Reggie: Switch matchmaking and lobbies handled through phone app

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You can still play online without the app just no matchmaking, lobbies, and voice chat. It's been covered many times in this thread including the OP.

My apologies, I guess I'm just as confused as many others. Even so, for Nintendo to essentially limit the ability of those without phones to a very much feature-deprived experience, it makes no sense to me.
 
The app comes with the subscription, guys. You're not paying for the online subscription and then paying for the app. It's pay for the online subscription which includes the app.
 
I am guessing MS could tweak the Xbox App to do a similar thing right? The community and groups stuff is there already.

I will be watching to see how this pans out for Nintendo. Seems like an interesting way to deal with party chat and grouping up. I do wonder how robust it is. Dropping out of groups and chat due to connection issues or incompatibility will be a massive pain in the ass. Thankfully they have a beta period to iron things out.

I'm pretty sure on Windows tablets/phones people can join parties through the Xbox app. All of those people, however, choose to go through the console when actually playing because that is what any sane human would do.
 
Apart from making your Switch connect to your router, instead of your phone, whats the difference?

You'll still have to use your phone app to chat.

Alright yeah, I have to load an app on my phone to enable online chat, rather than just plugging straight into the Switch, but I honestly don't see then issue people are having.

You have to go through the extra steps of using your phone to do things thats been handled by the consoles now for over 15 years just because your systems designer is fucking ass backwards when it comes to this?

You have to hook headphones to your phone or use a headpiece just to get chat audio and the ability to communicate without ambient noise issues while at the same time not being able to funnel in game sound through the same piece?

its needlessly obtuse. I dont see how anyone could defend it
 
How are you going to chat and listen to the game audio at the same time on your bus? Double headphones?

The very same way I use the pack in earphones that come with the PS4?

41Fr72EfZ6L.jpg
 
Okay, I'm going to go out on a limb here and try to brainstorm where Nintendo is going with this.

I imagine lobbies will be a lot like Miitomo, interactive with actual rooms and a slick, UI, with Miis running around and other animal-crossing-like elements.

I could see it syncing directly with My Nintendo also.

I could also see it being very half assed and terrible...
 
Looking forward to in about a month or two when all the pro-nintendo arguments coalesce into one final argument, the argument to rule them all when it comes to defending the company and their backwards ways: "I don't need a "me too" console, I don't need these media conveniences. All I need is a gaming console that plays games, and Ninty is delivering on that front"
 
The vast majority of home console games use some form of matchmaking to play their games online. If you remove someones ability to matchmake then you might as well not be online anyways.

General matchmaking for games will be handled at the software level. Reggie used the term poorly. We've gone over this numerous times.
 
It's annoying that we have to use an app but it could also be very cool. Ugh, between a rock and a hard place.

How is hooking up headphones to your cell phone cool? How is tying up your phone while gaming cool? My phone is a work tool and I need to be available through my phone not juggling apps while I answer work texts or calls. This idea is hot trash.
 
maybe to free up as mush resources as possible?

How much ram would voice chat need?
Very little. The Xbox 360 had party chat despite only having 32MB of RAM being available for the entire OS. For comparison the Wii U allocates 1GB to its OS. So assuming that party chat uses all 32MB, which it obviously doesn't, it would only require around 3% of the memory allocated to the Switch predecessor's OS. Memory is a non-issue.
 
My apologies, I guess I'm just as confused as many others. Even so, for Nintendo to essentially limit the ability of those without phones to a very much feature-deprived experience, it makes no sense to me.

Going by the Nintendo Switch Online Page, it only says 'Online Gameplay' is FREE TRIAL through Fall 2017. Which sounds to me like all online gameplay will be paid for at some point.

http://www.nintendo.com/switch/online-service/

Check the table at the bottom.
 
General matchmaking for games will be handled at the software level. Reggie used the term poorly. We've gone over this numerous times.
Is there evidence for this because matchmaking has very specific connotations along with him saying lobby.
 
The problem they've had since the GameCube is that they're so far behind the curve on things, they spent millions of dollars trying to "look forward" and completely negate the here and now.

They're trying to guess that we want HD rumble and completely disregarding the simple basics of gaming in 2017. It's sad, too.
 
Looking forward to in about a month or two when all the pro-nintendo arguments coalesce into one final argument, the argument to rule them all when it comes to defending the company and their backwards ways: "I don't need a "me too" console, I don't need these media conveniences. All I need is a gaming console that plays games, and Ninty is delivering on that front"

I remember a thread where someone called the Wii U the only "pure" gaming machine when it launched.
 
The very same way I use the pack in earphones that come with the PS4?

41Fr72EfZ6L.jpg

You're not understanding. If you are playing the Switch on a bus, most likely it's too noisy to hear the game audio, hence headphones. But if you want to play some online gaming, in the same noisy environment, you need a second set of headphones to listen to voice chat. You can't combine both into one pair. That is severely limiting.
 
I know several video game fans personally who use pay-as-you-go phones for talking/text. They own gaming PCs and PS4s, would be very interested in Switch. I guess fuck them though, right?

Not defending any of this, but in Canada (where we are gouged for phones) you can get a pay-as-you-go Android smartphone for like $60 CAD.

So should we just consider an android phone to be a 'voice chat adapter'. That's perfectly reasonable.
 
Will come from the Switch.

What's so confusing here?

So at all times whilst using chat on your phone you will have to have the Switch's speakers to hear game audio? That's about as inelegant as I can imagine this to be going down.

If chat was handled by the machine itself there would be no issue
 
Imagine if the official way to play a digital download game is to download a file to your smartphone and then copy the file via bluetooth to the Switch.

How convenient!
 
It's unlikely this was easier or cheaper than developing it as part of the OS. It's basically the same amount of work, only more because now they have to continuously test their app on dozens of smart devices across two ecosystems to ensure support, rather than just the Switch.

That depends on how "developed" this app is. For all we know, this app could just be a website in a web view that connects to Nintendo's online matching services website. That said you are right about the testing of this app potentially being worse in the long run for Nintendo vs developing what ever was necessary within the Switch's OS and hardware to handle voice chat/etc...
 
Dedicated servers but obviously that would require too much effort from Nintendo.

Either that or Friend Codes.

But we don't have friend codes anymore on the Switch. If you go onto a game and jump into an online game like Mario Kart 8 or Splatoon, that's technically matchmaking. You wouldn't need an app for that.

Some people are taking the specification on Nintendo's site to imply that you'll only be able to play with randoms until the app comes out, which also doesn't make any sense since there's nothing stopping game developers from designing "invite/join friends" hooks that previous Nintendo games have done just fine.
 
You're not understanding. If you are playing the Switch on a bus, most likely it's too noisy to hear the game audio, hence headphones. But if you want to play some online gaming, in the same noisy environment, you need a second set of headphones to listen to voice chat. You can't combine both into one pair. That is severely limiting.

Don't you understand? It's easy peazy. You just wear your ear buds from your phone and then put over-ear headphones on top from your Switch. I have my phone with me anyway, so this is super simple. It's actually way better this way. No idea why anyone would only want to use 1 set of headphones.
 
General matchmaking for games will be handled at the software level. Reggie used the term poorly. We've gone over this numerous times.

Reggie should probably clarify things right the fuck now if they dont want people to keep propagating misunderstandings then. Or maybe there isn't a misunderstanding and there is nothing to clarify
 
Is there evidence for this because matchmaking has very specific connotations along with him saying lobby.

What do you consider matchmaking in general? I consider it the ability to go online, select a game mode or type, and to be matched with other people in some form or another.
 
Just over 40 days until launch and we're still unclear on basic functionality.

I have to say, this is a train wreck in the making.

While this online app stuff is confusing, the app won't be out until Summer. As a result, I don't think we'll see more on how that works before launch. At most we'll get a breakdown of how online works prior to the app launching.

They've been very clear about local multiplayer though. People are just spiraling out of control on that one.
 
Guys, I think the audio of the conversation and the audio from the game itself will be streamed to the phone.
It works ths same way when you remote play.
 
whats sad is that this was clearly part of the design

Switch does not have a built in Mic like WiiU and Vita have

it doesnt have audio ports on JoyGrip and Pro controller

you have far less audio and voice options across the board for both modes

So no built in mic but they have infrared cameras, haptic touchscreen, and HD rumble?

Where the hell are their priorities?
 
Online is the same as Wii U. Everything else (friends, parties, chat) is handled by the App.

The Switch already is pretty much the WiiU but you can take the GamePad anywhere

And with more gimmicks like HD Rumble and JoyCons

It will also sell like the WiiU... well, it'll sell one less unit, because I bought a WiiU and will not buy a Switch
 
Don't you understand? It's easy peazy. You just wear your ear buds from your phone and then put over-ear headphones on top from your Switch. I have my phone with me anyway, so this is super simple. It's actually way better this way. No idea why anyone would only want to use 1 set of headphones.

Nintendo's solution to bulky headphones is requiring two sets of bulky headphones plus phone juggling for Switch OS functionality. It's pure genius.
 
You're not understanding. If you are playing the Switch on a bus, most likely it's too noisy to hear the game audio, hence headphones. But if you want to play some online gaming, in the same noisy environment, you need a second set of headphones to listen to voice chat. You can't combine both into one pair. That is severely limiting.

I would like to see a Mega64 video on this. Someone on a noisy bus, who wants to play online with their friends on the Switch, but they want to both listen to the Switch's audio through headphones, as well talk to their friends with a second pair of headphones.
 
Every time a new Nintendo home console is announced or launched, I get so excited, frantically searching and missing pre-order after pre-order. Then, inevitably, I start to read more and more, and decide to wait based on awkward or non-standard hardware and software decisions.

Invariably, I always end up passing on the console because of these decisions. Seems like this odd design decision is the tip of the ice berg with the Switch.

Why won't Nintendo make a kick ass home console that is everything the PS4 and XBone are, plus all that awesome stuff Nintendo is?!
 
But we don't have friend codes anymore on the Switch. If you go onto a game and jump into an online game like Mario Kart 8 or Splatoon, that's technically matchmaking. You wouldn't need an app for that.

Some people are taking the specification on Nintendo's site to imply that you'll only be able to play with randoms until the app comes out, which also doesn't make any sense since there's nothing stopping game developers from designing "invite/join friends" hooks that previous Nintendo games have done just fine.
I was being facetious about friend codes. The way it's described in the OP is that the app will handle matchmaking and the lobby system.
 
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