Topic: New Expansion Pack For Nintendo Switch Online Coming In Late October, Including Nintendo 64 And Sega Genesis

[Shaymin]

Well, that was certainly out of nowhere.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/58431/new-expansion-pack-for-nintendo-switch-online-coming-in-late-october-including-nintendo-64-and-sega-genesis

An expansion pass is coming to Nintendo Switch Online, with a couple of major new platforms.

The "Expansion Pass" will launch in October, with two new platforms: Nintendo 64 and Sega Genesis. There will be an increased cost, though members will be able to upgrade. More details will be available closer to the launch.

The full lineups for the service:

• N64 launch: Sin and Punishment, Winback, Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Mario Kart 64, Star Fox 64, Dr. Mario 64, Mario Tennis 64, Yoshi's Story
• N64 after launch: Banjo-Kazooie, Pokemon Snap, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, Mario Golf, Paper Mario, F-Zero X
• Genesis at launch: Phantasy Star IV, Strider, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Streets of Rage 2, Ecco the Dolphin, Castlevania Bloodlines, Contra: Hard Corps, Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, Golden Axe, Gunstar Heroes. M.U.S.H.A, Ristar, Shining Force, Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master

Rare issued a statement on the news: "“It’s a pleasure to be ushering the bear and bird onto Nintendo’s latest console, offering another modern way (alongside Xbox Game Pass and Rare Replay) to savour its many collectibles and googly eyes.�

Wireless N64 and Genesis controllers will be available for purchase from Nintendo's online store for US$49.99 or equivalent: presumably one of these is the controller whose FCC embargo ends on September 24.

[Adrock]

Fine. Sure. I’ll buy another controller for Switch.

I let my Nintendo Switch Online membership lapse in July so I guess this is as good a time as any to renew. Mission accomplished, Nintendo.

[NES_RPG_NERD]

Sure, let's spend more money on a service that's been neglected by Nintendo...

[Shecky]

F-Zero X will be a good test to how smoothly this will play especially online

I was really hoping for a way to play Metroid Fusion though, perhaps that will be the expansion, expansion pass in 2024

[Luigi Dude]

With Sega Genesis being added, it's probably a matter of time before TurboGrafix gets added as well since both the Wii and Wii U had that system.  The Genesis was on Wii but skipped Wii U, so it looks like Nintendo is getting the old Virtual Console band back together.

[broodwars]

Nintendo has not earned the right to charge more for their pitiful online service, let alone for games I already own on 2 different Virtual Console services (and Rare Replay). I'll be curious to see how much they think they can get away with charging for this new tier of "service". At the very least, we should be seeing GameCube stuff by now, especially since they're not porting the Wii U remasters of the GameCube Zelda games (yet).

[stevey]

So instead of paying once for a collection or individually, you'll get to pay indefinitely with just the promise of more in the future which we all know is going to be bugger all after the first few waves from past history.

But damn, I want that N64 controller

[broodwars]

So instead of paying once for a collection or individually, you'll get to pay indefinitely with just the promise of more in the future which we all know is going to be bugger all after the first few waves from past history.

But damn, I want that N64 controller

On the flipside, given Nintendo's trend in recent years of putting the most random **** possible on the NWO service instead of the games people actually want, we could see some VERY interesting stuff for the N64 over the Switch's remaining year or so of life before Nintendo launches a new console and arbitrarily starts everything over from zero once again.

[Shecky]

I wonder if Waverace 64 is possible or if Nintendo is secretly remaking that?

[Luigi Dude]

Nintendo has not earned the right to charge more for their pitiful online service, let alone for games I already own on 2 different Virtual Console services (and Rare Replay). I'll be curious to see how much they think they can get away with charging for this new tier of "service". At the very least, we should be seeing GameCube stuff by now, especially since they're not porting the Wii U remasters of the GameCube Zelda games (yet).

Right now the online service is dirt cheap, they were never going to add more systems outside of maybe the Gameboy at only $20, especially for larger 3D games that the N64 onward bring.  Notice how with the price increase we getting third parties like Sega on board as well.

Seriously, the price was always going to have to increase for the service to get better.  You think Microsoft and Sony would be offering the same features they do if their services were only $20 a year as well?

[Khushrenada]

So, the rumor that Nintendo was adding N64 games turned out to be true. There were definitely a lot of signs of this happening but I was kind of doubtful since it seemed like it would be leading to Nintendo "devaluing" their games by having all these NES, SNES and now N64 games for the single online fee. But when they started off by talking about an expansion fee to the online services then it was clear to me that they would be adding N64 games and that was how they would still try to keep their value up.

But not all that convinced about upgrading my online service for them. Sin and Punishment is enticing. I had that on my Wii U wishlist for awhile because I missed a time it was on sale and was hoping to get it the next time it was slightly discounted but it never happened. So, I've still yet to play it.

Dr. Mario 64 is another game I've been interested in acquiring and have had plenty of opportunities to do so but have yet to be that motivated to do so. Never heard of Winback before. It's the games I don't own and haven't played that are the most enticing to me. Yeah, I might play through some of the other titles again. I've kind of had an itch to revisit Paper Mario 64. However, most of the stuff they announced I already have and played plus my N64 is hooked up and ready to go anytime so it's not like it is hard for me to already access these games.

What could entice me more for this is what other games get added down the road. There's some stuff I've been interested in but never got around to acquiring. If some of those games start popping up on the N64 service then it may be enough to justify the value although we don't know what the price is going to be yet.

And I have no interest in the Genesis titles.

[Adrock]

Reactions seem pretty mixed from what I’ve seen. Nintendo Switch Online has, admittedly, been kind of ass. At the same time, it’s still only $20 a year with an option to get it cheaper on the family plan. Nintendo hasn’t done a ton to justify a price increase though tiered subscriptions with more perks on higher tiers isn’t a new concept.

For me, it depends on the price. If it’s $5 or even $10 extra a year, I probably won’t even notice. I waste that regularly on vegetables I buy then don’t eat because cookies taste better.

Relevant to my interests, the six-button Genesis controller is exclusive to Japan.


I was only interested in the N64 controller. I probably could have talked myself into getting the Genesis one if it was six-button model.

[Mop it up]

I wasn't sure if they'd do N64 Online for a number of reasons, including the difficulty of emulating N64 and having to set up 4-player online, so I s'pose it makes sense that it would carry an extra cost. We'll probably get it to start but won't keep it going if they stop adding good games to it as quickly as they did NES and SNES.

Sega Genesis feels like a bit of an odd choice, especially with so many games already available on Switch. I would have much rather seen the Game Boy line, hopefully that's still coming at some point.

I wonder if they're still going to be adding more NES and SNES games or if they're done with those now and moving on to other systems.

[Khushrenada]

I wonder if they're still going to be adding more NES and SNES games or if they're done with those now and moving on to other systems.

I think there will still be the odd SNES and NES game added. After all, they kept adding NES games after launching the SNES package. Plus, there's still a title or two like Earthbound that Nintendo could add to the SNES package. But I don't think we'll see too much more being added going forward.

[Luigi Dude]

I wonder if they're still going to be adding more NES and SNES games or if they're done with those now and moving on to other systems.

I think there will still be the odd SNES and NES game added. After all, they kept adding NES games after launching the SNES package. Plus, there's still a title or two like Earthbound that Nintendo could add to the SNES package. But I don't think we'll see too much more being added going forward.

With the Sega Genesis getting it's Contra and Castelvania, I wonder if subscribing to the higher tier will give the NES and SNES some exclusive games.  Konami is clearly willing to play ball when payed more, so I wonder if suddenly the NES and SNES Castlevania's and Contra games will show up on the NES and SNES page for those who upgrade.  Maybe the same could happen with Capcom and the Mega Man games as well.

Maybe that's why Super Mario RPG and Earthbound haven't shown up yet.  At the current price it's not worth paying Square Enix and Itoi what they want, but if they're part of a higher price range they'll be more likely to get the rights.