You will be pleased to know that the Nintendo Account website has recently been updated with a number of newly added features. We now know that the Nintendo Account will work like your Xbox Live or PSN account going froward in that your purchases will be tied to your account on the upcoming Nintendo Switch platform. Here’s the two features you’ll be most interested in for the Switch.
- Friend Suggestions: a feature that allows you to “easily connect with friends across multiple Nintendo Account linked services by providing friend recommendations in one service based on your existing friends in another service”. Thanks to this feature, you can easily find your friends in games you play, services you use, and consoles you own. You can search for specific services/games individually (Miitomo and Fire Emblem Heroes, for example). Naturally, disabling it doesn’t remove friends you added via this feature, just the suggestions.
- Parental Control: we already know that the Nintendo Switch is going to get a dedicated smart device app for Parental Controls, but it looks like there will be another way to set up those controls… via the Nintendo Account website! This feature requires a Child Account, that was introduced in a previous update. The Parental Control tab allows you to do the following:
- Edit info for the Child Account
- Restrict spending on the Nintendo eShop
- Set up Age-Based Purchase Restrictions for the Nintendo eShop
- Edit various settings, such as Friend Suggestions (see above for more details), and Usage Information sharing.
Ye
Probably a stupid question. But anyone think they will make it to where any digital games you buy, including virtual console, will be tied to your account? As in you don’t have to repurchase games from the Wii U on the Switch again? Really asking more for virtual console, since I buy physical for new releases.
“Any digital games” certainly not, since Wii U games don’t even run on the Switch. “Any Virtual Console games” more likely, but knowing Nintendo, I doubt it. They’ll probably make you pay an upgrade fee again.
Upgrading is free now.
Have any source for that?
This was confirmed already. Games you buy are shared to the account, and the reason for the overhaul from Club Nintendo to My Nintendo.
It was confirmed for Switch games only, not for Wii U games.
Yeah, you’re right. Sad that Nintendo basically kills off any support for their old systems after 1 year despite having backwards compatibility. Sony usually does support for old systems even after 2 or 3 years, similar to how they did the ps2 and how they’re still supporting the ps3.
“Sad that Nintendo basically kills off any support for their old systems after 1 year despite having backwards compatibility. Sony usually does support for old systems even after 2 or 3 years, similar to how they did the ps2 and how they’re still supporting the ps3.”
That’s not what I’m reading here.
“Friend Suggestions: a feature that allows you to “easily connect with friends across multiple Nintendo Account linked services by providing friend recommendations in one service based on your existing friends in another service”. Thanks to this feature, you can easily find your friends in games you play, services you use, and consoles you own. You can search for specific services/games individually (Miitomo and Fire Emblem Heroes, for example). Naturally, disabling it doesn’t remove friends you added via this feature, just the suggestions.”
“easily connect with friends across multiple Nintendo Account linked services by providing friend recommendations in one service based on your existing friends in another service”.
This tells me they are not ridding of the accounts and you can connect to them easily. I could be wrong, but that is the message I’m getting.
Historical, Nintendo has murdered their products as fast as they put out the virtual boy. Things could be different though with this and if we got a cross-buy option
well from the sounds of it, this might be that option bud.
Agree
The answer to his question is yes, any and all digital games are tied to your account–which–hold the phone a moment! HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE CASE.
What this doesn’t address is whether or not compatibility across platforms has been expanded. That is, are Virtual Console purchases still console specific. If I buy Super Mario Bros. for 3DS Virtual Console, as I can now, does that mean I can play it on all Virtual Consoles or 3DS Virtual Console only?
People are really eager for the answer and I see a lot of wishful thinking but no concrete evidence.
I don’t remember any of the sources, so take all of this as rumor until Nintendo clarifies, but what I recall hearing/reading from sources that seemed legit at the time was that:
1. From the start of Switch Development (since early Nx days) Nintendo has been planning to build a centralized account and development environment that future platforms will build off of. Reading those reports and quotes suggested to me that truly unifed and carried over software and user accounts will be a thing, but the Switch will be the start of that, not necessarily (or at all) retroactively applying to software purchased on 3ds and WiiU.
2. The only “insider” info I recall hearing around Virtual Console was that WiiU VC games you already own on 3ds or WiiU will be available on Switch at discount price (like upgrading wii to wiiu), and if you already own the game on BOTH, the Switch version will be free. Wii VC games that were never upgraded to WiiU versions would be excluded from that deal. No idea if there are special rules/costs around Online-Enhanced VC games. That had not been announced yet when I read this rumor.
I like #2. It would be like buy two get one free.