered games from Nintendo's older console libraries through the Virtual Console, but would not use this for the Switch. Instead, Switch Online subscribers can access Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) apps, both which feature a persistent and expanding library of classic titles from the systems. Access to the games are available as long as the user has an active subscription, and a user must connect to the internet at least once a week to continue to access the titles while offline. Games with multiplayer modes support both local and online play; online play functionality is a first for NES and SNES games.[32][33][34][35]

Certain NES games released on the service between October 2018 to August 2019 also have an alternative version labeled "SP" ("Extra" in some regions) which either starts the player near the end of the game or starts the game with the maximum amount of items and lives. Most of the games released in both the Americas and PAL territories are the original NTSC-U versions, including their North American naming and 60 Hz support. The Western NES variant of the software is available in South Korea, while the Japanese Family Computer variant is available in Hong Kong.[18]

During its first year, the Online service provided a new batch of NES games on a monthly basis. However, with the addition of SNES titles in September 2019, Nintendo stated that new NES and SNES games would no longer be made available on a regular schedule though would continue to expand both libraries over time.[36]

The service is home to several titles that were not available on the Virtual Console including Crystalis, Journey to Silius, Joe & Mac 2: Lost in the Tropics and Star Fox 2. Some games saw their first re-release in any form since their original debut such as Pro Wrestling,[37] Vice: Project Doom,[38] and Stunt Race FX. The service also marks the first ever North American release of the SNES games Pop'n TwinBee and Smash Tennis.[39]

NES games

With the launch of the Nintendo Switch Online service on September 19, 2018, NES games were made available with 20 titles available at launch. Subscribers can access them through a dedicated app. Games available include:

List of NES games on Nintendo Switch Online
Release date Game Publisher NA/PAL/KR JP/HK
September 19, 2018[40] Balloon Fight Nintendo
Baseball Nintendo
Donkey Kong Nintendo
Double Dragon Arc System Works
Dr. Mario Nintendo
Excitebike Nintendo
Ghosts'n Goblins Capcom
Gradius Konami
Ice Climber Nintendo
Ice Hockey Nintendo
The Legend of Zelda Nintendo
Mario Bros. Nintendo
Pro Wrestling Nintendo
River City Ransom Arc System Works
Soccer Nintendo
Super Mario Bros. Nintendo
Super Mario Bros. 3 Nintendo
Tecmo Bowl Koei Tecmo
Tennis Nintendo
Yoshi Nintendo
October 10, 2018[41][42] The Legend of Zelda SP Nintendo
NES Open Tournament Golf Nintendo
Solomon's Key Koei Tecmo
Super Dodge Ball Arc System Works
November 14, 2018[43][44] Gradius SP (Stage 5) Konami
Metroid Nintendo
Mighty Bomb Jack Koei Tecmo
NES Open Tournament Golf SP Nintendo
TwinBee Konami
December 12, 2018[45][46] Adventures of Lolo HAL Laboratory
Adventures of Lolo 2 HAL Laboratory
Dr. Mario SP Nintendo
Metroid SP (Ridley battle) Nintendo
Ninja Gaiden Koei Tecmo
Wario's Woods Nintendo
January 16, 2019[47][48] Blaster Master Sunsoft
Ghosts'n Goblins SP Capcom
Joy Mech Fight Nintendo
Ninja Gaiden SP Koei Tecmo
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link Nintendo
February 13, 2019[49][50] Blaster Master SP Sunsoft
Kirby's Adventure Nintendo
Metroid SP (Mother Brain battle) Nintendo
Super Mario Bros. 2 [upper-alpha 1] Nintendo
Tsuppari Oozumou Koei Tecmo
March 13, 2019[51][52] Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light Nintendo
Kid Icarus Nintendo
Kirby's Adventure SP Nintendo
StarTropics Nintendo
Yie Ar Kung-Fu Konami
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link SP Nintendo
April 10, 2019[53][54] Kid Icarus SP Nintendo
Punch-Out!! Nintendo
Star Soldier Konami
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels [upper-alpha 2] Nintendo
May 15, 2019[55] Clu Clu Land Nintendo
Clu Clu Land: Welcome to New Cluclu Land [upper-alpha 3] Nintendo
Donkey Kong Jr. Nintendo
Star Soldier SP Konami
Vs. Excitebike Nintendo
June 12, 2019 City Connection City Connection
Double Dragon II: The Revenge Arc System Works
TwinBee SP Konami
Volleyball Nintendo
July 17, 2019 Donkey Kong 3 Nintendo
Mighty Bomb Jack SP Koei Tecmo
Wrecking Crew Nintendo
August 21, 2019 Downtown Nekketsu Kōshinkyoku: Soreyuke Daiundōkai Arc System Works
Gradius SP (Second loop) Konami
Kung Fu Heroes Culture Brain Excel
Vice: Project Doom Sega
December 12, 2019 Crystalis SNK [upper-alpha 4]
Famicom Wars Nintendo
Journey to Silius Sunsoft [upper-alpha 5]
Route-16 Turbo Sunsoft
February 19, 2020 Atlantis no Nazo Sunsoft
Eliminator Boat Duel Piko Interactive
Shadow of the Ninja Natsume
April 20, 2020 Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light SP Nintendo
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light SP 2 Nintendo
May 20, 2020 Rygar Koei Tecmo
  "SP" game
  1. Titled as Super Mario USA in Japan.
  2. Titled as Super Mario Bros. 2 in Japan.
  3. A Family Computer Disk System port of the arcade edition titled Vs. Clu Clu Land.
  4. Originally exclusive to Western regions, but was eventually released in Japan on February 19, 2020.
  5. Originally exclusive to Western regions, but was eventually released in Japan on May 20, 2020.

SNES games

Announced in a Nintendo Direct on September 4, 2019, SNES games were added to the service worldwide with 20 titles on September 5, 2019.[19] They are available in a separate app from NES games. Games available include:

List of Super NES games on Nintendo Switch Online
Release date Game Publisher NA/PAL/KR JP/HK
September 5, 2019 Brawl Brothers City Connection
Breath of Fire Capcom
Demon's Crest Capcom
F-Zero Nintendo
Joe & Mac 2: Lost in the Tropics G-Mode
Kirby's Dream Course Nintendo
Kirby's Dream Land 3 Nintendo
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Nintendo
Pilotwings Nintendo
Smash Tennis Bandai Namco [lower-alpha 1]
Star Fox Nintendo
Stunt Race FX Nintendo
Super E.D.F. Earth Defense Force City Connection
Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts Capcom
Super Mario Kart Nintendo
Super Mario World Nintendo
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island Nintendo
Super Metroid Nintendo
Super Puyo Puyo 2 Sega
Super Soccer Spike Chunsoft
Super Tennis Nintendo
December 12, 2019 Breath of Fire II Capcom [lower-alpha 2]
Kirby Super Star Nintendo
Star Fox 2 Nintendo
Super Punch-Out!! Nintendo [lower-alpha 3]
February 19, 2020 Pop'n TwinBee Konami
May 20, 2020 Operation Logic Bomb City Connection
Panel de Pon Nintendo [lower-alpha 4]
Wild Guns Natsume
  1. Originally exclusive to Japan, but was eventually released in Western regions on February 19, 2020.
  2. Originally exclusive to Western regions, but was eventually released in Japan on February 19, 2020.
  3. Originally exclusive to Western regions, but was eventually released in Japan on May 20, 2020.
  4. Panel de Pon was internationally released as Tetris Attack in 1996. This marks the first time the original game gets a worldwide release.[56]

Offers and promotions

Switch Online subscribers are also granted access to special offers and promotions from Nintendo; on launch, those who purchased a 12-month subscription or family plan received special in-game items for Splatoon 2, and Nintendo opened exclusive pre-orders for special wireless controllers based on the NES controller,[57][58][59][60] specifically intended for use with the aforementioned NES app. Similarly, a special wireless SNES-based controller designed to work with the Switch was made available to purchase exclusively to Online subscribers shortly after the service added support for SNES titles.[61]

Coinciding with the anticipated release of Super Mario Maker 2, a price-reduction promotion was announced during the game's Nintendo Direct that was available exclusively to Nintendo Switch Online members. The promotion introduced "Nintendo Switch Game Vouchers", which allows purchasers to download two qualifying Nintendo Switch games for a set price of $99.99 MSRP, compared to a $120 sum of buying both games separately.[62]

Nintendo has also offered free original games for those with an Online subscription. Tetris 99 was released as a free to play title for subscribers in February 2019, though has subsequently offered paid downloadable content and retail versions of the game for non-subscribers.[63]

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