September's Nintendo Direct had plenty of surprises, but one of the most unexpected was the announcement that Nintendo Switch Online was getting its own Sega Genesis line-up alongside NES and SNES titles in an Expansion Pack plan. While the first impression most fans get from this collaboration is appreciation for how much has changed between these companies in the last 30 years, it also says a fair deal about Nintendo's confidence in Sega.
Nintendo isn't always great when it comes to video game preservation. The company has shut down many fan efforts to preserve or remake older games that aren't as widely available as they used to be. In its efforts, many of its titles have wound up locked in the vault until anniversaries or other opportunities give the company a chance to re-release the games, such as through Nintendo Switch Online's collections. Sega, however, is different with its legacy.
Sega's Widely Available Game Library
Ever since Sega left the console market, it has done its best to make sure its games were ported onto other consoles. Sonic Adventure 2: Battle was ported to the GameCube after the death of the Dreamcast, and many other games and Genesis title collections followed soon after. This practice would persist from one console generation to the next, so no matter what console fans want to play on, there's usually a way to get their favorite Genesis, Dreamcast, or even Game Gear titles with ease.
In 2017, Sega launched the "Sega Forever" initiative, which is based entirely on video game preservation. Sega Forever's mission was to make sure there was a way Sega loyalists could play any classic game they could think of in any way they wanted to. While there haven't been any new entries under the Forever label since 2019, its releases are still widely available on iOS, Android, and Steam. With so many Sega retro titles available to fans, one might wonder what is the point of the NSO Expansion Pack including Genesis games.
Sega's Part of Nintendo Switch Online
Collaborations such as this used to be rare, but have become more commonplace in the advent of things like Super Smash Bros. Where gaming companies used to be protective over their IPs, they seem to have realized their audience changes what consoles they play over the years. Fierce competitors have come together against the odds to make what was once impossible possible, such as Microsoft allowing Banjo and Kazooie to become Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC.
Fans get to soak in the collaboration and its benefits, but they don't get to see what it takes to get there. It takes copyright and legality discussions, it takes contracts, and most of all, it takes money. For Nintendo to get the license to Banjo and Kazooie for Smash, it also undoubtedly had to pay Microsoft for the rights. The same goes for Sega with Sonic. When video game developers work together on collaborations and crossovers, money for the rights to do so is almost always involved, which means Nintendo is paying Sega for the right to put Genesis games on its platform.
Nintendo's Trust in the Sega Genesis
With the acquisition of SEGA Genesis titles, Nintendo Switch Online's subscription-based retro game line-up is turning into one of the best libraries that gamers could ask for. It not only offers plenty of titles to chose from, with forgotten classics available once again, it also includes new features such as online multiplayer that players could only dream of back in those consoles' haydays. Those new features might be impressive, but won't interest players in the Expansion Pack alone.
While it can be argued Sega games are riding the coattails of Nintendo 64 titles in the same package, the fact that Nintendo needs to give Sega at least a bit of the money from the plan adds a bit of perspective to the Expansion Pack's additional price. There's even a chance that without Genesis titles on the subscription plan, the N64 games may have followed the same system as the NES and SNES collections - just being part of the package. This would mean that Nintendo figured having a Nintendo Switch Online collection of Sega Genesis titles would sell well for its subscription platform.
Through Sega Forever, plenty of those titles are readily available on other consoles. After the announcement, fans were quick to point out how there's already a Genesis collection available on Switch that offers 50 Genesis games compared to NSO's 14 at launch. Through several other means, gamers can play almost all the games that Sega's side offers, which seemingly brings down its value.
Nintendo is definitely aware of Sega's efforts to make its titles widely available for who want to purchase them, so its decision is an interesting one. Having the titles on its platforms is still deemed worthwhile enough to pay the price in Nintendo's eyes.
With how the collaboration is tied to Nintendo Switch Online, it isn't something Nintendo can just take away if it changes its mind later, so that means Nintendo is certain the Sega Genesis games are worth the extra price tag. How much that deal ends up paying off for Nintendo remains to be seen, but retro gamers have definitely won out when it comes to the library found with Nintendo Switch Online regardless.
