Reggie: Switch matchmaking and lobbies handled through phone app

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The worst part about this is Nintendo has no time to backpedal. Microsoft had months to fix the issues with the Xbox One. Nintendo would have WEEKS.

If the headphone jack really does have no mic support, it would require a hardware revision in order to give it mic support.
 
What if the controller was built into an app on your cellphone?

What if the games came from your cellphone as well?

What if you used the screen on your cellphone too?

What if I don't buy the Nintendo Switch?
 
Ginger Hail said:
That better mean private matchmaking/lobbies. I can't imagine anyone wanting to have their phone out just to do matchmaking with randos.
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I really can't see why it would be anything else, basic matchmaking was a feature as far back as Mario Kart DS. They have to just mean lobbies with friends.
 
What a pain this thing is going to be for future preservation. At least with the Wii systems I'm pretty sure you could find some way to connect to a custom server down the line in emulation.
 
I'm seriously wondering what Nintendo plans on doing for people without smartphones. What makes this more bizarre, and actually makes me think this isn't the full story, is that flip phones are actually still VERY common in Japan

https://www.techinasia.com/japans-flip-phones-finally-dying

By the end of 2016, Japan’s overall mobile market will pass the halfway milestone on smartphones, with a projected 52.4 percent of active mobile users being on smartphones, says Emarketer.
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Meaning, that when the Switch launches, in Japan, almost 50% of potential users won't have a smartphone. Nintendo has always made decisions based somewhat skewed towards their Japanese audiences, so this seems a bit weird.

I think I'll wait and see what this really is
 
Mahonay said:
This is better than the Wii U so it's fine
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How is this better than the Wii-U, where we could text chat and manage our friends list from within the console without using a phone, and share screen grabs without resorting to Facebook?
 
ngower said:
Don't shoot the messenger, just filling in a gap that was missing from OP. It seems odd to limit this functionality, but maybe it's a convoluted way to prevent children from using these features? I truly don't know but I want to hear more from Nintendo before I judge too harshly. Their silence is deafening, though.
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I meant Reggie, not you : )
 
NeoCTN said:
*Nintendo Board Meeting*

So The Wii U is a disaster- lets rethink our approach...

What if...

We make an underpowered system...

With shitty battery life...

And we price it out of market....

And we did the same to the accessories...

And we provide next to no internal memory in order to discourage digital purchases...

And by that we lessen the appeal for 3rd parties to join in...

And we then charge for online...

But then we half-ass the online concept by making an iPhone app for it instead...

And did I mention fuck 3rd parties?....

And what if our launch lineup was absolutely abysmal?

And we'll trickle out information in a unpolished manner so as to confuse and be overlooked by the masses?

Meeting adjourned!

The Nintendo Switch
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h6426nq.jpg
 
What's are the chances that:

A) It's PR speak that's not a mistake, but to hype their new smart phone app but the Switch itself will still have all of it on its own

Or

B) They pull an Xbox One and change this before launch/after launch? Surely the headphone jack on the Switch is also a mic jack and they could just firmware patch it in?
 
I can understand this as an alternative for 'console mode', especially if the controllers don't have headset ports.

But the way it's written it sounds like it's the only way to do chat/matchmaking - which sounds totally bizarre.
 
NeoCTN said:
*Nintendo Board Meeting*

So The Wii U is a disaster- lets rethink our approach...

What if...

We make an underpowered system...

With shitty battery life...

And we price it out of market....

And we did the same to the accessories...

And we provide next to no internal memory in order to discourage digital purchases...

And by that we lessen the appeal for 3rd parties to join in...

And we then charge for online...

But then we half-ass the online concept by making an iPhone app for it instead...

And did I mention fuck 3rd parties?....

And what if our launch lineup was absolutely abysmal?

And we'll trickle out information in a unpolished manner so as to confuse and be overlooked by the masses?

Meeting adjourned!

The Nintendo Switch
Click to expand...

Lmao. Don't forget no analogue triggers!
 
aBarreras said:
aaaaaaand?

what does that have to be with the phone being synchronized with the switch for the parental controls and matchmaking services?
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Why does the phone have to be synchronized with the Switch in any way? All of this just happens through the Internet, I'm guessing, and there's no need for the two devices to talk directly. Just like the phones/tablets involved in a Jackbox game don't talk to each other, just to the server.
 
hwy_61 said:
Incorrect. You just won't be able to create lobbies and voice chat. I think.
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Man, this is just some unnecessary confusion.

It really reminds me of the XB1 reveal, when 2 company suits couldn't give a similar answer to the same question.
 
Buggy Loop said:
As a huge Nintendo fan, i can't even see 1, a single one aspect positive about this decision.

So i'm playing the handheld at the university, at bed or something of the sort with wifi. I play splatoon 2.

  1. Put down the switch handheld on my lap, or hold in one hand
  2. Reach for my Iphone ($$$ device not included with switch) in my pocket
  3. I unlock the fucking phone with either code or thumb
  4. I press the home button to hide safari which most likely (95% of the time) was on Neogaf
  5. I open the DeNA-Nintendo abomination of an app
  6. I search for matches
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I honestly don't believe that you'll be required to use the app for standard matchmaking in the scenario you describe. To be clear, I don't care either way as I'm not buying a switch until the price drops, but I think people are misinterpreting the "matchmaking" comment. I could be wrong of course, but from an engineering standpoint that design would be truly, truly awful. Imagine how unstable a matchmaking algorithm would be if it has to deal with matching at two different network levels (and maintaining some state to link one to the other) as well as two different software levels. It would be a major headache for Nintendo to deal with all the customer support work that would be generated by that design, and solving the interface/network problems for different games that have completely different multiplayer setups would be another major headache for developers.
 
yyr said:
Why does the phone have to be synchronized with the Switch in any way? All of this just happens through the Internet, I'm guessing, and there's no need for the two devices to talk directly. Just like the phones/tablets involved in a Jackbox game don't talk to each other, just to the server.
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why do you ask me? ask nintendo

i never said this was a good idea

im just trying to make sense to it, even if it doesnt have it lol


and yes maybe not be synchronized like the controllers synchronize to the console, but more like what you are saying
 
Vena said:
The Japanese breakdown (unless it changed recently) also says it supports a standard 3.5mm with audio in/out. Its only the English breakdown that has "audio out".



It lets them free up RAM. Games handling it pull from whatever RAM is open (ie. everything but whatever is fixed to the OS), but if the OS does it it *always* has to reserved a fixed amount for the entire OS functionality. OS-level features don't scale, and they seem to have ripped them all out to free up as much RAM as possible for games.
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This could have been easily fixed by just making the console ever-so-slightly more powerful. I feel like reserving resources was probably not the main factor in this decision.
 
just make a dedicated app that works through the system. no need to do all the extra stuff nintendo. I understand that they are trying to keep kids away from hearing bad things, to be honest they can do it a different way than this whole app thing.
 
Principate said:
I think it's pretty obvious almost none of the online and account system for the switch is actually developed by Nintendo. Almost everything is done by DeNA which is why almost everything uses an app on your phone.
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So after over a decade of seeing their competitors do it and being able to learn from them, Nintendo just threw up their arms, gave up and outsourced it?
 
UnemployedVillain said:
I'm seriously wondering what Nintendo plans on doing for people without smartphones. What makes this more bizarre, and actually makes me think this isn't the full story, is that flip phones are actually still VERY common in Japan

https://www.techinasia.com/japans-flip-phones-finally-dying



Meaning, that when the Switch launches, in Japan, almost 50% of potential users won't have a smartphone. Nintendo has always made decisions based somewhat skewed towards their Japanese audiences, so this seems a bit weird.

I think I'll wait and see what this really is
Click to expand...

This gives me some hope. The app HAS to be optional, right? They have real lobbies, matchmaking, and chat built into the Switch. RIGHT???
 
Yurikerr said:
Man, this is just some unnecessary confusion.

It really reminds me of the XB1 reveal, when 2 company suits couldn't give a similar answer to the same question.
Click to expand...

Probably because there is no good news to give, so they have to spin it to make it sound positive so everything sounds confusing as fuck.
 
This is a paid app right? It better be good if you need to pay for it and the service. I mean at this point I wouldn't put it past them to charge to get the app and still add the price of the monthly/yearly subscription on top of that as a separate charge...

So even when you are using the console as a portable you will need your phone to play online? How is this a good idea?
 
UnemployedVillain said:
I'm seriously wondering what Nintendo plans on doing for people without smartphones. What makes this more bizarre, and actually makes me think this isn't the full story, is that flip phones are actually still VERY common in Japan

https://www.techinasia.com/japans-flip-phones-finally-dying

Meaning, that when the Switch launches, in Japan, almost 50% of potential users won't have a smartphone. Nintendo has always made decisions based somewhat skewed towards their Japanese audiences, so this seems a bit weird.

I think I'll wait and see what this really is
Click to expand...

The only thing that makes any sense to me is if the Switch is able to run Android apps. If that's the case then I guess this is okay... but then why not just come out and say it? I guess maybe if it's not going to be ready until a future update? Still... it all seems too weird to be the full story.
 
UnemployedVillain said:
I'm seriously wondering what Nintendo plans on doing for people without smartphones. What makes this more bizarre, and actually makes me think this isn't the full story, is that flip phones are actually still VERY common in Japan

https://www.techinasia.com/japans-flip-phones-finally-dying



Meaning, that when the Switch launches, in Japan, almost 50% of potential users won't have a smartphone. Nintendo has always made decisions based somewhat skewed towards their Japanese audiences, so this seems a bit weird.

I think I'll wait and see what this really is
Click to expand...

People use flip phones because they're cheaper and they don't care about whatever extra funcionality smartphones have. Those people would not pay to play Nintendo online even if they buy a switch lol.
 
Not really liking this much at all so far

lord pie said:
But the way it's written it sounds like it's the only way to do chat/matchmaking - which sounds totally bizarre.
Click to expand...

I really hope not.
they better do a very clear video on how this app is going to work and if the switch itself can do anything online without it
 
Vena said:
It lets them free up RAM. Games handling it pull from whatever RAM is open (ie. everything but whatever is fixed to the OS), but if the OS does it it *always* has to reserved a fixed amount for the entire OS functionality. OS-level features don't scale, and they seem to have ripped them all out to free up as much RAM as possible for games.
Click to expand...
The past generations of console since 2000 must have been using magic.
 
renzolama said:
I honestly don't believe that you'll be required to use the app for standard matchmaking in the scenario you describe. To be clear, I don't care either way as I'm not buying a switch until the price drops, but I think people are misinterpreting the "matchmaking" comment. I could be wrong of course, but from an engineering standpoint that design would be truly, truly awful. Imagine how unstable a matchmaking algorithm would be if it has to deal with matching at two different network levels (and maintaining some state to link one to the other) as well as two different software levels. It would be a major headache for Nintendo to deal with all the customer support work that would be generated by that design, and solving the interface problem for different games that have completely different multiplayer setups would be another major headache for developers.
Click to expand...

This.

Mahonay said:
This could have been easily fixed by just making the console ever-so-slightly more powerful. I feel like reserving resources was probably not the main factor in this decision.
Click to expand...

Such RAM does not exist in this form-factor at an affordable price.

azyless said:
The past generations of console since 2000 must have been using magic.
Click to expand...

RAM usage has scaled through the years, you're also confusing software-level and OS-level integration. An App isn't going to handle your game's actual matchmaking.
 
This makes perfect sense for when you use Switch on the go to have it so integrated with a smart phone. But for home use, this decision seems really odd and limiting. It should only be an option for home use, not a requirement. Maybe there is no microphone in the Switch, but there should be a headphone jack with the middle part of the controller, right?
 
Skittzo0413 said:
This thread will be fun to revisit once Nintendo has actually clarified how this works.

Which, admittedly, might not be for a while.
Click to expand...

Which is stupid. This stuff should have been laid out during the presentation. But it's clear they either aren't developing it. OR it's whole implementation isn't ready.

I mean they are charging for the service later on. I wouldn't be shocked if we made it all the way to launch and we still didn't know how this all worked.
 
Devilinthiscity said:
This is a paid app right? It better be good if you need to pay for it and the service. I mean at this point I wouldn't put it past them to charge to get the app and still add the price of the monthly/yearly subscription on top of that as a separate charge...

So even when you are using the console as a portable you will need your phone to play online? How is this a good idea?
Click to expand...
I don't think there's an additional fee for the app, I think you just have to pay for the Nintendo online service to use it.
 
Ataru said:
How is this better than the Wii-U, where we could text chat and manage our friends list from within the console without using a phone, and share screen grabs without resorting to Facebook?
Click to expand...
I have never owned a Wii U, it didn't sound right to me either, but someone in this thread was presenting that as a defence of this.
 
notaskwid said:
People use flip phones because they're cheaper and they don't care about whatever extra funcionality smartphones have. Those people would not pay to play Nintendo online even if they buy a switch lol.
Click to expand...

This...isn't exactly a provable assertion. At all. This is along the lines of "Parent's won't pay $60 for games" and things like that, that have no actual backing (I also feel the people saying this don't remember when games were $70, without adjusting for inflation)
 
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