Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. Features

‘Where’s Earthbound?’ Why Nintendo Switch Online’s library is lacking

By

A recent Nintendo Switch Online update added a handful of NES and SNES games that were met with disappointment from Switch owners. This sparked a discussion about the value of Nintendo’s subscription service and — in a more general sense — the company’s business model for offering classic games on the Switch.

Digital Trends spoke with Steve Bailey, Omdia’s principal games analyst, to shed some light on why Nintendo doesn’t seem to be interested in selling older, fan-favorite games to consumers. Bailey explains that Nintendo Switch Online’s classic games aren’t so much a selling point as they are a perk.

Recommended Videos

A difference in philosophies

To set the stage, here’s what subscribers get with Nintendo Switch Online: The service allows Switch owners to play online similar to PS Plus or Xbox Live Gold. Nintendo Switch Online only costs $20 per year, which is significantly less than the price of its competitors. The Nintendo Switch service also includes access to a variety of NES and SNES games via a library that continues to evolve over time.

Related

While some fans see this is the driving reason to subscribe to Nintendo Online, Bailey sees it as working the other way around.

“Nintendo probably sees games in the Nintendo Online catalog as a sweetener for its Online subscription, rather than a primary monetization model for its fan-favorite titles,” Bailey tells Digital Trends.

5 titles are coming to the #SNES & #NES – #NintendoSwitchOnline collection on 5/26!

Super NES – Nintendo Switch Online:
・Super Baseball Simulator 1.000
・Caveman Ninja (also known as Joe & Mac)
・Magical Drop2
・Spanky's Quest

NES – Nintendo Switch Online:
・Ninja JaJaMaru-kun pic.twitter.com/OzYmF7lIYk

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) May 19, 2021

That philosophy seems evident in Nintendo’s recent update, which includes obscure games like Super Baseball Simulator 1.000, Caveman Ninja, Magical Drop2, and Spanky’s Quest for the SNES, and Ninja JaJaMaru-kun for the NES — all of which are playable on Switch through the Nintendo Switch Online service.

Fans weren’t happy following the announcement. While it is nice to be able to play some of these classics via Nintendo Switch Online, fans argue that games like Ninja JaJaMaru-kun just aren’t cutting it, especially when so many beloved titles like Earthbound or Super Mario RPG aren’t available to play on Switch. The community has made it clear that it would be willing to purchase fan-favorite games outright if Nintendo simply offered the ability to do so.

This sparked the age-old discussion of “if Nintendo wants to make money off its older games, why doesn’t it sell them to consumers?” Nintendo fans are vocal about their frustrations with the company’s business practices, particularly when it comes to the distribution of older classics. Fans argue that Nintendo has one of the richest libraries of games, and it should be playable (or available to purchase) on modern hardware. Bailey explains why Nintendo can operate in such a seemingly erratic manner.

“In general, Nintendo can afford what seems like eccentric behavior because it’s in a unique position: No one else has game IP this valuable,” says Bailey.

A looming change?

What’s fascinating is that Bailey thinks Nintendo could begin pushing the online services toward the end of the life cycle of the Nintendo Switch, once the install base is much higher.

“It’s currently focused on a hardware-first approach,” Bailey says. “Everything is about driving people onto the hardware foremost. Driving people into online services (such as a content-library subscription) could be better timed toward the end of the hardware generation, when it’s looking to move players online as a transitional steppingstone to what comes after Switch.”

So, it’s possible Nintendo will start to focus more on its subscription service after it has reached a certain number of Nintendo Switch sales (which is currently sitting at around 84 million units sold). This could be a great time to start adding more fan-favorite games from the SNES and N64 eras — and possibly beyond.

What fans view as problematic, Nintendo doesn’t seem to view as an issue at all — at least according to Bailey. “These are billion-dollar brands [Nintendo is] working with,” Bailey said. “So they’ll probably move at their own pace. There must be so much fierce, ongoing internal debate at Nintendo, regarding the direction to take things, that we never see (even if, on the surface, the result looks like inaction).”

While this might not entirely satisfy all of our curiosity about Nintendo’s odd business practices, it at least can explain some of the company’s decisions when it comes to its older games. Ultimately, Nintendo doesn’t offer many of its beloved classics through a subscription service because it doesn’t have to. At least not right now.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Joseph Yaden
Joseph Yaden
Joseph Yaden is a freelance journalist who covers Nintendo, shooters, and horror games. He mostly covers game guides for…
Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s controls are easier with these Switch controllers
A hand picks up an 8BitDo Ultimate controller.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is out now and it's receiving rave reviews from critics and fans alike. While there's a lot to love, the Switch sequel does have one sticking point: its complicated controls.

Like Breath of the Wild, Link's latest adventure requires fans to do a lot of button juggling as they swap weapons, shields, items, abilities, and more on the fly. Tears of the Kingdom is even more complicated than its predecessor, as some of its new features require players to press and hold a button while pressing another and moving the control stick.

Read more
Don’t expect a Switch Pro or new Nintendo console within the next year
preorder legend of zelda tears the kingdom nintendo switch oled gameplay

If you were hoping that a new Nintendo console was right on the horizon after the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, think again. Nintendo has confirmed that it plans to release no new hardware over the next 12 months.

On May 9, Nintendo shared its financial results for the last fiscal year with investors. Console and software sales both lagged by a bit compared to the year before, with Nintendo crediting a semiconductor shortage and a weaker holiday season for that. Looking to the next year, the company hopes to sell 15 million new Nintendo Switch consoles on top of the 125.62 million that are already out there. Those forecasts are all based on existing hardware, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Read more
Play this Zelda hidden gem for free with Switch Online before Tears of the Kingdom

Ahead of the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, it’s a great time to look back on the stalwart Nintendo’s series presence on Nintendo Switch. From Breath of the Wild to a plethora of classics on Switch Online, it’s probably the best console for any fan of this series to own. That said, there’s one Switch exclusive that may have flown under your radar and is worth checking out before Tears of the Kingdom. That game is Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the Necrodancer featuring The Legend of Zelda.
All About Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer Ft. The Legend of Zelda - Nintendo Switch
Free for Nintendo Switch Online members until May 7 and available at a 50% discount on the eShop through the launch of Tears of the Kingdom, this game is a rare case of Nintendo collaborating with an indie studio for a project tied to one of its biggest franchises. The result is a Zelda game that expands on the rhythm-based action formula established in Brace Yourself Games’ 2016 hit Crypt of the NecroDancer.
Although this roguelite doesn’t play like any other Zelda game out there, it makes some design choices that call back to the series' most iconic titles. That, as well as its rhythmic nature, will feel refreshing ahead of Tears of the Kingdom’s ambitious and systems-heavy open-world adventure. If you haven’t played it, give Cadence of Hyrule a shot while it’s free.
A unique adventure
As a crossover between Crypt of the Necrodancer and The Legend of Zelda, the game begins with NecroDancer protagonist Cadence being whisked away to Hyrule. She quickly inspires Link or Zelda to explore the world and fight back against Octavo, who put Hyrule’s king to sleep with a magical Lute. Those who prefer the more minimalist stories of earlier games in the series will enjoy how quickly the game gets players to the rhythmic action. People begging Nintendo to make Zelda playable in Tears of the Kingdom will also appreciate that they can play most of the game as her if they want.

The act of playing Cadence of Hyrule is where things get really interesting, as it combines old and new ideas to create something that feels familiar yet refreshing. Starting with the new, this is a rhythm game where players must move and attack enemies on the beat. The Zelda franchise is known for its music, and Cadence of Hyrule takes full advantage of that by including versions of some of the series’ greatest hits. Until we get a Theatrhythm-like game for Zelda music, this is game fans of the franchise's iconic soundtracks can't ignore. 
Hopping tile-to-tile on the beat is pretty simple to understand, but it can get quite difficult as players must also account for the fact that every enemy also moves and attacks on the beat. Recognizing that players will probably die a lot, the game is structured as a roguelite where some dungeons are procedurally generated (as is the world each time you start a new file). Items can be found or bought with Rupees to help players during an individual run, while Diamonds are collected in dungeons or by clearing a screen of enemies can be spent on more permanent upgrades.
This may sound daunting, but gameplay options like setting the controllers to vibrate on the beat or only letting enemies move when you do can make it easier. Most Zelda fans should also feel more at home with how other parts of Cadence of Hyrule are designed.
But still familiar-feeling
 
Rhythm-based movement and combat aside, this is a classic top-down Zelda action-adventure game with aesthetics, presentation, and iconography that the series was once known for. The familiarity in terms of the locations visited, enemies fought, and items obtained makes those more distinct elements easier to embrace. It’s also novel to see elements from post-2D Zelda games show up in this style, like Skull Kid via DLC.
It demonstrates just how malleable and well-designed the core Zelda formula is because it still feels faithful despite its rhythmic nature. While Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom’s massive open worlds and deep gameplay systems impress, they’ve also created a yearning for a more classically structured Zelda experience from some fans.

Read more