Nintendo Switch Online – One Year Later

It’s been just over a year since the Nintendo Switch Online service launched, and thanks to our friends at Nintendo of Canada, we have been gifted a second year of the service, free of charge. While a fantastic gesture from Nintendo, I would be lying if I didn’t say my Nintendo Switch Online subscription would have auto-renewed in December, and I would have been A-OK with that. For the price, this really is a promising service. While it’s not all positives yet, there is still lots to love!

It isn’t bringing new-ish free games to your system for free on a monthly basis, like with Xbox Live and Sony’s PS+, but Nintendo also isn’t charging the same amount of money. Let’s break it down into its cheapest terms. I still have a number of brothers living at home with my parents, and there are currently 3 Switches in the home. They split the family membership of 44.99 CAD between each of them, which ends up costing them 14.99 per person, plus tax. Essentially, they get one year of Nintendo Switch Online for a cup of Starbucks coffee per month!

Since I don’t play a ton of games online, I was worried about the value of the service for myself. But for the 5 or 6 time I do play online, the service has been incredibly smooth, with almost no lag. And the ability to play Super Nintendo titles online – if you aren’t playing Super Mario Kart online, what are you doing? – is a huge bonus to the service. While I didn’t really care about the NES titles, the inclusion of SNES titles is fantastic!

What We Love

Super Nintendo Entertainment System Games

Having NES games available on Nintendo Switch Online was a great feature, but one that I personally didn’t use all that much. While many people are nostalgic for NES, I’m of the opinion that NES games really aren’t that great. SNES titles, on the other hand, are instant classics, and I quickly jumped in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Super Mario World. And who doesn’t love a few rounds of Super Mario Kart?! If they add more titles at a consistent pace – give me Super Mario RPG – this service will become more worth it with each release.

No Lag Online Experiences

For the most part, when playing games online – whether Super Smash Bros or Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – my experience online has been relatively smooth and consistent. When I think back to the early days before Nintendo Switch Online was available, many games performed poorly online,  so to get a silky smooth experience with this service is a definite plus!

Fantastic Pricing

We talked about this at length above, but I really wanted to reiterate this again, especially before going into the things I’m not really fond of when it comes to Nintendo Switch Online. This. Service. Is. So. Inexpensive. That thought cannot be reiterated enough, and when it comes to the things I’m listing below, it’s more of a wish list, as opposed to reasons to not purchase Nintendo Switch Online. Buy it thought, as it’s completely worth it.

What We Don’t Love

Nintendo Switch Voice Chat

Over a year into Nintendo Switch Online, and I would have thought this would have been fixed. Certain games – like Fortnite and Overwatch – support chat within their applications by plugging in a headset, but all Nintendo published games still require you to use the phone app to communicate with others. This cumbersome extra step ultimately made me throw in the towel on voice chat for playing Switch games online. Just give me direct chat integration on the Switch, Nintendo!

Costs to Cloud Saves

Nintendo, for the most part, has always been bout it’s customers. And with Nintendo Switch Online, Nintendo is promising to keep your game saves safe on their cloud, but will charge you for it. For this service, on it’s own, I can see why Nintendo is charging – they are essentially an insurance plan for if you, a) lost your Nintendo Switch system, or b) lose your local save data. But then, Nintendo launched the Nintendo Switch Lite, and consumers are now looking at owning two Nintendo Switch systems, and hopping back and forth between them.

Now those cloud saves are no longer just an insurance policy, but the only way to go between your two consoles and continue where you left off. I would have loved to see Nintendo pull this from the Nintendo Switch Online service and offer it for free.

Conclusion

For the price of a coffee a month, there really isn’t a good reason to not own Nintendo Switch Online if you are a Switch owner. On top of the things we have discussed, you also have access to the 2-pack of Nintendo Switch game vouchers that will save you money on buying separately, the ability to get exclusive offers like the NES controllers, and so much more. Buy it, you won’t be disappointed!