Daily Debate: Is The New Tier for Nintendo Switch Online a Fair Price?

Nintendo Switch Online has always been a slightly different animal than the Playstation Network and XBox Live. It’s part game chat solution, part cloud service, but mostly it’s a way to access Nintendo’s classic library. NSO has also been the most recent example of Nintendo stubbornly carving its identity out from the public’s expectations. Put simply, Nintendo zigs when they are expected to zag. And until now it was easy to argue as a pretty sweet deal.

So maybe it’s fitting then that, just as Nintendo unveiled the next free drop for its megahit Animal Crossing: New Horizons, they surprised fans by tail-ending the ANCH Direct with massive news about their online service. You can watch the NSO announcements in their own video here. The hype train had already left the station  with last month’s news. Very soon subscribers will be able to play the Nintendo 64’s most historic games, including The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and its follow-up Majora’s Mask. And in classic Nintendo style, they added a huge stinger to the news by announcing that the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive has been brought into the fold.

But perhaps the bigger news is the jump in membership fees in order to get at the new content.

Already Nintendo fan communities are sharing their reactions, from frantically joyous to bitterly cynical. I’ve learned that Nintendo never quite does what seems like the best move when it comes to their classic library. And yet, by doing their own thing have always met a different set of expectations. So let’s hash it out here on Zelda Dungeon:

What do you think of Nintendo’s new tier for Nintendo Switch Online? At $50 USD/year ($80 for a family account), is it a value for the money, or a shakedown of their loyal fanbase? Give us your take in the comments, or in the ZD Discord!

Andrew Millard

Andrew is a writing teacher in the American Upper Midwest. He has been playing Zelda games since 1990.