Nintendo Switch Online Cloud Services Explained By Diablo III Associate Producer

Any information on the service is good, even if it basically just confirms what we thought.

Achievements for Diablo 3, that's what I'm talking about! Luckily i'll have MH to hold me over until its release, but I still can't wait.

NBA 2K18 has a 5GB save file, let's see how many times they save in a day. LOL.

Not a big fan of cloud saves, due to bad experience with Steam Cloud saves, but nice to know how it works at least. At least a little bit.

>Achievements
Let's hope we see this as a staple for all games under Nintendo Switch Online

@Nincompoop I think it was said (or at least rumoured) that games must explicitly support cloud saves for it to work.

2K probably just won't implement it. I'm sure Nintendo will have some kind of size restrictions for cloud saves.

You know you've messed up when a third party releases more information about your online service than you do.

Cloud saves were integral to working with the Vita's expensive memory from my experience, so I am more than excited to have them in operation here.

I love the safety net provided by it and it may result in me buying an additional Switch once I am able to transfer all my progress, leaving the kids with their own.

A shame console can't provide free cloud storage like Steam. But oh well, at least Nintendo is actually implementing it now. Should've been a feature since the Wii U.

Nothing to do with this article but something that's been bothering me. We need the ability to store games on a hard drive plugged into the dock that can be easily transferred to and from an SD. Nintendo promote it as a home console you can take on the go,so why does storage need to work like it's a portable unit only?

@OorWullie I agree. I have a hard drive on my wiiU that isn't being used as much. Would be nice to be able to use it with the switch.

I think it’s a smart PR stunt on Nintendo’s part.. their online has been viewed as lacking in the past so they are having third parties who are experienced with online gaming explain features for them so Switch Online can appear as a quality service others can get behind.

@Ooyah I think I read that somewhere, but I can't find anything right now. Maybe I am just remembering it wrong. The official website only says "more details will be released soon".

@Ooyah Something like that probably requires some code for each game to implement, even if just so devs have control over what is saved in the cloud, should that ever be needed.

It is possible though that games can already use an interface for saves which is supposed to cloud save later on. In that case, If the game devs already use this interface to store saves on the console, it should work without needing any patch.

Still, games not automatically being able to cloud save is a very realistic scenario.
It should be easy to implementiert for most games either way though.
(Unless you have a 5GB save file...)

@Spudworthy There are already some games with achievements/trophies on the switch, hollow Knight, disgaea 5, and ice for example.

Since Nintendo is finally getting into the online arena, maybe they'll turn those in-game achievements into some kind of milestone tracking system. Sony didn't add the trophy system to the ps3 until around 08-09 so I guess it's possible.

@OorWullie I think not allowing the user any access to save data outside actually playing a game is an anti-piracy measure and, as such, it's unlikely that Nintendo will allow saving to an external drive.

The take down of ROM sites and implementation of server-side verification on 3DS shows they mean business. It's about time really, but it does mean inconvenience to the consumer as far as saves are concerned because we don't have direct control over them.

It's still silly that you can't back them up physically yourself.

Any reasoning including piracy is just an excuse on their part for a poor design choice.

its fine to say you can jump from switch to switch with your save file but at the moment this will only work for games you own physically. You still can not log-in on a second switch and play your digital purchases. This needs to be sorted out first to made this of any value

@BarFooToo You can play your digital purchases in other Switch. Like other systems, only one system can be activated at the same time, except the deactivation must be done manually in eShop settings (nothing is lost except access to digital games until you reactivate it).

@RennanNT you can but you need to deactivate on the active switch, So I can not just log into my sons Switch and carry on like I can on both his PS4 and Xbox. On those platforms as long as I am not logged in on another system at that time I can just log-in and play. This "small" detail is the difference between something being great for those of us that play on multiple systems and completely worthless!

To add even more confusion, a Blizzard rep recently said that cloud saving would be supported in Diablo III even without a Nintendo subscription, and that the subscription would only be required for online multiplayer.

@Sakura Yep I'd agree with that and although inconvenient I can understand it. I was meaning storing our actual full games though. For those who play mostly docked being forced to use micro SD storage just seems silly.As it is just now, I've got around 30gb of games archived. I should have the option of storing them on an HDD with the ability to transfer them over to my consoles SD whenever.

Achievements?

@OorWullie Sorry, misread that. That's a good point.

So if achievements do come to Nintendo games does that mean they are a wonderful thing now?

Finaly bringing save games over.
and its not that expansive tho.
and free acces to all VC games. That's nice!

It's a shame 3rd parties are the ones having to describe Nintendo's own services just because Nintendo are so quiet about it. The paid online service is only around 3 weeks away and there's still a lot we don't know.

I'm ready I preordered my year subscription last Saturday at gamestop

They gotta get this right. Being a two Switch household has been a nightmare. It's so difficult to move profiles and save games it might as well not be possible. Not to mention I can't have both consoles under ONE Nintendo account.

I have no problem buying games twice, but when only ONE kid wants to play it, but his brother happens to have the other Switch...ugh; and even if I do buy it again (digital) or buy physical (Zelda for example), none of his save data is there.

@Yasaal Achievements will never be at OS level on Switch, though plenty of games roll thier own. And honestly, no thanks.

so no option to manually upload save data? what if it overwites save data already stored in the cloud which you need? this could prove a problem when starting a new game or a save file you don't really need copies to online cloud anyway.

I'm told that diabo plus Splatoon will be the only games supporting voice chat by end 2018 via the new online app(excluding Nes vc). And fortnight will be the only game running native chat.

I assume these are Achievements related to Diablo specifically, alas. If Switch offered Achievements, I would never choose to play a multiplat game anywhere else again

Errr, so like Steam... 🙃

Im waiting for the hackers to give me local save.

@huyi "no manual user action required"
So you can, you just don't have to.

The smart move with this whole thing is that family members or flatmates can have each their own Switch, but only one of them needs a dock and TV-time.

If you could seamlessly switch from your own system to the one in the living room, hit up your own account there, and continue the same game where you left off, Nintendo's really on track to removing the barriers keeping households from investing in multiple Switch systems.

And they NEED to remove any and all barriers they can think of. With no heir to their handheld throne, Switch has to become the chosen one.

I just know that Nintendo is going to mess up with the online service.

Cloud saves are a must - I want my games to be ready to go always. Also, I'm amazed they don't go the fortnite route on voice chat - it works great, without any hassle.

Automatic upload = zero protection from corruption

We need the ability to do manual backups to MicroSD card ON TOP of cloud saves.

@Rubbercookie ah i see, i must have heard it wrong then, it sounded strange that there would be no option to upload manually.

@subpopz The only logical reason I can see for hiding the paid online details so close to launch is Nintendo knows it's going to be bad such that maybe it'll even kill the hype for Smash Ultimate.

@Ooyah Video capture need software support from every games, needed patches to be enabled and is still not available everywhere (worst offender for me : Crash Trilogy).
So.. don't want to be this guy but.. expect the worst.

@saintayu Physical backup of save data is what broke the Wii. You have to ensure every single game, first and third party, has no weakness. Obviously impossible.

If this means that Nintendo games will get achievements I will NOT buy Nintendo Switch online.

Okay, I still will, but I will be very unhappy about achievements.

@Kamalen The Switch has already been broken. There are multiple ways to hack any system and that shouldn't lead to more features being disabled for everyone who buys it.

This is what this scenario is like to me:

Me: "So, Nintendo... do you corroborate this info?"
Nintendo: "....................................................."
Me: ".......? KTHXBAI

@Grumblevolcano Seriously what "details" are everyone expecting? What is it everyone thinks we don't know yet that will make it somehow worse than what we already know? You pay. You get cloud saves. You get to keep playing online. You may get NES games. You may get bonus savings on sales. That's it. There's nothing more. What does everyone expect to find out in 3 weeks?

The only actual unknown, especially with this confirming cloud saves work the way we think cloud saves work, is if they intend any change to hardware locking your digital games for subscribers. I bought Hollow Knight on my main account. I'd rather play it on my secondary (read: non-xenoblade) Switch (currently running Octopath). But I can't because the Xenoblade one is my "primary" and I can't play a digital game off the primary. So I'll be paying monthly for service that finally lets me move my Octopath and Rabbids cloud saves between systems.....but still won't let me fire up Hollow Knight on #2, or Pokken on #1. That's really the only detail we're missing, and the expectation is "it's still not really a unified account."

I mean, we know they'll never allow "game sharing" or family account members access to your games (like Sony and MS do) because they want to sell Pokemon Dollars and Pokemon Cents together to each sibling of the ideal 4 member household...

@BarFooToo @Varkster It's actually surprising for a 3rd party to be accidentally leaking Nintendo secrets. That's normally Miyamoto's task.

@sanderev hate to break it to ya, but there are already games with achievements, 1st and 3rd party, on the Switch, 3DS, and Wii U before that.

Diablo 3 having in game achievements is in no way an indication of a future system wide achievement system.

@saintayu They won't add even more easier way to broke it just because it is already broken lol. That's naive at best.

@Kamalen Please show me actual proof that there is an exploit that would be possible via a save backup system.

Assuming all consoles have the same weakness is naive at best.

@Nincompoop if a save file is that big they do not know how to optimize their save data whatsoever, there is no valid reason save data costs that much space.

Will praise Nintendo for having a relatively normal cloud save. What isnot good is that we ourselves can't upload the save files. The only option is Automatic. This presents a problem. Lets say that your save file for Lego Ninjago corrupts and in five minutes your save fileis due tobe backed up, your corrupted save file will be backed up and then all progress is lost. And as for SD card backup, we will never get it now, as Nintendowant save backup tobe automatic.

@saintayu Not saying there is. You're familiar with the Zelda Wii exploit ? It was because you can rename Epona, and the game didn't check when using it if it is not too long. Called buffer overflow. It allows almost anything in the right hands.
With more than 1000+ games already, you cannot ensure that every single one of them does not have a similar vulnerabilty. Plus, most of them are not under Nintendo control.

So like it or not, they are terrified of this past and that must be why it's blocked now.

That is not like Nintendo are alone in this. On my Xbox One I cannot as well simply export and import game saves physically without much hassle. (Not looked into details on that one however)

@Kamalen I would assume Microsoft and Sony would both do this to protect trophies and achievements from being hacked onto accounts which they apparently take very seriously.

That doesn't explain Nintendo as they don't have that issue.

However both the Ps4 and Xbox one have plenty of internal storage and are less likely to get broke then a portable game system that even uses a form of portable media storage because of lack of internal storage so the situation isn't exactly the same.

@DannyBoi Exactly! The idea presented here isn't what I originally thought how a cloud save system would work. Like, if I wanted to manually upload a save , because I wanted to replay a boss fight or part of a game that would normally be overwritten by my next save in the game ; then I could just upload that and always redownload it when I wanted to. This auto-save thing sounds like more of a problem if it auto saves at the wrong time and you have no control over it.

@hcfwesker
This is how cloud saves work. Its simply a snapshot of all your save data at any given time.

If you want specific saves uploaded, then make save points in the game where you want. All the cloud saves are doing is backing them up. That's it. It's not actually "saving" anything. Its just taking the save data on your system, making a copy and storing it on the server.

So ya, you can restore your save for a game any time, but its gonna be all the saves for that game at once. So if you have a save at chapter 1, a save at chapter 4 and a save at chapter 9, then that's what itll restore to.

Its literally just a backup. So that if you lose your system your saves can be restored, and if you use a different system your saves can be accessed.

@DannyBoi Will you please stop bringing up sd card backups? Geez, it's getting old and annoying already.

@jbreez00

Oh I know, I'm just happy to see them. I actually prefer achievements being internal instead of having them on your profile, because I don't really care about showing them off. Plus I'm too much of a completionist and would try to get trophies even in games I don't enjoy that much if it were account based.

@Alantor28 Please don't be rude. And I was just saying the obvious for anyone expecting SD card backup. And that we aren't ever getting it. Plus Iamactually admiting it, rather than denying it.

@Shade_Koopa If the cloud save system works like PS Plus, it should be painless.

@JaxonH OK. Thanx for the clarification. As someone who has never used a cloud backup save for a gaming system, I'm in the dark. And this article is all I could go by on how Nintendo's cloud backup save would work.

@countzero @Nincompoop Actually I own NBA 2K18 and it already does cloud saves (to 2K servers) and it's not really 5GB save files, at least the file on my Switch isn't even close to that and the cloud save doesn't take very long to upload or download.

@Nater YES!!! We have 3 Switches (my wife and I have 3 kids and all 5 of us play the system), but everyone has to try to remember which game they've been playing on which system because even if we buy the physical copy of the game the save file is still stuck on that system. If we can now magically play that save file on any of the 3 Switches that'll make a lot of us happy (I think we all actively use 2 save files for Splatoon because we do so much time with all 3 online together with random configurations of 3 of the 5 of us playing together so it'll be really nice to only have 1 save file for Splatoon and have all my leveling up stick)

Amen. If they'd make it work like Steam, with some sort of "network licensing" for digital downloads. (like you pay for one copy of a game, only one instance can be running at any given time, but it can be played on any Switch under the parent Nintendo account). Saves per profile show up on whichever Switch you happen to be on...

We'd probably buy ANOTHER Switch. Me + 3 kids. As it is, we've talked about selling the second one... The boys just end up playing split screen games instead, save for Fortnite.

@Mando44646 I have replayed so many great games on other systems because of achievements. Take Borderlands for example, I've played the first one to completion on Xbox 360 and PS3, the second to completion on Xbox 360 and Xbox One, and I'm currently still playing BL2 on PS3 and PS4 and BL:PS on 360, Xbox One, PS3, and PS4. I genuinely really enjoy the games and think they are worth supporting, and the achievements are extra incentive for me to play the games again but on multiple systems rather than just the one.

And when it comes to the Switch, that extra incentive could really help bring in more support and sales for the games. Especially as the Switch gets ports later, and needs that extra incentive just that little bit more.

Second Switch purchase confirmed thanks to this.

Curious if this means Diablo III might be the first "online required" Switch game?

@Richnj I see how achievements can extend the life of a game for some people, but they have to actually be achievements, half the time you get a trophy for completing chapter 1, chapter 2 etc. Which is just the game...

Shadow of the Colossus is a prime example. Okay give a trophy or something for beating them all but this 'ding' you won and a pointless pop up is a waste of time after each colossi.

Or they go the other extreme and make them related to random events, I remember a FIFA one from a few years ago which was along the lines of clear the ball off the line after it had come off the keeper or some such nonsense, no skill involved, you'd just have to play 200 games until that situation arose.

@KraniX I definitely appreciate that some Devs are lazy or asking ridiculous things when it comes to achievements. My biggest pet peeve are ones that require online to unlock. I love playing online, but far too many games have had the online component shut down after launch, making them impossible to earn.

I don't have anything against standard achievements like level unlocks, because not everyone complete games they start playing. I definitely like the hard mode achievements. As long as they aren't the only ones there, and they are there with more unique ones.

All in all I just think that steam, xbox, and PS all have them, so Devs are already doing the work to add them in to the game, so you aren't asking more in that sense. And like having a system that has online capabilities, not every gamer has to use it but for those communities that like playing online or earning achievements, it allows them to make the switch a viable gaming option.

As and example. Nintendo don't like the F2P model, and I generally agree, but allowing that model on the system has given Fortnite players the chance to use the system as their main console for the game, and Switch players the chance to play Fortnite. Meanwhile everyone else can just enjoy their Mario and Zelda as it's always been. It's a win/win/win situation. The same would be true where achievements are concerned.