Update October 10th, 11:21AM: Registration for the mysterious Nintendo Switch Online playtest is already full, just over ten minutes after Nintendo opened up the signup process.
Original story follows below.
Original story: Nintendo has announced a playtest for a brand new Nintendo Switch Online feature, and recruitment for said playtest begins today, although you’ll need a little extra something if you want to take part.
In an announcement on its website, Nintendo says that the aptly-named Nintendo Switch Online: Playtest Program pertains to “a new feature for the Nintendo Switch Online service” that’ll be available on the Switch.
You’ll only be able to take part in said test if you have an Expansion Pack addon for your Switch Online subscription, and you’ll also need to be at least 18 years of age starting from yesterday (October 9th).
You’ll also only be able to access the test if you’re based in the UK, the US, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, or Spain. Those applying from outside Japan will be picked “on a first-come-first-serve basis”, Nintendo says, while those within Japan will be selected via raffle “if there are many Japanese applicants”.
Recruitment starts today at 10am Eastern and runs until October 15th, and the playtest period itself begins on October 24th, ending on November 6th.
Of course, this being Nintendo, the Japanese gaming giant is cagey regarding exactly what the new feature it’s testing might be. However, given that you need an Expansion Pack addon to access it, we can make a few educated guesses.
Since the Expansion Pack offers a number of retro games you can’t access with a basic Nintendo Switch Online membership, like Game Boy Advance games or N64 titles, it’s possible Nintendo is trialing a brand new system for the Expansion Pack service.
The obvious first choice if this is the case would be the GameCube, since there are many games for that system, like Super Smash Bros. Melee or The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, that are unavailable on modern consoles.
Nintendo could also be trialing the release of DS games for Switch Online. We know that porting DS games to modern systems is possible thanks to the recent release of Castlevania: Dominus Collection, after all.
In any case, you’ll be able to apply for whatever this Nintendo playtest happens to be starting from 10am Eastern today. Stay tuned for more on this.