Nintendo Switch Reveal: 9 Ups & 10 Downs

Downs

10. Vagueness About Online Features

One of the biggest question marks surrounding the Switch has been the console's array of online features, considering that this has been a notoriously poor aspect of Nintendo's gaming service for as long as online play has existed.

It was confirmed that the Switch will charge for its major online features from fall of this year following a launch trial, and in an incredibly baffling decision, online lobbies and voice chat will be organised through a smart phone app. Because people want to pay to use their phones to set up multiplayer...

For their money players will also get a free NES or SNES download per month (with the latter including added online multiplayer), but honestly, that can't even begin to compare to the titles Microsoft and Sony are offering for their monthly online dues.

Even with all this information, the ins-and-out of the online infrastructure still feel cloudy and vague. For instance, what about Nintendo's Virtual Console policies? Will players need to re-purchase games, or will digital titles carry over? The silence on this is rather concerning.

All in all, it's disconcerting that Nintendo are eager to charge for this service right out of the gate, considering their poor track record with online and little proof from this conference that they're righting previous wrongs.

Oh, and the paid online service will only be available in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico on launch. Great.