Obviously paid online hurts for consumers, but the way it was announced couldn't have been much worse. Here we have a company that has had notoriously antiquated online services in the past, and they didn't even attempt to justify why it now has a cost associated with it.
What they needed to do was show off the improvements and additions to their service with a live demonstration. What are its features, how does it compare to your competitors, what is the damn thing even called? We are six weeks away from launch, it not being ready is simply not an acceptable excuse. After they have proven it is no longer a bare-bones, dated mess, then they can announce that it will be available for a nominal fee. Yes, it would still sting, but at least then we might feel a little more optimistic about Nintendo finally getting their act together in that regard.
Instead, they are asking us to trust them without any evidence, when so far their track record has only shown us that they are not up to the task, and with the only details given to us being a few paragraphs of text released online that are either vague, concerning, or flat-out laughable. It's absolutely baffling.
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