Video: The Switch Desperately Needs This Nintendo DS Feature

The fact that it requires the developers to make a separate app for it (as Pac-Man and 51 Games demonstrate) I imagine is rather off-putting for developers. If download play was just a standard feature of the system from day one, like it was on DS and 3DS, then maybe things would have been different. It's disappointing, but the situation certainly isn't going to change now.

I used to play the Bleach fighting game with my friends all the time! Took an eternity, but it was fun while it lasted.

If they can somehow make it work next go around that would be pretty sweet.

There’s no chance they would add that 5 years on.

I’m ok with the switch functionality as is. I also can’t really see devs being too into this as a separate version/client has to be created to accommodate. I don’t think this type play mechanism currently exists in any other gaming space either.

Save you 8 minutes: It's download play

Download play was great, but don't forget that the 3DS actually had a proper game library via Activity Log.
For some reason you only to see the last 20 games you played with a required internet connection on top of it.
There are also no way to filter the games like you could with Activity Log, and not to mention the hours aren't even accurate on the Switch.

Couldn't you like... Get another controller... And use splitscreen?

I'm confused as to why this in an issue. For PAC man and 51 Games, they both had specific circumstances where a second player needed their own separate screen. This is not an issue for most other switch games.

Well how else would they sell multiple copies of games… I do still think the peak of hardware was the 3ds

Nintendo needs to loosen up on simultaneous restrictions. The one thing apple is doing right these days is allowing one purchase to play on up to five devices simultaneously and more if you have a family account. I would love to play more games with my family but buying the same game for times in the same household...
I don't think so!

It would be quite impossible to add "download play" to the Switch

1. It's wifi chip isn't fast enough to download a multiple GB game in a few minutes.
2. The Switch doesn't have enough RAM to handle this. The game would be needed to be loaded into RAM entirely.
3. The Switch wasn't designed as a multiple per household system (even if it is right now) so it wouldn't have the right infrastructure to do this. (The DS / 3DS had a special local wireless network mode, separate from WIFI)
4. You could handle it with demo's, like they say in the video, but that does add an additional layer. So it's not really a solution.
5. The Switch already has a single console multiplayer option built in. Just share the Joy-Con and play on TV / tabletop.

@okeribok Apple makes money by selling hardware and services. And they even make more money off family sharing.

Nintendo doesn't make a lot of money on hardware sales. And even NSO isn't that big. They make money from selling games. So allowing multiple systems with one game would directly destroy their most important revenue. And I don't think third party developers would like it either.

I don't get the attraction of this feature, I mean we could already play 4-Player on Mario Kart 8 Deluxe without buying 4 copies of the game on 4 Nintendo Switches. I could already play Super Smash Bros. ULTIMATE with my brother on his Nintendo Switch without buying another copy of the game or my own Switch. Why do we need this feature again?

@sanderev be that as it may, nintendo does just about nothing to grow a nintendo family from one enthusiast to a system-per-person household. And those are the next generation of players and buyers. New business vs cross selling.
A platform such as the Switch selling for over five years essentially unchanged means that there should be long term scale price - and margin benefits there. Perhaps not as much as apples margins, but still some profit.
Nintendo would lose very little in sales, since who buys the same game multiple times in the same household anyway? Nintendo would even contribute to their core strategy of bringing joy by bringing families together. All the while strengthening the bond young people have with the brand and their families.
Do it. Do it now! Free family cross play! I'll even buy the family expansion pack for this!! (Note; must still work without Internet connectivity)

Download Play is just one of many features the Switch should have had since day one.
While I didn't really use the feature that much, I miss it.

I'm more disappointed for the lack of StreetPass.

@okeribok Most games are single console multiplayer already so that's not a problem. Also a cartridge can be used in any system.

Allowing downloaded games to be played on multiple accounts would break that. Because then a cartridge is a LESSER version of the game, because you can't play that with multiple systems at the SAME TIME. Honestly, the current system Nintendo has (you can download to multiple systems, but only one can actively play the game) is the correct one.

Also for a long time Nintendo was selling the Switch at a loss. Apple makes around 80% profit on most of their devices.

Download Play is a dream that sounds amazing. However, obviously there are going to be severe limitations involved. Even the 3DS struggled with Download Play, having to compromise the game's quality just to be able to play multiplayer.

The only viable solution I see potentially working is being able to stream. It's tricky considering that requires a lot of hardware as well

@iLikeUrAttitude You can in fact see more accurate information on how long you've played the NSO emulator games than regular Switch games. It actually shows you the exact time for that one, rather than blocks of 5 hours. Doesn't make any sense, both systems are designed by Nintendo, sometimes I really feel like Nintendo's user interface team is run by a bunch of clowns. There's certainly no logic or reason to any of it.

If people really want to play these games two player they will buy another copy. If people really want to purchase two copies, games companies are not going to stop them.

@C-Olimar Sure you can on the TV, but Try play Mario Kart with 4 players on Switch´s tiny screen....

It was handy for DS back in the day but its not needed with the Switch at all. I just put it in the Dock and it's not like we all have switches in our pockets like the ds. Prefer they work on other features instead.

Eh, if you ask me, the whole DS Download Play thing was largely before online gameplay and digital storefronts, such as the Nintendo eShop, really became a thing, especially on Nintendo's part. Now that Nintendo has really embraced online gameplay and digital storefronts, there's really no need for DS Download Play for the Switch.

Better yet, have Nintendo implement data transfer from the 3DS and Wii U to the Switch, especially since they will be shutting down the eShop for those systems soon. Or, even better than that, release the entire eShop libraries from the 3DS and Wii U (and throw in the Wii for good measure) onto the Switch eShop, under special tabs titled "3DS Titles" and "Wii U Titles."

Naw, that's way too consumer friendly for modern Nintendo, bruv. Can't make all the money, doing these kind of things would only bring in, like ...most of the money. Not all of it.

@AstroTheGamosian Invest in allowing transfers and spend some cash actually keeping your rich legacy and history alive and gain respect and improved loyalty, surely leading to increased profits and healthy business far into the future? Now that would be the peak of consumer friendliness (and great for the environment too) ...but no. Shut it all down. Burn it to the ground. Can't waste a single penny. Short term profits are all that matters.

Download Play was an extension of the "Single Pak Game Link" function of the Game Boy Advance.
And I think it became quickly apparent why it was less favorable over owning multiple copies: games had to download themselves into the console RAM (for which GBA had, what, 288KB?) which certainly much less than what the cartridges could hold (GBA carts were a minimum ROM size of 4MB).
Raise those numbers for successive consoles, but the idea still remains the size.
I remember just once trying Mario Kart Super Circuit with that. I recall the single-cart link version having only like three tracks available.

Nope, I don't think we need it at all. Developers can just put on a demo on the eShop. Download play is pretty much a 2005-era thing when internet was slow.

"The Switch Desperately Needs This Nintendo DS Feature"

Shouldn't this be labelled as like Soapbox or something since it's clearly opinion-based?

I agree that this feature would be great to have on the Switch, but it’s just not feasible due to the size of the games these days. It would take ages to transfer enough of the game to the other Switch to be playable.

Download Play on the DS was a rockin’ feature for its time, though.

@KingMike It's actually 5 tracks but those are only classic tracks and all the players are just different color Yoshis and nothing else. It was fun for a while or to kill time but was not the full package.

Such a desperate feature that we're only writing about it 5 years later. Download Play is of negligible value because you can play split screen on TV. Except for Clubhouse Games, there's little need for Download Play, and I'm sure many of the games on that could be split screen. A game like Splatoon, it should include a split screen option anyway. The 3DS was handheld only, so Download Play became invaluable and I used it often.

@HalBailman I haven't played Splatoon but I imagine it's like other FPSes in which multiple screens is a benefit to prohibit "screen cheating".

Really disappointed by all of the Debbie Downers here pooh-poohing Download Play, which is one of several 3DS features noticeably missing from the Switch, and the one I miss most, second only to stereoscopic 3D.

Sure, the option of tabletop play is there, but who wants to play huddled around a tiny screen if everybody has their own console? Much of the dissent here is made under the assumption that everybody has access to a TV at all times, and sure, in such situations, wireless multiplayer would arguably be unnecessary, but this is the Switch’s capability as a handheld device that is being discussed here, and TV/tabletop mode alienates Switch Lite users and/or those who overwhelmingly use their Switches as a handheld device.

Hell, local wireless multiplayer generally is criminally underused across the board. Virtually any game with online multiplayer should also support local wireless by default (though this gripe doesn’t relate to Download Play per se). It’s crazy to me that classic Quake has local wireless support, but the classic DOOMs don’t (the latter doesn’t have online multiplayer support either).

Many of my fondest memories of the DS/3DS were thanks to Download Play, and they were only as feature packed as the developers/publishers would allow, and I don’t buy this rubbish that technical limitations were a hindrance. The Mario Party games supported full multiplayer with just a single copy of the game on both the DS/3DS (with individual activities/tracks downloaded on-the-fly). Mario Kart 7 was almost fully featured in this respect, but Nintendo obviously added the artificial handicap of only allowing freeloading players to join as Shy Guy, which was their cynical way of trying to get people to buy their own copy without adversely limiting Download Play like they did with Mario Kart DS. And I wouldn’t have bought any of the Mario Party games on DS/3DS if not for Download Play, and there have been many others for which Download Play was the sticking point that convinced me to hand over my bucks. Metroid Prime Hunters was also awesome in that regard.

So, yes, I absolutely want to see it make a comeback in the next generation of hardware. I’d also like to see the next generation Joy-Con (or its equivalent) have a speaker in it like the Wii Remote as it was used to such awesome effect.

Download Play would be nice and all but there are some much more basic features we should probably get first (and honestly should've gotten years ago). An Activity Log, proper folders (or some other way of customizing the initial home menu), themes, etc.

I remember playing mario kart with that and it was quite handy at the time, but i suppose you don’t need it now with two joy-cons and being able to play it on the TV.
I’d rather have the DS themed home screens back first. You could pretty it all up with backgrounds and it just made it more... fun

@Vix Yeah, isn't that sad? Almost as if they were being run by Ferengi (a hyper-capitalist alien race from Star Trek). They believe that long-term progress is nowhere near as important as short-term quarterly gains.

@ibookboyuk It also serves as a way to preserve game titles, especially ones that are digital-only, which is going to be a problem for Nintendo and their fans once the 3DS and Wii U eShops shut down.

As it is, we lost our original model Wii in a lightning strike back in August 2016, and we didn't get another Wii until well after Nintendo shut down the Wii Shop Channel. The only way we'd be able to get the Virtual Console games we downloaded back then would be to pirate them, which we are loath to do (but may be our only option, short of getting the original consoles they were on).

Agreed, this would be a great feature for games that lack local multiplayer. Thankfully many Switch games do have local multiplayer, but for those occasional titles that only have wireless/online options this would be really cool!

@KingMike In practice, you're too focused on your own screen for that to be a big factor. Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Quake and Doom - they all have 4-player split screen.

@ibookboyuk I don't think we ever created a Wii Shop Channel account (assuming they had those). We only ever used Wii Points cards. So we likely didn't have any ability to redownload stuff.

And even then, it wouldn't have made a difference, because, as I said, our Wii was destroyed. Fried to a crisp. Even if we wanted to redownload them, we probably can't, since it's a different Wii, and we never created an account.

@ibookboyuk Frankly, so am I. Had I known that this would have happened, I would have unplugged all of the electronics in our playroom that night. Or at least gotten surge protectors. And transferred the game and save data to an SD card.

As the old saying goes, "You never think it will happen to you, until it does." And we never thought our house would be hit by lightning. But it did. It traveled through the branches of a large pine tree (taller than the house) to hit the side of the house near the peak of the roof.

The only saving grace was that there were so many diffusion points for the lightning bolt to ground itself, that the fire it did cause was so small, it snuffed itself out before the fire department even got there. So the house is still standing, albeit with a few scorch marks underneath the siding.

I can only hope that Nintendo will either resurrect the Virtual Console in some way, or be more robust with their Switch Online game releases, instead of just releasing a couple of obscure ones every month.

@ibookboyuk I still try to buy physical, even in this new age of digital games. I'm a traditionalist in that regard. I also tend to keep all of my old consoles and games. I only get rid of them if they break and there's no way of salvaging them.

And when it comes to Virtual Console versus Switch Online, I think Virtual Console was so much more robust. Right out of the gate, they had several platforms with numerous games for each, but Switch Online only had a few NES games at first, followed by a few SNES games, and now it's N64 and Genesis (again, only a few games for each).

Maybe it's the nostalgia talking, but I much prefer the Wii era when it came to Nintendo's digital storefront. Not just the wealth of content, but the way it was presented, too. How I wish Nintendo would go back to those days, while improving their online infrastructure to be able to handle online multiplayer (which, I've heard, was quite lacking during the Wii era).

@ibookboyuk I still have my GameCube, and it seems to be working fine. Weirdly enough, the only game console that got destroyed in the lightning strike was the Wii.

And I love those games, too. Last year, I even started a new save file on Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life, and am even more successful than my first playthrough. I can't wait to see what changes they make for the remake!

And I also have Super Mario Sunshine, both for the GameCube and the Switch. I have to say, even though the GameCube version has some features (especially with the controller, and even more specifically, the R-button) that make it better than the Switch version, I still like being able to take it on the go with the Switch. I just wish Nintendo had done a total graphical overhaul with those games, like they did with Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask for the 3DS, instead of just bumping up the resolution to HD.