Nintendo Switch Online's N64 Emulation Is Inexcusable
Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack has just recently launched, giving subscribers access to Nintendo 64 and Sega Genesis games through emulation. A similar service was already available through the base subscription of NSO, which offered users NES and Super Nintendo games. Early adopters of the Expansion Pack subscription tier have already found some technical issues with the Nintendo 64 emulator technology that the Switch uses, meaning the service has failed to deliver on its ill-conceived, too expensive content package.
To be fair, the N64 and Genesis games are not the only differentiation between the Expansion Pack and the base NSO subscription. The Expansion Pass will also grant Animal Crossing: New Horizons players access to the Happy Home Paradise expansion when it launches on November 5. It also retains the perks of subscribing to the base NSO, including access to online play, the ability to purchase certain peripherals at additional cost, a handful of in-game cosmetic items, and the ability to play NSO-only games like Tetris 99 and Pac-Man 99.
However, Nintendo Switch Online is still rather short on functionality and exclusive content. It does not come close to offering the same features or member-exclusive deals as its closest competitors from Microsoft and Sony. Xbox Live Gold and PlayStation Plus are nearly equivalent in yearly price to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, but the latter doesn't offer dedicated usernames, built-in party chat, even lower sale prices for subscribers, or monthly free games (not to mention the entirety of the PS+ Collection on PS5). On top of NSO's well-known shortcomings, the service's premium model has now brought faulty emulations of its most anticipated feature: Nintendo 64 games.
Not long after the Nintendo 64 games went live alongside the NSO + Expansion pack, Twitter user Toufool posted a video demonstrating the input lag present when playing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. A follow-up tweet shows a slow-motion comparison between Ocarina of Time on the Switch and the original version on the N64. When the discovery was shared to the NintendoSwitch subreddit, user Dacvak did a more comprehensive investigation, comparing the new NSO version of Super Mario 64 to that previously released for the Switch through the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection, which also uses emulation for all three games.
Dacvak's methodologically is admittedly rather rudimentary as far as technical tests go, using the slow-motion video capture on an iPhone 13 Pro, but the range of results gets the point across. Super Mario 3D All-Stars has an input lag for Super Mario 64 of somewhere between 112 and 137 milliseconds, while the new version of SM64 included in Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack has an input lag clocking in somewhere between 150 and 167 milliseconds. According to Dacvak, "this means there is roughly a frame to 1.5 frames of additional latency in the NSO version." One or two frames dropped from a button press to the corresponding action happening on screen isn't a major concern, but it should be emphasized that this is a comparison to another emulated version of the game, not the original Super Mario 64 running on its intended hardware, which would likely have the lowest latency.
Another issue - one that's perhaps more noticeable than input lag - is an apparent problem with rendering fog and reflections in the Expansion Pack's N64 games. Twitter user stopskeletons shared a few screenshots comparing the water quality in Ocarina of Time, specifically the shallow pool in the Water Temple's mini-boss room where the player fights Dark Link. Missing visual effects have completely changed the room's aesthetic, with the new NSO version of Ocarina lacking all reflections in the water and fog that's used to make the area appear boundless.
Digital Foundry's John Linneman, who uses the handle dark1x on Twitter, suggests it's the emulation tech itself that is responsible for the rendering issues, meaning it could have an effect on every title available through the Expansion Pack. Stranger still is the fact that Ocarina of Time has been emulated wonderfully by Nintendo in the past for the Wii and Wii U Virtual Consoles, though Linneman says the NSO emulator looks to be based on the one used for Super Mario 3D All-Stars. Nintendo Switch Online's N64 games are presented in their native 4:3 aspect ratio rather than full screen, which helps preserve their dated graphics, but it's all for naught if the emulator can't properly display the games anyway.
These issues may sound like nitpicks, and relative to game-breaking bugs, they are, but the fact of the matter is Nintendo has charged consumers for a service and failed to deliver what was promised. These may be small complaints in the grand scheme of things, but increased latency and missing visual effects in games that are over two decades old make the Expansion Pack emulations objectively inferior to the originals they are adapting. The N64 and Sega Genesis games are the only offerings in the Expansion Pack until the Animal Crossing DLC launches on November 5, and it costs more than double the standard NSO subscription.
Issues like those above could easily be chalked up to simple oversights or unfortunate limitations in the emulation tech, but a failure to rework features that require the N64 Controller Pak, as documented by TriThreat98 on Twitter, begins leaning the whole situation in the direction of apathy toward the consumer. Without a Controller Pak, it's impossible to save ghost times on the NSO version of Mario Kart 64. A Controller Pak goes in the back of a Nintendo 64 controller, and the ones specifically made for the Expansion Pack games don't even have a slot for one. This is bordering on game-breaking since the entire time trials game mode is now useless in Mario Kart 64.
Those who don't wish to pay another $50 (the same price as a yearly Expansion Pack subscription) for the Switch-compatible controller will also have to deal with Nintendo's attempt to graft the Joy-Con button layout onto N64 games. As Twitter user Shiori_Ishimaru and Reddit user Enraric have pointed out, rearranging the layout for the N64 controls is almost nonsensical, since the right Joy-Con doesn't have enough buttons by itself. Custom button mapping is also not possible for the NSO games, and the Switch's system-wide re-mapping doesn't solve the issue. Even more complaints have been compiled in a ResetEra thread, which includes delayed audio, frame rate drops, and various issues with music tracks.
Nintendo has taken its already lackluster online service, added these games which are riddled with issues, and charged more than double with the promise of DLC content being included at a later date. The second subscription tier for Nintendo Switch Online was anti-consumer enough, and now the poor execution of the only currently available content in the Expansion Pack is frankly inexcusable. Nintendo's perennially full-priced games and unwillingness to fix Joy-Con drift are beside the point, but they are emblematic of a pattern in which the company has no regard for the consumer, with the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack N64 games debacle being just the most recent example.
Sources: Reddit (u/Dacvak, u/Enraric), ResetEra, Twitter (dark1x, Shiori_Ishimaru, stopskeletons, Toufool, TriThreat98)