Nintendo: Switch Smartphone App "An Elegant Solution" To Bulky Gamer Headsets

[Steven Bogos]

Nintendo: Switch Smartphone App "An Elegant Solution" To Bulky Gamer Headsets

The Nintendo Switch smartphone companion app will handle all matchmaking and online lobbies for online Switch games.

What do you call having to boot up an app on your smartphone just to use matchmaking, online lobbies, and voice chat on your console? Annoying? Frustrating? GameSpot [http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf4/], Fils-Amie explains why Nintendo decided to tie all of the online features of the Switch to a separate smartphone app.


"The smart phone app that we're creating, that will be part of our online service, we believe is going to be a very compelling part of the overall proposition because that's how you'll voice chat, that's how you'll do your matchmaking, and create your lobby," he explained.

"We also think it's a very elegant solution because if you've taken your Switch on the go, you've put yourself in a hotspot, you're looking at get a quick match of Mario Kart in, to whip out some sort of bulky, gamer headset is a bit of a challenge."

Yep, you heard right. Reggie wants to save us from "bulky gamer headsets" by having us shout into our phones (presumably balanced in our lap) while playing games.

You can check out the full interview in the video above, in which Fils-Amie sheds some additional light on Switch features to look forward to.

Source: GameSpot [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLAu113idcs]


Permalink

 

[MonsterCrit]

"We also think it's a very elegant solution because if you've taken your Switch on the go, you've put yourself in a hotspot, you're looking at get a quick match of Mario Kart in, to whip out some sort of bulky, gamer headset is a bit of a challenge."

Because having to do this while some how keeping a smartphone to your ear or set out in just the right place is SO much better.
Look Reggie. It's okay to say your company was too cheap to spring for bluetooth or a mic jack., or a microphone.. I mean it's not like even the DS had a mic on it. Oh wait.. it did.

 

[The Hungry Samurai]

I see what he's getting at. It's more portable. You can't put a headset in your pocket.

However he's wrong about it being elegant or convenient. No one wants to sit at home or on the go and broadcast game chat over phone speakers to everyone in the area.

It's not a big deal however since phones use their own Bluetooth headsets an what not to offset this. It's a minor inconvenience at best. Keep polishing that turd Reggie.

 

[Phoenix1213]

What about those cheap earbud headphones with the speaker in the wire? I mean... it doesn't actually prove his point because you can use them instead of "a bulky headset", but it could also be connected to your smart phone and voice chat that way, or use a bluetooth with your smartphone. So yeah.... as said above too cheap to put it in the actual console?... who knows maybe thst extra bluetooth connection or mic jack would have made the switch to heavy lol.

 

[bjj hero]

The lobbies will be terrible. Imagine something like overwatch, only you have the background noise from 6 people all on speaker phone...

Awful idea.

 

[Battenberg]

I swear it's like all of Nintendo lives in some weird parallel universe sometimes. If using your phone to talk to other gamers online was "an elegant solution" headsets wouldn't be a thing Reggie, all you've done is find a problem that has a solution and pretended that solution doesn't exist.

 

[bluegate]

"We also think it's a very elegant solution because if you've taken your Switch on the go, you've put yourself in a hotspot, you're looking at get a quick match of Mario Kart in, to whip out some sort of bulky, gamer headset is a bit of a challenge."

What the actual fuck? I would much rather plug in my phone's earbuds in the bulky tablet that is the switch, than mess around with said bulky tablet AND my phone.

I like the idea of being able to chat and do event planning on a companion app as a secondary option, but not as the sole and only option! And seriously, match making should be handled by the device the game is being run on, I don't want to have to divert my attention to another device's screen, just to be able to set up with who I'm going to play with on my console.

 

[Shadefyre]

Good of Nintendo to thoroughly shoot their online service in the heart before launch with all these announcements. It'll save people some money and disappointment.

 

[sagitel]

nintendo should just shut the fuck up. every piece of news that come out of them makes the switch look worse. just shut the fuck up and let your fucking presentation speak for itself.

 

[Saelune]

Eh...

But...

Uh...

Fuck.

Nintendo should just shut the fuck up. every piece of news that come out of them makes the switch look worse. just shut the fuck up and let your fucking presentation speak for itself.

I dunno, the original idea for the Xbox One was a nightmare. Had they not bragged about it, everyone would not have known how terrible it was, and they would not have freaked out, and Microsoft would not have changed all that terrible stuff, and Don Mattrick would still be working at Microsoft.

He is currently unemployed after resigning from Zynga, so even they could not stand his terribleness. I hope he didnt infiltrate Nintendo though, cause this is that kind of stupid.

 

[OldNewNewOld]

Or, and I know this might sound crazy, I could just plug in my phone's earbuds into the Switch... if it had the fucking jack for it.
I know it's his job to defend the shit that Nintendo of Japan does, but this is next level bullshit.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

Oh joy, so people like me who don't have a smartphone yet are shit outta luck because all online matchmaking and shit is handled through the app?

Thanks reggie. I guess I'll have to pass on Splatoon 2, then.

(Plonks his big, comfortable bulky gamer headset back on and goes back to Overwatch)

 

[Elvis Starburst]

I could just plug in my phone's earbuds into the Switch... if it had the fucking jack for it.

It does have it. Doesn't fix this idea, but it has it

 

[Royas]

Every announcement about the Switch and its features and functions makes me less and less interested in the system. This particular statement, though... did he even listen to himself as he spouted this nonsense? This sounds like one of the most contrived and awkward rationalizations for a bad decision I've ever heard, surely Nintendo can't believe this claptrap.

 

[Eri]

The Nintendo Switch. Dead on arrival.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

This does seem like a dumb way to go about with Online Multiplayer, and it might be a slight bit of hassle for people to work with both the Switch and their Phone. However, that already sounds a lot better then the Wii and WiiU's "Push a bunch of Random Letters and Numbers and maybe get the person/game you want". This also reminds me of how Valve decided you needed a Phone App to "authenticate" any in game action you wanted to do, from trading to befriending people, which I first thought was stupid, but it hasn't been bad for me. I think it's also a way for Nintendo to keep in touch with it's growing Phone-based gamers.

I'm going to reserve judgement on this idea until it's actually implemented. I will say that it looks stupid on the surface, but it could actually be great for all we know...

The Nintendo Switch. Dead on arrival.

Not with a new Legend of Zelda, it won't be.

I don't know, what input does this guy even have on something like the Switch?

This just sounds like someone trying to make something they themselves think is stupid look good.

Reggie Fils-Aime doesn't actually have any power other then bringing in Games to Localize from Nintendo. He has no power other then that; all the power is (and has been since the Early Gamecube Days) with Nintendo of Japan.

 

[drkchmst]

So... Ts3 or hangouts?

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Maybe one of the betas of the console had this function, but the addition of voice chat put too much strain on the system's hardware while running games at the same time, and so was cut.

 

[TheScorpion]

Well, that's just asking for someone to say "What could possibly go wrong?!"

Seriously, I'm trying to figure out how this will work out without problems.