Nintendo Switch

Guess that shows how long ago it's been since the last time I played Splatoon. And we're talking about the NA release, not the EU one?

Yeah, I noticed it while watching the Splatoon 2 footage in the directs.

Signs are pointing to the app, for the time being, being the only way to access voice chat. Not that Splatoon can't work without it, but... COME ON NINTENDO WE'VE HAD ONLINE GAMING AS THE NORM FOR OVER A DECADE NOW THIS CAN'T SERIOUSLY BE YOUR BEST SOLUTION.

Paid online $19.99 a year. Subscribers get to download a compilation of classic titles with online play (are they still rentals?). Coming 2018.

This is one delay I'm okay with.

Can't forget about eShop deals with the subscription, and access to 1 month and 3 month subscriptions for $3.99 and $7.99 respectively.

OK, that's not too bad. Free online for the first year is pretty good.

NOA's Twitter makes it sound like a Netflix-esque service for NES games. I'm down.

Don't get ahead of yourself when it comes to Nintendo. It's still pretty vague.

Considering they've historically offered NES VC games for $5 a pop, $20 for presumably at least 12 games (assuming one a month) is a massive bargain.

Kotaku got clarification from Nintendo on the Classic Games Service. "Users can play as many of the games as they want, as often as they like, as long as they have an active subscription."

NETFLIX STYLE SERVICE

Still no info on whether the Virtual Console will be separate from the online service.

edited 1st Jun '17 7:16:19 PM by tclittle

They're pretty clear on it being separate. The games they're giving are ONLY classics with added online play, and is only NES games for now. No way is their VC going to be only NES.

edited 1st Jun '17 7:39:45 PM by burnpsy

That's neat!

Huh so as long as you are subscribed, you keep the games. That is pretty fair to me.

Xbox's Games With Gold works similarly for Xbox One games, so that's not surprising. I think PS Plus works similarly.

Well, PS Plus and Games With Gold are more on the lines of "specific games to keep each month" while, after the Switch's VC expands, Nintendo Subscription (needs a better name) will be "unlimited retro vault of games with online play, any time you feel like subscribing."

Yeah, with PS Plus you can build up a sizable library eventually, although you have to start from scratch if you ever let your subscription lapse. But this sounds like the sizable library is going to be there from the get go. I do kind of hope it ends up being more than just NES games though. At least throw some SNES games in there too.

I'll add that you don't fully lose your PS Plus library (i.e. it's completely erased), you just lose access to it (i.e. you can't play or download the games you've collected). Starting up a new subscription gives you your whole library back.

On-topic, I remember the monthly rental stuff causing a lot of backlash, so glad to see they've backpedaled on that. That combined with the price tags makes Nintendo's new online look really good right now.

I mean, isn't X-Box like 45 a year while PS+ is a 50?

1 year of Xbone Gold is $55 last I checked, although considering you keep the games it pays for itself within two months.

On the one hand, NES only games is pretty limiting.

On the other, it's less than half the cost of the competition, so I guess you can't complain about it too much. I just hope that means they'll start using either dedicated servers for some of their games or better netcode.

Frito-Lay giving away a Switch and games every hour until July 8th, with specially marked packages of course.

I've gotten a little more into Disgaea 5. I'm not sure I'll ever completely wrap my head around each and every one of the game's mechanics, but I'm enjoying how surprisingly fast paced the battles are in spite of that. I also quite like how I'm not compelled to start the entire level over again from scratch if I lose even a single unit. I suppose constantly paying to revive your units could get costly in the long run, but starting with a million HL thanks to all the bonus content included takes the hurt out of that somewhat.

I've also decided to give the first game a try when I can. Honestly from what I've seen, the original characters seem more immediately likable.

I don't think healing and reviving is ever really all that expensive. Even as the prices for it go up with the unit's HP and MP, so, too, does your ability to grind for obscene amounts of cash.

The real challenge is keeping everyone's equipment up-to-date.

I've noticed there isn't actually a thread for the Disgaea series.

That's the first series mentioned in the Nippon Ichi thread and that seems fine to me.