There is a little over a month before Nintendo Switch goes on sale, but the Japanese gaming giant still has some secrets surrounding its next-generation console. Read more: The best Nintendo Switch games
Although the Nintendo Switch games line-up is expanding, and tech specs were recently revealed - with the important exception of details on the Switch's processor - Nintendo still hasn't revealed much on its post-launch plans. This includes the specifics of the console's online service.
While firm details on this are still unknown, we now know how much it's likely to cost. Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima told Japanese business paper Nikkei that the Switch's online services will be priced at ¥2,000-¥3,000 (£14-£21 at time of writing).
For that, players can expect "enhanced" features, including online multiplayer support and access to a library of downloadable games, pulled from the NES and SNES libraries. However, reports indicate that unlike the free games available to Xbox or PlayStation subscribers, these retro titles may only be playable for one month.
The prices suggested are a pleasant surprise though, and much lower than the subscriptions charged by Microsoft or Sony. At present, a year of Xbox Live or PlayStation Plus membership costs £39.99 each. Nintendo's planned prices imply roughly half of that.
"With paid [services], we will be able to fully commit to customers," said Kimishima.
Kimishima also hinted at plans for Nintendo Switch to enter the VR market. The Nintendo president said the company studies VR and is considering adding such functionality to the Switch. "If we are able to resolve the issues with playing [VR] comfortably for long hours, we will support it in one form or another," he said.
Patents revealed in December showed the Switch may gain a virtual reality headset in the future. However, patents do not necessarily lead to a final product, and Nintendo's experiments may remain just that. Read more: Here's how much it will cost for all the Nintendo Switch kit
Given what we know of the Switch's power, it seems likely that any VR headset Nintendo may release would be more in line with Google Daydream or Samsung Gear than HTC Vive or even PlayStation VR, though a headset that could offset some of the computing and rendering load from the console itself could hypothetically improve performance.
Elsewhere in Nintendo Land, NeoGAF poster mocolostrocolos noticed Nintendo Portugal forgot to add game footage to a trailer of the Switch, instead accidentally showing off the console's developer menu. Although the video has been removed, screenshots reveal some interesting details.
The top image shows the dev-kit model of the Switch has 64GB unlike the 32GB planned for the retail version, while the second shows an accounts menu, which is as likely to store My Nintendo user details as it is any subscription information.
Don't expect Nintendo to be announcing a higher capacity Switch as a result of this though. You can also see that even the dev-kit has a menu entry for storage added through expandable memory, Nintendo's solution for gamers wanting more space - but the snaps are a nice glimpse at the console's inner operations for anyone curious about such things.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK