Video: Does Cloud Gaming Work On The Nintendo Switch?

I don't know, anybody else know?

(Wrong answers only)

@graysoncharles He's in hell for sinning, but he'll be back soon.

I'm calling Cyberpunk 2077 getting a cloud Switch version somewhere down the line since this seems to be proving successful so far. Especially given they're already working on a Stadia version which will also be cloud-streamed, and it being on Switch would probably garner a lot more attention given its growing install base in comparison to the former.

That game looks way too intensive compared to Witcher 3, but I don't think CDPR is going to be a one-off supporter for Switch when it comes to the big name stuff

I don't honestly care if it does or doesn't, I would rather own the game. Even if it's just digital, I actually have it on the console.

Even if cloud ends up working well enough, that still relies heavily on having good enough internet to support it. And the only place I have ever been that did, was Japan, and even then, only in suburbs or the city. Everywhere I have been in the US has not consistently had as reliable a connection.

I am sure wealthy folks in big cities can pay extra and get it, but in a lot of places it's just not an option on the table.

It's kinda funny hearing the SMG music while watching Control gameplay lol

Nintendo's biggest mistakes last generation was completely ignoring the rapid growth of F2P mobile gaming. By the time they took it seriously, the 3DS was underperforming, the Wii U had self-immolated and blockbuster blue-ocean titles from NDS/Wii (Brain Training, Nintendogs, Wii Sports, Wii Play, Wii Fit, etc) had completely lost relevance.

Cloud gaming will never be as big as mobile gaming as indicated by the abject failure of Stadia and the seemingly impending failure of Luna, but the technology is clearly here. Better to start preparing for the future - however distant it may be - rather than to reject it entirely.

When PS4/Xbox One was released people were telling that maybe they were the last traditional consoles on a mobile world and that the future is a cloud machine. But no PS5 is here to stay Switch is killing it and cloud is still an obscure technology. See you in 10 years with PS6, lets see if cloud gaming is still a thing

@BenAV
3DS and Wii U definitely lacked quality 1st party titles, especially at launch.

Though to be fair, the 3DS launched with Nintendogs + Cats, the sequel to the 24 million-seller Nintendogs. Nintendo expected that game to drive a massive 3DS launch. Instead, the game underperformed and led to a lackluster 3DS launch.

Even after the 3DS recovered, it never reached the sales heights of the NDS, largely due to a mass migration toward F2P mobile gaming leading to the collapse of Nintendogs, Brain Training, and other blue-ocean titles.

The Wii U was somewhat of a similar story as it launched alongside NSMBU, the sequel to the 30 million-seller NSMB Wii.

Sure didn't for me!

Yeah it works. I’m lucky enough to live in a country that provides fiber in council houses though.

@westman98 The failure of Stadia doesn’t necessarily mean that cloud gaming will not be huge. Timing and execution are crucial and I think the Stadia was too early and the execution was not quite there.

I think the Switch is in prime position to be the system to help cloud gaming take off because it is really popular and is not powerful enough to run these games without the cloud.

@westman98

Two big problems with the 3ds were that it was a huge price increase. The DS was obtainable for $100 at the end of its life and the 3ds was $250. The other big issue is very few people cared about its biggest feature 3d. And quite honestly the 3d was very disorienting until the new 3ds came along.

To me I just don't care what the future holds. I have games I enjoy and my backlog is long so I don't need a subscription service if that's the future.

Why give us the option to buy these games on cloud... when they clearly dont work here in australia

@KnightsTemplar Because they might work for a few people. It’s not like the cloud versions are replacing a port, the game literally would not have been able to be ported to Switch. It’s this or nothing and this is at least something.

If you have a 5G connection, then it should totally work. Didn't they just release 5G iPhones and whatnot?

If they didn't believe cloud gaming would work out, they wouldn't have did it. It's that simple.

I'm hoping it does decent. I wouldn't mind seeing a few games that wouldn't work well on Switch be cloud version. PSO2 Cloud for example would be a nice welcome addition. Along with any other free-to-play titles.

I'd rather have a proper digital or physical version with downgraded graphics than cloud-only.

No, because that way, games are not available in my country

No time to watch the video but I have played Control several days and I know the answer. It works.
(ps. plus that I don't think that Alex Olney guy is suitable for video presentations.)

It's happening, if people like it or not.

That should be a month subs, coz’ this is nothing but rental until server closure

@SenseiDje
You could say that of any online multiplayer oriented game as well. But people are happy with troughing money after Splatoon 2, Fortnite or Rocket League.

If the servers go, these games are gone as well. Or at least their main purpose is gone.

So now it's a big single player game, that is dependant on the cloud, and everyone is upset. It doesn't make much sense. Take it or leave it.

I would rather buy individual cloud games on something like Stadia, though. It gives me more flexibility, and the big cloud platforms that Google, MS or Amazon has will provide better performance. They also have the financial capacity to keep it running forever.

It is not Nintendo that is behind these cloud games for Switch, but a much smaller company. I would think twice before buying games offered by a smaller cloud provider.

Even if Stadia looses the right to sell the games you own, you will still have access to them in your library. Google made that clear. It's yours to keep as long as the service is running. I am not so sure with this company behind the Switch cloud games.

More flexible options for renting cloud games could also be the best way forward?

Why not give access for a day for 1$, 5$ for a week and full game price for all access?. Cloud gaming would be perfect for that, because it's almost impossible to pirate it, and many more people would use cloud gaming as a flexible rental service.

@westman98 I think it was more of the 3ds releasing at such a high price point

@BenAV as horrible as mobile F2P is, it is very widespread. It does impact console gaming, because mobile gaming is more convenient (device you already own) and loading times are often much, much faster. It is way easier to play a game for just a couple of minutes, while for example Splatoon 2 goes out of its way to make sure you plan to play for a longer time by way of the news announcements. How “good” it is to be able to play for a couple of minutes might be a reason for Nintendo to choose this path and indicate that faster loading times are not a priority for consoles...

The license for games like control on Switch should be able to revert to PC licences after they stop the service, and the app should (then) be able to stream from your own PC.
But then: would you prefer a port (Witcher, Doom, etc) with lesser graphics and greater price, or would you prefer to stream from your PC? PC prices for the same games are often much lower and even a cheap PC has more graphics horse power than Switch. But at the cost of some more hardware, with a much higher power use; Switch is a very planet-friendly way to game.

I think that Nintendo should invest in this. They should have their own cloud service game list with a monthly fee.

I'm playing it and I do not have any problems with connection, I know if they pull the plug the game the won't work im fine with that, I would much rather see games that are too big or too challenging to put on switch via the cloud than not have them at all.

No and even if it did I wouldn't want it. I want to own my games.

I think they are over priced experiences, particularly as you do not own them. They are transient by nature. However, I didn't really have any issue with it and seems to be a good solution for bloated and inflated games that won't fit on actual hardware (especially for folk who only own a Switch.) As long as it's a facet and not a standard, I'm fine with this. Not going to use it much mind, as I prefer physical gaming, but it's fine.

@okeribok personally it's ownership or nothing for me.

@westman98 Saying Nintendo should focus on F2P mobile games is like telling a luxury restaurant they should start making cheap burgers, because look at how much money McDonald's is making.

@geordie not if we don't buy it. Consumers have all the power.

Pointless u wanna play big aa games buy a ps5 Xbox pc , Nintendo ain’t about graphics it’s about fun , sick of this digital age

It might work in some places but it frustrates me as I live somewhere where this is not available, and I worry that more and more games will have "cloud" versions like this meaning that a significant proportion of people are physically unable to play them due to their location.

@Brummieendo90 it’s just more options. If you don’t like it, you can always get a secondary console.

@Strumpan
When did I say Nintendo should focus on F2P games?

I'm saying they failed to respond to the rapid growth of F2P mobile gaming from Apple/Google until it killed off their biggest new hits on NDS and Wii, contributing to a weakened 3DS and DOA Wii U.

Nintendo's response to cloud gaming (i.e. somewhat embracing it) is markedly improved.

I live on a little island called Guernsey where the best download speed you can get is maybe 15MB/s, therefore no it doesnt work on the Switch for me and quite a few others around the world.

It was completely flawless, I was very surprised with Control.

@westman98 OK, now I see what you mean, sorry. Regarding cloud gaming, we don't really know where it's going yet and how fast, which means we don't know whether Nintendo's approach turns out to work or not.

I played Immortal Fenyx Rising on my phone using Stadia. Very impressed how good it run and I wished I could use my switch instead to have better controllers and the option to play on the tv. So yes, I think it would fit technically. However I would prefer one of the big players to come to switch so you could use that cloud games on other devices too. I hope Microsoft is cooking something. Even Stadia would be great on switch.

@TheFrenchiestFry I'll be ok with a cloud version of cyberpunk because if the version go down I'm sure CDprojekt will compensate it with another feee version.

Even if cloudgaming provides a nice experience or not. I’m a bit stunned that noone is considering the environmental impact of gaming in the cloud (or the internet in general). The switch is an awesome machine with beautiful games that uses relatively low amounts of power, especially compared to cloud gaming. And the switch has physical games that (theoretically) can be used for years. The internet is now apparently using over 10% of the world’s electricity. If cloud gaming is added to that, who knows what the hidden costs will be.

I'm not really into cloud gaming, but it still feels like it would be a natural move from Nintendo to ofer a service like this, integrated into their AMAZING /s Nintendo Online App.
I understand that this is what other companies would do and that Nintendo might not do this because it probably wouldn't sell more hardware at this point. But as a result we might also end up having a bunch of cloud-games mixed with a zillion games on the eshop. There's no cathegory there to filter for cloud based games and of course you have to pay all of them sorta separated.

As I never wanna think about the WLan signal on my Switch, I barely play online stuff especially when not hooked to the TV so as long as Cloud Gaming isn't offering more in return for going down that road, like Netflix' gives you a big library to just fully access for one fee, I can't be interested. Who would ever pay for one single movie to only stream? That sounds like a stupid thing to do.

@westman98 Stadia failed? When did this happen? Its growing all the time. Slowly but surely.

I live in Thailand and it worked reasonably well, considering it isn't officially supported in Thailand. Some hickups, but generally very playable. I got it through the Canadian eShop and playing on the Taiwan based server.

@Brummieendo90 people said the same about digital only.

@blockfight
The userbase is tiny and games are fortunate to sell tens of thousands of copies on Stadia.

I'm baffled how they didn't notice the difference between the performance and graphics options as the latter has ray traced reflections everywhere and the performance mode doesn't. I tried this on my 5ghz WiFi and was pleasantly surprised with how well it played but given the need for such a high speed and reliable signal to play, I don't know why someone wouldn't just buy one of the next gen consoles to get a much better experience.

Where this may have potential is something similar to Xbox, in that you have a native version for Switch plus a cloud option for higher quality. Other than that its kind of cool to see but too limited to invest in and also shows that the dock really should have had an ethernet port

Short answer- No.

Cloud gaming is a rip off and should go extinct.

@dojmin I love your Mask icon. Such an underappreciated comic series.

Cloud gaming is too frustrating.

@westman98 it is tiny. But it's growing. It's not even a year old yet but has over 100 games available on it with regular sales.
As it becomes available in more countries and Internet becomes more reliable in more places it will continue to grow.
Developers clearly see a future in it with Ubisoft getting fully behind it and Luna, and a lot of the biggest games now coming to the platform also. That's where I'll be playing Cyberpunk.

@0blivion you don't like a thing so no one else gets to like the thing? Harsh!

It is obvious that the games industry wants this to be the future, but as usual in the tech world they want consumers to pay for their experimentation of the new technology even though the world is not ready for it.

Take my advise and don't give them any money so it delays this crap from happening for as long as possible.

Please can we have these articles in written form in future, thanks.

Here in portugal the teial worked just fine on my wireless connection (fiber based) in performance mode, while graphycs mode was very choppy (to my standards at least).
Did not know about queues to enter though. Regardless i don't café about games I don't own (until that is the only way to play games at least)

Anyone else thinking that maybe they are introducing these cloud versions of games so when they release a more capable "pro" version of the Switch in the new year you'll have the option to run these more processor-intensive games natively on the upgraded systems while the cloud versions will provide access to the games for those who don't want (or can't afford) to upgrade? Maybe pie in the sky thinking but could be an interesting take

@westman98

The narrative about Stadia failing is both stupid and wrong. The platform is growing slowly and steady all the time.

Stadia certainly did not live up to peoples and medias expectations, that is for sure. But those expectations were also highly unrealistic.

Google is a totally new player in the gaming industry. They are building a whole new platform, and had only around twenty games ready at launch, and no big exclusive AAA titles at all.

No new gaming platform, regardless of technology behind it, cloud or otherwise, will be an instant big hit with so few games available at launch. It's always about the games, and it takes time to build up such a library and a new platform. Just ask MS about that, when they started with Xbox twenty years ago!

So Google clearly build Stadia for the future of gaming, and they are just starting to build it up slowly from the ground up. It needs to really shine in around 8-10 years, when the internet infrastructure and 5g is more reedy for it.

I would assume that Stadia has lived up to Google's own expectations? Any sane person would not expect more from a new platform, with so few games and without any gamer/customer base

Google's just recently bought some game studios, to build new exclusive AAA titles for the Stadia platform. It will still take years before we see any of them.

But Stadia is currently the most impressive cloud gaming platform, from a technical perspective. It has the lowest input latency of all the cloud platforms and the best image quality (up to 4K). And it's available on phones, TV and in the browser.

Google only need to build up the game library for Stadia, and that will happen over time.

@BlueSky Given there is a massive push towards renewable energy at the moment, extra electricity usage not so much of an issue.
Even then I'd guess the extra power used in cloud gaming compares favourably to the amount of energy used in physical gaming, where you have to manufacture the actual media it's stored on, the packaging (plastic game case), packaging for transport to retail outlets. Fuel used to transport, fuel used to get the game to you; either a courier if you buy online, or transport to the store if you're buying in person.

Cloud gaming on switch just feels like a stab to the chest for the switch. It can be great for some people who want to play these games but can’t, though.

The Cloud license should be either, cheaper than a normal game license or in addition to a normal game license (or a nominal fee on top of a normal license). I own Control (£50 at launch)on X1X and it looks good but runs and plays like garbage, in comparison the cloud version on Switch doesn't look as crisp (due to streaming) but plays and responds acceptably (unlike the X1X version). No way will I buy the game again, so if licenses were transferable or simply "to play any acceptable/obtainable version of the game" then I likey would be playing Control on my Switch via Cloud, rather than X1X (I don't/cannot play control on X1X with it's current performance, Jessie even goes crosseyed when she says her name in the game, it is that awful).

First time I played a cloud game. I was surprisingly shocked how good the demo played on my Switch...very convinced streaming is the future with 5G around

It is impressive tech, but seeing as you are only borrowing the game, it should be significantly cheaper than on other platforms.

@Dethmunk You are right, you shouldn't buy a 400 pound console to play it. Both XBox One and PS4 are 250 pounds at Argos, it was the first place I looked, they are probably cheaper elsewhere.

@Flugen I thought they had this, but with NES games. I'd be OK with streamed versions of AAA games as part of the online service, but not for $35 a pop.

@0blivion thanks!

This tech would work perfectly with online only games like online shooter or something like Monster Hunter World, where people want to play online most of the time, . Control, to someone like me, looks no different in performance to Resident Evil Revelations 2. I know, I do not pay much attention to tiny details in graphics.

no thanks to cloud gaming. I want to own my games. not pay to rent.

@dres @blockfight
Just because Stadia is "growing" doesn't mean it hasn't flopped. Wii U and PS Vita were also "growing" after they launched - that doesn't mean both platforms were successful in any way.

Maybe there is some moment in the future when Stadia is no longer a failure, and I'll acknowledge that when that time comes, but as of right now the platform has simply not succeeded.

These cloud supported games need to have demos so people can test and actually see if it works with their network setup.

@westman98 It has caught on in low numbers for sure. But I think given the way Google is rolling this platform out they would probably be happy with the uptake on it. Its only available in certain countries so of course the player base will be low.
Time will tell. But I feel cloud gaming is gonna be here to stay. The technology is only going to improve.

@westman98
But if Stadia has lived up to Google's own expectations by now, it really hasn't flopped or been a failure.

Wii U and PS Vita flopped, because it didn't live up to the sales figures of what Nintendo and Sony expected. That is all that matters.

Stadia has not lived up to the hype, that surrounded the platform before launch. And it also didn't quite live up to the performance promises that Google claimed. That is the reason, why a lot of media and people sees Stadia as a flop or failure.

But those expectations were highly unrealistic, if you think about it. What kind of sales figures did people actually expect from a new platform, that launches with fewer than twenty games, and without any big AAA hitters? Cloud platform or not.

Stadia is only a flop, if it doesn't live up to Google's own sales expectations.

Google obviously takes it slow with Stadia, and are trying to build the platform for the future. They are taking the long stretch here. Current sales numbers doesn't really matter right now. Stadia needs to really shine in around 8-10 years, when the internet infrastructure and 5g is more reedy for it.

No thanks, i want to own the games i buy.

Also, this game looks really boring.

I tried the demo because I was curious. To really put it to the test I chose the Enhanced Graphics option and it worked just fine. I had no problems getting in to play and the game was smooth.

What I did have a problem with was the demo for Control. It told me nothing about the actual gameplay, it was just walking around a building. There is no way I'm paying $40 for it in this form anyway, but that demo really turned me off it. Which is a shame because I was curious about this game.

If they want people like me, someone who is already extremely hesitant about cloud gaming to begin with, to buy into to it they need to change some things. First, they need to make it cheaper (or switch it to some kind of subscription based model when there are more games to justify it). Second, they need to make better demos.

@blockfight I have the intellect to challenge and examine what I’m given in life and what we have right now is rubbish. Don’t be a sheep.

@westman98 While agree with you about Stadia and Luna, they were never the ones to do it. Google and Amazon are both outsiders to the industry trying to break into it with a new technology. They were always destined to fail.
I think what happens with xCloud is going to impact the streaming world more than anything. Microsoft is already well established in the industry, knows how to do online properly and has been laying the groundwork for an ecosystem for a long time. Plus, they are also able to integrate it into their existing service, making it not the only option, but as an additional feature. I think people are a lot more likely to add xCloud to their existing Gamepass or get Gamepass because it offers both, rather than jump on board with industry newbies like Google and Amazon.
Personally, I've never owned an Xbox, but Microsoft has definitely piqued my interest in what they've done and I'm going to give it a go this winter....because they are offering both.

As for the Switch, given Nintendos history with how they handle online applications, I think they should avoid it themselves and partner up instead to allow something like xCloud to run on it (with required NSO, of course).

How much would they have downgrade this game to get it to work on Switch?

@dres you’re right, sure.
It’s all about confidence.

A steam partnership to provide cloud support for nintendo would be an stellar hit, IMHO

@Shadowthrone
XCloud will only happen happen on Switch if Nintendo takes a meaningful cut of the revenue, which Microsoft may not like.

As of now, Ubitus is doing a good job providing cloud games to Switch.

@0blivion Baaaaaa.

@blockfight I pity you. Back to the bin with you!

@DrDaisy probably to "The Outer Worlds" levels of a downgrade. Maybe worse, considering the game has a lot of destructible environments. The original PS4 and Xbox One struggle to run this game.

@Trmn8r SAID
"These cloud supported games need to have demos so people can test and actually see if it works with their network setup."

ANSWER:
Control Cloud Edition, does not let you buy it if you don't try its connection test demo.

As long as Nintendo keeps making inferior hardware, their systems are going to miss out on many of the best third-party software. I know Nintendo doesn't really care because their own IPs are so successful, but it really sucks for people who can't afford to have multiple systems.

@Moistnado Nintendo could use this for a better quality result.
Lets think a scenario where the game plays as it plays, but connecting it to the cloud service, the game plays on Nintendo Cloud Machines with better graphics resolution and overall quality because it just can.

Also we could see a lot of AAA games that Switch could not handle.