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Prior to the Nintendo Switch, the company's systems offered free online play. But nowadays, a Nintendo Switch Online subscription is required to take advantage of most online modes. To sweeten the deal, you get other goodies in the package. And if you want the best out of the service, Nintendo also offers a second tier called the Expansion Pack.

If you're just getting into the Switch or Switch 2 ecosystem, you might wonder if this subscription is worth its cost. Or maybe you've been subscribed for years and have forgotten what you're getting for your money. Reviewing what's on offer helps you evaluate how much you're actually using a subscription so you can spend your cash wisely.

I've been a subscriber since the service arrived in September 2018; I've used the service on both Switch and Switch 2, including the Expansion Pack.

What do you get with Switch Online?

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The base Nintendo Switch Online plan, available for $20/year, includes all the essentials. Its main appeal is allowing you to play games online, either with friends or random people via matchmaking. You don't need Switch Online to play free-to-download games like Rocket League or Fortnite, but it's required for paid games (like Splatoon 3 or Mario Kart World). Thus, the value here depends on what you play.

Another core feature is the Nintendo Classics library, which includes around 200 NES, SNES, and Game Boy games. You'll find everything from masterpieces like Super Metroid and Super Mario Bros. 3 to more obscure titles like Game & Watch Gallery 3 and Crystalis. There's likely a lot in the library you've never tried before or would enjoy replaying, making this a great way to experience Nintendo's history. Some offer online multiplayer, but only with your friends.

Importantly, the subscription also provides cloud storage for your save data. That way, if your system ever stops working, all your progress is easy to move to a replacement. Given how long some games are, this is worth the price of admission alone.

Your subscription also grants access to Nintendo Music, a separate streaming app (and web tool) with various Nintendo soundtracks. This is neat, but not essential unless you're a huge fan of video game music. Finally, "special offers" include trials of certain games, missions that let you earn Nintendo Platinum Points and customize your profile's avatar, access to Tetris 99 and F-Zero 99, and the option to purchase retro replica controllers.

Upgrading to the Expansion Pack

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For $50/year, you can step up to the clumsily named Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack. This unlocks access to additional systems in the Nintendo Classics collection: N64, Game Boy Advance, Sega Genesis, and Virtual Boy. Many of the N64 and GBA games offer far longer runtimes than games on earlier systems, so there's a lot to dig into here. If you're interested in trying Virtual Boy titles, you'll need to purchase either the replica Virtual Boy model or cardboard viewfinder from Nintendo.

Another perk of the Expansion Pack is included DLC for three major Switch games. You can download Happy Home Paradise for Animal Crossing: New Horizons (normally $25), the Octo Expansion for Splatoon 2 ($20), and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's Booster Course Pass ($25). If you don't already have these and would play them all, there's a lot of value here, though buying them outright saves you in the long run. Octo Expansion is easily beatable within a year, but the other two packs are theoretically playable forever.

Switch 2 exclusive features

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Everything above is available on both Switch and Switch 2. If you have Nintendo's new and improved console, being a Switch Online member brings extra benefits. Either tier allows you to use GameChat, which is the Switch 2's built-in communication feature accessible with the controller's C button.

You can voice chat with friends, as well as share your screen (and video if you have a camera connected to your console). GameShare functionality also works over GameChat with friends to play a select handful of games with Switch 2 owners who don't have them. If you don't already use Discord, you might find this worthwhile. I haven't touched it since owning a Switch 2 on day one because I rarely play Switch games with friends.

Expansion Pack subscribers with a Switch 2 get access to the GameCube Nintendo Classics library. It only has a handful of games currently, such as Wario World and Luigi's Mansion. Nintendo updates these classic collections with new titles regularly, though it's been slow going for the GameCube in particular.

Finally, the higher tier grants free access to the Switch 2 upgrade packs for both The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. These upgrades, normally $10 each, improve the original games with a higher resolution, 60 fps gameplay, and other additions like a companion tool in the Nintendo Switch app.

Is Switch Online worth the price?

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Overall, Switch Online's base plan is a good value for nearly everyone. $20 a year is less than $2 a month, and you get plenty of value for the low cost. The Nintendo Classics library is worth poking around, plenty of Switch games offer enjoyable online play, and the Nintendo Music app is fun if you want something different — it even works with Android Auto and CarPlay. The save data backup alone pays for itself by protecting your time investments.

The Expansion Pack is more dependent on what kind of player you are. Treating it as a one-year "sampler platter" is a good way to start. If you have any interest in the expanded Nintendo Classics libraries, you can dig through those catalogs. The same goes for the three DLC packs and two Zelda upgrade packs. A year's subscription is enough time to complete at least one of the Zelda games and the Octo Expansion, plus try out the other DLCs. At the end of the year, if you've lost interest in the classic games and are done with the DLCs, you can revert to the lower tier.

Switch Online becomes an even better value with the family plans. For $35/year (base plan) or $80/year (Expansion Pack), up to 8 people can each enjoy the benefits. Plus, unlike many group plans, Nintendo doesn't care if you live in different locations. You also have the option to let family group members borrow your Switch games, which is another way to save.

With even three or four people, the price drops to an affordable amount per member. The core plan offers a seven-day free trial, as well as a $4/month offering, so you can give it a shot before you commit to a year.  %!s()

On Friday, lawyers for Trump argued that the BBC had embarked on a “politically charged discovery campaign” by seeking to compel testimony from Trump’s eldest son Donald Trump Jr, his first daughter Ivanka Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner.

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Trump’s team appealed to the court to reject the BBC’s motion, comparing it to a fishing expedition that goes beyond the scope of the case.

“This case concerns a narrow wrong — the BBC’s deliberate splicing together of two passages of President Trump’s January 6, 2021, speech spoken nearly fifty-five minutes apart,” Friday’s court filing said.

“Rather than litigate that narrow claim, the BBC has attempted to pursue a sweeping investigation disguised as discovery.”

The case began in December, when Trump announced he would sue the BBC over an episode of the documentary series Panorama, which chronicled the Republican leader’s path to a second term as president.

Part of the documentary focuses on the events of January 6, 2021, the day the results of the 2020 election were to be certified. Trump had lost that election but falsely claimed his defeat was the result of fraud.

At a speech in front of the White House on that day, he repeated the unfounded accusation that the election had been “rigged” to a rally of his supporters, some of whom participated in an attack on the US Capitol in the hours afterwards.

The Panorama episode included snippets from Trump’s speech, and critics argued that two sentences from his address had been edited together to sound like one continuous quote.

The first line was: “After this, we’re going to walk down, and I’ll be there with you, we’re going to walk down.” The second came from later in the speech: “And we fight. We fight like hell.”

Though the BBC apologised for the editing and took the Panorama episode down from its platforms, Trump nevertheless filed a multibillion-dollar lawsuit accusing the broadcaster of defamation.

The BBC has denied that charge and pledged to fight the lawsuit in court. The case is currently being heard before the US district court in southern Florida.

As part of its defence, the BBC has sought testimony from figures close to Trump, to establish his thoughts and actions on the day of the January 6 attack.

It pointed out that both Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump were present at their father’s speech, and that they spoke to the president and his inner circle as the violence erupted at the Capitol.

Text messages released by the US Congress show Donald Trump Jr urged his father’s chief of staff to “condemn this shit. Asap”, a fact cited in the BBC’s motion.

While Kushner was not present at the White House, the BBC maintains that his role as Trump’s adviser would also help establish the facts of that day.

Lawyers for the broadcaster say that, after speaking with congressional leaders, Kushner drafted “a proposed statement” for Trump to present, “which would have condemned the use of violence”.

The testimony of Trump Jr, Ivanka Trump and Kushner can help illustrate the president’s “burden to prove that it would be materially false to imply that he incited violence on January 6”, according to the BBC’s motion.

But, the motion added, the BBC has been unable to serve the three family members with subpoenas due to the presence of their US Secret Service protection.

The BBC reportedly attempted to deliver subpoenas to Ivanka Trump and Kushner at their residence in May, only to face Secret Service agents who said they were not authorised to accept the documents.

Likewise, that same month, the BBC was unable to hand Trump Jr a subpoena at Trump Tower in New York. It has therefore asked the court for permission to use certified mail to deliver the documents instead.

But in Friday’s court filing, Trump’s lawyers accused the BBC of carrying out a “cynical” campaign that involved the “harassment of the President’s family, associates, staff, officials, and others”.

It also called the BBC’s efforts “a boundless re-investigation of the events that occurred on January 6, 2021”.

The filing suggests that any interactions involving Ivanka Trump and Kushner are “subject to the executive privilege” of the presidency, since the husband-wife duo served as adviser and senior adviser to Trump, respectively.

Trump has made sweeping claims to executive privilege throughout his two terms in office.

Just this month, the US Department of Justice issued a memo saying such privilege shielded communication even with private advisers who worked outside the executive branch, effectively declaring interactions with companies and private individuals off-limits for subpoenas.

Critics fear the memo will be a hurdle to government transparency under Trump — and may even prevent Congress from accessing investigative materials.

Senator Adam Schiff of California framed the memo as an insurance policy against congressional oversight, should the Republican Party lose its majorities in Congress during November’s midterm elections.

“This latest opinion should be seen as a partisan measure to insulate the president and his corrupt activities from Congressional subpoenas when the majority flips,” he wrote in a statement on August 11.

The federal court in southern Florida has yet to rule on the BBC’s subpoena requests.

The BBC, meanwhile, has sought to have the entire case tossed, on the basis that Trump is attempting to dampen free speech. %!s()

Mateta - who started Palace's Premier League opener at Everton on Saturday - signed for the club in 2021 from Mainz 05, initially on an 18-month loan.

The striker signed a four-and-half year contract when joining permanently in January 2022, in a deal that also included the option of a 12-month extension.

Palace activated that option in 2024, meaning Mateta's current deal is due to expire at the end of the season.

But the 29-year-old is claiming the final year of his contract - the optional extra year - should be void and it is understood Mateta's case was heard by an independent tribunal under the Premier League's rules.

While there has been no official confirmation of the outcome, it understood Mateta's contract remained binding.

He has since taken his argument to world football governing body Fifa, who ruled earlier this week that overruling the contract is not within its jurisdiction.

BBC Sport has approached Mateta's representatives and Fifa for comment.

If Mateta had successfully argued his contract is void it would possibly set the wheels in motion towards the forward becoming a free agent before the expiry of his Palace deal next year.

Mateta has become a key figure for Palace since his arrival at Selhurst Park - scoring 67 goals for the club.

He playing a major role in the club's historic FA Cup and Uefa Conference League triumphs under former manager Oliver Glasner.

But Mateta pushed to leave Palace in January this year and was close to joining AC Milan.

However, the deal did not go through because of an issue with Mateta's knee.

It was not the best day opening day for Crystal Palace.

Ismaila Sarr was not included in the matchday squad with new manager Pierre Sage revealing he has been struggling with an injury.

Sources have told BBC Sport that Sarr has not trained for the last two days, complaining of a groin issue, amid interest from Turkish side Galatasaray.

Palace do not want to sell their star forward, who scored 21 goals in all competitions last season as the Eagles won the Community Shield and the Conference League.

One source has said that the interest from Galatasaray is concrete but that only a bid well above market value would even be considered by the Eagles.

Meanwhile, defender Chadi Riad was stretchered off with a serious knee injury in the 2-0 defeat at Goodison Park.

Riad has been affected by knee injuries since joining Palace in 2024 - suffering an issue in his second game for the club. Back-to-back knee injuries saw him absent from the squad for more than 400 days.

Wantaway players, an opening day defeat and a serious looking knee injury. The season couldn't have got off to a worse start for Sage.

The contract situation with Mateta is the latest twist to what has been a rollercoaster time for the Frenchman at Crystal Palace.

The 29-year-old has become a cult hero at the Eagles due to his trademark celebration where he kicks the corner flag to shouts of "boom" from supporters, while the striker also scored the winning goal in the final as Palace won the Conference League last season.

It has not always been smooth sailing for Mateta though.

The forward had a slow start to his Palace career but his trajectory was transformed under the guidance of former boss Glasner.

Mateta became one of the most reliable strikers in the Premier League and scored 46 goals in 109 games in all competitions under the Austrian.

That form led to interest in Mateta across Europe, and the contract standoff that has the club and the striker in the current situation.

Mateta has always been highly ambitious and made clear his desire to play for clubs at the elite level of the game, even during times early on in his Palace career when his form made it seem unlikely.

Alongside his aim to represent top clubs across Europe, Mateta has chased a place in the France national team and he achieved that goal in October last year before securing a place in the final 26-man squad for the World Cup.

When it seemed like Mateta would leave the club in January, Palace moved to sign Jorgen Strand Larsen as a replacement for a deal worth up to £48m.

The Norway striker made his debut for Crystal Palace in a win over rivals Brighton last season and Palace fans repeatedly chanted his name as they got behind their new striker in a show of support as Mateta's time at the club looked to be over.

However, Mateta failed his AC Milan medical and remained at the club, being ruled out for about two months with the issue.

He was booed by some sections of fans when he returned in the last-16 tie against AEK Larnaca in March before he turned around the fan feeling with a goal in the final of the Conference League, and he ended the season with 16 goals in all competitions.

Mateta has been a key part of the most successful time in Palace's history in which the club won the FA Cup, Community Shield and Conference League, but the current contract standoff threatens to leave a stain on his time at the club. %!s()

President Donald Trump disclosed just over 1,000 financial transitions for the month of June in what appears to be broad reshuffling of his portfolio.

The president rotated in and out of stocks, bonds and exchange-traded funds throughout the month. The transactions totaled between $78.1 million and $263.1 million, according to Trump's latest filing on Aug. 22, which shows a range for each sale or purchase rather than an exact figure. His securities purchases topped $49 million, while his sales totaled at least $28.5 million.

While the filing gives a window into the investment moves made on behalf of Trump, it is not a clear picture of his total portfolio holdings. The amount bought or sold isn't specific, and there is no indication of how much Trump owns of any particular security.

Of the 1,051 transactions, the largest was the $5 million to $25 million sale of Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Index Fund ETF shares on June 22. That same day he bought between $1 million and $5 million of both Fidelity National Information Services and Home Depot. Those were the largest of several purchases of the stocks in June, although he also logged some sales of Fidelity as well.

Trump sold between $1 million and $5 million worth of shares of both Meta and Motorola on June 18, but snapped up the same range of shares in each of Berkshire Hathaway, Cintas, Visa and Mastercard that same day. Those moves came a day after the market sold off on concerns over the path of monetary policy. June 17 was the conclusion of Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh's first meeting. Stocks bounced back on June 18..

Other purchases in June include a number of ETFs, including the iShares U.S. Treasury Bond ETF, State Street Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF and the iShares GSCI Commodity Dynamic Roll Strategy ETF. Trump also purchased several municipal bonds.

The president's sales included the Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund ETF, State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF and the Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF.

Those ETF transitions spanned just over $1 million to $5 million. In total, there were 25 sales and purchases of stocks, bonds and ETFs in that range. The remaining transactions were broken down into different buckets $1 million and under. The filings only require Trump to disclose securities transactions over $1,000.

The president also moved in and out of defense contractor Palantir Technologies, buying between $1,001 and $15,000 on June 3. He sold between $15,001 and $50,000 on June 16 and another $500,001 and $1 million worth on June 18. The U.S. and Iran agreed to a peace deal on June 14. He bought a small amount again on June 23.

Two other defense companies, RTX and Northrop Grumman were also named in the president's disclosure. Trump bought between $100,001 and $250,000 worth of RTX shares on June 12, and sold between $1,001 and $15,000 of Northrop Grumman the same day. He then bought Northrop on June 23 and sold it again on June 24.

He also bought and sold Coinbase throughout the month amid Bitcoin's share decline. He offloaded between $116,003 and $315,000 worth of shares between June 12 and June 23, and then bought between $50,001 and $100,000 on June 24.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In May, spokesman Davis Ingle told CNBC, after Trump's disclosure of his first-quarter transactions, that the president's assets are held in a trust managed by his children.

"There are no conflicts of interest," spokesman Davis Ingle said in the statement at the time. "President Trump only acts in the best interests of the American public — which is why they overwhelmingly re-elected him to this office, despite years of lies and false accusations against him and his businesses from the fake news media."

— CNBC's Kevin Breuninger and Dan Mangan contributed reporting. %!s()

And yet, this is exactly what “Abbott Elementary” director and executive producer Randall Einhorn did. He, along with much of the rest of the ABC mockumentary’s cast and crew, left the safe and familiar confines of their Warner Bros. sets to film the fifth season episode “Ballgame” during an actual Philadelphia Phillies game.

They hit it out of the park, garnering Einhorn an Emmy nomination for comedy series directing. But, just like any live theatrical event, even their best attempts at pre-planning were no match for reality and a lot of improvisation had to be done on the spot.

Some of this was dealing with the elements. The first of the two days of filming at the park covered wider shots, with 400 extras in the stands. Big silk screens protected the main cast to ensure clear audio and lighting. The actual day of the game, however, was too windy for those curtains. Einhorn realized this worked better for the story.

“I needed to show passage of time, so they start off in the shade, they go into full sunlight, and then they go back into full into shade. Then, it’s the nighttime,” he says. “I mean, that sold passage of time better than a clock could.”

Continuity concerns showed up in other ways, too.

“I shot 14 pages the day before the ball game, and basically, we had all these connected pieces,” Einhorn explains. “So, I’m shooting a scene with some with our cast. Something is supposed to happen on the ball field, and then I go back to my cast, who are commenting on what happened on the ball field. The next day, I had all these pans to the ball field that I needed to do the pan off and the back.”

In total, he says he his script noted about 70 pans that he had to connect from the ball field to the stands to what was recorded on the Phillies’ jumbotron known as the PhanaVision.

Einhorn also had to trust his actors — and not just the series regulars. Episode writer Ava Coleman’s script called for Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber to hit a home run during the game.

Overachiever that he is, Schwarber hit four.

Because of “Abbott’s” mockumentary format, Einhorn says he always has three camera angles going at once: two for coverage and one master shot. This time, he also incorporated footage from the PhanaVision. When Schwarber’s balls flew into the air, the cameras “followed it out on the field like documentary cameras and panned up to the scoreboard,” he says.

For the actors, filming like this means that “nobody’s waiting for their scene and, therefore, they’re always reacting. And our cast is so good at knowing exactly where their character would be.” This meant that there was a camera ready to film real-time reactions and actual surprise and delight on the face of actress Sheryl Lee Ralph’s kindergarten teacher Barbara Howard, a character who is a known Schwarber enthusiast.

After the game, Schwarber also filmed a scene meeting the characters. The athlete wasn’t as confident and knowledgeable as he is on the field and admitted that he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. Einhorn, who had been warned that he had half an hour to film these exchanges before the stadium’s sprinklers went on, told him, “You do whatever Kyle Schwarber would do and we’re going to be good.”

They got the scene in four takes.

Most shocking of all of this is how calm Einhorn says he managed to stay during filming this episode.

“I’ve gotten so worked up in my past, I don’t do it anymore,” he laughs, adding that sure, it’d have been great if his hand-held radio had worked and he didn’t have to run around and scream directions at the camera crew and the actors. Instead, he says he rolled with it because “it’s just not worth it; it doesn’t help.”

Einhorn’s credits include mockumentaries “The Office,” “Parks and Recreation” and “Modern Family,” as well as more traditionally filmed programs including “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and “Wilfred.”

Early in his career, he received cinematography Emmy nominations for his work on “Survivor.” This “Abbott” episode was, he says, by far the most planning he’s ever done for a television program.

“I always have to have a plan … but for this episode, I really needed to have a plan,” he says. “I do these top-down graphics of where people are looking and where their nose is and where they walk to. I need to do that because it’s a mockumentary and it’s a lot trickier to film a mockumentary than it is just a normal comedy where you don’t need to worry about seeing another camera.”

He doesn’t pause to say yes when asked if he would do an episode like “Ballgame” ever again. But he’d make a few changes.

“I think I’d probably just be a little bit slower to say, ‘This is impossible,’ because the initial reaction is like, ‘How?’” he says. “It was really challenging. I really looked at it and thought, ‘This can go wrong in so many ways.’ I think what it has done is it’s made me even more of a planner.”

Aware of the obvious pun, he adds, “It was a big swing.” %!s()