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Well, this is awkward. After building up a lot of hype about Nintendo 64 and SEGA Genesis games coming to Nintendo Switch as part of Nintendo Switch Online’s Expansion Pack initiative, Nintendo seems to have bungled things at the start. The issue is related primarily to the Nintendo 64 side of things, with emulation proving to be shaky almost across the board.
Users have been reporting issues like stuttering framerates, glitches, and other maladies. Given that the Expansion Pack costs $50 per year, a sizable increase compared to the $20 annually for the standard version of the service, one would be forgiven if they expected a relatively smooth launch. Particularly given that this is all software that’s over 20 years old at this point, software that Nintendo has emulated with far better success on older, weaker hardware.
So, what gives? Part of the problem, odd though it may seem, is related to the greater visual fidelity of Switch. Nintendo 64 games often utilized simulated fog in order to help deal with issues like pop-in or low draw distances. On Switch the fog has been essentially axed. As opposed to being a boon, in many cases the lack of fog is killing the atmosphere, as well as making some familiar locales look very off-kilter.
Another deal breaker is the lack of custom button mapping for N64 games. N64 controllers had a very unique layout and button setup, so it was never going to be easy to transfer control schemes to a modern pad like the Switch Pro Controller or Joy-Con, but the solution up to this point is woefully restrictive. Fans don’t have any way of natively tweaking buttons to suit their needs, which is exacerbating a situation that was already going to be difficult enough in the first place.
Nintendo is very likely working on fixes for some of these problems, but it’s not likely that every concern will be addressed in the near future. In fairness, all of the games are playable and many have minimal problems, but the situation as a whole is nonetheless frustrating. Does this put you off from upgrading to or subscribing to the NSO Expansion Pack? Sound off below!
Source: Nintendo Life
