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Nintendo Switch Online: Playtest Program [UP: it's an MMO]

They already have "Free game weekends" in place where you can download a title and have full access for a weekend if your membership is in good standing, and then they can revoke the access on Monday night.
Never heard of that before. What is that exactly? Or do you mean the free game trials? But those are always a full week, sometimes more.
 
So do we expect Nintendo to announce this new NSO feature before the playtest, or are they actually going to shadowdrop the feature with the playtest itself?
 
No surprise it instantly leaked, even though normal users can’t see what was leaked until the server is live.

Edit : my bad I didn’t notice the bottom of the website, yeah any testers can see the leaked infos thus far.
 
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Looks...intriguing. I sincerely doubt the art assets are in any way indicative of what the final product will be. I have a few theories of what this could actually end up being but I dunno how much of that is OK to discuss, although I personally am not in the program.
 
So I’m just gonna up and ask:

*** Hidden text: cannot be quoted. ***
Apparently it mentions somewhere that save data carries over. So it might be an actual game intended for a wider release.

Though I do think its interesting that we don't even know the name of the game, we got screenshots and some gameplay details. But not an actual name.
 
It definitely feels like a Nintendo way of using placeholders for another one, and making this « game » for this purpose.
i mean they already did this in the past, at least for graphics like using Tofu for Splatoon.
 
Apparently it mentions somewhere that save data carries over. So it might be an actual game intended for a wider release.

Though I do think its interesting that we don't even know the name of the game, we got screenshots and some gameplay details. But not an actual name.
Looking at it again, no.


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Looking at the leaks subreddit is interesting. People have brought up the possibility that Nintendo’s stress testing features that they’ve never really dealt with before because they have plans for a game that utilizes them. They may wanna know if people enjoy this and if their servers can handle it.
 
I don’t think this is actually a real game, it looks more like a gamified stress test.
 
Don't hesitate to share your theories, you are not bond to anything after all :P
Well alrighty, here goes nuttin.
The way this is set up with beacons and planetary development gives me very strong Xenoblade X vibes. Wondering if this isn't simultaneously a stress test for some kind of always online component for something like that and a bit of a proof of concept for an ongoing planetary development sim for a potential upcoming sequel since the main Xenoblade trilogy has wrapped up, though I feel like the stress test here could also but put towards other games with potential always online components like Animal Crossing or Splatoon.
 
It definitely feels like a Nintendo way of using placeholders for another one, and making this « game » for this purpose.
i mean they already did this in the past, at least for graphics like using Tofu for Splatoon.
Right, I agree with this. It’s also possible that they’re working on something and these cavemen are simply placeholder assets for testing because using any iconography at all would give things away and cause people to speculate and expect things.

One interesting guess I've hears is that Nintendo may try to make a more interactive Miiverse. Essentially a metaverse two years after the fad has dies but actually good.
 
Methinks we’re looking at the Switch 2 achievement system/community hub/some sort of street pass Mii plaza thing. This is a gamified social app/feature.

They’re using place holder art and also jargons to hide the real intent of the content.
 
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If the beta test isn't for some streaming service, the title of this thread needs some updating :D

Anyway, haven't seen any actual leaked footage of the test, so looking forward to proper reveal of... whatever that thing is.
 
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Someone spilled the beans. It's some sort of, genuine spoiler btw,
Minecraft-like MMO
 
I'm not particularly interested in an MMO but I am curious what Nintendo would bring to the table with that format.
 
The app is already unlocked, so there are datamines in progress. Probably some more details will surface in a few hours.
 
Some of the things that came out of the datamine:

- There is PvP
- There are a lot of music tracks
- There are minigames
- Mechs (?) are in the game

There is actually a lot of content, I'm starting to believe this is an actual game prototype and not only a NSO stress test.
 
Yeah the datamines show a surprising amount of content, it even has placeholder texts about the playtest getting even more updates.
Now it really feels like an early build of a new IP.

If true then it'll surely get new waves of invites later.
 
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definitely gonna be a cross-gen game. will be interesting to see how Nintendo updates this over time
Assuming final *release* requires a NSO sub, which is very likely, its expected to be cross-gen. Most of their NSO subs will be on OG Switch for the next couple years, so i dont see them investing in massive projects or systems that are Switch 2 only.*

Probably one of a couple big incentives to push NSO subs and lock users more to the eco system, reasons to play on actual hardware and sub to their services. We are gonna see more of that.
 
Assuming final *release* requires a NSO sub, which is very likely, its expected to be cross-gen. Most of their NSO subs will be on OG Switch for the next couple years, so i dont see them investing in massive projects or systems that are Switch 2 only.*

Probably one of a couple big incentives to push NSO subs and lock users more to the eco system, reasons to play on actual hardware and sub to their services. We are gonna see more of that.
aye, I've been saying they need more incentive to have NSO than just old games and some a handful of multiplayer games

an MMO-like is a big jump in that direct and we just seen how it could go so very very wrong
 
Assuming final *release* requires a NSO sub, which is very likely, its expected to be cross-gen. Most of their NSO subs will be on OG Switch for the next couple years, so i dont see them investing in massive projects or systems that are Switch 2 only.*

Probably one of a couple big incentives to push NSO subs and lock users more to the eco system, reasons to play on actual hardware and sub to their services. We are gonna see more of that.
I love those little remixed games though, like F-Zero, Pacman and Tetris, it's such a great idea to remix them into battle royale retro games.
 
aye, I've been saying they need more incentive to have NSO than just old games and some a handful of multiplayer games

an MMO-like is a big jump in that direct and we just seen how it could go so very very wrong
Wait, what game went very very wrong?
 
Imho this looks like a new IP, the monkeys (yes they are monkeys, you can see their tails) are here to stay. It looks very StreetPass-y to me, I think this is straight up an online game meant to incentivize people to stay subscribed to NSO for the long run to diversify, not everyone is into 99 games.

IF it were to be a placeholder to test some mechanics I would expect the main targets to be either a Pikmin spin-off or any game from Monolith Soft, but I think they would have made a different demo for the latter.
 
I think this entire concept sounds very interesting. What development team is expected to be behind this? EPD 4?
This feels the most likely, when you see the concepts, hear the musics, EPD 4 is the candidate for this kind of projects.
 
Never heard of that before. What is that exactly? Or do you mean the free game trials? But those are always a full week, sometimes more.
Ah, that's my bad. I've only played 3 of them, and I thought they had all been Thursday morning through Monday night deals, but looking back at my email it looks like they were all either Tuesday morning through Monday night or Wednesday morning through Tuesday night, but Nintendo didn't send me any promotional emails about them until Thursday or Friday afternoon when 2.5 out of the 7 days had already passed, and I had unconsciously labeled them in my head as trials that lasted a "long weekend" (they were actually all over holiday weekends too, so I was already predisposed to be thinking of those as long weekends).

One interesting guess I've hears is that Nintendo may try to make a more interactive Miiverse. Essentially a metaverse two years after the fad has dies but actually good.
That'd sure be some Lateral Thinking With Withered Technology™!
 
Whatever this music is I need more of it. It's like Splatoon but even more offbeat.
 
Since the test is playable on Switch, it will be cross-gen at least. NSO needs to be enticing on both platforms until the transition is deemed over.

Yes thats for sure. But I think this means most probably that no exclusive EPD4-casual-title will be ready for Switch 2 launch (so no equivalent title to Switch Sports, 1-2 Switch etc.). I also wonder if beacon game will be ready so soon at all. If Switch 2 would launch in April / May 2025, then I dont think that Beacon game belongs to launch lineup as a crossgen title. The game seems to be far away from finalized / finished state
 
Yes thats for sure. But I think this means most probably that no exclusive EPD4-casual-title will be ready for Switch 2 launch (so no equivalent title to Switch Sports, 1-2 Switch etc.). I also wonder if beacon game will be ready so soon at all. If Switch 2 would launch in April / May 2025, then I dont think that Beacon game belongs to launch lineup as a crossgen title. The game seems to be far away from finalized / finished state

Depending on what they want to test they absolutely don't need to use their latest build to do so.
The rollout of this playtest is unusual so it could very well be a stripped down version and/or older version of where their project currently stands in term of development.

A 1st party cross gen title for 2027 doesn't seem like something Nintendo would do at all, even late 2026 would be odd
 
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