I've been wondering if Nintendo has been looking at the VC situation for Switch, and realized that they can't really continue to charge people over and over again for the same VC releases. Now that we have digital titles actually linked to an account, how many people would be willing to pay full price for a VC release on each new Nintendo system? I get that they could do what they did between Wii and WiiU (small addon fee to "modernize" the games across platforms), but maybe the holdup is that they would rather do some kind of Netflix style subscription service instead. In ten years, when the hypothetical Switch EMU gets added to the Virtual Console, how could Nintendo justify charging everyone again to play the games they already own? Considering both carts and digital purchases now get linked to your account? They've been able to force everyone to double dip on older classics, because those games were never sold digitally. I can't imagine the gaming populace would be too happy re-buying games going forward, especially with advances in account linking.
Personally, I'd love to have all my digital purchases carry over, once purchased. Like a Steam setup. Buy once (or twice, in regards to older cart only games), and then as the technology matures, reincorporate those games back into the Virtual Console service. However, I just can't see Nintendo leaving all the potential profit on the cutting room floor. A Netflix style service would allow them to charge a monthly service fee to access all the games available, and would probably get third party offerings back as well. Look at all the third party VC games (and systems) that never made the migration trip from Wii to WiiU / 3DS. Once we get passed the DS / Wii era of games, Nintendo can't really charge for double dipping anymore. Not without a huge backlash. If I was a betting man, I'd guess that Nintendo Corporate sees this, and is working on VC as a service, so they can continue to make income on their back catalog. As a player, this isn't the most ideal way to go... but it does have it's own benefits. No more "nickel and dime-ing" us for the same games every system. And, in order for the service to be a success, they would have to have a huge catalog of games available, and continue to add games regularly. Which is a much better situation than what the Virtual Console has been the last couple years.
But, this is Nintendo, so who knows what they are planning. VC could be dead in the water.
