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Nintendo Boss Addresses Some Of The Nintendo Switch’s Biggest Issues

By Josh Moorcroft
Published on: 21:19 PST, Jun 15, 2017

There’s no doubt that the Nintendo Switch, which released earlier this year, has been a huge success for Nintendo. On the back of the short-lived Wii U, Nintendo has managed to shift millions of Switch units across the globe, just months following its release. However, that doesn’t mean the console is without its issues, particularly in relation to online functionality.

According to Kotaku, speaking at E3 2017, Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime attempted to address some of the biggest concerns with the Switch. Chiefly, Fils-Aime was quizzed about save files on the Nintendo Switch, which can’t currently be backed up in case a user loses their console. In his comments, Fils-Aime acknowledged that there was a want for better save management on the console, like that available to players on Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One. However, he admitted that there currently isn’t such a solution being planned.

At the same time, the Nintendo boss provided his perspective on the company’s approach to voice chat, an issue that it continues to struggle with. In order for players to voice chat with other players in the upcoming release of Splatoon 2, Nintendo’s online infrastructure will require the use of a smartphone app to handle that voice chat.

However, Fils-Aime expressed that he feels Nintendo’s approach will allow them to provide a more robust online communication functionality to players. However, the setup has still been labeled as cumbersome, especially considering Nintendo’s competitors have provided a fully functional online communication system for a number of years now.

“We actually think that the phone is going to deliver a better, more robust execution,” he said. “In terms of the APIs that we can build into an app, the fact that phones are ubiquitous, the fact that it allows us to do much more rapid improvements and updates to the service, that’s why we think a phone execution—and specifically a mobile app execution—is going to be better for the consumer.”

What’s more, when Nintendo first released the Switch in March this year, it was confident in its claims that the full paid online service would be available in months. However, according to Polygon, Nintendo recently revised that target with an aim to have the beefed up online service available to consumers in 2018. Reggie Fils-Aime again defended the company’s decision, claiming that the delay would ultimately mean Nintendo is able to create a better service for consumers, claiming that he wants to create a world-class online service to match the world-class console.

“As Nintendo looks at the overall online digital experience there’s a recognition that there’s a lot of work to be world class,” he said. “And we pride ourselves… We believe our IP is world class. We believe that when we create a piece of hardware it’s world class. We need to get our digital environment world class. And that’s what we’re working hard to do.”

In all, Nintendo definitely appears to be listening to its fans when it comes to concerns around the Switch. However, whether or not changes will be made accordingly, remains to be seen.

[Featured Image by Christian Petersen/Getty Images]

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