When Nintendo officially unveiled the Switch, they also said that they planned to release a paid online service this autumn, but we now know that's no longer the case.
They've now decided to delay the subscription service to 2018, while also changing certain aspects of it. One of the most discussed features of the service was getting access to a selection of NES and SNES games each month. The controversial part of this was that we'd only be able to play these games for a month before they would be removed, so we're glad to announce that the folks at Nintendo have changed their minds. As we noticed, they changed the wording of said service to not include "for a month" at the end, so we decided to ask for a specification and got this answer in return:
"We can confirm that the Classic Game Selection has been changed after much consideration. Nintendo Switch Online subscribers will have ongoing access to a library of classic games with added online play. Users can play as many of the games as they want, as often as they like, as long as they have an active subscription."
Unfortunately, there's also some bad news. The original version was supposed to include both NES and SNES games, but we're now told that it'll only include NES games at launch. Nintendo is now just "considering" adding SNES games in the future (an indication that the SNES Classic Mini is real?).
The company has also outlined how much the service will cost, as a one-month subscription will cost $3.99 USD (around £3.10), a three-month subscription $7.00 (about £5.44), and twelve months for $19.99 (roughly £15.53). It's worth noting that they're specifying this only applies to the US, and that pricing for additional countries will be announced at a later time.
Not all features have been delayed to 2018 either, as a limited version of the application that will let us invite friends to play online, set play appointments, and chat with friends during online matches is still set to release this summer. Exactly what this limited version will include is set to be revealed "soon".
There's no doubt that this delay caught us by surprise, as many of Nintendo's Switch games, both present and future, are multiplayer-focused. It'll be interesting then to see how the limited application works with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Splatoon 2, and Arms this summer.
Does this sound like something you're willing to pay for?