Nintendo fans who itch for viable ways to play retro platforms may have been excited by the latest news for the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack. With the selective addition of beloved Nintendo 64 and SEGA Genesis games, it would seem as though Nintendo plans to offer perpetual updates to Nintendo Switch Online's content package with older platforms.
However, Nintendo fans have collectively winced at the fact that the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack more than doubles the cost of its ordinary online membership. Clearly having struck a chord with fans who are upset at this cost spike, the general consensus among Nintendo fans is that the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack fails to incentivize its price point.
Rather, sillyscrapy1757's UI mock-up of a fully backward compatible Nintendo Switch presents a concept that would be sure to satisfy Nintendo fans. With backward compatibility, sillyscrapy1757 suggests that the disparity of a costly Expansion Pack model would be null and void, with fans instead able to access any games they want from any number of Nintendo's older systems, such as Wii, Game Boy Advance, or GameCube.
This underlying issue boils down to fans' favorite Nintendo systems and titles being locked behind paywalls. Dedicated ports or emulation applications for Nintendo Switch Online would appease fans who are otherwise unable to play retro games, but fans believe that Nintendo instead waits to charge a modern price tag for what is essentially a port of the original game.
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If this attempt at a fluid application existed, SentoX suggests that it could be titled "Nintendo Classics" and provide a method of individually downloading titles rather than compiling the entire Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack's library of games onto the Switch's storage, particularly when "there are valid reasons to have both US/EU and JP NES and SNES apps installed."
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Further, the argument is made that this economic model of gradually offering retro console titles will only contribute to Nintendo Switch Online and its subsequent Expansion Pack content becoming more expensive for the entire package. The fan's mock-up would then propose a more accessible library for downloadable games, perhaps under a single umbrella content package of backward compatibility, that would hopefully negate later expansions growing more and more expensive.
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Ultimately, fans are willing to bend a little in order to play or purchase their favorite systems and titles. But when fans feel like their wallets are more important than their user experiences, it is sure to cause discontent within the community. Nintendo fans are not unwilling to pay for an appropriately priced service; instead, they seem to simply want a catalogue of consoles and games that are worthwhile of such a price attached to it.