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Nintendo Switch Online, a Paid Subscription Service Required For Console Owners To Access Internet-Enable Features Like Multiplayer Mode, To Launch This Evening (variety.com)
Nintendo announced Tuesday that its paid Nintendo Switch Online service will launch "later this evening," and that to prepare for the launch it will be taking the Switch eShop offline starting at 8 p.m. ET. From a report: It's expected to be unavailable for up to three hours, it said, putting the launch of Switch Online about 11 p.m. Tuesday night. Nintendo Switch Online comes with a seven-day free trial for all Nintendo Account holders. The official website for the service notes that it will cost $4 for a month, $8 for three months and $20 for a year. A family membership, which supports up to seven others in a family group, will run for $35 for a year. The Nintendo Switch Online service, which will be free to users to try for seven days, will be required for console owners to access any internet-enable features, including multiplayer and cloud saves. It will also grant them the ability to play 20 different Nintendo Entertainment System games at launch, although Nintendo hasn't revealed the entire lineup yet.
Obviously they mean 7 different accounts, but using the same Switch, not 7 accounts on 7 different Switchs*, because otherwise that's one hell of a deal.
* Switches? Switchs? Switchi?
Summation 2
Not to mention holding your save games at ransom. "Oh, you've got a 99% complete save file? Would be a shame if you stopped paying for a couple of months and something ... happened to it."
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Videogame consoles are lagging behind Android devices regarding accounting. When you get a new Android device, using the same account, you can restore your settings (screen, wallpaper, previously connected networks, etc), and optionally, you can restore installed apps. Not to mention that most game saves are stored in G+ account, so they'll be restored too. Aside the problem downloaded content size (anyway, optionall to download again), I cannot see why Sony/MS/Nintendo are not implementing this, giving the previous generation (X360, PS3) hardware problems. Of course, I believe some restrictions should be applied (maybe only 1 console can use the same account at the same time, or something like that).
Maybe you missed the part where this is an optional service. You can still save locally.
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Since we're talking about Nintendo and video games, and this is a site for nerds, I guess it's technically not off-topic to mention that for some reason, the character Toad from Mario Kart is trending on social media. I'm not sure why. Anybody want to google it and find out?
You are welcome on my lawn.
I'm hoping that now they have internet functionality they release a new Mario Maker for Switch... But also hoping they don't because the Wii U version is pretty good but will die off if a new one comes out and the Switch is not cheap.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Local saves are not removed. Now, having either 6 months or 0 months of data retention is just a company switch anyway.
I quit street fighter because it turned into a monthly fee on my Playstation. I will quit other games that turn into a monthly fee. Recurring fees are just too annoying.
I've never had and never will have game consoles. Can you even play single-player games on this thing at all? Or are you forced to pay for their 'service' to use it at all? Or is it somewhere between the two: you can play single-player games, but they're so lame in single-player mode that it's too boring for people to stand?
Maybe you missed the part where this is an optional service. You can still save locally.
Optional, as in it's optional to play Fortnite, which *requires* an internet connection?
This is a Fortnite tax, which is unfortunate for my son as he now has no portable options from the Xbox One when we travel. Whatever happened to the good ole days of being able to own hardware without an ongoing subscription for the right to use it?
"You have liberated me from thought."
How is [console lock-in] different from being locked into windows?
Consider two differences between a PC running Windows and an Xbox One running the Windows 10-derived Xbox One system software:
PC users are not locked into Windows Most PCs can have a second operating system installed, except for those whose hardware has missing or broken drivers for anything but Windows. (One example is the ASUS Transformer Book T100TA.) The phenomenon of Restricted Boot, where an x86-64 PC's owner cannot disable UEFI Secure Boot or reconfigure its keys, was banned in the Windows 8 era and rejected by the market in the Windows 10 era. Windows users are not locked into Microsoft Store Windows users can install other stores (such as GOG, Humble, Steam, or Origin), download stand-alone executable installers, or build applications from source code. Microsoft's attempt to extend the Windows brand to more locked-down devices (those running Windows Phone 7, 8, and 10, Windows RT, and Windows 10 S) largely failed in the market.In exchange for this lock-in, consoles offer alleged ease of use.
When you travel, how do you have an Internet connection on devices other than your smartphone in the first place? Do you pay the tethering surcharge that many cellular ISPs in the United States charge?
Epic Games can choose to provide a Fortnite experience against bots or not. If Epic Games refuses, then play a game other than Fortnite. This might even be a non-electronic game in your son's waiting place bag.
I have heard that Fortnite is free (I'm guessing that Epic is paying the N for the servers so that kids don't have to).
I'm willing to bet Epic makes more money off skins than they would if they received a portion of the Nintendo Online subscription proceeds.
Fuck them and their mandatory paid sub service.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
Nintendo is notoriously bad at device security. Piracy is rampant, and the pirated content is downloaded directly from Nintendo servers. Now we're talking about paid services...... This will not end well.
You are being ripped off every second of every day, so that advertisers can help rip you off even more tomorrow.
Servers? Isn't it just like most games and only transmits location info to other people and uses one of them as the server?
Nah, there's a dedicated server that Epic controls. The kids that are playing are clients of those servers. Normally MS & Sony (and now N) charge for the privilege of playing on their servers. From what I gather, Epic is paying those costs to keep kids playing.
If they ever stop making money, whatever update they are about to release would then require Nintendo Online to play.
"Optional, as in it's optional to play Fortnite, which *requires* an internet connection?"
Well take that up with the developers of Fortnite, as in, not Nintendo.
I do very much agree with your final point in a general sense but Nintendo has no role in what you're bothered about here.
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If not ... you're going to find out that in a few years, they'll shut down access to the online service for your console. If you want to keep using an online service, you'll have to buy the newest whiz-bang. But it won't play the old games that you have enjoyed playing. (They did that to the Wii online games.)
Isn't it nice when they change policies like that? The Switch is essentially worthless to me now.
Do you have to pay a fee to Microsoft in order to find patches for your games?
So where can I buy a copy of FFXV that will run on a PC not running Windows?
Though I concede that this is not practical for all or perhaps even most, you could improve Wine to be able to run it, or hire someone to improve Wine to be able to run it. Valve is offering a customized version of Wine for select games on Steam, though I don't know whether Final Fantasy XV is or will soon be among them.
But this discussion is about very specific use cases. "I am locked in because I want to play games $x, $y, and $z"
If you want to play Super Smash Bros. Ultimate once it is released, you are locked into Nintendo Switch. Is it common for someone to buy a console just to run one game?
Not to mention holding your save games at ransom. "Oh, you've got a 99% complete save file? Would be a shame if you stopped paying for a couple of months and something ... happened to it."
Nothing will happen to it. It will still be right there on your Switch where you left it.
You may not have a backup of it though, so I suggest not hitting your Switch with a sledge hammer while your subscription lapses.
Anecdotal evidence proves that something exists, but not that it is common.