Paying for cloud saves is one thing. Having to pay because there's no other option is something else.
Analysis
by
Nadia Oxford,
05/08/2018.
Yesterday, Nintendo revealed details for Nintendo Switch Online, the company's plan for unifying the Switch's online services and capabilities in September. The news kicked off cheers and celebration across the Internet, especially the proclamation that cloud saves are finally, finally coming to the Switch. Then everyone's good mood turned on a dime because we're talking about Nintendo, and nothing Nintendo's involved in can ever be straightforward.
Nintendo Switch Online does offer some interesting services, and its pricing is very fair ($3.99 USD for one month, $7.99 USD for three months, $19.99 USD for a year, and $34.99 USD for an annual family plan). Problem is, the Switch's cloud saving feature is locked up behind the Switch Online paywall—and there's currently no other way to back up your save files.
Switch owners have been walking on eggshells since the system's launch a year ago, waiting for some kind of save back-up system to be implemented. It was widely assumed cloud saving was in the works, and that proved true. Now that our 200-hour Breath of the Wild saves aren't in danger of expiring along with our Switch if something should happen (provided we can make it until September), Switch owners should be breathing a sigh of relief. Instead, the news about Nintendo's cloud saves is driving them to vent their irritation.
Nintendo just announced a paywall for #NintendoSwitch save data as its ONLY backup option & that's not right! Help us raise awareness so we can #SAVETHESAVES for all players, not just those who play online. Find out more here & retweet to spread the word!https://t.co/vFRMzgZI1e pic.twitter.com/SdIBdf57tw
— Redhead On Moped (@HUELEN10) May 8, 2018
It's not Nintendo's pay-to-save cloud system that's troubling; many gizmo developers require a fee for cloud save access. The problem is, the Switch offers no other choice for save data back-up. You can't plug in a memory card. You can't plug in an external hard drive like you can with the PlayStation 4. You can't dig a USB dongle out of your drawer. With Nintendo Switch Online, if you're not part of a plan, you can't back up your save data. If you lose your Switch, break it, or accidentally drop it down a sewer grate (life is unpredictable), your Switch is gone, and your saves are finito too.
Resetera member "Redhead on Moped" is organizing a "Save the Saves" movement in hopes of getting Nintendo to budge on the issue. "For those not in the know, there is no way to back up Nintendo Switch saves to an SD card or via USB," Redhead writes. "The only option is the cloud this fall, behind a paywall, and that is a problem."
The #SaveTheSaves hashtag has picked up some momentum on Twitter, where people generally agree Nintendo's failure to offer any backup plan beyond "pay us" is anti-consumer.
You shouldn't have to be afraid of sending your console in for repair. Having to pay for cloud saves is kinda ok (not really) but atleast give us a way to manually back up saves on our own storage. @NintendoAmerica @Nintendo @NintendoEurope #SaveTheSaves
— harem jutsu (@crispipenis) May 8, 2018
It’s time to join this gen, Nintendo #SAVETHESAVES
— Robbie (@robbie_the_dino) May 8, 2018
It's already outrageous enough that repair service will likely lose you your saves without a way to backup. Don't make us pay for backups. @NintendoAmerica @Nintendo @NintendoNL #SAVETHESAVES
— Tamara Times (@XxTammyTxX) May 8, 2018
You know what would be great for me, @NintendoAmerica? Being able to store saves on this. That way, if I need to have my Switch repaired, I don't need to stress about whether or not your repair techs will accidentally smash it with a hammer and lose everything. #SaveTheSaves pic.twitter.com/2t5r9jCKu9
— T-man (@Tman1224) May 8, 2018
If the Nintendo Switch's hardware is incapable of backing up saves for whatever reason, there's no excuse for Nintendo not to give us a bit of free data for game saves. Unless Nintendo just enjoys tempering its good news and goodwill with morsels of bad decisions that make everyone angry. Sometimes it's hard to tell.
When you play 200 hours of Zelda:Breath of the Wild, Beat Mario Kart 8, and finish Splatoon 2, yet you lose all of that when your Nintendo Switch is stolen, it’s a huge loss when you can’t even recover your progress. Give everyone cloud save @NintendoAmerica #SaveTheSaves
— Trumbleup (@Trumbleup94) May 8, 2018
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If you don't like it, don't buy a Switch. That or wait for a hardware revision and see if there's a way to add extra save capability.
Nintendo.
My $40 will do 2 good things - give people water who really need it and backup my switch saves.
Personally I am more pissed about the lack luster library of retro games they are trying to tempt us with. Seriously early Nintendo games is what they are tempting is with and you announced the VC is officially dead, come on Nintendo! You are better then that and don't you dare think the drip feed method is going to fly again.
On the one hand, I do think it's stupid that the Nintendo Switch doesn't offer players a way to back up to back up save data to an SD card or something. Like, if I let my PS+ subscription lapse and I want to do some PS4 fridge cleaning, I can back up my save data on a USB flash drive. It's not an option I'd use often (I keep up with PSN for the deals), but it's an option I like having available.
But on the other hand, the Nintendo Switch's online service is only $20 for an entire year. Now I can't speak for everybody, but for me personally, $20 or less is a sweet spot, one where I'm likely to buy just about anything digital games-wise, and while Nintendo's online service might not have much in the way of content to offer, $20 for an entire 12 months is a very reasonable price point to me.
That said though, I can't think of many Nintendo Switch games that would make me want to keep an active Internet subscription. And I'm guessing that's the crux of the issue, people who want a way to back up their save data but don't want to pay money for a subscription to a service they would have little to no use for unless they're really into Splatoon or online Mario Kart 8 matches.
Silly. This could've been a positive story about the Switch, but they just had to be petty about it.
Also, I know $20 for a year isn't much money. That's not the point to the people who are annoyed. It's about the principle of it.
It’s not really a matter of them not understanding Internet (Sony also has cloud saves behind a paywall for that matter) neither a matter of them being petty and wanting people to pay for the “privilege of backing up saves”. If anything, is more likely a matter of them being (again! *sigh* -_-) stupidly paranoid about hacks and piracy. At least I presume that’s the reason why they have not implemented a “save data back-up” in the Switch yet, given how the most common method to hack both the Wii and Wii U was by modifying save files.
It’s a bummer though. I was planning on buying the subscription anyway (mostly for online multiplayer in Arms, Mario Kart and Smash Bros.), but people indeed shouldn’t have to buy it in order to back up their save files.
@niceguyneon it's ok to buy something, like it, and still find fault with it. I love my Switch but i also firmly believe that Nintendo are masters of anti -consumer crappy policies ☺
It's something that sucks, but the moment consumers made it acceptable to pay to play online for our consoles in 2002 when we knew then and know now we don't have to is when I'm willing to look at the other features behind a pay wall and think, OK so what?
If it's really that important to anyone in principle not to pay for this feature and store their saves another way then either don't pay for it or don't buy a Switch if it's a deal breaker.
But I don't the anger is without merit. Given even the Vita and it's proprietary memory cards (used to help fend off piracy) managed to find a way to make back ups work and to slow down piracy. I have faith Nintendo could have done that. And am not thrilled about it?
On the flip side, I only used that function when prepping to hack my vita.... So.... Probably not so excellent.
So now we want to hold Nintendo accountable for some sort of digital equality?
These are the same people who just propelled EA to a record year of revenue dominated by digital purchases. That is certainly not all games.
You had zero options before, now you have an option. That sounds like an improvement to me. Yes, it sucks that they are going to charge for online. It's very easy to argue that fact is on us, the gamers. We made it ok in previous and current generations, at this point Nintendo would be stupid to leave money on the table.
I think the Nintendo Online strategy is pretty great so far. $35.00 for me and my 3 kids on 3 Switches sounds amazing. I hate paying for the online. I hate throwing that game away every year on PlayStation. I am not thrilled to pay on Nintendo, but I feel like they are meeting me half way.
Look at it this way, you got your cloud saves. Keep talking, you'll get your SD card saves someday. But give the crusade a rest. You buy loot boxes and boosters all day long.
And that's the problem. If you play games to completion or for the post game challenges then you are taking a huge chance by not paying up for save data protection.
If you have small kids or share a system this is pretty much Russian roulette
This whole thing that comes up every time someone doesn't like the cost of something in games, 'If you can't afford $20 then you shouldn't be playing a Switch' bullshit has got to go. 20 bucks CAN be a lot of money to some people. But I guess you're right, poor people don't deserve video games.
Not to mention, personally, even though I can afford the $20, I'd rather it be spent on more games.
Also: kids. Apparently none of you ever had to try to explain to your mom why you needed a new memory card in addition to your new game I guess. Plus who breaks systems the most and in turn will be most likely to need the save backups? You guessed it. Kids.
Suffice to say, I made it through the 90's AND the 80's, and things have come a long way since then -- completing Super Mario Odyssey and Breath of the Wild are on an entirely different scale than completing Super Mario Bros. or The Legend of Zelda on the NES.
For me, losing Super Mario Odyssey data wouldn't be as problematic as something more personal-- your Animal Crossings, your Tomodachi Lifes, your nintendogs, maybe even BotW to some degree.
Hey, I'm all for being disappointed and/or for advocating what seems to be a good practice. But being outraged about it, as if you are somehow getting "screwed over" by this action... well, grow up.
Then again, this sort of thing is human nature; definitely nothing new. It's the subject of one of Jesus' better parables: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Workers_in_the_Vineyard