20 July, 2017
The Nintendo Switch Online app and its voice chat feature are now free, but players will hope to see significant improvements once Nintendo starts charging for the service next year. This will require players to deactivate the auto-sleep features of their iOS and Android devices and to not do anything else on their phone while the app is running.
In the game (Splatoon 2 is the only title supported for now) players need to set up an Online Lounge from the game's lobby. And if you ordered from Amazon and are hoping to get it on launch day, hopefully Amazon actually delivers on that. For one thing, you can only have this voice chat in a private match, so there's no way to party up and then head off to play regular, ranked or league battles.
The mobile app comes with a variety of uses, but its main feature, which enables voice chat among players, is already drawing heavy criticism. Brace yourself for the rapid battery drain that will follow. The app can connect you with other players (through social media or your friends list) and when used in Splatoon 2's Online Lounge, you can create rooms for friends to join while you talk to them through the app. However, players who have tried out the service's voice chat are already disappointed with the feature. You and the rest of the world looking forward to the splat-tastic shooter will finally be able to start playing this weekend, but what about the inevitable traffic jam that's going to happen after the game releases in full? The app offers at least one neat benefit that we've seen: The ability to customise the app for specific games. If you're planning on buying this game digitally then you will have to purchase and download the game that night.
The Nintendo Switch Online app is now available for the iOS and Android and can be downloaded for free.
Nintendo's history with online services on its game consoles is, to put it nicely, quite poor. They have to shoulder these criticisms and learn from them so that, once they decide they want to charge money for this, it's worth the price of admission. However, it's a starting point from which Nintendo will grow.