Over the past few decades, Nintendo has amassed a library of exclusive games for its history of home consoles. Yet, when it comes to accessing these games, the library of Nintendo Switch Online exclusives includes little compared to its contemporaries in the industry.

Nintendo Switch Online is still under scrutiny by fans and critics alike due to Nintendo being years behind the times in terms of accessibility. PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold allow players to invest more money to access a vast library of free games on a monthly rotation. Nintendo has a similar pay-to-play online feature for Nintendo Switch Online (NSO) with a lower paywall, but it leaves much to be desired for players.

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Nintendo Switch Online Exclusives Running Thin

snapshot of switch online trailer for update feature

September 2018 marked the beginning of NSO, a full year after the console was released. NSO allows players to engage in online multiplayer, upload save games onto the Cloud, and comes with a smartphone application allowing for online communication. One feature that also came with the service later was free access to NES and SNES emulators, each with a vast selection of games for fans of retro-Nintendo titles. Save-state capability and rewind capability were also included.

Despite the massive amount of retro games, as well as Tetris 99 and Pac-Man 99, NSO features are lacking compared to Xbox Live Gold and PS Plus. Most of the disparities are from NSO subscribers' dissatisfaction with the limited match-making capabilities and the lack of games on rotation. Fortunately, Nintendo's President, Shuntaro Furukawa, claims, "We are working on increasing the appeal of the service to make it even more fun and convenient to play with Nintendo Switch." This statement was made at Nintendo's last shareholder meeting at a Q&A as of early July 2021, though there are no further details on what changes will be made.

Despite these claims, it is unclear whether Nintendo will add a games rotation like the PS Plus and Xbox Live Gold monthly games. NSO does allow subscribers to download and play certain games for about a week, although this roster of games updates infrequently. If Nintendo were to implement a system similar to its contemporaries, it would most likely come with an extra paywall to upgrade the online package. It is no secret that Nintendo has a backlog of beloved games and franchises that are completely inaccessible unless players own these games and their respective consoles. Nintendo has its reasons for sticking to its original exclusives, yet the lack of updates on the NES and SNES simulators are beginning to worry fans.

Nintendo's Outdated Business Practices

nintendo switch online update feature

Recent sales statistics show that over 26 million people have subscriptions to NSO, a staggering number that proves fans are definitely interested in what Nintendo has to offer. Considering that NSO costs significantly less than its competitors' services, its popularity makes sense to an extent. Further, the NES and SNES have classic titles such as Super MetroidLink to the Past, and Super Mario All-Stars, as well as many other lesser-known titles. These games do not rotate and are available at all times, and the fact that these games are all older and in digital format may contribute to the lower price point. However, the catalogs are wearing thin, with the most recent update receiving a staggering amount of dislikes from fans. While the classics that brought the company to the forefront of gaming history are great, there is still a much larger catalog that Nintendo is holding out on.

Nintendo has a history of re-releasing games for full price rather than offering them as NSO exclusives. One such release is Super Mario 3D All-Stars, a three-in-one package that sold at nearly full price, which led to backlash from Nintendo's fans. A discourse surrounding the lack of exclusives available for Switch Online subscribers soon began, with fans believing Nintendo should sell the games at a discounted price or for free for a limited time. Fans are wondering if NSO exclusives beyond the NES or SNES will ever come, as Skyward Sword HD has released with a $50 USD paywall. It goes without saying that porting a game over to another console is expensive, and Wii U releases would need time to be ported over to the Switch since they utilize the console's touchpad. Still, seeing some remastered Wii U games would go a long way to making the service more worthwhile.

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Nintendo Switch Online Needs More Exclusives

white Nintendo Switch OLED, in dock

The Switch OLED is one of what will likely be many iterations of the Switch, and Nintendo seems to be using the new console to update its matchmaking capabilities with the addition of a LAN port. The most recent shareholder conference reports confirm that Nintendo wants to adjust NSO to make it more accessible as well, yet the words are too vague to get a solid answer as to what this change will entail. Fans want more than better matchmaking capabilities from Nintendo, though, with more emulators and a change to be more like contemporaries ranking near the top of many wish lists.

Both options would help Nintendo increase its catalog, yet one change would inevitably make NSO more expensive. If the games company decides to add a monthly rotation of games on a regular schedule, it would most likely drive up the cost of NSO due to newer games being more expensive to get clearance. However, Nintendo could keep the price low by adding new emulators for these NSO exclusives.

Either a GameCube or Nintendo 64 emulator would make the service more valuable to potential subscribers. The Switch is still a unique console with a library of classic games that are already available, and while the company is striving to move forward in tech, it still looks back on its older games fondly. Games such as Metroid PrimeSmash Bros. MeleePikmin, and many other iconic GameCube games could easily run on the Switch. For now, though, Nintendo insists on sticking to its retro roots while keeping its semi-weekly rotation of games available. Perhaps Nintendo will do nothing with its vast catalog and stick to its current practice of remastering and re-releasing games for a higher price. However, the publisher releasing ports of these games on Nintendo Switch Online instead could significantly improve the lacking service.

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