Three and a half years after it went live, maybe it's time to talk a little bit about the nostalgic gaming services offered by Nintendo Switch Online members.
Nintendo Switch Online ("NSO") membership is a paid service provided by Nintendo to players, the main function is to support players to connect online in some games. Most of the games released by Nintendo, such as Collection! Third-party games such as Animal Hunter, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Edition, or Monster Hunter: Rise require an NSO member to be online.
However, some players value the NSO membership's specialty, the nostalgic game simulator, more than online. Nintendo provides NSO members with a library of FC/NES and SFC/SNES games, and all members can play hundreds of old games during the subscription period at no additional cost. Last October, Nintendo also offered NSO members an upgradable expansion pack that not only had DLC access to several Nintendo games, but also a library of nostalgic games for N64 and Sega Mega Drive ("MD") consoles. The game library is constantly updated, and the most recent addition is the N64 game Mario Golf 64.
Nintendo is still expanding its lineup of NSO member game libraries
On this basis, the NSO membership pool is further expanding. According to a leaked message today (April 19), games on the GBA platform will also be added in the future.
According to the leaked news, GBA platform masterpieces such as "Golden Sun" may land on the Switch platform in the form of NSO bonuses
Today, according to data released by Nintendo, the number of NSO membership subscriptions around the world has exceeded 32 million, which means that the same number of players can enjoy this set of nostalgic game simulators offered by Nintendo. In fact, not only Nintendo, nostalgic games have become a trend in subscription-based services on major platforms. For example, Sony announced that it will add PS, PS2, PS3 and PSP game libraries to its membership subscription service, and players with only one PS5 in their hands can also play those old works from 20 years ago. That is to say, in the future, more and more players will play the classic games of the past through the platform's membership subscription service.
But is it really a good idea to rent old games to players on a subscription basis?
The road to subscription
Before the advent of the subscription system, players could play old games on modern platforms. Some manufacturers will reproduce some of the titles separately, and most of the rest of the games can be found in Nintendo's Virtual Console ("VC") and PlayStation's PS Classic Game Library. The online store of console games has continued to evolve and finally mature in the Xbox 360 and PS3 generations of consoles, and it is not only more convenient for players to buy current masterpieces, but also to buy digital versions of old games. Full-price games that used to be big-budget on consoles can now be bought for just a few hundred yen — sometimes even a few dozen yen. If you want to play Takahashi Celebrity's New Adventure Island on the Wii U or Xenomorph Armor on the PS3, you can start your own nostalgic journey with a small amount of money.
VCs were launched as early as the Wii era, but online stores weren't mainstream at the time
Unfortunately, all this is about to happen, or has become a thing of the past. The 3DS and Wii U platform eShop is about to stop operating next year, hundreds of VC games will be removed from the store, and the Switch version of the VC game library has not arrived as scheduled. The situation of PS players is not optimistic, the PS3 and PSV web store has been closed, although these old games can still be bought on the console, but these two platforms have long been behind the times, the activity has been greatly reduced, the discount is almost non-existent, and even the server often crashes, but at present, there is no way to buy a large number of PS and PS2 games on the PS4 and PS5 as on these two platforms - more than 300 PS2 games and nearly 800 PS games can be bought on the PS3, and PS4? There are just over 50 PS2 games and a few PS games that have been individually reproduced by game manufacturers.
Without the VC and PS Classic Game Library, it becomes much more difficult for players to play old games. For game manufacturers, if the platform does not cooperate, it is troublesome to re-release an old game from 20 or 30 years ago alone, and it lacks the necessity. So more often, manufacturers will package these games and sell them into a collection of nostalgia. Including Sega, Konami and Bandai Namco, these manufacturers with a large number of classic games have listed their own collections of games on the PS4 and Switch platforms.
These collections have their own characteristics, such as Bandai Namco's old games made into cassettes on bookshelves, which has a collector's flavor. These collections will launch the games in the form of DLC, and players are free to choose what they want to buy. For example, if you just want to play Tank Wars, you don't need to spend 2400 yen (about 120 yuan) to buy the complete NAMCOT Classic Game Collection, and only 300 yen (about 15 yuan) to buy the Tank Wars DLC. Although the overall game library is much smaller than the VC or PS classic game library, players still have a certain degree of freedom of choice.
It's a bit of fun to be able to put these digital versions of old games in the display cabinet
However, it is not enough to rely on publishers to reproduce nostalgic games, after all, each company will only come up with its own hottest and most popular old games, some less classic old works, or works that publishers have little motivation to reproduce, it is difficult to get taken care of. Ultimately, it's up to the power of the platform to give players a library of nostalgic games with a rich enough lineup — Nintendo VC is a good example, and in light of this, players will naturally expect to experience it on the new console.
But in the end, Switch players are not waiting for the VC game library, but for NSO member bonuses. These old games no longer come in the form of a buyout system, but are packaged as a subscription service.
In terms of actual experience, the NSO member bonus is still good, and the built-in rewind function and network play function are more convenient and easy to use than the collections produced by VCs and publishers themselves in the past. Although in games like Zelda Legends: Ocarina of Time, the NSO version has some problems with the accuracy of the simulation, most of the time, NSO Members Bonus is the best way to experience old games.
The NSO version of Zelda Legends: Ode to Time went live with an error in the simulated water surface, which has since been patched
Just like the impact of Xbox Game Pass on platform games, the NSO Membership Bonus brings a new atmosphere to nostalgic games. In June of this year, Sony's nostalgic game membership service will also arrive. Judging from the current news, nostalgic games are placed in the highest tier of membership fees. From the perspective of the general trend, playing old games on new machines has entered the era of subscription system.
Who are the subscribers?
Who are the people who really need nostalgic game subscription services? We take it for granted that the re-enactment and remake of old games is mainly for nostalgic players, and only these fans of old game consoles who have been upside down all day will always want to play those old games from twenty or thirty years ago. However, it is clear that although the group of people who use various self-made mods to transform the old game console and try to restore the past game experience with the most perfect and best experience is more in line with the concept of "nostalgic players" in our minds, they are only a minority in the player group. SIE CEO Jim Lane once said in an interview: "Those games on PS and PS2, they look like old antiques, who wants to play this kind of thing?" Although he later publicly apologized for this sentence and explained that it was a misunderstanding, it also reflected the fact that only a few people like to play old games after all.
Nostalgic players will even buy expensive video output equipment for image quality (Image from My Life in Gaming)
Lovers of old games are not afraid to toss, the taste of old games is more picky, and they know very well what games they want to play, for them, the form of VC and PS classic game libraries is undoubtedly more appropriate. However, more players just want to occasionally reminisce about the old games they have played on the console, or missed for various reasons, of course, it is better to play, and it will not feel too much loss if they do not play. These are the main targets of subscription-based nostalgic game library services. Taking NSO users as an example, what they need more is the online service of Switch games, as well as the first-party game DLC provided by the expansion package, the old games of FC and N64 are more like adding heads, even if they do not play this membership.
From this point of view, the change of nostalgic games from a buyout system to a subscription system is a directional shift that pushes nostalgic games from enthusiasts to mass players.
However, while the number may be small, there are always players who are less in need of connected services and first-party game DLC, while valuing the nostalgic game library more. For these people, the change from buyout to subscription is quite harsh – is it worth paying an annual membership fee for those old games? Also take Nintendo as an example, if it is a personal plan (with an expansion package of 4900 yen per year, about 245 yuan), there is no doubt that it is very expensive; even if it is a family plan (with an expansion package of 8900 yen per year, about 445 yuan; 8 people family equivalent to 1112.5 yen per person, about 55.55 yuan), it is inevitable to buy a pearl.
If the first-party game DLC is not required, the NSO Membership Expansion Pack can only be used to play old games of N64 and MD
Compared with Nintendo, Sony's subscription service is even heavier - taking Hong Kong service as an example, only the highest level of 599 Hong Kong dollars per year members provide nostalgic game libraries (because Hong Kong service does not have PS NOW function, so the functions and prices of This member of Hong Kong service are castrated versions, and the name is different). Although the content is also good, you can play up to 240 games on the PS, PS2, and PSP platforms, but for nostalgic players who do not need the basic functions of membership services, this money can be said to be a real additional expense. Due to the relatively high membership fees, the overall enthusiasm of players for PS old games does not seem to be particularly high.
Nostalgic games for the future of subscription systems
The NSO Member Bonus Game Library has been updated since its launch, but perhaps because of the trouble of reconnecting with the licensing of old games, some games have also been sold by publishers themselves in collections - such as Konami's "Contra" collection sold separately, and the FC version of Contra has not been able to enter the NSO game library - today, the entire NSO game library lineup is still far from the former VC game library. In fact, even if these few collections and NSO membership library games are added together after removing repetition, there is no small gap with the past VC treasure trove.
If you want to play the FC version of Contra on Switch, you have to buy the entire Contra Anniversary Collection
At the same time, the parallel situation of publisher reproduction and platform subscription system can sometimes cause unnecessary trouble for players. For example, if you want to play the original Sonic the Hedgehog, you have to buy Sega's collection, and if you want to play two games of Tank Wars with friends, you have to find the corresponding DLC in bandai Namco's collection - the player sacrifices some independent choices, but also does not get the convenience.
On the other hand, today's NSO membership library has also lost the manual, an important part of the digital version of nostalgic games. In the past, 8-bit and 16-bit games could not fit as many guided tutorials as modern games, and there was not so much pixel space on the screen for dense operating instructions, so most games would be equipped with a paper manual to guide players to play. More importantly, the manual will also record many important contents such as trick lists, special key combinations, and even a story background introduction. Therefore, unless you are an old player and remember the operation of that year, there are times when there is no manual, and it is even difficult for you to play an old game. VC games have a scanned version of the manual, and the NSO bonus game library loses this important content, which also causes players to use the power of the Internet to find their own manual for help after the card level at some points - this should be what the platform should provide while providing the game.
For all the old games that have landed on the Wii U as a VC, Nintendo will provide the manual for free, including the FC version of "Ninja Gaiden"
At present, Sony's new subscription service has not been officially launched, there is no further news since the announcement of the plan at the end of March, and players are not clear whether it includes some rewinds, instant saves and other functions similar to NSO bonuses when using this service to play old games, nor does it know whether it will include manuals, and Sony has not yet promised to add new trophies for old games. But what is certain is that these are all things that players really need.
At the end of the day, renting nostalgic games to players is not a bad idea. For the platform, it can make these old works play the residual heat, while attracting players to subscribe to the membership service; for new players, this is a great opportunity to contact the old game; for nostalgic players who like the old game, although they may not be able to find the game they want, it may also be necessary to subscribe to unnecessary membership services, but - good luck can play, right?
However, since players have chosen – or can only choose – to embrace the subscription-based nostalgic game services offered by the platform, the platform should show sincerity to allow players to have a more complete and comfortable experience playing these old games. At present, the performance of the NSO game library is not bad, but about the degree of simulation reduction and UI design, players still have some micro-words, and complaints about the speed of updates are not uncommon on social networks. Sony's addition may add a fire to the nostalgic game subscription service and make the model last longer, but Jim Lane's statement does not completely reassure players, and he even said in an interview to defend the high membership fee: "Obviously, it [nostalgic games] are not for everyone, which is why it is at a high level." ”
Jim Lane often angers players for saying the wrong thing, but his attitude does represent some of the industry's ideas
I only hope that the platforms can listen to the voices of users more, so that players who like these old games can be satisfied.