Nintendo Switch: Nintendo Has A Lot To Prove With Its New Online Service [Opinion]
Nintendo held their official presentation for their newest game console, the Nintendo Switch, on Thursday evening, and while the Japanese company answered many questions fans had surrounding the mysterious tablet/console hybrid, many questions still remain. The largest one from the night has to do with its new online service. Nintendo historically has been almost antagonistic towards online services, implementing archaic user experiences and ones that many could argue are simply downright anti-consumer.
However, Nintendo seems to be coming around with its online offerings with the Switch. Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima announced onstage in Tokyo at the Switch presentation that Nintendo will be upping its online package. Features include online multiplayer, online lobby and chat, access to the eShop, sharing screenshots over social media, and more.
One of the more welcome — and controversial — features to be announced has been the Monthly Game Download on the Nintendo Switch. This is obviously a nod to Microsoft’s Games for Gold and PlayStation’s PS+ games, where your subscription gives you access to game downloads each month. According to Nintendo’s website, paid subscribers to the program can download an SNES or NES game onto their Switch and play it for a month. However, it’s being reported now by Wired‘s Chris Kohler as well as Game Informer that the games are not ones where you get to keep them so long as your subscription remains active.
Essentially, Nintendo is giving consumers a paid demo service, allowing them access to the game for that month and then if you want to continue to play beyond it, you’ll need to buy the game separately. This is much different than the way Nintendo Switch’s counterparts do this. With Xbox Live and PS+, you have access to the game so long as your subscription is active — and in the case of Xbox, your Xbox 360 games are yours in perpetuity, so there is some value there. However, Nintendo’s service is essentially a digital Blockbuster, giving its paying customers access to demos of 30-year-old games from an era gone by.
Nintendo’s track record with its online functionality has not been great, so it’s incredibly critical that the company prove with the Nintendo Switch that their service is worth paying for. Nintendo is the last company to bring its online play to the paying table, yet they aren’t doing it with any consumer confidence they can deliver a platform worth the investment.
Microsoft did this with the Xbox when it first introduced Xbox Live, and when the service hit Xbox 360, more and more people were willing to pay for the service the Seattle-based company provided. Sony did so with the PlayStation 3, giving players access to online multiplayer for free (like PC does today still), though they did bring a subscription model with the introduction of the PlayStation 4. However, those companies have built up the service to where many people are willing to spend the money on the product. Nintendo, however, has no such past to give users of the Nintendo Switch hope they are getting a quality experience for their money.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ntzz8O7SpWs&index=14
Nintendo may recognize this, which could be why the company is giving the online service a free trial period when the Nintendo Switch launches on March 3. According to Kimishima as well as the Nintendo website, the trial will run till fall 2017, and more information such as price will be revealed at a later date. The early days of the Nintendo Switch will be an online proving ground, giving Nintendo — and consumers — a chance to test whether what the Switch’s online brings to the table is worth forking over money. Additionally, Nintendo really needs to revisit how it handles the Virtual Console and Nintendo Account. The company needs to be sure that when a customer buys a game digitally, they no longer need to re-purchase it on another Switch platform. This has been a long criticism of the company since the original Wii was around.
It’s important to note that the new online functionality only affects the Nintendo Switch. The WiiU and Nintendo’s handheld 2/3DS are unaffected by the new online platform and will continue to operate the way they have even after the Switch launch.
Nintendo has a lot to prove, and the company really should pay close attention to how its servers — and users — react to the online platform moving forward during this trial period. The online focus of the Nintendo Switch is largely uncharted territory for the gaming giant, and it’ll take some stellar navigating to make sure that customers are getting what they are paying for.
[Featured Image by Nintendo]
