Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack: N64 & SEGA Mega Drive (& GBA!!)

[Glen-i]

4 minutes ago, Sheikah said:

So will this be the first game added since nearly 2 months of the service launching?

A month and two weeks, but yes.

[Ronnie]

2 minutes ago, Sheikah said:

So will this be the first game added since nearly 2 months of the service launching?

It’ll be the first game added since the service launched 1 month and 15 days ago yes. 

[Ashley]

In fairness there's no specific date in January so who knows whether it'll be closer to 2 months at that point.

D'oh you're talking about Paper Mario. Stupid me!

[Sheikah]

It’ll be the first game added since the service launched 1 month and 15 days ago yes. 

It's not great, is it. Given it's a paid sub you'd expect at least 3 games a month. This is less than one game a month so far.

[Helmsly]

12 minutes ago, Sheikah said:

40 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

It’ll be the first game added since the service launched 1 month and 15 days ago yes. 

It's not great, is it. Given it's a paid sub you'd expect at least 3 games a month. This is less than one game a month so far.

I don't think it's that bad since we got 9 games on day one and I can't imagine many people have played through all of those in the past six weeks.

Assuming that we're only going to get Nintendo published titles, there are 54 of those for the N64 and a few of them are licensed games which we won't get, i can see why Nintendo would pace them out. As long as we get a game a month from here I'm happy with it.

[Sheikah]

I don't think it's that bad since we got 9 games on day one and I can't imagine many people have played through all of those in the past six weeks.
Assuming that we're only going to get Nintendo published titles, there are 54 of those for the N64 and a few of them are licensed games which we won't get, i can see why Nintendo would pace them out. As long as we get a game a month from here I'm happy with it.

There's 9 games but not all of them are great or to everyone's tastes (and some like Mario 64/Ocarina have been done so many times recently, including in the Mario Anniversary pack and OOT remaster on 3DS). So realistically many will be waiting for more content.

[Glen-i]

45 minutes ago, Sheikah said:

There's 9 games but not all of them are great or to everyone's tastes (and some like Mario 64/Ocarina have been done so many times recently, including in the Mario Anniversary pack and OOT remaster on 3DS). So realistically many will be waiting for more content.

It's a fair point, but if they went too fast, they'd blow their load in less then a year. And then they'd get complaints that the library dried up so quick. It's a no win situation as far as the N64 games go. And it'd be weird if Mario 64 and Ocarina weren't there.

Of course, while I think one N64 game a month is an acceptable pace, there's no excuse to not have some Genesis games added alongside it. That's what bugs me. (Also, the EarthBound games are still missing for some weird reason)

Edited December 10, 2021 by Glen-i

[Ashley]

I do wonder if people would complain if games weren't continuously added if they just did a big drop of all their stuff over a small period.

Like I get why they'd want it taking more than a year (if they indeed plan to support it that long) from a business perspective given that's the minimum contract but I think people would be happy with "okay pay an annual subscription and they're all yours now".

[Sheikah]

1 hour ago, Glen-i said:

It's a fair point, but if they went too fast, they'd blow their load in less then a year. And then they'd get complaints that the library dried up so quick. It's a no win situation as far as the N64 games go. And it'd be weird if Mario 64 and Ocarina weren't there.

Of course, while I think one N64 game a month is an acceptable pace, there's no excuse to not have some Genesis games added alongside it. That's what bugs me. (Also, the EarthBound games are still missing for some weird reason)

The issue for me is that this should really contain their full (or near enough full) back catalogue for people to access, and serve as a means to play these games which are no longer obtainable. The idea of drip feeding content as a means to keep people subscribed over longer periods of time doesn't sit well with me.

Put this another way, at the rate of adding one N64 game every 1.5 months, to end up with 90% of N64's game library on the service (354 games), minus the 10 already on there now, that would take another 43 years. And let's not get started on the mega drive library.

Edited December 10, 2021 by Sheikah

[Sheikah]

1 hour ago, Ashley said:

I do wonder if people would complain if games weren't continuously added if they just did a big drop of all their stuff over a small period.

Like I get why they'd want it taking more than a year (if they indeed plan to support it that long) from a business perspective given that's the minimum contract but I think people would be happy with "okay pay an annual subscription and they're all yours now".

This is exactly what they should do, I think. To lock people into 12 month subscriptions (rather than pay monthly) and to drip feed content shows a lack of faith in the product, I think.

[Dcubed]

One a month it is.

[Ashley]

Just now, Dcubed said:

One a month it is.

You're about a page too late  

[Ronnie]

6 minutes ago, Sheikah said:

Put this another way, at the rate of adding one N64 game every 1.5 months, to end up with 90% of N64's game library on the service (354 games), minus the 10 already on there now, that would take another 43 years.

I can't wait for this gem to be available in 27 years. Hopefully sooner.

https://romsmania.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/chameleon-twist-u-nintendo-64.jpg

As I've mentioned previously, they don't want you playing and having access to 300+ games from 2 decades ago. They want you playing modern games that cost £40-70 each. It's basic business.

Edited December 10, 2021 by Ronnie

[Sheikah]

9 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

I can't wait for this gem to be available in 27 years. Hopefully sooner.

https://romsmania.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/chameleon-twist-u-nintendo-64.jpg

As I've said previously, they don't want you playing and having access to 300+ games from 2 decades ago. They want you playing modern games that cost £40-70 each. It's basic business.

If they only wanted you to play modern games then this service wouldn't exist. Thus, that's patently not true.

Also, you accidentally linking your ROM site there, Ronnie? Or should I say ROMmie?

Edited December 10, 2021 by Sheikah

[Ashley]

I think there is a market (consumer-side) for having shitty forgotten games that 'feel' free as part of a subscription service and try them out. 

Gimme Superman 64 dammit! 

[Ronnie]

50 minutes ago, Sheikah said:

If they only wanted you to play modern games then this service wouldn't exist. Thus, that's patently not true.

Good job adding the “only” and changing what I said to suit your argument.

[Sheikah]

3 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Good job adding the “only” and changing what I said to suit your argument.

What you said doesn't make sense to me either way.

If they didn't want you to play older games then why supply a subscription that provides exactly that? Any time spent on the subscription games is time that could have been spent on new Switch games.

There's no evidence to suggest what you say is true. If it was true then the existence of PS Now would surely cannibalise sales of new games to the point that there'd be a crisis? There's so many games on PS Now that if everyone played them, they literally would never have time to play new games.

To me it's like you're suggesting if they dropped 3 or 4 old Mario games on the service then nobody would want to buy Mario Odyssey, for instance. That's just an utterly bizarre suggestion to me, not sure how anyone could think that might be the case?

[Ronnie]

And yet. They’re drip feeding games. It’s basic business, and not at all as black and white like you suggest. They want people shelling out for new games, not having a hundred classics to play through instead. There’s only so many hours in the day for gaming. 

[Sheikah]

5 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

And yet. They’re drip feeding games. It’s basic business, and not at all as black and white like you suggest. They want people shelling out for new games, not having a hundred classics to play through instead. There’s only so many hours in the day for gaming. 

The reason they're drip feeding them and making 12-month minimum subscriptions is to keep people subscribed for longer (at least, that's what they think). Now, that's the business side of things. Nothing to do with them being worried that if they dropped them all at once that people wouldn't buy new games. No idea where you're getting that idea from.

However as I said, I think this shows a lack of belief in their product. They are worried that if they allow people to sub for just a month and put all their games on there at once that people would just sub for a month and leave. I don't think that would be true though. If you have a big enough library then that becomes an enticing reason to stay subscribed. It works even better if they add newer games to the service every so often too.

Edited December 10, 2021 by Sheikah

[Ronnie]

1 hour ago, Sheikah said:

No idea where you're getting that idea from.

Basic common sense is "where I'm getting that idea from". It's why it took a year and a half after the Switch launched for them to put classic games on. Anyway, cool, you think one thing, I think another. 

[Sheikah]

Basic common sense is "where I'm getting that idea from". It's why it took a year and a half after the Switch launched for them to put classic games on. Anyway, cool, you think one thing, I think another. 

You think it took them a year and a half to put classic games on because they were worried people would turn down Breath of the Wild to play Link to the Past?

I like how you say "it's why it took them a year and a half" like this is gospel truth. Like...what?

[Ronnie]

9 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Anyway, cool, you think one thing, I think another.

 

[Julius]

Five SEGA Mega Drive games being added today.

Quote

Relive some of the iconic games that defined SEGA Genesis. Today, five additional power-packed games have been added to the SEGA Genesis – Nintendo Switch Online library and are playable right now:
- Altered Beast
- ToeJam & Earl
- Dynamite Headdy
- Sword of Vermilion
- Thunder Force II

 

[Glen-i]

Oh, so it's a separate date for the two consoles to be updated. Odd, but OK.

I do have to wonder if NES/SNES will get something next week.

Edited December 17, 2021 by Glen-i

[Ashley]

Yeah I guess having N64 one week, Mega Drive the next, SNES the following and then NES so you have new games every week but stretch each console out would be a strategy although I doubt that's actually happening.