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 schemes, which owners will need to sign up for in order to play games online.
The paid service is targeting fall 2017 and until then online access will be free of charge, following the Switch's launch on March 3.
Paid subscribers will also be able to use an online lobby and voice chat via an app downloaded to smart devices.
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.
When PlayStation Plus became mandatory for PlayStation 4 online multiplayer, PlayStation was building upon an existing and popular opt-in scheme that provided members with access to a new batch of up to six games each month, all of which (in apparent contrast to the Switch plan) remain available while a subscription is in place.
Responding to PlayStation Plus, Xbox introduced its own Games with Gold perk for Xbox Live, which had levied a fee for online multiplayer since the mid-2000s.
With PS Plus and XBL Gold costing $59 a year, perhaps Nintendo will compete on price rather than features; the existing Pokemon Bank cloud save service is a more nominal $4.99 per annum.
Though the Switch's online fee is not yet known, price comparisons can be made elsewhere, matching consoles and accessories against each other.
The Switch is launching at $299, less than the PS4 and Xbox One upon their debuts, but exceeding current entry-level models; that could change should the Switch's price drop incrementally while PlayStation and Xbox move focus to 2016's premium PS4 Pro and late 2017's Xbox Scorpio.
Spare controllers are also unfavorably priced in a like-for-like comparison: $79 for a pair of handheld Switch Joy-Cons ($69 for the traditional gamepad) versus $59 for an Xbox One or PlayStation 4 gamepad.
However, those Switch controllers contain a special form of tactile motors that can simulate the feeling of holding specific physical objects. They can make players feel like they are holding a glass of ice cubes and water, Nintendo said -- precisely the sort of unique experience that has become its hallmark.
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