Nintendo's online service is a dumpster fire and it needs to change ASAP.

[KINGOFSHIBUYA Ltd.]

Splatoon 2 needs persistent team voice chat more than any other game on their platform, and it doesn't have it, even after paying.

You're right. It's trash.

But hey. At least you got some mostly accurately emulated NES games. I mean, that's really valuable to the entire service, right? That really alleviates whatever the hell theyre trying to pull in Smash, right?
Right?
Anyone wanna play Ice Hockey and communicate with the weird pointer thing?


They downgraded from Wii U and have less going on than Vita did. It's sad. Hell, on PSP I had voice chat.

 

[Trup1aya]

I'm feel like there's some executive at Nintendo who believes that making it as difficult as possible to setup an online game with friends is a selling point. Just as they believe that requiring a mobile app for voice chat is a logical feature.

I mean, none of this was just randomly thrown together. This is what was decided upon after months of meetings and discussions about how to create something that customers would want to buy. It's truly amazing that THIS is the end result of those discussions, even after the free period.

 

[nib95]

I think the fact that they had the audacity to charge for the online without really improving these things beforehand, really shows a level of arrogance and disregard for their fans that is especially bold and actually rather surprising.

There's no way they can't have known there'd be some form of backlash, pushback or anger from fans and consumers, especially when as some have pointed out, even their last gen console (and other past gen consoles) already had better online systems for free, so the only real conclusion to draw is that they simply didn't or don't care. To those saying to wait for them to improve it (it's been 3 months already), the reality is that they shouldn't have even started charging for the online till they were confident they'd have improved systems/features in place beforehand or coinciding with the new cost.

 

[Marukoban]

I agree, Nintendo's online infrastructure is trash, especially for Smash.
I have a friend in different region, and the only way we can play together is if I make a private room that only has 2 of us and other friends we know.
We can't both join the same room or make a room with 2 of us first, then open to public.
Like all of this is just so stupid.
MK8DX isn't even that much better, but at least there you can always join friend's session.

 

[Sgtpepper89]

It is embarrassingly dreadful. Cheap, but very, very badly done.

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Its accually expensive given how bad it is lol. Worse experience then I had playing CS 1.6 like 15 years ago.

 

[ShinobiBk]

I've never been anti-phone app like a lot of people. I'd be fine doing all the stuff through the app but the issue is the app doesn't do shit.
Why can't the app just have voice chat for all your friends? It's in game only and only available for very few games.


Don't get me started on Smash online, the only reason I subbed.


I would still say the $20 was totally worth it if we got at least up to N64 games on the system. Only NES is a disgusting joke.

 

[Deleted member 37917]

It absolutely sucks, and I really hope that it won't be very successful, but I have no other choice than paying it I want to keep on playing some games I already own like Splatoon. And with the family subscription and a few friends it was dirt cheap...
Still, I'd rather have a more expensive service with an actually good service.

 

[nasirum]

There's a reason I haven't paid for it and probably never will. I feel bad for the Smash fans.

 

[Ecotic]

The board of directors? Calm down, drama queen.
All evidence seems to suggest that online infrastructure for each console falls to the project manager for each device. Hence why each device they release has such wildly inconsistent online parameters. They're basically re-inventing the wheel each time and yeah, it's frustrating as hell.

And that's what sets them apart from Sony and MS negatively, they're still treating it like a hardware feature when it needs to be a separately-built service offering that they can iterate on.

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So Nintendo could have as good an online system as Sony or Microsoft, it's just the execution that has fallen short? A slight adjustment could fix it?

I doubt Nintendo wants a good online system, but it's simply the execution has fallen short. The company doesn't view a robust online system as their strategic place in the market, and purposefully leaves it inadequate. They aim to be the cheaper alternative, and to focus on younger kids and dedicated fans. They don't aim to be the fully featured platform to catch an all-inclusive audience. They view themselves as a niche company serving a niche market, and a robust online system isn't compatible with this. This is why I say the only path to a robust online service on Nintendo's platforms is to throw the whole senior management team and the board of directors out, and get a new team in place with a competitive strategy that includes a robust online system.

 

[Puroresu_kid]

It's disgraceful. It's not good enough.

Not being able to message friends is a joke. Nintendo make it as difficult as possible to play with friends.

 

[Weebos]

I think dumpster fire is a bit hyperbolic, but it's definitely not at the level you'd expect for a paid service.

 

[Nessus]

I don't understand what I'm paying for. It's no different than the Wii or Wii U

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At least Wii U had Miiverse, a moderated, surprisingly, refreshingly positive online gaming community.

I don't get how they decided tossing away the one good thing about the Wii U's online was the right choice.

 

[Deleted member 8791]

I'm ok with it, but I'm just one of those that just want to play online with randoms. So all lacking stuff I wouldn't use anyway. People say that the price isn't an excuse but 20$ per year for online + cloud saves + growing library of NES games and hopefully soon SNES (+what about the sales for subscribers Nintendo???) makes me content enough. I'm way more annoyed at paying 60$ per year for PS+ just because my bro wants to play FIFA online from time to time.

 

[cw_sasuke]

Service def. needs a big update now next year. I hope the paid memberships numbers Nintendo sees right now are enough for them to invest more into updates for the future. I could understand their - we dont give a shit - Attitude when online gaming was free.

But Switch is too big of a platform for it to lack some basic online/communication features.

 

[HotHamBoy]

I think they're referring to this Eurogamer article from the Wii U era (written by an anonymous third party developer):



Four years later and they haven't learned a thing.

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They learned they could charge for it.

 

[Mekanos]

I got the family plan and split it between 8 people so we were only paying ~$4.30 a year. No way would I pay full price for it.

 

[FiXalaS]

Pretty sure MS in 2004 was ahead of where Nintendo is now. It's honestly baffling and even free it was inexcusable.

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yup even when it was free it was missing basic features.

inexcusable and they should do something about it but they're deaf on this subject for some reason..

 

[Puroresu_kid]

The price is indeed irrelevant. This is a poor service no matter what.

 

[WarpSpeedMolasses]

I'm legit amazed the phone app is still a thing. It's so terribad all around and tying VC to it exclusively is the absolute worst.

I'm praying we get an actual Discord app for Switch but...not holding my breath.

 

[Deleted member 15476]

I am against subscription services that lock out multiplayer on principle (never paid or plan to pay on any console for that matter), but Nintendo is definitely the least compelling of the 3, despite being the cheapest

 

[WarpSpeedMolasses]

Also wanted to add that, yea, having friends on there feels so pointless. My brother and I share a Switch. We have a mutul friend. They got around to exchanging FCs, we didn't. Despite seeing her profile on my Switch, there was no way for me to message her through Switch's interface so that we can be friends too.

 

[Xiaomi]

Some higher-up in Kyoto is terrified of letting people interact normally online through a Nintendo product. Or maybe they just hate online gaming. Those are the only explanations that make sense anymore.

 

[AkimbOb-omb]

They should be embarrassed. The voice chat solution is basically Wii Speak (anyone remember that one lol) only worse, cause you need a separate device.

That said, I subscribed for a year, because Splatoon 2 is my go to mp game since its release. 20€ a year for a mp game that good is kinda okay.

Still, shame on Nintnedo.

 

[FaceHugger]

Nintendo is pretty backwards. That they don't get the online space isn't surprising. I'm just impressed that they actually charge for it.

 

[Spikematic]

It is pure and utter trash and I refuse to pay for it, even if it's just $20. It's so infuriating that they can get away with this in this day and age.

 

[cid85]

Some higher-up in Kyoto is terrified of letting people interact normally online through a Nintendo product. Or maybe they just hate online gaming. Those are the only explanations that make sense anymore.

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I thnk its that and a combination of them not having a good online tech in place.

 

[Kyussons]

Service, infrastructure, in-game implemention... all non existent, Nintendo online sucks wathever is free or cheap.

 

[Oddish1]

Some higher-up in Kyoto is terrified of letting people interact normally online through a Nintendo product. Or maybe they just hate online gaming. Those are the only explanations that make sense anymore.

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Well thinking rationally developing huge online infrastructures is very difficult, very costly, and very time consuming. Nintendo is the smallest of the console developing companies so deciding to put the development of these online infrastructures on the backburner in order to focus on the more consumer appealing aspects of the console like the hardware and software isn't too surprising. There isn't a button to push that activates voice chat for every game on the system and Nintendo isn't just bumbling around trying to figure out how to push it or avoiding it out of spite or something. Let's remember that you couldn't change name on PSN for the longest time because how it was built made it too difficult to implement that feature. These are very complex systems that have millions of moving parts. And if Nintendo has the skill to build online infrastructure on par with Sony and Microsoft they might not have the time or resources to place it as a high priority.

All that said, it's complete bull that any of them charge for online.

 

[@dedmunk]

I'm happy with it for $20. Happy enough that I let my PS+ sub lapse and haven't looked back.

 

[Atheerios]

Splatoon 2 needs persistent team voice chat more than any other game on their platform, and it doesn't have it, even after paying.

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That's really not related to the online service though. It's a design decision. The current online service would support that but Splatoon developers explicitly said they don't think voice chat in public matches would be a bad idea. And to be honest I agree, Splatoon is highly cooperative and I can already see lots of swearing if it had public VC.

 

[Kraq]

Wow, this thread came at a perfect time for me. I recently used my free online trial so that I could play Smash Ultimate online, and I am already done. I'll take my remaining few days and call it a day.

I have never experienced such a poor online service in a game since... Smash Bros Brawl in 2008. Most matches are laggy, with some having merely delayed inputs while others are watching out a slideshow frame by frame in real time. I actually got disconnected and the game had the balls to give me a warning that I'd be punished if I continued to leave games mid-match.

What a stunning, shocking disappointment of a service that they have here. What a mess. What a complete and utter disgrace that they actually charge people money for this. Nintendo should be ashamed that their holiday party game of the year which sold millions of copies in a handful of days plays worse than early era PS3 games. We're not talking about some niche company who can't afford servers. They have the money, but they're too backwards, greedy and lazy to actually invest in a decent service.

 

[Nightside]

I paid for the subscription and.. Barely used.. The nes stuff is neat and all but quite frankly I played a couple of games for a couple of minutes and never used again. I guess I won't be renewing my subscription next October.

 

[H-I-M]

I still haven't bought it and I don't see myself doing it anytime soon.
Not even for Smash or Mario Kart.

 

[Devil]

It's not worth a penny. But as a huge Smash fan they got me by the balls. One can only hope they listen to criticism, soon.

 

[DJwest]

No way to message your own friends in 2018/2019 is a joke.

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You are supposed to use your phone to message your friends, dummy !

 

[The Almighty Tria]

It's cheap enough that I dont care. I never use other systems voice chats or messaging systems anyways, so the lack of then on Switch does not bother me.

There are more important things to care about.

 

[Kiraly]

But are you not entertained with the 30 year old NES games thrown in?

 

[Nere]

If they at least would give us some SNES games I would forgive them, but they can't even do that...

 

[Deleted member 2652]

i remember a huge defense force shouting "wait and see before being concerned" when they announced it. as if nintendo's history hadn't been enough of a warning sign and they were going to surprise us all.

the fact is, in its current state it wouldn't even be considered a good free service.

 

[Darvan]

No way to message your own friends in 2018/2019 is a joke. If weak ass systems like the Vita and Ps3 can do it then Nintendo is having a laugh.

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Sadly as always with Nintendo I believe it's due to part that Nintendo doesn't want to pay any company royalties which at this point they really need to do with their online service get someone to do it cause Nintendo has proven time and again they are unable.

 

[Aters]

That's really not related to the online service though. It's a design decision. The current online service would support that but Splatoon developers explicitly said they don't think voice chat in public matches would be a bad idea. And to be honest I agree, Splatoon is highly cooperative and I can already see lots of swearing if it had public VC.

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If you don't want to hear swearing, just turn it off, let other people talk. But I guess party chat that can be turned on and off on the fly is beyond Nintendo's capability (and Nintendo fans' imaginition), even though indies can implement it just fine.

 

[Ninjadom]

I thnk its that and a combination of them not having a good online tech in place.

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Nintendo's online service for the Switch runs off Google's tech & servers. Microsoft use their own servers. Sony use Amazon servers for PSN.

 

[Bard]

It's a fucking travesty for those who use it.

I barely used online before it became paid for, only playing splatoon 2 with it. But since that didn't get any upgrade whatsoever with this new service I've just refused to pay for it.

If they expect me to pay for a service that changes basically nothing in how the game played, what with it not having dedicated servers or whatever, I'm not going to pay for that bullshit.

 

[Deleted member 47318]

The time for that is long gone. People should have spoken out with their wallets against the concept of paid online multiplayer back in 2005 with the Xbox. Now that that has been successful, everyone is doing it.

Now it's as simple as: I need to play smash with friends online and the only way to do that is by paying for shit I got for free before because Microsoft made it okay for everyone.

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You are right that the time for voting with wallets has passed, but it is not so simple as to just shift all responsibility onto 2004 Microsoft and their userbase at the time.

The time for criticism was actually when the Switch was announced. Rather than voice their concerns at the concept of a paywall for an online service of dubious quality being introduced a year post-launch, however, people just went ahead and bought into the ecosystem anyway. And after said launch when the quality did indeed turn out to not be there, the defense force and the willingly ignorant all jumped on the "well, they'll obviously improve quality once it becomes paid" excuse to keep the positive momentum train going.

So everyone just kept buying into the system while convincing others to do the same, invested into the ecosystem... And now they're all surprised at previously accessable components of the games they bought being "held hostage", as some put it.

 

[happynaut]

Nintendo ≠ online
It would be interesting to see how many gamers have subscribed to this service. Maybe at the next inevestors meeting we get some numbers.

 

[Deleted member 16849]

Would be funny if they waste their Nintendo direct hyping up new features that other systems have had for over 10 years now.

 

[Sylmaron]

It's Fallout 76, the Playstation Mini or this as fail of the year.

 

[JayBee]

Hope it improves in due time. The OS hasnt gotten any updates in a long time sadly

 

[Mcjmetroid]

Nintendo ≠ online
It would be interesting to see how many gamers have subscribed to this service. Maybe at the next inevestors meeting we get some numbers.

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They're clever to charge a very tempting yearly rate for the cheap. If it was as expensive as Sony's you'd be a major dropoff within the month I'd say.

 

[requiem]

I am convinced this entire travesty of a service is self-sabotage. Outside of Splatoon it seems like they actively want to discourage Switch owners from playing online.