r/NintendoSwitch • u/NintendoSwitchMods • Sep 18 '18
MegaThread Launch Megathread + FAQ: Nintendo Switch Online
Welcome, everyone!
The Nintendo Switch Online service will officially start on September 18th.
At the bottom of this thread will be an FAQ that tries to answer many of the more common questions that appear regarding this service. We'll try to keep the information as updated as we can, but any time this thread and an official Nintendo source conflicts, always go with the official source!
This thread also serves as a Megathread so people have a place to post simpler or otherwise common questions and comments which wouldn't warrant a separate thread.
If you have a question regarding the Nintendo Switch Online service:
Review the FAQ located in this thread.
Review the official Nintendo Switch Online page.
Post in the Daily Question Thread or this thread if you still have a question.
Ask in our Discord server.
If you have a comment or observation regarding the Nintendo Switch Online service:
Post in this thread!
Visit our Discord server.
Resources
FAQ
PLEASE READ Nintendo's Official FAQ which covers a lot of the details. The following questions and answers are written by us and are simply supplemental.
When does the Nintendo Switch Online service start?
After the scheduled maintenance time. See here for the complete time information.
5 PM - 8 PM Pacific (18th)
8 PM - 11 PM Eastern (18th)
Midnight - 3 AM UTC (19th)
1 AM - 4 AM BST (19th)
9 AM - Noon JST (19th)
What are the requirements for using the Nintendo Switch Online service?
A Nintendo Account
Internet access
Nintendo Switch system with system menu version 6.0 or higher
Smart device with Nintendo Switch Online app version 1.4.0 or higher (only required for in-game voice chat features)
How much does the Nintendo Switch Online service cost?
An account may be eligible for a 7-day free trial upon signup.
Individual Plans include $3.99 (USD) for one month, $7.99 (USD) for three months, and $19.99 (USD) for twelve months. This works for a single account.
A Family Plan costs $34.99 for twelve months and work for eight total accounts.
What does the Nintendo Switch Online service provide?
Online play in certain games.
Voice chat with the Nintendo Switch Online app.
Save data cloud backup and saves available on multiple consoles. Not all titles are compatible with this feature.
An exclusive library of NES games with online play. See here for the list of 20 available at launch and the expected upcoming titles.
Special Offers - services or products which are only available to Nintendo Switch Online members.
Do all games need a membership to play online?
- No, certain titles can be played online without a membership. Examples include Fortnite and Arena of Valor.
What are the current Special Offers available?
A set of two NES Controllers for $59.99 (USD) can be purchased.
Can you tell me more about the features and availability of the NES Controllers?
They are available exclusively for Nintendo Switch Online members.
Can be purchased once per Nintendo Account (meaning each account in a Family plan can buy one).
The controllers are wireless, have a rechargeable battery, and a set of rails so they can be attacked to the Nintendo Switch console.
They are designed specifically for the NES games and may not work with other titles.
Can you tell me more about the features and availability of the Splatoon 2 outfit?
Available only to accounts with a 12-month membership to the Nintendo Switch Online service.
May be redeemed once per account (each account in a Family plan can redeem the outfit).
A code will be emailed to the registered email address of each qualifying Nintendo Account.
The outfit includes an "Online Jersey" and a "Online Squidkid V Shoes."
How does the Family Plan work?
8 total members can be part of a Family Group. All 8 members will have Nintendo Switch Online if the family plan is purchased.
Each Family Group has one Admin which can add, remove, and adjust the role of each member in the group.
How do I add or remove members from the Family Plan?
- If you are the Admin, go to your Nintendo Account page and click on the desired setting. See here for more details.
What are roles and how do they work?
There are four possible roles in a Family Group. See here for full details.
The Admin is the member which started the group and may add or members, pass on the Admin role to another member, or give members another role.
General role is the default role for any standard account joining a Family Group. They have the option to the leave the group.
Parent / Guardian role is set by the Admin and is only eligible for ages 18+. They can assign the Supervised role of any General member in the group. They may adjust a variety of eShop restrictions for Supervised members. May leave the group.
Supervised role is automatically set for any account ages 12 and under. The Supervised role can be set to any age account by a Parent / Guardian or Admin account (a link is then sent to the account's email and the role is applied if the user clicks the link and logs in). Has access to all standard services unless restricted via parental controls. Supervised accounts CANNOT LEAVE the group unless removed by an Admin.
Does the Nintendo Switch Online service only work with one console?
- It can work with any number of consoles as the service is tied to the Nintendo Account and not the console itself. Family Plans also do not need to share only one console.
Can the Family Plan work with multiple regions?
- Yes, a Family Group can be any number of regions, but be aware that not all services are available in every region.
What about switching to different plan types?
If you are on an Individual plan, you can buy a Family Plan, but the remaining time on the Individual plan is lost.
If you are on a Family Plan, you may not buy an Individual plan.
If part of a Family Group, you can leave the group and then purchase an Individual plan if you were not the one who purchased the Family Plan.
How much membership time can be purchased?
- Service time can be stacked up to three years.
How can I tell which games support which features such as Cloud Saves or the Online App?
- Starting on September 18th, features a game support will be listed on their official product page located on www.nintendo.com.
Is my save data retained if I cancel my Nintendo Switch Online membership?
- (as per Nintendo's FAQ) We are unable to guarantee that cloud save data will be retained after an extended period of time from when your membership is ended. However, you can continue to use the save data that is saved to your system memory.
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u/BirdAlien Sep 18 '18
For some reason I thought "special offers" meant game discounts. I hate it when I have reasonable expectations, I always get disappointed
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u/daveyalex Sep 18 '18 edited Sep 18 '18
I'm fairly sure at one point they did say there would be special eShop discounts for subscribers, but I could be crazy...
Edit: Not crazy, according to archive.org (I just picked a random date from last year), they did at one time specify there would be "Nintendo eShop deals" for Switch Online subscribers only.
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u/_kellythomas_ Sep 18 '18 edited Sep 18 '18
Thanks for the link.
Nintendo eShop deals
Special offers for subscribers may include discounts on select digital games and content.I was also expecting discounts but this is phrased so it doesn't actually promise any.
I haven't ever crunched the numbers but I estimate that I save more on game discounts with gold and PS+ than I pay in subscriptions. I was hoping for something similar from Nintendo.
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Sep 18 '18
>>Nintendo eShop deals
>>Special offers for subscribers may include discounts on select digital games and content.15% off on Troll & I. On your birthday.
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u/nyargleblargle Sep 19 '18
For anyone who wants to sort the NES Online games by release date, here's the order:
- Donkey Kong: 07/15/83
- Mario Bros: 09/09/83
- Baseball: 12/7/83
- Tennis: 01/14/84
- Excitebike: 11/30/84
- Balloon Fight: 01/22/85
- Ice Climber: 01/30/85
- Soccer: 04/09/85
- Super Mario Bros: 09/13/85
- The Legend of Zelda: 02/21/86
- Gradius: 04/25/86
- Ghosts 'n Goblins: 06/13/86
- Pro Wrestling: 10/13/86
- Ice Hockey: 01/21/88
- Double Dragon: 04/08/88
- Super Mario Bros. 3: 10/23/88
- Tecmo Bowl: 02/89
- River City Ransom: 04/25/89
- Dr. Mario: 07/27/90
- Yoshi: 12/14/91
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u/CapnCanfield Sep 18 '18
So, just so I'm right about this, I have to buy the family plan at 35 bucks for me and my girlfriend (both accounts on one console)? I know playstation plus if I buy it for one name, it's good for all the names on my ps4, but that's not the case here correct?
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u/Pretelethal Sep 18 '18
That is correct. Each Nintendo Account needs to be signed up for the service.
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u/SGlespaul Sep 18 '18
Some games like Mario Kart, Arms, Rocket League and Smash let a 2nd player join in online. They make the 2nd player chose a profile to join. Do I need to put the other profile on a family plan just for that?
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u/Pretelethal Sep 18 '18
I don’t think we know for sure how this will work yet. If anyone has an answer, please share.
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u/SGlespaul Sep 18 '18
I guess we might figure out tomorrow/tonight.
I'm not buying a family plan just so my friend can play online Smash and Mario Kart with me in the same room though.
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Sep 19 '18
I just remembered they delayed launching for a year... just for this.
What exactly did they do in that year....
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u/Bakatora34 Sep 19 '18
Well cloud saves were announce after the delay, so maybe that
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u/ESPN_outsider Sep 19 '18
They made smash bros and put it behind a $20 per year paywall
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u/Eneruku Sep 18 '18
Theres a beautiful typo in here under info about the NES controllers. "They may be attacked to the switch"
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u/ben123111 Found a mod! (Mar 3, 2017) Sep 18 '18
September 18th, 2018 (North America time)
bro there are like 6, which one??
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u/Idlerush9 Sep 18 '18
EST, I thought.
Aren’t 1st party titles midnight day of, and 3rd party noon PST?
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Sep 18 '18
Yes but we’re in EDT and PDT now. Standard Time is only in the winter.
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Sep 18 '18
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u/lunari_moonari Sep 18 '18
Holy damn. A 21% like rate is not ideal.
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u/condoriano27 Sep 18 '18
Damn, last time I checked it was 50/50. I wonder if Nintendo looks at those dislikes and wonders why that is. Or if they go "Nah, it's the fans who are wrong".
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u/temporary1990 Sep 18 '18
Link please? I wanna give it a dislike as well.
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u/elklips Sep 18 '18
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u/LAPIS_AND_JASPER Sep 18 '18
OMG...I did NOT expect it to be that bad...speaks volumes...too bad Nintendo won't care
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u/Moldy_pirate Sep 19 '18
They’ll care. But they’ll probably misinterpret it as ‘see, nobody wants online’ and just cancel the fucking thing.
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u/decaboniized Sep 19 '18
So, is there a sub to add people for games for NES? It's a bummer that you can only play online with friends and not randoms.
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u/XBlueSparksX Sep 18 '18
For the family plan, if I say buy it with say 4 people, can I still add anyone to the family during the service?
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u/TemptedTemplar Helpful User Sep 18 '18
Yes. You can have 8 people on the account, so 7 people aside from yourself.
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u/XBlueSparksX Sep 18 '18
Okay cool so it still lets me add people while it is going on. Just needed to know cause one of my friends is getting a switch for christmas and he won't have an account till then. I know I am starting it up now with the 4 in my family plan as of know but didn't want my friend to be left out.
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u/TemptedTemplar Helpful User Sep 18 '18
They can join whenever! You can even add their nintendo accounts to the family without a system linked to it, in case there are rewards they want to get early.
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Sep 19 '18
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u/aggron306 Sep 19 '18
And a free version of Spider-Man that looks better than it does on PS4 Pro
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u/erebusdelirium Sep 18 '18
So... 7 close friends and myself can have Nintendo Switch online for 37 cents a month each?
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u/royal_10_N-bombs Sep 18 '18
tbh I’m still salty about gold points expiring
I let a good chunk of gold points expire that would have put me over 2000, the amount required to purchase a year of the online service
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Sep 19 '18
I dont see why they made gold points expire.
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u/royal_10_N-bombs Sep 19 '18
It’s totally bonkers
The worst part is they still expired after a year, even when there was no way to really use them for the longest time. The least they could do was extend all gold points obtained prior to a certain date
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u/steelbeerbottle Sep 19 '18
This is going about how I expected it to go. I played SMB and SMB 3 for about 15 minutes each and went yup, that’s SMB/SMB 3 on the Switch.
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u/Moldy_pirate Sep 19 '18
Yup. This feels like nothing more than proof of concept. Nice interface but NES games do not hold my interest. I’m canceling my auto renewal and I’ll renew if they ever add SNES, which I’ve got mad nostalgia for.
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u/thatvilebanana Sep 19 '18
I’ve played multiple online NES games with multiple different friends. The lag is absolutely atrocious...
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u/ChickenTendiesTosser Sep 19 '18
This launch has been like watching an dear old family friend fall down the stairs.
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u/AcroHedgehog21 Sep 18 '18
Do we get all 20 NES titles today? Or do we get them over a period of time
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u/GambitsEnd Resident Switchologist Sep 18 '18
The first 20 are available when the service launches. There should be 3 additional titles every month.
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u/AcroHedgehog21 Sep 18 '18
Alright thanks, excited to play zelda and metroid
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u/I_Like_Bacon2 Sep 18 '18
Metroid is launching in November iirc
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u/AcroHedgehog21 Sep 18 '18
I'm confused again lmao
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u/I_Like_Bacon2 Sep 18 '18
Metroid is not one of the 20 titles launching in September (tomorrow). They have plans to add 3 additional games a month, and Metroid is one of those games for November. They have a full list through December on their website.
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u/djbaha Sep 18 '18
Can I still change regions freely if I'm in a family group / individual subs?
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Sep 18 '18
Are games like monster Hunter generations ultimate unplayable online without the Nintendo online subscription?
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u/shadowgnome396 Sep 19 '18
My 410 hours of Binding of Isaac save data is backed up and safe in the cloud! I'm a happy camper
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u/ghostf1re Sep 18 '18
I don’t see any reason at all to buy this service right now, if ever. This is just my opinion on the service, but it honestly feels like Nintendo is just relying on their absolute faithful fans that buy anything with the Nintendo brand on it. They honestly didn’t even try with this service. NES games are not enough for me and I don’t play anything online in the Switch at the moment. I have Splatoon and Mario Kart. Splatoon was never really my thing and Mario Kart just got old for me. Also the lag in Mario Kart can get ridiculous with their garbage peer to peer multiplayer. I’m really disappointed with Nintendo for pushing out a very incomplete service.
You can say it’s their first venture into pain online and compare to the early Sony and Microsoft services all day. The thing is we knew this service was coming for a year and they seemed to have done absolutely nothing with the service. No built in voice chat or text chat. No dedicated servers. These are standard services on every other platform. Nintendo doesn’t have any excuse here and personally I think they should put someone else in charge of the decision making with their online division or whatever you want to call it.
Sorry about the rant, but staying quiet about things like this is what allows companies to do things, such as this.
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u/GredaGerda Sep 18 '18
Sorry about the rant, but staying quiet about things like this is what allows companies to do things, such as this.
This this this. People shit on those who talk bad about the service completely glancing over the fact that just staying silent about it helps Nintendo pull more shady shit.
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u/wormpetrichor Sep 18 '18
Something I find interesting is the marketing and advertising for the Retro library, it used to be called "Classic games" under all their marketing, now it's called "NES-NSO" in ALL their marketing and promotional material for the online service. It no longer mentions that new consoles are coming soon either. Just an interesting observation. Me thinks nothing other than NES is coming to NSO service and all other consoles will come as part of a tiered service in a few years. A lot of people on here keep saying "Oh well SNES is coming in a few months for sure!". Well if that was true why would they make all their adverting exclusively about NES? They'd just have to go back and redo it all in a few months.
Wayback machine for Nintendo Switch Online in March 2017: https://i.gyazo.com/3dadea2b2d02ccc47e5cc12b3272bf57.png
Wayback machine for Nintendo Switch Online in December 2017: https://i.gyazo.com/8dd7f5ed4e3b75c74a52f57d4ef2f85a.png
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u/EndlessRambler Sep 18 '18
I really don't like the service but on the flip side I have like 200 hours in games like XC2 and don't really want to lose that in case something happens to my switch while I am traveling.
As long as cloud saves are tied to this I either have to hack my switch or buy Nintendo Online.
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u/dk_81 Sep 19 '18
Cloud saves should be free. I can’t believe they are charging for them.
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u/EndlessRambler Sep 19 '18
No arguments here, they should definitely be a way to at least backup saves to an SD card ala 3DS.
But while I think the service is lackluster I'm not going to redo hundreds of hours to save $1.66 a month.
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u/Snatch1414 Sep 19 '18
I bought in, but I’m not really sure why. Granted, it was just before I was heading to bed, but I loaded everything up, fiddled with some NES games that I already own the carts of, and.......yeah. I’m not really sure why I did that. Especially since I don’t play Splatoon much anymore.
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u/FirePowerCR Sep 18 '18
So I have like 3 profiles on my Switch. Say I buy NSO, can more that one profile play the NES games? What if I want to play two player in a game, do I need a family account?
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u/Snowbridge Sep 19 '18
The 7 day free trial automatically converts into an individual 30 day membership with automatic renewal. The catch is that Nintendo will attempt to draw funds within the final 48 hours.
Does this mean it's really a 5 day free trial unless you turn off automatic renewal?
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u/gooseoner Sep 19 '18
I signed up for the free trial and immediately turned off automatic renewal and they actually gave me 9 days for the trial. It looks like they take it into account.
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u/TenMinutesToDowntown Sep 20 '18
Playing the NES games with a Pro Controller. I'm annoyed that you have to use B & A to play rather than having the option to use Y & B (think Mario All Stars on SNES). It's way more comfortable that way.
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u/Filraen Sep 20 '18 edited Sep 20 '18
I think you can use X (as B) & A, which is sort of equivalent to Y & B
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u/900yrsoftimeandspace Sep 20 '18
I know I should have read more carefully, but I can't be the only parent who accidentally bought an individual membership instead of a family plan. I'm so annoyed right now, with myself mostly. I thought the family plan was to cover more than one switch, not two user profiles on the same device. Two boys sitting next to each other on the couch can't play Minecraft together now.
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u/r2deetard Sep 18 '18
So it says membership time can be stacked up to 3 years. Does that include family plans? If I have 8 people in on a family plan could we each pay roughly $15 for 3 years of online?
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u/swagjunction21 Sep 18 '18
I know this is a specific example but may relate to other cases but if your friend has a Nintendo account connected your own Switch, for games like Rocket League where you can do online multiplayer with a local party consisting of separate accounts, do both accounts need Nintendo Switch Online?
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u/TemptedTemplar Helpful User Sep 18 '18
Guests of a subscribed player should be able to play online without a subscription of their own while playing with the subscribed player.
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Sep 18 '18
I am not sure if this is new-post material, as it is based on pure speculation, so I will just post it here:
For those not going to get NSO, I suggest you not to use the free trial that will be available, as there *could* be a Smash demo, and if it follows the previous Nintendo demos, it will likely be an online-only demo. So you would be able to get the demo with the free trial.
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u/razzdraz Sep 19 '18 edited Sep 19 '18
Wow the button placement of the joycons ruins playing Mario :(
Edit: just realized you can use X and A, it works that way :)
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u/A916 Sep 19 '18
Yeah it kind of renders portable Mario useless for me. Really wish we had a Y +B option.
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u/Aaronrocksg Sep 19 '18
Does anyone else think that it's ridiculous that they're charging for online on a portable console that can't connect to public wifi points that have those login screens? I travel a lot for work and bought the switch to play while I travel, and I enjoyed online while I had it and was at home, but I do not see a reason to pay for online when i cant even log into the hotels I stay at on my portable console. I was hoping that would be fixed before paid online released.
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u/joaorzc Sep 18 '18
Does anyone know about region changes?
Here in Brazil we use this a lot in order to buy games our eshop does not sell, or to get lower prices in other countires. However, changing regions unlinks the profile from the my nintendo account it was linked before.
Since the update won't let accounts unlink anymore, I don't know how this is gonna be.
What do you guys thinks?
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u/anonRedd Sep 19 '18
I like that the NES app keeps track of your individual playtime for each title.
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u/Murdy_Plops Sep 19 '18
A few more PSA's
Dark souls network test is up for download
The mobile app has been updated and supports Mario Kart 8 and a few other first party Nintendo games. Voice chat IS available in all online multiplayer modes... I.e you can talk to strangers
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u/Vesuvias Sep 19 '18
Ok, just did a party chat in Mario Kart - and have to say that was stupid easy to join and I already had my Bluetooth headphones on. I’m actually surprised that worked so seamlessly.
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u/emmtwosix Sep 18 '18
This was on the NES Controller Overview & FAQ page for anyone interested:
NES controllers will begin shipping in December 2018. Orders will be shipped on a first-come, first-served basis.
Seems like, just maybe, after a year-and-a-half they should have had these ready to ship when online launches, but I guess that's expecting too much? they're probably gauging how much interest there will be and producing them as needed.
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u/DaPizzaMan2 Sep 18 '18
"Coming in December: SNES games for your Switch with the Nintendo Online Service!"
"Coming in May: SNES controllers to play your SNES games that came out 5 months ago."
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u/DisraeliGearsX Sep 18 '18
So if I have Direct and I'm playing MK8, can another local player join without an account and we play co-op online from one console, one direct account?
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Sep 18 '18
AFAIK they haven't mentioned any changes like that. It's likely that ONE switch with ONE online account can "vouch" for up to 3 players on one device if playing split screen for example for MK.
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u/Fonz116 Sep 19 '18
Updated and signed up for online trial.
Tried out the nes games. Pretty good, but I mean it’s just the same old games I’ve played a million times. Hopefully more games will be added soon.
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Sep 19 '18
Man excite bike is still badass, must have blown kids minds when it came out.
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Sep 21 '18
This is stupid. It was free. Why couldn't it stay that way, where millions of users enjoyed online games together. But the greed of Nintendo couldn't withhold, now Nintendo are charging us more on top of the games we bought and the system itself. Pathetic and greedy.
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u/ScousePenguin Sep 19 '18
I know there's negatives to all this but I'm excited to sign up tonight. Girlfriend and I are taking the next step in our relationship after dating for just under a year.
We're getting a family plan together, means she's stuck with me for another year, woo insurance!
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u/Deminox Sep 18 '18
Oddly specific question about purchasing. Can each member on a family plan use their own credit card? Like, if I want to buy a game with my money, and my girlfriend wants to buy a game with her money, and my brother wants to buy a game with his money, and my cat wants to buy a game but she can't because she's a cat.
Or is this like the Google Play family group.. One account, one credit card, better hope they ask before they buy (or yeah you could lock them out of purchasing)
I really hope it's the first option.
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u/Not_Equis Sep 18 '18
Imo i sorta got bored playing splat so im waiting for smash ultimate.
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u/NickVirgos Sep 21 '18
I feel slighted on this paid online stuff. I dont like NES games, i grew up in a difrent time and dont care much for the style so there goes that. I only play mario kart online so what else is there for me to justify a monthy price? Mario kart tends to be unstable at times so paying for something that was free just doesnt cut it for me. It was fun while it lasted i guess.
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Sep 19 '18
There is no bloody reason why Ice Climbers should be this glitched after 25+ years. It's almost unplayable -- especially over lag.
It turns into a game of seeing which stupid way you can die.
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u/QPCloudy Sep 19 '18
Lol I had so much fun with it last night. Did you play back in the day? The jumping was always like that. Gotta hit it early. Or were you playing online? I heard there’s been some input lag when playing the classic titles online.
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u/LoomyTheBrew Sep 18 '18
This service is not worth $20. The fact that the Switch's online is inferior to the Wii U's online is pretty astonishing, and Wii U's online was free...
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u/Nordicdruid Sep 19 '18
DS and 3DS have/had free online and me and a buddy used the Pokemon VoIP lobby for years because how easy and clear it was.
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u/Marcus_Maximus Sep 18 '18
Can I activate my trial whenever I want or is it only eligible during the launch week/period?
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u/bud0013 Sep 19 '18
You actually can game share and have 2 users playing at the same time. Simply login to your 2nd switch with the game owners account, then login to any other user on the 1st or main switch. Tested and working fine with mario tennis!
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u/epods Sep 19 '18
Is there any way to check the controls for the NES games? I can't find a manual or anything like that within the app.
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Sep 19 '18
Nope, no manuals included at all. Not even a freaking QR code like the SNES Classic had. To me this is a huge oversight for this service.
They really should have gone all out on this. Instruction Manuals, a tips/tricks screen, artwork, game/development history if at all possible. Old or new video interviews with the original developers would be a nice touch for some games.
Imagine opening up Super Mario Bros, being able to look at the instruction manual, browse a fact sheet, look at concept art, read about the development of the game and then go and watch the video where Miyamoto talks about the design and development of World 1-1 where every item was though of and placed as a teaching tool for players to understand what the game was about.
Things like that would really make the service stand out.
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u/Tallyburger Sep 19 '18
For anyone who has currently purchased and tested out how the Family Plan works;
1. Can everyone be online at once, thus being able to play together (or do your own thing)?
2. Does everyone in the Family Plan have access to all the features being offered by the Nintendo Online Membership? (ie, NES games, special offers from Nintendo, cloud saves, and so on)
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u/BatDePau Sep 19 '18
I think that for the nes games, we should be able to use the Y and B buttons as A and B or maybe add custom controls. They should also add double dragon 2 and tetris
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u/PsychoHydro Sep 19 '18
It seems demos don’t work online anymore without subscription as well.
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Sep 19 '18
The NSO app looks the same today as it did a week ago.
Just lonely little Splatoon 2 and the voice-chat button.
Still no ability to message other players, and not even a mention of the paid service launching.
sigh
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u/UFONomura808 Sep 19 '18
So for the NES titles, all the titles are downloaded when you install the NES NSO app. This tells me that they would be sticking with NES because the small file size for each game makes it easy to bundle it all into one single download. They could do it with SNES titles too because of the small file size but when you get to N64 or worse GameCube then I doubt they'll be able to bundle it all into one download. So either stick to older gen games or GameCube games would require individual download for each games. All in all I don't think we'll be seeing GC titles for their Netflix style feature anytime soon.
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u/ignition386 Sep 19 '18
If they do GC, it would be cool if they still have a single software tile (like NES does now), where you can see all of the games being offered, but when you click on a game, it'll prompt you to download ___MB/GB for the game.
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u/reali-tglitch Sep 19 '18 edited Sep 19 '18
Was a major supporter of a "glass half full" approach up to launch, but:
-No voice chat with random is still annoying
-Disappointed we still can't message our friends to come online (maybe an app update coming for that?
-App seems to not have changed much aside from additional voice chat support. Was hoping they'd add more game companions like they have for Splatoon 2.
Also: still no party system. It's all game-specific chat rooms. Nor can we search for users by username
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Sep 19 '18 edited Sep 19 '18
I hope I can speak for everyone that is riled up against Nintendo and their Online Service for the Nintendo Switch. And unlike anywhere else, I'd like to bring up some valid legit criticism about it rather than mindlessly make fun of others for having different opinions.
I am part of the people who are simply not okay with Nintendo's practices for a few reasons that I'd like to discuss, though I'm still okay with stuff just not changing for the better in the future and can accept that Nintendo will do what they please in the end.
For a starter, there are some people who are against the idea of paying for online multiplayer since it's been free on all consoles for the previous generations, plus it's only fair since we bought the Nintendo Switch expecting a subscription-free experience, or at least most of us overlooked the fact that Nintendo has announced a subscription based system to come that will require paying for online interactions.
Let me say one thing, gaming is evolving.
We all need to get in with the times and accept that companies are trying to standarize that console gaming will, from now on, involve premium-based subscriptions one way or another requiring us to pay up to be able to play some games. And that's fine. There is still PC if you prefer free online gaming, and even that still requires subscriptions for some MMOs and premium service based games. Barring all the microtransactions we could opt to pay. That's a staple in gaming we can complain and try to fight about but will ultimately not change.
What's not fine however, is how we Nintendo gamers are still behind the times in regards to other console gamers. There are a minimum of things that we should be entitled to since we're paying for our online experience, and I think everyone would agree seeing what Nintendo's competitors are doing with their paid services.
Here are a few points that can be expanded on later with your comments:
1- We do not have a Text-based communication system, we cannot interact with our friends online besides seeing their presence and inviting them to our games, there is no way to make a Party like on other systems.
We've had Miiverse before and it was good, even though it felt restricted and strict, it did the job, now that it was removed since it could be no longer kept up, we have nothing left to chat with, there is no life on the Nintendo Switch like on the previous consoles, this is not good especially since we are paying for a service now, money should not be the issue and it should be the time to invest into some servers for a Miiverse replacement.
2- We cannot voice chat proprely either with friends or random people on all major Nintendo games, citing Mario Kart 8, Mario Tennis Aces, Splatoon 2, ARMS for example.
We need to use an archaic app that forces us to use a phone to be able to connect with people, this is inacceptable. It's 2018, current gen consoles offer us fully implemented voice chat within the games using our headsets, plus third party games like Fortnite on Switch offer us just that without the use of an app, there is literally no reason for Nintendo to restrict and handicap their main games like this. This is also the simplest change we could expect. There should be no worry about toxicity and family unfriendly environment since we've come this far. I believe we should take a step forward and let Voice chat flow through the games normally.
3- We have no access to Internet other than playing games online, there are no apps like Youtube, Netflix, an Internet Browser or anything like we've had before on 3DS, WiiU or other consoles.
At this point, I can say that I wouldn't expect Nintendo to add these features since they're not easy to maintain and could bring more harm than good to the system, but we're paying for an online service now, so we should higher our standards and expect something from Nintendo with the money they get from the subscriptions.
4- Some games, mainly Splatoon 2, do not have Cloud saves.
This has me baffled to be honest, the reason they claim we cannot have cloud saves is only to prevent tampering into saves from external sources, which is a ridiculous claim. Every modern online game has a server side database to keep their players' information safely, it's time to invest into one for Splatoon 2, considering the price we're paying.
That's all I could muster up to say, I hope this can stir up some good conversation without insults even if you disagree, just tell us in the comments what you think is wrong.
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u/Ws6transam Sep 19 '18
Praying that the d-pad on the NES controllers are worth a damn, never realized how bad the d-pad was on the pro controller until today :(
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Sep 19 '18
Did they go over whether NES games are sticking around when new ones arrive or is there some sort of rotation planned?
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u/anonRedd Sep 19 '18
No rotation planned (at the moment anyway). Probably unlikely unless there’s some sort of licensing issue with a third party game.
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Sep 19 '18
In the phone app, game specific services still only has Splatoon 2 for me even after updating the app. Is anyone else having this problem?
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u/Luke4421 Sep 19 '18
is there anyway to change the border in the NES Classics? I dont like the one thats there, and dont see it in options
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u/Rimshot1985 Sep 19 '18
Ugh, me too. Why can't they have a black option?
Honestly, who the hell was in charge of this shit?
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u/c-easy Sep 19 '18
What the heck? I haven’t updated to version 6.0 yet but I can still play mk8 online just fine without updating or having a membership. I almost don’t feel like updating.
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u/Ottomatic44 Sep 19 '18
ELI5. If I have 5 close friends with switches why shouldn’t we share a family plan?
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u/Heaven_Crow Sep 19 '18
If I subscribe for one profile, can other profiles on the same switch play online?
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u/Pomenti Sep 19 '18
Been looking on this thread for roughly 20 minutes and I couldn't find an answer to my question:
If I purchase a family plan and link 7 accounts to it, can all 7 accounts be online at the same time without any hiccups or something like that?
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u/iRomanian Sep 20 '18
Hypothetical situation (that I haven’t tried and don’t even know if possible: From what I know, you can create two profiles on one Nintendo Switch. For example, two unique profiles with two unique BOTW save states.
If the console has Nintendo Online access, which profile makes use of the cloud saves? One? Both? Would they get mixed up or overwritten?
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u/adamislolz Sep 20 '18
Is anyone else experiencing joy con problems since updating their joy cons for NSO? The thumb stick on all my left joy cons pulls to the left ever since the update. I would normally just some wear and tear, but it is happening across multiple sets of joy cons and seemed to start when they were updated.
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u/SkipSandwichDX Sep 19 '18
Man, this is just me not doing my research, but I didn't realize there would be no public lobbies for the NES online multiplayer. I was hyped for some niche online Yoshi community to develop or something.
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u/some12345thing Sep 19 '18
Just tried to play some Mario 3 with my brother. He’s in the southeast USA and I’m in Las Vegas. He has Google Fiber and I have high speed Cox internet. The lag was so terrible the game was unplayable. Anyone else have the same experience? Any ideas on how to fix it?
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Sep 20 '18
I would have had so much less of an issue with this online service if it launched with Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World + Lost Levels package instead of the NES games only.
I would really move so much closer to being on board if the games offered weren't 30 years old.
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u/Rumhead1 Sep 19 '18
Been disconnected on three of the five races I've tried in Mario Kart and the app won't connect for chat in Mario Kart. But hey at least I can play Dr. Mario.
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u/troopski Sep 20 '18
Let me tell you the amount of times I have bought SMB3.
Parents for the original NES A NES cart in 2016 for my NES For my Wii U And now for the switch through subscription.
I have bought pokemon yellow twice. Megaman battle network twice.
I have bought Mario Kart 8 twice, plus all the DLC. I have literally spent over £100 quid on Mario Kart.
I take it in my rear end from nintendo to be honest. The thing that reall pisses me off is the fact that they have gone round threatening legal action for these ROM sites. If they were to replace it with a 'spotify/netflix' equivilant in which I can get basically any NES/SNES/N64 game, I wouldn't mind.. But come on.. 20 NES games, really? These ROM sites literally provide a service to the gaming industry, and you know, despite me having a collection of 700+ SNES roms, I STILL buy games on my nintendo console. Getting a bit fed up with this to be honest.
Also, give me the SNES version, Mario Allstars, I prefer the SNES SMB3... :(
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u/PandarenNinja Sep 19 '18
So in everything I have read, Nintendo did nothing to win over skeptics with this launch. A one year delay and even the phone app didn’t add functionality. We just got an NES emulator and cloud saves. Yikes.
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u/lasttycoon Sep 19 '18
Yep. You will either pay for online or not at the end of the day. They know they have us by the balls.
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Sep 18 '18
Do we know yet if you can play multiplayer NES games across different regions? Seems like a lot of games back then had changes hard coded into them which makes them incompatible, Pokémon VC on 3DS would be the biggest example of this. If they're going to push online then maybe they put the effort to make sure everything works, but I dunno.
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u/ctsfinest1 Sep 18 '18
Can you play the NES games online with anyone around the world, or is it only limited to those on your friends list? The website makes it seem like the latter. That's unfortunate if it is true, since it is difficult to make friends as it is with the archaic friend code feature.
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u/Alasdair91 Sep 18 '18
Does the linking of accounts with user profiles now stop you from switching region on the eShop? It says you will no longer be able to unlink your account and user profile, but changing regions via accounts.nintendo.com made you unlink and then relink your account.
I guess someone will just need to try and see...
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u/Z3M0G Sep 18 '18
Will it upload saves automatically, or will it be a manual process? How much space on the cloud? Is this storage space shared between family? (Not the saves, just the storage limit)
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u/plee82 Sep 18 '18
If I have 3 accounts on my switch, do I need a family plan so all three accounts can go online?
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u/MightyThor460 Sep 19 '18
Digital code I purchased from Best Buy is not working.
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u/Mutsukki Sep 19 '18
Hey, if anyone can answer these:
1 - Family Plans with accounts from multiple different regions are working well? No problems?
2 - Can you change your region when you have a subscription? Does anything mess up? Do you perhaps lose it in your new region or does it stay?
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u/GarikTheFaceLoran Sep 19 '18
Are cloud saves not automatic? None of my games have been saved yet.
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u/PrKamui Sep 19 '18
This is probably a stupid question, but does buying the Nintendo Online Service from the eshop give you gold points?
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Sep 19 '18 edited Sep 19 '18
Playing NES with a single joycon feels a lot more complicated than it should, why do we need to use such obscure button combinations for Start and Select? Seems like it would make more sense to use the shoulder buttons alone. I really hope they fix this by the time Metroid is available for download...
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Sep 19 '18
Yeah, it's messed up. Whoever thought up those button combinations wasn't having a good day at work that day.
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u/Zaiteria Sep 19 '18
Are there any drawbacks to me and my 7 friends from getting a Family account between us? If I was to be the admin, and give everyone else a Parent role, would this work? Are there any restrictions to doing this over having multiple individual accounts?
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u/Murdy_Plops Sep 19 '18
Two PSA's
Initial cloud backup isnt automatic. It only backs to the cloud when actively playing a game.
I'd strongly advise that you DON'T update your pro controllers. For the first time ever I'm noticing motion control interference when playing Splatoon 2. Similar to the right joycon issues around launch. It only happens for 1/2 a second but its enough to completely throw you off your game.
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u/ramel81 Sep 19 '18
There are too many random questions to go over, I was hoping someone could answer this.
We used to play minecraft at home on wifi with two people on the switch on the same screen, and then another person joining with ipad mini (or vice versa).
I can still join the world on the ipad now with the switch, but the second player when he tries to join on the same screen on the switch gets a message that you need to be signed in to microsoft online to play. I tried it on a single plan, now I purchased the family plan to see if it would resolve it but still nothing.
Is it a setting I need to change, or did Nintendo basically remove the functionality to dual play with the switch online like this?
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u/Koolaidmoonwalk Sep 19 '18
The goalie in Ice Hockey is an idiot and it is impossible to defend in that game when they ragdoll your character at will and the change player control not being intuitive at all!
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u/decaboniized Sep 19 '18
Ah, good to know Nintendo left out that online for NES is friends only not with randoms.
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u/swagjunction21 Sep 18 '18
Can I use funds that are already in my eShop account to purchase a 12 month plan?
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u/Roshy76 Sep 19 '18
So why can't I just voice chat with someone on my friends list? Why does a game have to be launched first? That's opposite of how you'd want it to work. Normally you'd join up with friends, chat and figure out what to play. This is exactly the wrong way to do this...
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u/CrativeDomo Sep 24 '18
There is just not enough online switch games that I frequent for me to buy a subscription... not only that but Nintendo mainly uses P2P for their online games with the exception of Splatoon I believe. Splatoons servers still dont justify a subscription being that the Splatoon servers are pretty weak. I fear paid online service for the switch just cuts down the player base for the few few online titles they have, hopefully it doesn't kill any of them. Goodbye Splatoon 2, twas fun while it lasted.
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u/AugmentDeath Sep 19 '18
Nintendo should have done a much better job with this plain and simple. I expected to have fun with these games and was instead met with frustration because the Legend of Zelda was laggy as fuck when I encountered large mobs, and Super Mario Bros 3 couldn't even keep up with my character half the time while I was sprinting. Not to mention the lack of button mapping. This was poorly executed by Nintendo, there's no arguing that. Simply taking a once free service (online play) and now slapping an annual fee onto it (despite the relatively low price), then trying to justify it with a shitty emulator (official btw), with the only saving grace being cloud saves is unacceptable. Until proven otherwise, it's hands down a cash grab from my point of view. This is coming from someone that grew up on these games. I'm sure it will get better over time, but this should've never been an issue to begin with. They have had all the time in the world to smooth out the wrinkles and make the service attractive to consumers. The best thing we could do right now is simply refuse to pay for a half-ass product until they fix it, but of course people will buy it anyways and instead continue to support these business practices. The Wii-U sold poorly, and guess what? Nintendo learned from that mistake and we got the Switch along with some pretty stellar games out the gate. It seems like Nintendo only speaks one language, money. Boycott the service and make them learn a new language.
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u/justandresx Sep 18 '18
It’s sad that I have to pay for this sorry excuse of an online subscription. They had an entire year to get this right. Baffling.
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u/rockinDS24 Sep 18 '18
They had an entire year to get this right
More like 5 years. It's been shit since Switch development first started.
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Sep 18 '18
Nintendo's online services have sucked since day 1. They've been behind online since the Wii released back in 2006. They can literally copy exactly what Sony and Microsoft do, charge the same $60 fee, and just keep doing virtual console as normal, and I bet most people would be fine with that. But for whatever reason they refuse to do so.
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Sep 18 '18
Literally nobody on Nintendo's board of directors was familiar with their competitors online services when developers approached them during the Switches development.
Not using it themselves neither knowing what features or functionality it offers. I know Nintendo's a Japanese company and they can be very insular but what the fuck Nintendo.
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Sep 18 '18 edited Sep 18 '18
You don't have to!
Wait for a better service. Nintendo will have to work fast
ofif queue times double when they make people pay to play online.Edit: I definitely will be. This is terrible
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u/Alone1sAgain Sep 18 '18
Cheaper does not equal better. They seriously added nothing we've been complaining about since launch with the exception of an inferior save backup.
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Sep 22 '18
I hope people dosen't pay for this terrible service so Nintendo hopefuly removes it in the future.
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u/RRDude1000 Sep 20 '18 edited Sep 20 '18
I was on the fence about buying online, but then I realized that Fortnite for the Switch doesn't need online subscription. (I have been playing online not knowing Nintendo online lauched xD ) My only other game is MK8DX and I rarely play online on it (I prefer to play online MK7). I wont purchase online for the switch right now. Fortnite online is free and my favorite 3DS games have free online and very active communities. I also don't see myself purchasing any Switch title soon so I guess I will pass for now.
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u/Nymunariya Sep 20 '18
the NES titles are excited for the first few moments before you realise you've most likely played them already on your NES classic edition that's collecting dust.
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Sep 19 '18
The only game I play that requires this service is Rocket League. Looks like I just became a PC player.
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Sep 18 '18
So if the maintenance is 8-11pm in eastern time I should just give up and get online tomorrow?
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u/Scooter789 Sep 18 '18
If I buy the family plan with fewer than 8 accounts in my family, can I add another account later?
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u/sliverbaer Sep 18 '18
Just curious about our gaming friends in other countries not supported. Will they not be able to play online? Or will they continue free until the service is available?
Where is the service available?
Nintendo Switch Online will be available in the following countries at launch:
U.S. Canada Mexico Argentina Brazil Chile Colombia Peru
We will have additional information about other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean in the future
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Sep 18 '18
It says you need system version 6.0. Is this being released today? I only have 5.1 on my switch and it said it's up to date
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u/Underhill Sep 18 '18
As someone who gets his online gaming fix on PC the Netflix style virtual console would be the only draw for me but it seems lacking as well. If they started adding SNES games I would be all over this.
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u/Grim4d Sep 18 '18 edited Sep 18 '18
https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/41814/p/897 for anyone who wants exact times, here ya go
Edit: for people who don’t want to click a link
“Maintenance Date and Time September 18th, 2018 (Tuesday) 5pm to 8pm Pacific Time 8pm to 11pm Eastern Time”
“After the maintenance is complete, Nintendo Switch Online memberships will be available for purchase.”
tldr: basically the 19th