When it became clear that Nintendo was announcing a selection of Nintendo 64 games for the Nintendo Switch, it seems safe to say many fans went ecstatic. There has been a high demand for older games to receive support on Switch, particularly from the N64, and the announcement that it alongside select SEGA Genesis titles were coming in October was no doubt surprising.
Nintendo led with the fact that it would be an add-on to the standard Nintendo Service Online services, otherwise known as the “Expansion Pack.” The exact, full details on its benefits, price, and launch date have yet to be revealed, but fans know they’ll be able to play 4-player games, utilize newly-releasing Nintendo 64 and Sega Genesis controllers, and more. However, there is one clear drawback to the service already: it’s a drip-feed of content.
Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack N64 Games
Whenever it does launch at whatever price, there will be a grand total of 9 playable games from the Nintendo 64’s library. Reportedly, the Nintendo 64 has seen a total of 393 video game releases in its lifetime, which, while some only saw a release in Japan, means about 2.29% of its total library is available via this service. Now, there’s no doubt these 9 are big games (as seen below), but there are two big problems that come of that.
- Super Mario 64
- Mario Kart 64
- Star Fox 64
- Yoshi’s Story
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
- WinBack: Covert Operations
- Mario Tennis
- Dr Mario 64
- Sin and Punishment
Nintendo announced that, over time, other games like Majora’s Mask will join the service, and that highlights the first real problem. Fans will be drip-fed content slowly, and there’s far too much that still deserves to be there. There are scores, if not hundreds, of games some fans would want. Off the top of the head, that includes titles like Donkey Kong 64, Diddy Kong Racing, Pokemon Stadium 2, and so, so many more. Some titles will ultimately keep fans waiting much longer than others, and there’s no guarantee what will or won’t come eventually.
This could be corrected, at least somewhat, with a roadmap of sorts, but services like this don’t typically do that. The fact of the matter remains that fans may be able to expect a couple of additions a month, but if it’s not a significant number, that means fans could be waiting years for their preferred N64 games.
And that, in turn, lends itself to the second problem: what’s the price of this Expansion Pack? Even considering the SEGA Genesis benefits, the standard pricing and benefits of NSO, and the potential other benefits yet to be announced, does it make as much sense for fans to pay as much as they do per month for 9 games as they do in a year when it’s 18 and so on? Nintendo has yet revealed how it’ll address the influx of games exactly or how the pricing will work. At the end of the day, there will be some who are just happy to finally see N64 games on Switch, but the question may end up being at what cost.
Nintendo Switch Online’s Expansion Pack is set for release in October.