
Update: Since publishing this story, we've managed to speak to an anonymous source who has shed a little more light on the situation. Developers now reportedly have access to a tick box when submitting games to Nintendo, with 'Yes, support it' or 'No, don't' options for cloud saves. This box has to be checked one way or another to proceed, but that appears to be the only action developers have to take, with Nintendo then taking care of the rest.
With the option for cloud saves therefore being available to all, and with that box having to be ticked for a game to progress to the next stage in the publishing process, we see no reason for any developers to say 'no' and refuse the feature.
This also suggests that a patch would be necessary for older releases to support the cloud save feature, although the process does seem relatively straightforward for developers. Interestingly, it appears that the 30-second video recording feature isn't as easy to implement, hence why many games are still lacking that support.
Original Article: The new, shiny Nintendo Switch Online service is just around the corner, and although we know that cloud saves will be a part of the package, we're still not 100% sure on how this will work just yet. It seems that one Japanese Switch owner has discovered something potentially telling about the service, however.
Taking to Twitter, @MIN428 has shared an image of Hakuoki Shinkai: Fuukaden's Switch case - a game that has launched today in the region. The photograph shows the back side of the case, with one section directly referencing the Nintendo Switch Online service. The text reportedly reads, “Compatible with Save Data Cloud Backup of Nintendo Switch Online".
This raises two interesting points. Firstly, it suggests that any newly issued packaging for Switch games will specifically state when cloud saves are supported. A handy feature, we're sure you'll agree. Naturally, though, this leads us on to question whether this means that not all games will be supported; if this game tells customers that the service is supported, others will surely say it isn't. Otherwise, there would be no need for the message at all.
Of course, until more details are revealed, we can't know any of this for sure, but it certainly seems like some games won't be compatible with cloud data backup. You'd expect all first-party titles to work just fine, but we'll have to wait and see exactly how this one plays out.
Will you be annoyed if not all games are supported, or do you think that it's understandable for some titles to skip the feature? Feel free to share your thoughts with us in the comments.
[source japanesenintendo.com]
Comments 65
Wasn't it mentioned in some dev interview that cloud saves are a box they need to tick when submitting the game to Nintendo and if they want to retroactively support it they'll need to submit an update?
Didn't we already know not all games would support back up to cloud?
@ROBLOGNICK it is on the website: https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Nintendo-Switch/Nintendo-Switch-Online/Nintendo-Switch-Online-1183143.html
"Please note: not compatible with all software."
Yup, Nintendo told us this is the case, but now it's on the case. Just incase
Not suprised, they have been strict with saves for Pokémon, Animal Crossing and a couple of other games in the past.
Funny, 'cause on a hacked Switch you can just copy the files. Huh.
If they give us an alternative option, I don't mind. If not, the problem remains.
I really don't understand why we can't have this in all games, especially if I'm going to have to pay for it.
I'm certain all the big popular titles will have this feature, but still.
Nintendo just keeps proving to us this service is just not worth paying for.
"Suggesting not all games will be?"
Wouldn't be too surprised to find out Pokemon games aren't.
I wonder if this is an attempt to curtail homebrew hacking. As I recall most of the Wii’s hacking methods start with loading a pre-hacked save file for specific games, which I can imagine Nintendo might not want to upload onto their servers. Blocking entire games just to avoid this does seem extreme though.
To be fair think it depends on the game. As not every game really needs cloud saves ,and suspect some publisher want to save some money
The cloud save should come with the purchase of a game. Nintendo gets a percentage of it and they should offer a few MB to backup your data. But paying for a service that only partially works... no thanks.
Stop freaking out my doggies. This is probably just for games with very large save file sizes. Wasn't there a game with 5GB saves?
I imagine the cloud save is managed by Nintendo so if your a third party Dev and want to add cloud save then you have to pay Nintendo a additional fee, this is why not all third party games will offer cloud saves.
Remember the good old days when data was saved on the cartridge?
Good old days...
My guess, and that is all this is, is that Nintendo won't be charging Devs for Cloud save support but there will be specific restrictions; amount of files, file size, file type, ect that will need to be met to be compatible + a new build of a game submitted for existing games.
I’m 100% percent sure that the pokemon main games won’t support it. Otherwise you could clone your rare pokemon by sending them to a friend and taking your cloud backup.
Why is it not automatic? Shouldn't really matter but all save files should be compatible
@darkswabber unless they make trading online only
From the sound of it, it will be up to developers to use it or not. So it will be the dev's fault, not Nintendo if a game doesn't support it.
But we all know angry internet people will still blame Nintendo for it.
@BladedKnight Because their firmwares were created with that in mind from the ground up and it was a feature at launch. Tons of Switch games already exist so they have to specify it now for legal reasons.
@darkswabber I am 100% sure that devs will have thought of that and will find a way around that.
NBA 2K 2018 has a 5gb save file. I don't know how you could cloud save that unless it supported incremental changes.
Why a game needs a 5gb save file is beyond me.
@Razer I certainly remember the day I loaded up my Super Mario Advance cartridge and found all the save data had vanished.
Good old days...
@chardir i remember loading up someone elses game on Zelda OOT when i got it second hand.
The save was called MrAssChomper.
Good old days indeed 😂
It feels like 80% of Switch games are digital only so going off of a box case isn't going to tell the entire story, only 20% of it. And I believe there are already 500 games on Switch, so they have to account for those.
No point speculating so close to launch. Does feel weird though, usually Nintendo is very yes or no, either people are getting something or they aren't, but it seems like a lot are still on the fence for this. Of course people change their mind, like with amiibo, and most of us will pay up eventually, whether we want to or not, but I think a lot of us are still feeling the burn of MyNintendo. And that stupid smart phone required voice app isn't helping their case either.
Maybe we should all just acknowledge we are going to pay it and move on. 😉
I wonder how long before they announce sign up numbers and if they do so by region? 5 million Switch in Japan will likely mean millions of sign ups day 1 just from the Splatoon 2 players alone.
I don't understand why they can't just make this work for everything and I do t understand why people scramble to give them so many excuses.
The only one I haven't seen yet is that it's super cheap so we should just be happy with that instead of features but some of these comments are already zoning in on that.
Also I would be willing to pay more for better features and I can't be the only one.
That's silly the biggest part of the online service for me is saved data, i'm not going to buy a game that i cannot save to the cloud, no one want to play a game for hours then something happens to your machine and you have to replace it only to start all over again that's not good.
All games should offer saved cloud data.
@BladedKnight Games that are purely online don't need cloud saves (like fortnite) and also you don't want cloud saves to be used to cheat for instance duplicating items or Pokémon in the Pokémon games, or when your rank goes down in Splatoon 2, etc.
It should be up to the developer to support it.
And YES this is also how it works on XBOX ONE, PS4, Steam, etc.
what the hell. Why would it be optional!? F'ing Nintendo f'ing everything up yet again
@sanderev "And YES this is also how it works on XBOX ONE, PS4, Steam, etc."
I don't know about Steam, but every game on PS4 and XBO have cloud saves (and local backups) enabled, period
@Mando44646 No they don't.
@saintayu Well it's not too complicated to imagine why this is hard for them to implement... I do disagree with it but i also do understand it. (I mean online generally... Not just cloud saves)
Japan as a nation has never embraced online interactivity, this includes the gaming sector. For example, PC gaming is virtually non existent in the country, games like WoW, Guild Wars, Runescape and other early MMOs never went there.
To further illustrate my point, Netflix as a service became available in 2015 in Japan... They are just not in touch with online interactivity in any way shape or form, which includes Multiplayer gaming.
Nintendo is a Japan first company and they always have been. But Nintendo also know that if they don't jump on this online wagon they will lose the global market if they haven't already.
So they are faced with a whole heap of issues...
Do they release online paid services globally and not in Japan? How would they justify that? Would we get more content than their own nation?them being a Japan first company i doubt that... But if not and they do implement online for all, will the Japanese buy into it or shun it like they have done with the PS4?
Its so hardfor them to figure out a way around this... But like i said i dont agree with it. More so with Japan's backwardness in this regard rather than Nintendos confusion.
Edit: some mobile mmos are picking up steam in Japan but this is only recently... It will be at least 10 years before they get to our level of experience with online interactivity.
@Mando44646 On Steam it is also just games that support it.
It is completely normal to make this optional, you shouldn't force someone else to agree to something (which this would get down to), be it person or companys.
There might even be legal issues depending on the country.
It could even be important to some des, because their save files could be very very large and would tale forever to upload or whatever. You never know what reasons companys might have.
And as simple as Nintendo seems to have made it for the devs, they can just simply agree. So why make it mandatory for them?
@Macalos I dislike this "no one" or "everyone" kind of arguments.
I, for example, don't really care about cloud saves at all.
@nonprophetmusic We don't care what you do on a hacked Switch file.
@Razer That still sounds like an excuse. I don't care if Nintendo is "Japan first". If they want to play that game then they should be Japan only. In the end, they have to adapt or risk not surviving the global market. Even at this point, without the rabid fans who buy multiple copies and collected, Nintendo would be doing much worse.
Second, I find it frustrating that the first thing people do is make excuses. Cloud saves aren't difficult for developers. Most game consoles support them.
In short. Nintendo has no real reason not to do this for every game and every excuse give seems massively speculative to either a console two generations prior (Wii hacking), or an assumption that it's somehow to difficult to make this a reality (proven false by how often developers complain about it and the amount of games available with it). The only thing that half way makes sense is that this allows Nintendo to blame to developer for not signing on and not take the heat.
I'm still not sure about online personally as I mostly play single player games on my Switch. So I guess I'll wait and see what gets update and what gets support since this is the only legit way to backup games.
@Mando44646 No, they don't
@Cosats I'm just saying the ability to competently back up your save files exists. Lol Since Nintendo couldn't manage.
And you can keep it somewhere you can access. OoO WHOA SUCH DATA MANAGEMENT
MUCH ACCESSIBLE WOW LOW COST OF FREE
themoreyouknow.jpg
@Kirgo I have over 250 hours on Xenoblade Chronicles saved data and 50-100 hours on quite a few games, people I know that have hours of saved game data wants data saved to the cloud.
If you are happy risking your data that's up to you.
@sanderev yes they do. Every game I have ever played on PS4, Vita, and XBO (also 360 at the end of its lifespan) supported cloud saving as well as local backups.
@Cosats they definitely do.
I thought this was mainly referring to game saves that aren't saved on Nintendo's servers, like Fortnite. I think Rocket League has their own servers too. Might be part of it.
@BladedKnight @Mando44646
And that is exactly what will most likely happen with Switch games as well. Simply because there shouldn't be any reason for devs to not agree to cloud saves.
I don't know if it is optional on all other systems as well ( it most likely is ), but it doesn't matter as long as the devs don't really have a reason to turn it off it will be on, so 99% of games will have it anyway.
Already released games might be something to worry about, at least smaller ones.
Wow so not all games will support cloud save geez Nintendo couldnt even give us that eventhough we will be paying for it.
So this is up to the developer, not Nintendo. While I'm not happy that the NSO cloud seems to be the only (legal) way to back up games at the present time, there really seem to be few reasons why most games shouldn't have that box ticked off.
@Braok Take Nba 2k18 as an example. Nearly 8 gb.
So why would any develop not "tick the box"?
It could be an issue for games like Skyrim that allow you to create infinite saves as well....that could eat into server space fast and might not meet guidelines.
Mmmm, so we won't even have the option of paying Nintendo to hold our save games hostage in some cases, great.
Cya
Raziel-chan
@BladedKnight
Well maybe it not their fault. If the other company does not want to make a update then why it nintendo problem.
Well at least when a Switch game comes out with no cloud save, we know who to point the pitchforks at, well at least the people who reads the updated article.
@chardir I loaded up one of my brother GBA Pokemon and it still worked but the battery for the day and night feature died or something.
My NES game saves still work last I checked.
@Macalos I have more that you. I'm waiting to see if XC2 is supported. Hopefully. The save is only 4.2mb.
@ActiSwitch Right, that's the one I was thinking of! I read it's 5GB somewhere, not that it matters. Even if it were 5GB and not 8GB, my puny ADSL upload speeds could never handle that! Nintendo isn't gonna leave out those without 1gbps fiber...
I wonder how save files can even be that large? 🤔
@19Robb92 not everyone wants to update their games to support it.
@Arnold-Kage I don't think I understand how they are saving money? If you managed saving money by not pushing a small update for their games, I can't see how that would cost then more than a couple pennies, especially when Nintendo is the one taking care of the storage. Besides, if you want to save space by uploading your save before deleting, you would be allowed regardless of the game. I could care less about backing up demo saves though.
I hope these updates aren't forced on you. There goes my memory-space...for a feature I'll never use!!
@edgedino
Sure, and I get that. But that should be Nintendo's problem, not mine. They've had over a year to get this right by getting developers on board and prepared. There's no excuse for this to be limited by now.
If I'm paying for the option to be able use cloud saves I'm expecting it to work in all games i'm playing.
@19Robb92 yes but it still doesn't change the fact they might not want it for their games mind you talking about third parties. Nintendo have explained why some games like Splatoon 2 won't and sounds fair.
@edgedino
My opinion is that it shouldn't be a choice for the developers if it's a service I'm paying for though. It should be a standard used in all games.
Otherwise it shouldn't be locked behind a paywall.
@19Robb92 true but Nintendo can't just force them to allow it, that would be a bad practice towards 3rd parties (mostly small dev's), but there are some that if it did that could just reload old save for a better rank for competitive games unless they could do a partial save.
@Braok I think 2k should change their cartridge type (more memory in it)
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