Let's talk about Nintendo's Online.

Let us remember that back in January, Nintendo told us that by Fall of this year, we will be required to purchase a Premium Membership in order to play Online on our Nintendo Systems.

A First for Nintendo, but it's standard fare on the other Console systems.

Until that fated day, We are treated to a limited time "Trial" of this Online Service. The service we're supposed to pay for.

It's been 4 months we now have a pretty decent amount of games released for The Nintendo Switch that offer this Online service. Games like Minecraft, Ultra Street Fighter 2, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Puyo Puyo Tetris, Fast RMX, and Super Bomberman R. And We have also been graced with Server Tests with games like ARMS and Splatoon 2 which are being marketed heavily for their Online by Nintendo.

So What's the Issue? Well...

1. For one, there's no voice chat. Every Online game featured has no chat functions whatsoever. Even Ultra Street Fighter 2, a game by a Company that has these functions in previous titles doesn't have this. Splatoon 2 which is HEAVY on Team Work will only have chat features open for people you know (aka your Friend List). No I'm not kidding.
2. Speaking of the Friend List, What good is having a friend list if you can't even join anyone in game or communicate with them? Even the 3DS had a Join Feature. To my knowledge there is no way to actually tell a Friend on the Friend list that you are going to be playing a game and you want them to join. In order for you to actually have a friend join in a game or for you to join their game, Both of you either have to be IN the same game and THEN you may join each other's game online. There is no way for you to actually send anyone an invite like you can for Services like Steam, PSN, or Xbox Live. You either have to be in contact with your Friend through some other means or you just have to be lucky.
3. And Lastly, The Games online aren't any better then were on the Wii U. Sometimes you'll get a good connection, but most of the time you'll get an eh connection. Bomberman R was real sluggish and Fast RMX & Mario Kart 8 may have you in 1st place, but really you're in 3rd and there's no way for you to know until you finished the race. Oh and Street Fighter 2? good luck finding anyone that's above 2 bars in connectivity and even then your connection may still be spotty.

THIS is the online service Nintendo is expecting us to pay for. THIS! None of the Heavy Hitting Online games that people actually pay for the Online are even going to be on this system. So what is Nintendo Thinking? Do they think we're dumb and we're going to pay any company anything so we could enjoy an Online Experience?

So far, I'm not at all impressed with the way Nintendo is handling the Switch's Online. Unless they somehow manage to make it all seem "worth it" in the end, I don't think many of these online games will actually see a "Life" after the Pay to Play feature is enabled.

I'm sure there will be excuses, but yeah, I won't be paying for it.

It's absolutely mindblowing how far behind they continue to be. And people actually have the balls to applaud them when they do get something right.

Is this actually the free trial? There's nothing here... If this is it, then it's dreadful. :(

I was under the impression the free trial hasn't even started yet as we have no information on the online subscription service.

Nintendont.. Eh, that's all I got. :P

to me this is basically a nintendo patreon service.

just like psn...same as ps3 but now you pay and brag about how much money sony made on psn.

now i can throw my money at nintendo and brag about the same.

also lol at legato fakeboying...he was on sf2 the other day trying to play maximillian. he loves him some switch. 40$ well spent.

yea the full service hasnt been launched yet.

but as for online connectivity and lag...that will not change.

I never pay for online services.

I find PSN full of server problems for a paid service, but Nintendo? They haven't even shown us a functioning, competent online system yet and suddenly for Switch they want us to pay? They can go to hell for all I care. Plus, if Pokemon's online turns out to be p2p, I might just lose interest in the franchise altogether

didicated servers for a turn based rpg? seriously?

Well isn't everything P2P if they are following the road PSN and Live have taken?

@KBFloYd: That's one of the reasons why I made this thread. I have fought Max many times on other Systems. Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator on PS4, Street Fighter V on Steam, and Street Fighter Third Strike 360. He's fun to play against and we've never had a bad connection until I tried joining him on Switch. Bundle that and the Shoddy connection I had with Splatoon 2's Test Fire, I've just had about enough with Nintendo's take this online service they're supposed to give out.

PLUS I never said the Switch is terrible. The Switch is absolutely FANTASTIC. I hope the Switch continues to succeed and more games get made for the Switch. I'm criticizing It's Online infrastructure PURELY because WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE PAYING FOR THIS!

@jumpaction: Watch the Switch Presentation again. It's said that We will be treated to a "trail period" after launch. Even when you set up your Switch for the first time it gives you a warning that the Online services you get right now will be set as a Pay to Play service in the Fall. So yes, THIS IS THE TRAIL PERIOD.

i am asking....why do you want dedicated servers for game where you have to wait your turn to do an action?

I don't.

But if Nintendo's online service is going to be a paid service, that means if Pokemon comes out, I can only play online if I have paid the online fee. Unless somehow Nintendo's system differs from their competition.

..... wait did you take my P2P as peer-to-peer, not pay-to-play? I meant the latter.

@LegatoSkyheart: That's really bad. I hope they don't expect people to pay for what is on offer right now. It somehow has less functionality than the Wii U.

@KBFloYd: It's quite bad in my opinion. Really not worth paying for as it is.

@jumpaction: Yeah, it's not good. And like I said before. If Nintendo is expecting us to pay for this service, it'll look REALLY bad when people who ARE paying for it find out that no one is actually playing the Online games Nintendo has to offer.

That's why Nintendo SHOULD be getting those popular Online titles on their system like Overwatch, Call of Duty, Battlefield, Grand Theft Auto, Tekken, Injustice, etc, etc...cause so far their current offerings aren't that great.

@LegatoSkyheart: Well I don't know about the software itself. I don't think that is the issue at heart. Really it's just a framework that doesn't facilitate the likes of Mario Kart 8 and the upcoming ARMS and Splatoon 2.

The online service is too limited to make the most out of these titles in online multiplayer.

@jumpaction: Yeah and that's also part of the overall problem Nintendo has with their Online.

The Features are Lacking, there's no compelling Online game to hook users in and of course the games they DO have to offer are sub par at best when you do play online.

Nintendo's online is a joke.

Online services should be free

@LegatoSkyheart: I don't get why they are calling this the 'free trial'. That implies that it exemplifies what we can expect from the paid service. If that's the case, how on earth can they charge for something that is worse than their last effort which was lacking to begin with.

@the_master_race: I feel they should be too. PC gaming offers the best services for online multiplayer and it is free. Maybe I'm missing something but personally I'd prefer not having offers like Games with Gold in favor of a free subscription.

@the_master_race: I agree, we're already paying our ISPs for Internet to begin with. But that still doesn't excuse Nintendo's lackluster effort on the Switch.

I suppose you're asking if the online speed/stability is good enough because clearly they're not done building their online features.

I mean it's better than the Wii U. The download speeds in particular are good. Those are better than Live and PSN+ combined. But in-game... I dunno. It was OK. I played lots of MK8 Deluxe without lag, some with lag, and quite regularly it fails to connect to a game. That's OK for free internet services, but if we start paying for it I hope they'll have a more stable online network.

To be fair it is likely to be much cheaper than PSN+ and XBL.

So where does it rate people?! For comparison sake. Lot worse than ps3?

The service right now does pale in comparison to what you get from other subscriptions, but lobbies, voice chat and the free monthly SNES/NES game with online will be available in the fall.

I see your complaint about connectivity issues, but I can't say that's been the experience for me. I connected to both ARMS and Splatoon stress tests without any issues. Also my MK8D experience has been absolutely flawless minus one disconnect about a week ago.

Hopefully that will improve and hopefully that $17-$26 price tag holds true.

Voice chat is highly overrated, all I here is people coughing and talk to others in the background.

Fast RMX & Mario Kart 8 may have you in 1st place, but really you're in 3rd and there's no way for you to know until you finished the race.

___

Okay, that's a straight up lie.

@tigerbalm: I kind of agree with you. I rarely ever speak to people on Xbox Live. It is useful for communication with friends without the need of an additional device. Saying that, Switch doesn't even have decent systems in place for messaging or organizing games either. It's lacking in so many areas.

That's because you're not actually paying for online play. You are paying for the premium service. But so you make use of it, they deny you online services if you don't subscribe. It's really simple as that. Otherwise, how else would you get so many people to subscribe to PlayStation Plus and some cheap online service that gets you rented outdated NES games every month?

Now having said that, I hardly play anything worth a crap Nintendo MP anyways, so this Nintendo online fee doesn't benefit me and all I really wanna do is just play single player Nintendo games and call it a day.

This isn't the "free trial" yet, I assume.
The app isn't even out yet.

I don't see the problem. It lets you play online and so far most games run fantastic. ARMS was amazing IMHO.

You want to gabb? Call up your girlfriends to chit chat.

For the $26 a year they're asking...it's fine.

This. I assume all details will be announced at E3 for their online system.

I agree. Sure, it's barebones right now but we haven't heard anything about the payed service yet.
Meanwhile, all games I've played online (Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Minecraft, Splatoon 2 Testfire and ARMS Testpunch) worked great. No lag whatsoever like the OP mentioned, and it's been free so far.

The only game that sucks online is Fast RMX. I've never actually got to play a whole online race without disconnecting.

Just another case of impatient gamers crying and complaining without having any facts. Right now it's free and they're still complaining. Not to mention it runs pretty great. I didn't have a single problem playing ARMS last weekend.

Nintendo online service is mediocre to its competitors and you have the loyalists who are; not surprisingly, trying to justify it. ?

It's automatically justified because it's cheaper and/or free compared to its competitors, lol.

According to their website, it is. :/

'Free Trial Period Starts in March' Source

Pretty bad free trial if you ask me...

Well it definitely needs to be much better then it is now that's for sure. For Voice Chat it is always better to have the option to talk to anyone at a given time if need be then to not have the option available at all. There will be some games that I'll definitely want to have online for such as Mario Kart, Smash Bros., and Monster Hunter.

The Online quality is not worth spending money on. I wish Nintendo could get their heads out of the sand.

Yup.

Glad this shit will never catch on to the PC. If only due to the lack of a monopoly on Online Play. If I want to play a switch game online they have to go through Nintendo's services.

Meh, I let PSN and XBOX live expire, with no will to renew. Those services aren't mind blowing. Hell, PSN used to be free too.

I'm sure more features and services will be announced. Heck, the two games a month has yet to be detailed. There's still much to learn. I wouldn't worry. It works, it's free, it's fine for now.

Yup

Honestly, I expect some kind of massive update after E3 for the system. Perhaps I'm wrong and we have to wait until the fall for everything, but it would make sense for something to come after E3.

I'm just hoping this elusive app addresses some of this stuff. But yeah, as is I have no reason to pay. Unless it really is only $20 or so for a year -- would be worth it for the occasional Splatoon or Puyo Puyo match.

@Bread_or_Decide: I mean, it's free sure but so are Steam and GOG and those services are far better. :P

It's not very good. Free or not free, it's not as good as free services we've had on past consoles like PS3 or Wii U. Though I do imagine there will be a feature bump with the subscription service.

@PikminWorld: I think you might be right too. I can imagine a post-E3 update happening.

I'm pissed that they're going to ruin the online communities for Mario Kart, Pokemon, and Super Mario Maker with the dumb paid online.

Nobody should pay for online access for any system at all. Just my 2 cents. :P

Just got a switch. It's arriving in a week. Bought the Zelda bundle. Doubt I'll be gaming online a ton on my switch, so for me it's a, "prove your service is worth the money" and maybe I'll bite. As is everything else in this hobby... Prove worth and I'm interested.

Pokemon and Mario Maker are on the Switch?

Only one word needs to be used when discussing Nintendo online:

LOL

Unless Nintendo has some sort of ace up its sleeve, I think it will be a bad move. I'm talking about, they would need a massive overhaul to make any subscribed service of theirs worthwhile...But then again, if Pokemon Stars turns out to be some sort of MMO experience, fuckit, I guess there's no choice but to get the service. I'm not really keen on online to begin with, but I do understand the service must present its value, which Nintendo currently doesn't have.

It's pretty much: "well sony and microsoft are charging so give us money too"

Without even giving anything even moderately worth it.

PS+ and Xbox Gold are pretty shit but Nintendo is pretty much just going "**** you give us money" and scamming you idiots.