Fans have been craving any news on the future online infrastructure for the Nintendo Switch since the console was announced. Nintendo have kept their plans under wraps as they developed the system, no doubt not wanting to have any blemishes on the massive success they are currently experiencing and to make sure everything runs smoothly and doesn’t disappoint fans.
We knew Nintendo planned on making this infrastructure a key pillar of success on their new console because for the first time, they decided to depart from their free online model and adopted the practically standard of paying for a company’s online service. Since then rumors have circulated on what exactly would be included in this paid model and how it would affect console owners, yet nothing really concrete was ever truly revealed from the company. Instead, they relied on vague answers and the occasional reveal of some ideas they had, such as getting a free classic game or classic games having a new online element but nothing in stone.
After lots of silence and pushing the release of this infrastructure back, some information has now been released. There will be three pricing tiers for potential buyers and they go as followed: $3.99 for one month, $7.99 for three months, and $19.99 for twelve months. Compared to their competition, Microsoft and Sony, there is no comparison. Especially if what they offer is on par or greater than their rivals. It will launch in September of 2018!
Some of the features included are (given in an interview with website Kotaku):
For some time now the service has been called a Netflix like service, similar to Microsoft’s Game Pass. While this is nice, I hope players are given the option to purchase these games and that they are now locked to ID’s and not consoles.
