> Nintendo is holding course more or less, but their main value propositions are simplicity and first-party exclusivity, and phones already ate the first half of that.

Someone at Nintendo had the genius idea of charging you a subscription fee for internet access.

So, you can play Pokemon Champions on a Switch 2 for $35 / year, or you can play it on your phone, which has an internet connection outside Nintendo's control, for free.

Nintendo's value proposition really seems to be "we will screw you as hard as we can, and we hope you like that".

> Someone at Nintendo had the genius idea of charging you a subscription fee for internet access.

Microsoft had that 'genius' idea with the original Xbox. The others saw that people will indeed pay for such a thing and copied the idea with the PS4 and Switch.

They all do this. Sony charges for PlayStation online too.

It's not good, but it's not just Nintendo. In fact, Nintendo is the most reasonably priced.

Err, Pokemon Champions does not require a Nintendo Switch Online subscription to play online.

It's really not much different than PSN or Xbox Live, so I don't think it's fair to say that Nintendo "had" the idea.

I have no clue where you're getting $35 from. It's $20/year.