Support NeoGAF

[Dacvak]

Kawamoto: Just like Switch, you can share Joy-Con 2 with others on Switch 2 as well. But even when we were developing Switch, we wanted to implement a feature to share gameplay with other systems in addition to sharing Joy-Con. In the past, Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS had a feature called Download Play, where you could send a portion of a game to friends and play together. We looked into the possibility of having this feature on Switch as well. But the data volume of Switch games is so large that it takes a very long time to transfer data, so we had to abandon this idea.
Having to wait tens of minutes to play a game together isn't very practical.
Kawamoto: So, we thought that by taking advantage of the Switch 2 system's processing power and using the same streaming technology that Wii U uses to send images from the console to the handheld Wii U GamePad (21), we could share the gameplay instantly without having to take time to transfer the software. I thought it'd be nice if players could share games instantly and play together competitively or cooperatively. This was another feature I asked Sasaki-san to look into. Achieving it must have been a nightmare. (Laughs)

I'm reading the 4-part developer interview posted on Nintendo's site, and in part 3 they talk about the tech behind GameShare, which allows people to play multiplayer locally when only one person has a copy of the game. (Very similar to Download Play on the DS.)

However, it's not using the same method of sending over a portion of the game's data to other players, but actually streaming the game directly from the Switch 2 itself to other players' devices. This means that there won't be any sort of pre-load, and that people will be able to just jump right into playing together seamlessly.

Furthermore, it means that devs will have an incredibly easy time implementing GameShare, since they won't have to worry about developing a bespoke package to send to other devices; everything is just directly streamed.

I expect we'll see this feature used in a lot of multiplayer games because of how easy it'll be to implement.

It's also worth mentioning that GameShare will also be able to stream to a Switch 1, though it's unclear if that'll be supported for all GameShare titles.

It's also confirmed that some games will be able to actually have unique displays for each player, meaning the host Switch 2 is processing up to four different video streams at once. Right now this is only confirmed for Clubhouse Games. I imagine that a game like Mario Kart wouldn't be able to process all four screens at once AND send them to three other players. (But who knows, maybe it can?) Otherwise, it would just be sending a split screen view to everyone.

But that's not where my brain is at right now…

See, a couple years ago, I speculated that the Switch 2 would actually feature the Wii U's extremely low-latency streaming feature, exactly as it's being described by the hardware developers. First off, I'm thrilled that I was spot-on with that prediction. But the reason I'm most excited is for the possibilities this tech opens up.

For example, Nintendo could release a "dummy VR headset" that has no internal CPU/GPU, but still has camera sensors for inside-out tracking. The processing would be handled by the Switch 2 console, and instantly streamed to your headset. Meaning you could theoretically have your Switch 2 in you backpack while playing your games wirelessly in VR/AR.

And while VR might be a stretch (since that would likely require a Joy-Con 2 attachment with tracking hardware), XR would be incredibly easy to implement, since it simply functions as an additional screen. Furthermore, it could open up the possibility of easy 3D functionality in certain games.

I have a pair of XR glasses that I use with my current Switch quite often, and it's incredibly nice (albeit SUPER cumbersome to set up) to play with just two Joy-Cons and a pair of glasses. With the Switch 2, this could be seamless.

And if we want to get real weird with things, Nintendo could easily add a second screen to the Switch 2, for Wii U or DS-style play. I have no idea how the form factor would work for something like this, but the point is that the tech is already built into the Switch 2.

I think we're gonna see the Switch 2 used in some really interesting display methods in the future. The possibilities are huge, and we all know Nintendo likes to get weird.

 

[Jinzo Prime]

Why is this on Off-Topic?

 

[Dacvak]

Why is this on Off-Topic?

Cause I'm dumb. Can a mod please move this over to gaming?

 

[Kacho]

Why is this on Off-Topic?

Simple mistake. Just needs to be moved by a mod.

I love this feature. Will get a lot of use with my kids.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Switch 2 portal device in the future?

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Two Switches AND a Wii U all inside? What value.

 

[kevboard]

that is a pretty interesting way to do it.
so the leak was kinda true that you can connect the Switch 2 to the Switch 1... just in a different way.

sounds like you can basically use your old Switch 1 as a second screen to play local multiplayer, which is how some Wii U games worked.
like in Call of Duty on Wii U, 1 player would play on the TV and the second one on the GamePad.

so you are KIIINDA using the Switch 1 as a controller for the Switch 2.
it's just the details and context of the leak weren't completely clear

 

[Mownoc]

Wait? So the game is only actually running on one console? That will have big performance ramifications. Thought it was going to be like ds download play...

 

[kevboard]

Wait? So the game is only actually running on one console? That will have big performance ramifications. Thought it was going to be like ds download play...

it has essentially the same performance demands as a splitscreen mode.
FAST Fusion is already confirmed to support it. and I trust in Shinen to make this work at 60fps on 2 screens at once.

 

[Mownoc]

it has essentially the same performance demands as a splitscreen mode.
FAST Fusion is already confirmed to support it. and I trust in Shinen to make this work at 60fps on 2 screens at once.

Yes so unlike a download play where everyone would get full resolution and performance it will be reduced.

EG if a game runs at 1080p for one player then you could expect 540p for 4 players game sharing (quarter of the screen resolution each).

I guess Switch 2 games would be too large to transfer enough data fast even with WiFi 6.

 

[kevboard]

Yes so unlike a download play where everyone would get full resolution and performance it will be reduced.

EG if a game runs at 1080p for one player then you could expect 540p for 4 players game sharing (quarter of the screen resolution each).

I guess Switch 2 games would be too large to transfer enough data fast even with WiFi 6.

depends. the way Wii U games typically did it is by reducing graphics settings before lowering resolution.

for FAST Fusion specifically I wouldn't be surprised if it runs 2 1080p screens at the same time. unless the streaming resolution itself is limited in some way of course.

what I also wonder is if it will make a noticeable difference if the "source" Switch 2 will be docked or not.
because in docked mode these games might target 4K on a single screen. so turning that into 2 to 4 1080p screens shouldn't be an issue.

 

[jshackles]

I guess Switch 2 games would be too large to transfer enough data fast even with WiFi 6.

Theoretically if these devices are connected directly to each other using WiFi 6, they'd have a data transfer speed of 9.8Gbps - meaning it'd take about a minute to transfer a 64GB game file. The Micro SD Express has a theoretical write speed of about 950MBps which would put the time of the transfer up into the "several minutes" mark. If you're distributing the same game to multiple people at once, then you're going to be limited by the SD or internal storage read speed, so distributing that game to, say, four people at once means it's going to take 4x as long - ie now your getting into the "tens of minutes" realm. Not nearly as impressive as just streaming from one console to the others, accessing the content almost instantly.

But yes, it'll look and act much worse.