Nintendo Announces Switch Online: Playtest Program Related To "New Feature"

So help me if it’s related to the alarm clock.

I re-upped my subscription recently, but as a standard subscription.
Don't really feel like upgrading just to see if this is worth it or not ...but FOMO is whispering in my ear mighty loud right now.

(My guess is online play for NSO emulation will be expanded to worldwide matchups with strangers.)

If the NSO expansion wasn’t an abject scam I’d be excited.

I feel like all the slots will be taken in the first 5 minutes. I guess the 5-day timeframe is just to play it safe? Or maybe I'm overestimating the number of people who meet these criteria and are actually interested. Either way, I've got an alarm set for two minutes before the application opens now, hope everyone who wants to participate is able to!

I can tell you what it won't be:

Online infrastructure that doesn't suck.

@axelhander that sounds right.

@Mz3player The Recruitment Period isn't until tomorrow.

The application link on the Nintendo site doesn't work for me.

@RetroBox It's not active until tomorrow.

I see no mention of an NDA. Not sure if that's interesting, or just something yet to come.

@YoshiAngemon I guess I worded my comment confusingly? I did indeed set an alarm for 14 hours from now. I appreciate you trying to spare me disappointment, though

@axelhander I don't share the underlying sentiment, but my goodness was that funny.

@YoshiAngemon Thank you

@RetroBox Unless the link was grayed out after capping at 10,000 Users, then we're out of it.

Im so much excited for the alarm clock!! Best hardware ever!! Totally what we needed!!

They're really taking full advantage of the hype around their next console, huh? Normally, things like this and the alarm clock wouldn't grab too much attention, but right now people are itching for any hint at their future plans, so practically anything they do will be thoroughly scrutinized and discussed, especially something this intentionally vague.

• Miiverse?
• Voice Chat?
• Pokemon App??
• NSO Phone App integrated directly into Switch?

Okay so it's an actual app that you download, so something "smaller" like Achievements would just be integrated into the NSO hub, right..?

@YoshiAngemon That's true. Well, hopefully, we can still get in tomorrow.

Since Australia isn't involved, i'm assuming it must be streaming related. We don't get the Playstation streaming service due to our internet not being the best.

@TanukiTrooper You might be onto something, because some people think it could be a competitor to Playstation's Play Share feature, where you share a game with a friend. Switch 2's faster data transfer speeds would make this much more palatable, but it's possible Nintendo would appreciate the server stress test all the same, super long data transfer times be damned.

Interesting, I hope we hear what this is about soon!

Maybe it is time for GameCube Games?

@TanukiTrooper This is exactly what I was thinking... I definitely believe it's some sort of NSO streaming games thing and Australia won't get any of it.

But I don't think it's because our internet isn't the best - it's prolly more to do with the fact that we're so far away from these streaming servers, and companies just don't want to spend the money to set up dedicated servers here because there's not enough people here to justify the cost.

So ...f*** me for being Norwegian again I guess ...Gotta live in one of the few real, mainstream countries to get the fancy new stuff after all.

Jk, jk.

Oh, goodie goodie. NoA once again thinks America is only the US (and most of the time Canada as well).

Whatever it is, I'll keep an eye on it.

I was curious but it's not available in Canada. RIP

I need more information as to what exactly this playtest is....

Fomo for NSO.. not a chance

That’s cool, still won’t make me upgrade tho

It's not even available in Canada so I'll just wait and see next week when we know what this is for. Sounds intriguing though.

I really, really hope it will be a music player or something like that. It would be incredible to be able to legally listen to Nintendo music.

I don't think I will subscribe for that subscription.
I haven't renewed the basic NSO $20 for Online play since last year.
Not interested with gaming rental service which you cannot even own the game physically, not interested with older NES, SNES, N64 games.

Well I doubt it is GameCube games as I assume they won’t add those until Switch 2

I guess I'm intrigued, but I need more info before signing up for anything.

I might try to sign up. I really hope it's not a streaming thing like so e have suggested. Nintendo can't even get standard online play working right. Let's focus on that first, then move on to the big boy stuff.

@LadyCharlie Reminder that game testing isn't something you should pay for, but what you should be paid for.

It's to turn your switch in to a virtual block chain for the Nintendo NFTs which are only compatible with Alarmo
Seriously I will try to sign up, but travelling to Estonia today

@LadyCharlie You had to have an expansion pack membership before they made the announcement anyway. They timed it so new people couldn’t jump in because of the announcement, probably fearing some dope would try to sell his account on eBay with “exclusive access”.

Thank you for the heads up. Will give it a shot...but I have a feeling the site may crash due to traffic at the time!

Weirdly convoluted *****.

@Vil What... Erling Haaland not enough for you guys?

Knowing Nintendo (the NSO part of it anyway), this won't be anything worth writing home about.

Welp. I’ll roll the dice and see if I’m one of the lucky few when I wake up!

@PepperMintRex please be trophies or stamps/stickers like the stickers that could be used in mario 3d world on wiiu.

@nessisonett Thanks now I'm imagining the Alarmo with a Nintendo Ultra hand pack in.

Rando. Guess... cloud streamed gamecube games

Yaaaay not available for my country. 🥲

This feels awfully scummy.

Seems already over to me

Just checked this you can't apply at present the link is broken on the page.

Basically like the Xbox insider programme then. Seems a good idea overall and be interesting to see what if means for NSO in the future

Hopefully even more games for us all to play!

I actually think this could be for testing GameCube games. I know from emulators that these games can be tricky, socially when it comes to the mapping the controls and getting that really solid experience.

If that’s the case , then of course it would be epic and I imagine a superb launch feature for any new Nintendo hardware that might get announced……..

Link on the registration page not broken for those trying - applications go live from 8am PDT/15:00 UTC

@HammerGalladeBro the US thinks America is only the US.

@LadyCharlie I thought that was a day 1 thing. Imagine my surprise when I still had to include friend codes! xD

I'm praying this is it so I can finally play four swords!

@nikachus01 Thanks for that. I was assuming that would be the case but didn't know the time.

Well that's sad, it's only states on this continent. Hopefully some journalists will manage to snag a spot so I can read some impressions.

Welp, the curse of being Australian strikes again

I have NSO Expandong Subscribtion with a full 8 family members... but my country is not on the list.

Whatever, I guess.

In 10 years or so being on this site, this is the first time I've seen @nessisonett have a comment moderated. Now I am super curious what I missed. 🤔🤨

DS games in NSO? A new Mii app? Some kind of messaging feature?

No idea what this could be tbh.

the sign up doesnt work on their website. Its just a greyed out button

I'd totally join in, but I'm just barely too young. Can't wait to see what it is!

@SoIDecidedTo Lol, it’s not that uncommon. Unfortunately d*** jokes are anathema.

My guess is GameCube Switch Online.

If it was just as simple as a feature, I don't think it would be up for as long as it is, plus they're calling it a "playtest." The design of the graphic also screams "nso game menu" to me.

Just went live and I got in!!

YAY! I GOT IN!!!

I've gotten in to whatever it is!

Aaaaaand, they already reached the application limit. Didn't even take a minute.

I managed to get in so that's neat.

I tried to get in and I apparently missed it.

It immediately filled up.

That was easy, I got in too!!!!

I just got in. Looking forward to playtesting a Nintendo Calculator. Donkey Kong Jr. Math 99 here we come!

"Thank you for applying for the Nintendo Switch Online: Playtest Program!

We will provide detailed guidance on how to participate, along with the download code for the software, on this application page. Please come back around 21/10/2024 (UTC) for more information."

Somehow I got in! Lol! we're all going to be so disappointed

Woohoo! I'm in baby!

I applied the second it opened and it said applications were full already 😭 how does that even happen???

I applied within the first couple minutes… and did not get in. That was fast.

It's already over the 10,000 applicants...

It filled up within 30 seconds of the link going live.

Guess my quick-draw skills weren't fast enough! I never was good at that "Quick Draw" minigame in Kirby's Adventure.

wahoo am in! lol

I am in too Nice

Somehow I was working out and completely forgot about the time until 9:58 😂 I refreshed right at 10:00 and it popped up!

@Mana_Knight Interesting, my page says 20/10 instead of your 21/10, so maybe I'll be a day ahead of you..? Or perhaps it's just averaging, and the "around" part could mean anytime from the 20th-22nd~

I'm in, just no idea for what

I'm in! But wow, I was not expecting it to fill up in less than 3 minutes! It's already closed for applications.

A Redditor checked the javascript for the webpage and a little phrase was slipped in on the backend:

recommended to be played on a TV with a wired connection.

So probably a game streaming app of some kind!!

@Ulysses Hmm interesting. Where are you based? I am from the UK, maybe that makes a difference?

@Mana_Knight Probably does, since I'm in US. Now that you mention it our times might overlap closely to be around a similar launch time regardless!

Got in. Now we will see what this is all about.

I figured they were out of their minds to suggest applications would be open for days, but more than two seconds would have been nice. Refreshed the page the instant 11am EDT hit and it was already closed.

@Ulysses Does your page say UTC or PT or what?

I tried to get in, but my work obligations held me up until 5 minutes after. I was too late.

No longer accepting applications

@gcunit Mine says PDT, so it may be time differences then!

I’ve been waiting for this since reading about it this morning, checked at 16:05 (because I’m busy in work) and it’s already closed.
What a bloody letdown. I selfishly hope it’s rubbish, sorry! 😂

Missed it. Work

Only 12,000 participants is extremely tiny, and hundreds of thousands viewed the announcement on Twitter alone. There were probably tens of thousands of people ready to click on it the moment the hour turned!

I pretty ticked off that I literally clicked on AS SOON AS my clock hit 10AM here, and it was already filled up.

I clicked the button right at ten, immediately denied lol. Congrats to those who got in, I hope it’s for something cool!

I can’t imagine it being another system on NSO, but I’d love to be wrong.

Maybe they’re finally playtesting themes, and this is to check stability. 😉

I got in! Signed up at 9:00 MT on the dot.

I somehow got selected on the U.K one.

It said I wasn’t a valid candidate, despite the fact that I have the Expansion Pack, etc. maybe the problem is that I have a family plan? No idea.

@LastFootnote I'm on the family plan and got in, But I am the one in charge of said plan.

Met the criteria. Didn't work.
You can be suck and a-h nintendo...really

@RobTheIII
So am I. Weird. Guess there’s some other strange reason I’m not eligible.

I got in.

My bet is that they're adding GameCube/Wii to Switch Online but it's cloud gaming exclusive.

@IceClimbersMain I was just typing this as well. I hope we’re wrong, though possibly the sting of cloud gaming will be lessened if it’s for games that come with the subscription anyway.

i tried at 4:06 but was too late 😭

I managed to get in as soon as applications opened up.
https://x.com/PikaPhantom/status/1844401379504423234?t=x_lNeb6Ko-Pb8rfOpHRq3w&s=19
Hoping Nintendo doesn't pull a Sony and delete this from everyone's Switches once the playtest is done. I know they haven't done this in the past with their online playtests for games like Switch Sports, but this situation seems different. Would love to keep the app downloaded or archived just for the sake of posterity given how small this playtest is.

Arghhhhh... I forgot to check back, and now they're full.

@jco83 It seems you would have been late a 4.00.06

Managed to make it in, refreshed the second it opened and managed to apply and get accepted.

I didn't even bother trying seeing as to how many people were on twitter alone. People are jonezzzzzingggggg for any crumb of information right now so anything AT ALL that Nintendo says or does at the moment is gonna be met with much exposure. My best guess, going by what someone on reddit had found in the javascript code in the backend saying "best to be played in docked mode with a wired connection" or something to that degree. Is that it's going to be something cloud based related for sure. But as to what? I dunno. 🤔 Maybeeee Wii/GameCube titles that can only be played in that sort of way. My first thought was something to do with mii support, but I honestly don't see Nintendo making you have to opt for the expansion to use that and not have it to where you can't just having regular NSO. Now we know why everyone had to update their firmwares, they snuck something in related to this in that recent patch for sure. It'll definitely not be something we all couldn't live without that's for sure!! I wonder if all this has to do with why Nintendo didn't have a direct or haven't announced the next console yet. They could have been hard at work on said project. Regardless of announcement or not. I don't see Nintendo slowing down on things to come for the OG Switch anytime soon or even well into the next gens life cycle.

Nice if this means I would be able to playtest Skies of Arcadia Legend for GameCube NSO first then bring it on.

Wait what if the timing of this playtest coincides with the Switch 2 Direct?!
@JohnnyMind Yes I'm thinking the same thing! The hype train quickens!!

If it's a GameCube NSO, then it could be a hybrid between streaming and semi-downloading as you play, as a couple streaming apps have tried. Like downloading an initial storage of the app without all the games loaded, choose a game to play, and stream the game momentarily while loading the rest of the game dynamically as you play? That would save on storage. If something like that could run even moderately smoothly on the Switch, then I imagine it could run like butter on the Switch 2!

I got in! This should be interesting.
Would love a local multiplayer share play feature to play games like Towerfall, Killer Queen, Boomerang Fu, Unraveled 2 etc. online with friends.

Didn't get in, but since it required Switch Online+Expansion subscription, I assume it's to play test, or stress test a new online, multiplayer game, maybe Balloon Fight 99 or something unexpected like that

Other than online play and cloud saves, the NSO expansion offers classic games so logic says this is a new classic console (DS, Wii, GC) or streaming. However, Ninty already know if this would work and don't need 10000 testers. That suggests something bigger, but what would require the NSO + Expansion (and over 18) to be qualified to test?

@MrSniizy , I agree with you, we need GameCube games for the Nintendo Switch, I want to play crazy taxi on the Nintendo Switch, I also want to play Mario Kart Double Dash and Disney Sports games and more Mario Party games from GameCube.

I wish we get gamecube and wii games, with nintendo selling updated gamecube and wii controller with wireless and internal battery. Although I can play the old wii and gamecube games on my (soft mod) wii u, the resolutions is rough, I want at least 1080p resolutions.

I'm sceptical of this being Wii titles as Ninty can still make money with HD and remastered versions, although the same goes for some GC titles (Metroid etc) and they could easily sell millions of Windwaker Remastered. Still, plenty of other titles they could add.

What if it's a brand new NSO-exclusive multiplayer game, but even more ambitious than the likes of F-Zero 99?

• Star Fox Grand Prix (perhaps N64 style?)
• ARMS related?
• Pokemon related? (yes I know, I'm hopelessly hopeful)

What other franchises could Nintendo make a NSO multiplayer game out of? Not just a retro version or a 99 battle Royale, but literally anything involving multiplayer 🤩

However, this doesn't really seem likely. Because if it were specifically a multiplayer game, then certainly you would think Nintendo would recruit more than just 12,000 to have enough players to play with or against each other, no?

Because it's 12,000, it seems like a small enough number to test something without overwhelming the servers. The small number implies that the quality of play itself seems more important, and any potential interactivity between players is taking a backseat.

I think it's Nintendo's new social media platform so you can post screenshots / videos / artwork etc.

@GrailUK
as much as i would love to see the return of the glory that was miiverse (or even some basic sharing stuff like messaging friends or sending screenshots/videos to them) it seems like this is something related to the subscription service and i wouldn't imagine that kind of stuff would need a paid subscription.

someone mentioned that a wired connection and tv mode is recommended so it may be something related to streaming or online play,

really im hoping its something multiplayer related, something to really take advantage of online.

@Mgalens Well, if it's a step closer to a Pokemon MMO, then the Pokemon COmpany will take over the world lol.

2.2 gb is around the same size if you add the NES, SNES, Genesis, N64, Gameboy, and Gameboy Advance apps. One app to have all the different systems would be nice.

@Mgalens
This chunk of code in the webpage states that you must have an internet connection to play. (18 lines up from the bottom of the page) Definitely online related! Doesn't seem as simple as previous NSO apps, where they can be played offline after a simple internet check.

Another interesting tidbit is it states, in order to play the "Test Software," you must have an NSO Expansion Pack Plus OR regular NSO subscription. Presumably after downloading it.

But as we all know, the playtest application required NSO+, not just regular NSO. That sounds to me like the same kind of technical requirement made for general online play with any old game.

@Bigmanfan streaming video games, I have tried it on two different setups One was just trying resident evil 7? Anyway it was one of the resident evils cloud version I tried the demo It was horrific even though I have gigabyte internet. Google stadia was very laggy as well. I don't think that that's going to work well.

Got in this morning with a good refresh the moment the clock struck 9 (MST). So, we’ll see how it pans out and what it means, and I had also read elsewhere that it’s going to be NDA style protection, which they’ll probably have us agree to when the codes get sent out.

Super curious as to what this could mean, but I also like the open secrecy and mystery of it all.

it's a "playtest program". possibly something switch 2 related which uses a portion of switch on-line service. maybe testing transferring games to switch 2 or cross platform on-line gaming without you even knowing, testing current NSO with new features for moving to switch 2.

I tried getting in, got denied because it was full in 5 minutes or less & for some reason I was unqualified despite having the NSO expansion pack, being over 18 & living in the US.

Someone's probably going to leak what the play test is in more detail.

@Danrenfroe2016 Yeah, 👍 vr got very solid Internet. I've tried game pass streaming, which is supposedly the best, but it was literally unplayable. I can't imagine how awful Nintendo cloud streaming would be.

@Bigmanfan I'm thinking the only people that could play it are people that have never really played video games before and don't know that they're supposed to be a lag to the button presses, I'm one of those folks that when I had to buy my projector I had to make sure it had a great gaming mode anything above about 25 milliseconds and I noticed it way too much