Nintendo has announced that the paid-for Nintendo online service will start in September. Although in keeping with all the other announcements they haven’t said any more than that yet. The original idea though was that it would be the equivalent of Xbox Live Gold and PS Plus, and so you’d need to subscribe in order to play most games online. The pricing on Nintendo’s website is only in euros and still suggests €3.99 (£3.50) for 1 month, €7.99 (£7) for 3 months, and €19.99 (£17.50) for 12 months. So it’s cheaper than Microsoft or Sony’s services.
You’ll also get to play free classic NES Virtual Console games if you subscribe, although Nintendo has already changed their minds once on exactly how that will work.