I was on the $20 base membership since it launched back in September 2018 because I wanted to play Smash, Splatoon and Mario Kart online. I had virtually no interest in the dripfeed of NES and SNES games since I’ve already owned the ones I’m interested in on prior consoles. At least Star Fox 2 is more readily available than ever, which means an entire generation of Switch players may actually get to grow up with and fondly remember a game that was considered lost media for the longest time.
I didn’t bother with the [Expansion Pack](https://youtu.be/SkQJAKJxfQ4) when it first launched back in October 2021 because the emulation quality of the N64 games was abysmal, the launch selection was uninteresting to me for the same reason as the NES/SNES games beforehand, and I had negative interest in the Genesis games since I can actually own them on Switch in other ways without having to subscribe to a higher tier. The DLC offerings weren’t enticing to me either, since again I can own them by purchasing them outright without upgrading. And I don’t care for Animal Crossing either, so I wouldn’t get any mileage out of Happy Home Paradise.
But then GoldenEye 007 came out. I had friends that were on the Expansion Pack and wanted to play it, so I finally caved and upgraded in February of this year. Yeah the netcode turns the audiovisual experience into an interactive banshee-demon summoning ritual, but when it worked it was still pretty fun. And what cosmic timing too as shortly after I upgraded, Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games were added to the service. The selection of N64 and Genesis games by this time had also grown to a much more palatable number for me, so I felt confident and vindicated waiting to upgrade.
by Asad_Farooqui
47 Comments
I have a bunch of annual NSO base membership codes that came with purchases.
Then I learned that I could redeem two at a time and convert that time into an Expansion Pak membership.
So I haven’t paid a cent for NSO.
I have the expansion pass because it’s very goated with the sauce
I stopped paying a few months ago, it’s not worth it since there isn’t any new game worth playing online apart from splatoon 3. I was enjoying the n64 catalog but seeing how they stopped adding new games to it and the new games in other platforms aren’t worth it for me
Basic. Expansion not worth it
I’m on the base membership. I play Splatoon online from time to time and my wife likes to play some of the NES games.
I’ve never felt the need to upgrade. I have all the N64 games on offer physically, as well as the GBA and Genesis games so far (at least, the ones I have interest in). It’s gonna take something really special to make me want to pay more.
Base membership. I’m just here for the cloud saves.
So far im at the standart, enjoy just the online and the gameboy games, but the moment they put Golden Sun, Pokemon Esmeral, Final Fantasy Tactits, im gona to updgrade !
I have the expansion pass since I have a membership with a group of friends so it ended up being cheaper
Expansion Pack won’t be purchasing it again tho, literally don’t use it
Basic one. Need more games on the expansion pass before I consider it. Might be worth it to me in a few more years
I’m expansion. When N64 came out I was 20 years old and like many others, it seemed too “kiddie” for me. I thought I was a beer drinking real man playing metal gear and FF7 back in 1998. I was wrong. I played Mario 64 and OoT for the first time in my life well into my 40 year old self.
Missing N64 was the greatest mistake in 30 years of gaming. So Expansion & no regrets.
Expansion. I’ve enjoyed playing quite a few N64 and Mega Drive games. I’ve also played the Mario Kart DLC a lot
I’ve never had a paid sub for NSO it’s too terrible to deserve my money. I don’t care about the emulators because I already have emulators on my computer and phone for free so I’m not interested in playing Mario Kart at 700 Ping or Smash with 44f input delay.
Nintendo switch online expansion ++ turbo edition
None. I already own all the old systems and the games I want for them. I don’t need a subscription to enjoy retro stuff.
Expansion with the family plan. Everyone pitches in so it’s super cheap.
I’m subscribed to the expansion pass for one year because I wanted to play Ocarina of Time one time I was drunk. Haven’t used it since
$35 family deal so me and the wife can play Splatoon and Mario Kart.
Expansion, I’m on a family plan with 7 other people so it works out to only 10 dollars a year which is well worth it. If I was solo I would definitely only have the base membership though
Expansion with family plan. Because why not? It’s only £60 a year. My kids rarely play the Switch anymore so I could probably get away with having a solo membership but it covers us for the odd blue moon when they put Roblox down for five mins.
None. Why would I rent something I’d prefer buying?
Id rather use the 3ds or just run a rom instead.
Yes, it’s pirating, but renting is throwing money away.
I have the expansion pass and I think it’s a great deal. I just canceled Xbox Game Pass because I don’t really play any games on it, but NSO is what I use my switch for most.
Family expansion, we paid it between 4 friends, dirt cheap
The expansion is 200 percent not worth it imo
Expansion. Check username
Just the base one. I had the family one before for me and my wife, but she doesn’t play her switch a lot these days so I went back a tier. I don’t care much about playing older games at the moment, but I’d upgrade if I ever get the itch.
Expansion. I travel a lot for work and my switch lite comes with me. Retro games are great for unwinding on business trips. Also I’m a Mario Kart addict.
Expansion, been wanting to play 64 games with friends sense I was a child. And this works out pretty well.
Plus with friends and family subscription it’s $10 a year
Base membership. I was never a big Goldeneye fan and greatly preferred Perfect Dark. The DLC included in the Expansion Pack I view the way Nintendo does: as B-tier stuff they might as well try to lure subscription dollars with because it isn’t selling anymore. While I would like to have it all deep down inside, when push comes to shove I’d rather save the $30/year.
Regular Game Boy/GBC games are included in the base sub by the way. I’ve been playing Kirby’s Tilt & Tumble as of late, which is actually the game I’m most into on the service since I’ve never had the opportunity to play it before.
Base, I haven’t really had a reason to care about the N64 and GBA libraries, already own one of those Genesis library packs, and don’t really feel like paying an additional $30 for them. Not to mention, the overall value proposition when compared to something like base PS Plus is significantly weaker
Expansion. Got it when it launched then forgot to drop it back down to the regular tier again when I was no longer using it.
I have the family expansion pass. Honestly when you are able to split it 4 ways ($20) it’s certainly worth it.
Oh and I have the expansion almost solely for the Mario kart and animal crossing dlc because it’s cheaper than buying it for 6 different switches lol
I’m not.
I got the OLED switch when it came out and signed up for a year of the N64 level subscription. But over that entire year I wasn’t able to get one of those effing N64 controllers. The whole friggen fraggen year. So I let it expire.
Now I’m just petty as heck about the whole thing. I hope switch 2 is a flop.
Couple months of expansion pass, family plan. Not going to bother renewing since we almost never play online
Basic. I don’t play my Switch enough to do any more than that.
Whole hog, expansion family pass. Works out really cheap when we split the costs between me and my family.
Upgraded to the expansion today. Couldn’t justify the price but I’m now on a family plan
I’m on the expansion pass, but only because I’m splitting it with 8 people. $50/mo for what they’re offering is a ripoff, but $10/mo is quite reasonable.
I was a day one expansion pass member. I wish there was better QA for the patches, and I also wish there was a monthly option for it, but I wanted N64 and Genesis games, dammit!
I have the Expansion Pack on a family plan with my sibling. I only really use it for online play though because I still have my old NES, SNES, N64, and GB/A. My sibling gets a lot of use out of the NSO games though.
I have a lot of kids, so family plan. Few spots that were open I let a cousin use. I just upgraded to the expansion pass this past Christmas as a present to everyone on the sub. Surprisingly we’ve been enjoying the expanded legacy catalogue, so I don’t feel as bad about it as I did before buying the expansion pass. Promise of future DLC kind of grabbed me too, since we play most first party games.
Base membership, just wanna play with others online (Animal Crossing and Pokemon).
I have expansion. I splurged on it because of what I saved on TotK with the vouchers and I already had the N64 controller. I’ve played OoT and MM, Pokémon Snap and a few others – all have been great experiences.
I have a list of games I’d like to play and then I’ll unsubscribe. It’s not bad for a year, but I’d never stay on this for more than that, I don’t think.
I have the expansion pass but probably won’t be renewing it when it expires. It is absolutely not worth the extra price just to play some very old games. I’m also starting to doubt if they’ll ever add any pokémon games to gb/gba for NSO. The sporadic inclusion of random DLC for a few old games is also borderline insulting. Honestly it feels like a scam.
None. I only had it for the extra mario kart stuff but decided just to buy the specific game expansion when my subscription ran out. My thinking was if/when nintendo stop supporting the Switch in the future if I have the characters and levels downloaded to the console they’ll always be there. If they’re locked behind a subscription model that’s no longer supported in a console generation or two from now they won’t be.
Expansion + family. Worth it IMO.