Nintendo has a habit I’m starting to notice, and I really hope they break it. Whilst they’ve been expanding their online service offerings to customers through Nintendo Switch Online, I spotted the trend and it’s only gotten worse since I saw it. Whether it’s through classic games, music or now even Switch 2 updates, Nintendo keeps drip-feeding content.
The longer I’ve thought about it, the more I’m realizing this has been a long-running trend that Nintendo has been following. The longer it goes on however, the more it starts to roll-up and honestly become a little annoying. Whilst it became most apparent recently with the Nintendo Music App, let’s take it back to where it started in the Switch era.
The Nintendo Switch Online service offers many classic games across a bunch of different Nintendo and even non-Nintendo systems of old. That’s how it is now however, but it hasn’t always been like that. Nintendo Switch Online’s classic games collection at present consists of a whopping 300 games spread across NES, SNES, N64, Game Boy, GBA and SEGA Genesis. However, it started with a mere 20.
Yes, for those who have been riding the Switch train for a while now, you may remember Nintendo Switch Online’s official launch of the classic games selection back in September 2018. That was seven years ago now, where the service launched with just 20 NES games. In the most gruelling, slow drip-feed ever, it took eight years to get to where we are today, and it’s still less than the Virtual Console service ever offered in North America.
In hindsight, it is quite frustrating for those who enjoy retro games to see the amount of available games plummet from one generation to another, only to start counting up again from the measly 20 NES titles at the launch of Nintendo Switch Online. It took an entire year before SNES games were released in 2019, then another to see the addition of Nintendo 64 games. The Wii had both of these libraries already, and was a console two entire generations apart from the Switch.
Whilst the library available now is quite good, with some extra effort taken to enhance some titles or try to offer new experiences, we continue to only get a drip-feed of new releases every month, with a handful of new titles added, and it’s only going to continue. The Nintendo Switch 2 will see the introduction of GameCube games via the Switch Online service, and despite us knowing that at least ten games will be available, only three will be available at launch in June. Yes, they’re going to continue drip-feeding the other seven they already announced.
The classic game library isn’t the only ongoing subscription service of content Nintendo offers through its Switch Online service, as there’s also the Nintendo Music app for smartphones. This is a music streaming service that features some of Nintendo’s best soundtracks, something long requested by fans to become more readily available. As Nintendo likes to do though, they took a unique approach, one with some charm to it but also one that offers less value to the customer than just joining a regular streaming service.
Nintendo also takes the drip-feed approach with their Nintendo Music app, dropping a new game roughly every week or so. This does feel faster so far than their Switch Online classic game offerings, but it also still feels so slow for what fans have been asking for. Take just Pokémon for example – there are nine entire generations of games to cover, not including the many spin-offs and remakes. These games have been around for almost three decades, with the entire soundtracks of all these titles readily available on YouTube, CDs and even digital purchase. For some reason though, the Nintendo Music app only has two, with Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Even if for whatever reason they’re only limited to the Pokémon games on the Nintendo Switch, they’re still missing two essential entries with Pokémon Sword and Shield and Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.
Let’s assume maybe there’s complications with The Pokémon Company for these music rights, which wouldn’t make sense given the presence of the Scarlet and Violet’s soundtracks but let’s roll with it. The Nintendo Music app doesn’t even offer the soundtracks for its new games that Nintendo entirely owns. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom released just a month before the Nintendo Music app, and it would’ve been a great way to promote both the game and service, but the soundtrack isn’t there. Even the soundtrack to Tears of the Kingdom, one of the most anticipated Zelda titles and just general video games of all time, isn’t present. We got Breath of the Wild at launch, but nothing for its sequel which is far more recent.
To be clear, I do like the Nintendo Music app, and they do some cool stuff with it. I like how each track has its own image that matches where the song plays, and I love that Nintendo represents some more obscure soundtracks like the Wii Channels themes. It’s just a shame to know that, while one day this app will be packed with legendary soundtracks, we’re going to have to wait an eternity to see them all added, when other companies would have just put them all on Spotify. Even Square Enix, one of the most hawkish with its music rights, puts its game soundtracks onto Spotify around a year or so after they release.
As I mentioned earlier, the drip-feed is only set to continue as we head into the next era of Nintendo with the Switch 2. The Online service will now be offering GameCube games at a snail’s pace, but there’s also the shiny new Switch 2 Editions that Nintendo could drip-feed too. Serving as enhanced version of Nintendo Switch games, the new Switch 2 Editions will be optional digital or physical purchases that upgrade the content and capability of select Switch titles on the new system. Whilst four first-party Nintendo ones have been announced for games that already exist, you guessed it, only two are available at launch.
Both The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom will have day-one Switch 2 Edition support. We’ll need to wait another month for Super Mario Party Jamboree’s Switch 2 Edition, and another for Kirby and the Forgotten Land’s Switch 2 Edition. Some games will also receive free performance improvements, but even those are limited at present. Whilst it may just stay that way, we can’t help but feel Nintendo are getting ready for another drip-feed of a few Switch 2 Editions and performance improvements per year.
Nintendo tried out the drip-feeding approach with their classics library on Nintendo Switch Online, and have ran with it ever since. Even heading into the next generation with the Switch 2, Nintendo have shown no signs of stopping their approach to gradual drops that slowly satiate the fanbase and build over time, instead of just dropping it all and giving us a lot of what we want in one go.
Do you like Nintendo’s drip-feed approach to new content, or would you rather see bigger, more substantial drops? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below, and keep your eyes on GameLuster for more gaming news and analysis.
