The Nintendo Switch Won’t Let You Keep Your Free NES/SNES Games

If you were hoping that Nintendo’s approach to online services would match PlayStation Plus or Xbox Live, and got excited by yesterday’s announcements, I have some bad news.

Nintendo of America has clarified some more details around the paid online service (which won’t launch until later this year). When Mark first reported it yesterday afternoon, he noted that Nintendo’s wording made it sound like a rental service:

Subscribers will get to download and play a Nintendo Entertainment System™ (NES) or Super Nintendo Entertainment System™ (Super NES) game (with newly-added online play) for free for a month.

And as it turns out, that’s pretty much exactly how it works.

The monthly games through Xbox Live and PlayStation Plus are only available for a month, but users can continue playing them in perpetuity provided you add them to your account in the time period and maintain an active subscription.

But as far as the Switch is concerned, you only get that NES or SNES game for a month. If Nintendo was hoping to show that they have a better appreciation of how online gaming works in 2017, this isn’t the best start.


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