Rumour: Insider Says N64 Is Coming To Switch Online, Believes It Will Introduce A "Higher-Priced" Subscription Tier - Nintendo Life

A few weeks ago, known insider 'NateDrake' revealed on his podcast how Game Boy and Game Boy Color games would supposedly be coming to Nintendo's Switch Online service in the near future.

"Eurogamer went one step further, having noted that additional platforms will also be added to Nintendo Switch Online in the future?

And today I would like to add to that, yes - that information is accurate and one of the platforms that will be coming to the Nintendo Switch Online in the future is the revolutionary Nintendo 64."?

While the rest of the discussion about the N64 coming to the NSO is for most parts speculative, Nate seems to think Nintendo will use this generation of games to introduce a new Switch Online price tier.

"What I'm going to propose, is that when Nintendo 64 does come to Nintendo Switch Online it is going to come with a higher-priced tier - a premium version of Nintendo Switch Online, if you will.".

I mean that's a guess but you know, we will find out as we said, September is the month of reveals, the anniversary of the platform itself, so hopefully, we have some news about Nintendo Switch Online this month, but there is no rule that it has to come this month.".

The main focus here though is that Nintendo 64 is apparently one of the platforms coming to the NSO.

When he’s not paying off a loan to Tom Nook, Liam likes to report on the latest Nintendo news and admire his library of video games.

Oh yeah I forgot to mention about that reddit thread that N64 titles are coming to NSO, oh yeah also Atari games, and WonderSwan.

Whether or not I feel inclined to play these same games on Switch depends on what Nintendo's emulation brings to the table?

If it's still allows you to play online with other people, then I expect the second and third Mario Party to be on there.

Nintendo has kept ignoring Mario Party 3 when it came to virtual console releases, so I would really like to see it come to NSO.

Honestly, the N64 may be on of my least favorite Nintendo consoles.

Mario 64 (Which is on 3D all stars) and the 2 Zelda games are some of the only N64 games I would still want to play, and I have played them to death.

There is one game I would want from N64 though, and that is Mischief Makers?

Last week GameCube games were rumored then gameboy and now N64.

I hear Nintendo is coming out with a switch pro too.

You guys should change your site to a Nintendo rumor site.

But it is funny how some folk seem to get off on announcing Nintendo stuff before Nintendo does lol?

It just isn't a service that warrants a sub.

The online itself is bad and I so rarely dabble in any of the classic games.

I'm not holding my breath for N64 but since I would be willing to spend money on Zelda ports I'd also be willing to spend slightly more for the service if it got those same games.

If there's any truth to this rumor I would gladly welcome the addition of Nintendo 64 to the Nintendo Switch Online.

Especially since Nintendo dropped the ball HUGE on not including the GBA library on the 3DS E-Shop.

I have a tip from industry insiders that video games are coming to Nintendo Switch within the lifespan of the system.

If they increase the price it will be the last time i pay for nintendos online service wich still runs like crap.

Paying for NSO is bad because Nintendo's online isn't good, and no retro games has changed this reality.

But the irony from that is that N64 games (and hopefully not just N64 games) with online with friends for 10 more dollars a year would be tempting, with enough of the quality multiplayer games of the day.

NSO is a bad online service, but has potential as a great retro gaming service.

But I have my doubts anything will happen soon, because on its own, there's so little N64 games Nintendo has ever gotten on VC in the past beyond their own.

The Majority of the truly great 64 games are tied to Rare or locked behind other ownership/dev rights.

Think theres more xhance of N announcing a new F-zero than getting any of Rares games on switch 😂.

I want to play as close to the original console model, controllers and experience.

As well as to be able to put any Rare games what will be obviously absent from NSO.

This is also reflected in the low-frequency and mid-tier-quality of games coming out on NSO?

Still so many 1st party NES and SNES games missing.

@The-Chosen-one BTW I read it as they'd have different price models if you want access to N64 rather than increasing the price.

pretty easy to just say "my sources say that Nintendo will add the next system in their lineup to NSO" and hope for some easy credibility boosts?

This is the kind of thing Nintendo needs to do with Virtual Console, make it into a Gamepass like service.

Banjo could be coming to Switch via N64 games.

Plus the problem you will always have with the N64 is that half of it's best games were made by Rare...

Many people (myself included) believed for years that the Saturn's analogue pad was first because in the West, Nintendo delayed the release of the N64, especially in Europe/UK, with it not coming out until March 1997.

One way that Sega's analogue pad WAS revolutionary was the inclusion of analogue triggers, which of course are present on most consoles since then, except ones from Nintendo.

They were revolutionary games because of excellent game design, not the N64 hardware itself.

Whilst all three features were very much touted as being revolutionary and were certainly forward thinking as they are all things used in the "high" settings of triple A games nowadays, but arguably the N64 hardware wasn't really powerful enough to implement them in a truly impressive manner, because the screen resolution, poly-pushing abilities, and texture map size meant the games often sadly ended up just looking fuzzy, soft, and blanketed in fog.

Most of the games I would want would be Rareware titles....

Honestly, considering how utter trash the online service is at this point, charging more for the inevitable slow drip feed of N64 and GameBoy titles would be an even bigger spit in the face to Nintendo fans (we all know exactly which games they'll feed to fans, lol).

They have proven over the last 3 years with their NES/SNES offerings that they don't care about the service and simply use it as a carrot on a stick to try and entice fans of their old stuff to buy into what is a literal online paywall to a horrid online service.

I'd love N64 games on Switch online, if they included the obvious Rare and other titles which we all know would be difficult/costly from a license perspective.

Not if its in the current state of the NES and SNES support - key titles missing, releases slowing to a drip feed, and (most importantly for me as for some reason it drives me absolutely mad) a forced border and HUD prompts with no ability to turn it to plain black.

I regularly play old games on my retro systems and emulated on my PC and PSP but very rarely play them on Switch because of those limitations, especially the last one.

To be honest, I mostly prefer local multiplayer to online, so the main reason I pay for Switch online is the cloud saves.

N64 games shouldn't be worth much more than SNES games.

Nintendo would have a lot of nerve asking for more money when their online service is barebones as is.

I'm letting my Switch Online run out, I never use the NES/SNES games and mainly play single player games?

If there's no Rare games, then there's no interest from me and I'll not be updating my subscription.

Hopefully the long wait for some new content after they added SNES is, in part, due to the Rare issue with N64 and they've successfully dealt with it now.

If Nintendo intend to charge more for N64, they can spend more getting the games we actually want to play.

On a serious note, this part of the Service would NEED 'GoldenEye' AND 'The World Is NOT Enough'.

I understand being disappointed in how games perform online, and Nintendo should definitely fix their lag and frequent disconnects; if that's all you care about, nothing will change your mind.

But charging less than $40/year to play Nintendo's vast library of NES, SNES, N64, and possibly GB and GBC games is objectively a steal.

I'd happily pay more for Gamecube and Wii games, but not for N64 ones.

For now, I want GBA games.

Can't see Nintendo bringing that many N64 games over to Switch anyway so it might not be worth it for a lot of people.

Not that I believe the N64 is coming to Switch VC.

If they don't include proper server support with that then people aren't going to be happy with just N64 games for that price increase.

But there is a lot of aged software in the library that just doesn’t play as well in the modern day compared to GBA and SNES releases!

(Really big prediction Nate considering Nintendo annually has a sept direct).

They make it seem like you are getting free games for the online service when in fact it's just a calculated value for them to break even (at minimum) on selling these "free" games in a subscription bundle.

I don’t think Nintendo are going to charge more but if they did, I’ll be happy to pay extra for a good line up of other retro console libraries

I haven't used any Switch online services in months and to have the cheek to charge more for something that probably should've been there for a while is the last nail in the coffin for me

Personally, I still play many N64 games on original hardware - admittedly with an HDMI mod which can also turn off a lot of the "smoothing" and make the games appear clearer and sharper than native

However, like you mentioned, often the best way to play lots of the standout N64 titles (Perfect Dark, Banjo Kazooie, Mario 64, Ocarina of Time for example) is on more modern hardware, rather than the original console

If the emulation of the Switch Online versions could provide some basic enhancements to remove the flaws that put many off (remove fuzzing, improve framerates, increase resolution), it could give a new lease of life to the games, which are fundementally still excellent

I mean, I’m pretty sure Nintendo will release lots of different things at some point in the future

Add gba, GameCube and Nintendo ds before asking for more money

Spread it out like they did with NES and SNES

If you absolutely have to get extra money for ropey old N64 games, why not just release an N64 collection as a separate app

You get the games for the admission price, they have online multiplayer if you're an NSO subscriber

Edit: Have to say, I can't really imagine that NSO's roll-up of old software has been what Nintendo wants

It was a way to get people used to the idea of paying online fees—they must know they could make loads of money on top if they sold the games separately

I'd pay $5/£5 more for GameCube games, but not for N64 games

By the time Nintendo includes GameCube games it's going to be a mortgage

Nintendo will pull that crap they did with the 3ds and claim “their hardware isn’t sufficient to run N64 titles” and release a “New Nintendo Switch” in a bid to sell more consoles

As it's the N64, I would consider paying extra as the games are still excellent, but only if Nintendo provide a list of the games coming and how long it's going to take them to release them all

Given that Nintendo get money for nothing from me every month for their NES and SNES service while we wait for the massive gaps in the library to be filled (and I'm not talking about the impossible licensed stuff, just simple things like Axelay and Actraiser), I would expect them to prove they're going to get a decent number of games out in a short period of time to justify any increase in price

I don't see N64 ever coming really, the well of titles that console has that people actually want is very shallow, and even worse when a lot of the best titles are off the table like any Rare games, or expensive licenses like Rouge Squadron that Nintendo is for sure not going to pay for

I'm still not convinced Nintendo will ever add N64 or GCN games to NSO when they can sell remastered versions of those games at a very profitable premium price

Seriously, NSO will always be lacking, due to the simple fact that too many key developers like SquareEnix and Konami don't support it, which is understandable as they want to sell their remasters of old games

The most likely to appear would be Rare, and that's because Nintendo and Microsoft are on good terms and there are some Microsoft exclusives on Switch

@RadioHedgeFund It was Nintendo's first console with true 3D Graphics (The few FX-chip games on SNES don't make it a 3D console IMO), so that was sort-of revolutionary, but IMO most games from that era aged pretty poorly, more so than NES/SNES, so i don't know how many people are going to go "Oh boy

Gotta get me a Switch Online subscription!"

Regardless of what they may or may not add, I'll never renew my online subscription, it offers next to nothing and the games that I've played that do require it, run like crap, whereas Fortnite runs fine

Maybe in 20 years Nintendo will accept the whole internet fad they've hated since day 1 and try embracing it, but it won't be anytime soon

I pay 16 bucks a month for ultimate gameplay and get over 100 of best current gen games I’d gladly pay 10 or 15 a month for switch to get a better service as 6 a month is like Denny’s g myself two red bulls

Most of these early 3D games just hold up really badly, at least in terms of the overall visuals and framerate

And I mean such that even 16-bit games tend to look just much more appealing today and actually run much better in most cases too

Raising the price for adding 5 games would be a bold move even for Nintendo

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