Nintendo’s Paid Online Plan Invites Comparisons

Nintendo's March 2017 console, the home and portable hybrid Switch, will join the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in asking players to pay a subscription fee for online multiplayer and other perks. The Nintendo Switch will have an optional subscription service, similar to the PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold.

Access to exclusive deals and, in particular, the presence of a monthly retro game download, acknowledges the overt generosity-first approach pioneered by PlayStation and subsequently adapted by Xbox, but may struggle to equal them, if that is the intention.