Nintendo Reveals Details About Nintendo Switch Online Service
Given the other major announcements made in last weeks’ Nintendo Direct, it can be pretty easy to forget that the Nintendo Switch Online Service was also discussed in the presentation. After all, this was also the event which revealed Luigi’s Mansion 3 to the world, showed that Final Fantasy 7 was heading to Nintendo Switch and mentioned Animal Crossing was coming to the console in 2019, right after a newcomer trailer for one of its main characters. For almost every Nintendo fan in existence, there are was just something more interesting included to shift their focus to.
But Nintendo did indeed release more information regarding the service none the less, in the form of this short presentation about its features:
Which is… about on the level you’d expect from a Nintendo presentation talking about online multiplayer functionality. You’ve got the usual Nintendo cluelessness about online play over there, a few non features hyped to hell here and some bad decisions hurting legitimately interesting ones all mixed into one announcement.
Still, while we’ll go over the service’s drawbacks and issues in a future article, for now, here’s a short summary of the points raised in the trailer:
1. Online Play
You can play games online with people around the world.
Yes, we know that’s what online service is meant to do, and yes, we also know it’s not really a feature by any normal usage of the world.
But hey, Nintendo made it a key point in their marketing, so it’s mentioned here none the less.
2. Nintendo Entertainment System
You also get access to a library of free NES games, which have the usual Virtual Console esque additions (like suspend saving/save states), as well as upgraded multiplayer components (like the ability to play said games online).
There are quite a few of these games, though the video prominently shows the following ones:
- Dodge Ball
- Donkey Kong
- Double Dragon
- Dr Mario
- Excitebike
- Ghosts n Goblins
- Gradius
- Ice Climber
- Ice Hockey
- Mario Bros
- Metroid
- Mighty Bomb Jack
- NES Open Golf
- Pro Wrestling
- River City Ransom
- Soccer
- Solomon’s Key
There are obviously more included, but we’ll need to wait for details on those.
3. Save Data Cloud
The system also lets you back up your save files to Nintendo’s data cloud, which lets you restore them in case things go wrong. Like say, a Thwomp smashing your Nintendo System, or someone trying to use your Switch to deflect a Guardian laser in place of a pot lid.
