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[foxuzamaki]

I was playing it for a little while on a bus ride back from Kobe to my place in the sticks(Kagawa) via my iPhone on Sunday afternoon and this was the end result.


I'm far from the best player in the world so if I can do this well then I'd say that lag wasn't an issue. I certainly didn't notice any while playing.

That inkling seems to have been actually transported from the 80s

 

[user_nat]

Folks, I'm genuinely sorry to rain on the parade, because I do understand the idea of using your phone as a hotspot to play online on the go is pretty darn neat, but seriously, please avoid doing this.

No matter how well it looks and feels on your end, trust me, you will be lagging for other people, you will teleport and do silly stuff due to it on other people's end, and odds are you will run into other people doing the same and feel it too.

Splatoon already had to deal with a bunch of people with terrible connections getting away with a lot dumb stuff due to their lag, try to not increase that much more, for everyone's sake.

What?
I've played a lot of CoD, Overwatch and LoL on mobile hotspot without issue. In the case of CoD it even often pulls host without issue.

 

[Bluth54]

Why it's awful? There was absolutely no problems for me when I played in the test. If everything works, what does it matter?

The lower the tick rate the less accurate events on the screen are since it's how often per second the server updates the client. If the Switch launch trailer is accurate and Nintendo wants Splatoon to be an esport than the game needs a minimum tick rate of 60hz like other competitive nmultiplayer games.

 

[PantsuJo]

Yeah that sucks, you'll only be able to play 40 hours of Splatoon a month on that plan.

You realise the point is you only need this for when there is no wifi? Anyone planning on only using 4G to play online will probably organize something else.

Indeed but let's talk about "something else": the solution for playing only 4G needs a lot of data per month (let's say, 50 GB) and, trust me, these have high cost here (I speak for my country, specifically), based on main ISP.

And not only the high cost. If you want more data per month (let's say 250GB, for example) you have some ISP that offers this to you but they are secondary ISP (they literally rent the infrastructure from bigger ISP) and offers unstable lines with elevate lag.
Fox example, the "famous" Omnia24.

I don't know the situation in your country so I can't really speak for other cases.

 

[meppi]

Why it's awful? There was absolutely no problems for me when I played in the test. If everything works, what does it matter?



My brothers play online on PS4 (filthy casuals, I know...) and both of them use their phones, I believe. Or they have one of those "get Internet for your phone and home" -deals. I don't know. They are not rich, so they are not paying too much for their Internet any way. And they are pretty damn good players, wrecking it online in Battlefield and NHL.

Ping is not a problem, or lag spikes. If you provider's connections are good, you are getting a really fast Internet access for a fraction of a price of a landline.

Is this your brother by any chance?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BSw6XloXlc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErrrnhKtjj4

 

[abd]

Lower tick rate and everyone will be on cellular connection? How fun.

 

[Spades]

Not bad, not bad. Used around 800mb in the same timeframe playing Destiny when I was waiting for my fibre to be installed and only had 4G wifi.

 

[PKrockin]

Is that you Don Mattrick?

Monster Hunter Generations, not that garbage Freedom Unite for iOS, if that's what you're trying to imply? I also don't play any mobile games.

Have you actually run a speed test using your mobile connection? I've worked in rural areas for 5 years before even trying it because I assumed it would be terrible, but with Verizon in my area, it's pretty good actually.

 

[extralite]

I don't think this sounds as smart as you think it does, when you consider that the smartphone becomes a burden once the Switch is docked. There's really no excuse for the Switch not handling everything natively even if a smartphone companion app is useful on the go.

I guess they will add some messaging functionality to the Switch UI, before the messaging app hits even. But either way I don't consider the smartphone to be a burden at home. And it's still quicker to type on a touchscreen than with a controller. At least they should bring back the pointer controlled keyboard from the Wii line.

I actually hope they add even more partner features, like a second screen for Splatoon, with a grip that can hold the smartphone in between the joycons. Also I'd like to see (3)DS emulation with such a setup.

 

[Azure Phoenix]

The tick rate for Splatoon 2 is only 12.5hz? That's awful.

Considering how Blizzard was getting hammered for Overwatch having a 30 tick rate (which they raised to 60) and how many stupid deaths it was the cause of, hearing Splatoon is 12.5 is bad news.

 

[Waaghals]

I thinks this is pretty much in line with most MP shooters.


I remember reading in an old PC magazine that Battlefield 2 moved about 150mb worth of data an hour.


Edit: looking at some other posts, maybe it isn't that normal after all. I could be misremembering.

 

[KtSlime]

Perhaps local and Internet have different tick rates?

 

[Datschge]

Well yeah, the tickrate's only 12.5hz, half of 1's. It better not use a lot of data lol

Data usage is also half of 1 which used around 300MB per hour.

Perhaps local and Internet have different tick rates?

This would be the best solution indeed. Local/LAN play at a vastly higher tickrate while internet is kept compatible for slower connections. Though the latter would be no reason to pay for it.

 

[Stop It]

What about latency?

Depends on the data signal I suppose.

4G has very good latency so it wouldn't be that bad at all on that.

If/When I go for a switch I'll have to upgrade my contract so I can tether it seems as that usage isn't unreasonable.

 

[Tonyx]

Seems OK to me. If you plan to use your phone as hotspot for the Switch (or for anything else really) you probably have more than 1GB on your plan so it should be fine.

 

[openrob]

My LTE is more stable than most Wifi.

My phone connection is faster than the crappy broadband connection I have at home.

 

[Machina]

It makes you wonder why Nintendo didn't just make the Switch 4G/LTE compatible in the first place. It would have added an extra dimension to selling the likes of Splatoon, Mario Kart, Smash Bros and other multiplayer games like them in the future

 

[Omikaru]

Completely dropped in future models. Why would anyone buy a more expensive sku and the have to pay for a separate data plan when they can just tether to their phone?

This.

People don't want all their devices to have separate data plans. At worst, they have two mobile plans: one for their phone and the other for their dedicated hotspot device. But for most people, having the phone double up as a hotspot is more than enough.

Making a second LTE Switch SKU is a waste of time and money at a time when Nintendo wants to get as many of these into players' hands as possible for as cheap as possible.

 

[KtSlime]

It makes you wonder why Nintendo didn't just make the Switch 4G/LTE compatible in the first place. It would have added an extra dimension to selling the likes of Splatoon, Mario Kart, Smash Bros and other multiplayer games like them in the future

Because it would be pointless. It would raise the price of the hardware, they would have to work out contracts with a bunch of different mobile carriers, and everyone with a smartphone (in Japan) has free tethering.

 

[D.Lo]

It makes you wonder why Nintendo didn't just make the Switch 4G/LTE compatible in the first place. It would have added an extra dimension to selling the likes of Splatoon, Mario Kart, Smash Bros and other multiplayer games like them in the future

Because that's extra hardware inside the unit, and an extra port required for Sim card, that would add expense and complexity and be used by only a fraction of users?

Even if it had this I'd use my phone, I'm not buying a whole new plan for another device when it will mostly use wifi and I already pay for my phone plan.

Maybe they can release a 4G model once hardware supply is under control, but for now it makes zero sense.

 

[Candescence]

Because that's extra hardware inside the unit, and an extra port required for Sim card, that would add expense and complexity and be used by only a fraction of users?

Even if it had this I'd use my phone, I'm not buying a whole new plan for another device when it will mostly use wifi and I already pay for my phone plan.

Maybe they can release a 4G model once hardware supply is under control, but for now it makes zero sense.

The main word being "maybe". I don't see Nintendo doing that, especially since they're apparently outright making the smartphone an essential part of the online gaming experience anyway.

 

[Peltz]

I'm curious how well this will work when Rocket League (hopefully) comes out on Switch

I feel like that game needs a better connection.

 

[Zemm]

12hz is the real story here, that is the lowest I've ever seen and completely terrible :/

They're going to be charging to play this online at some point, ridiculous.

 

[Formless]

Wasn't BF4 like 10 hz when it came out? I think they've upped it since.

 

[Diablohead]

The modern 4g standard can be rather damn good for online play don't sleep on it.

I did some speedtests over my WiFi and 4g, WiFi was 13 ping to a local server and 6.25 up while my 4g from my BED is 24 ping and 5 up, it was steady too.

 

[NotLiquid]

Tick rate can probably be increased per need, that's likely why they had the Testfire as well. I didn't notice anything bad during play personally, bar seeing some people occasionally disconnecting. For a game like Splatoon I don't think you need as high of a tick rate as a game like Overwatch.

Splatoon on portable was a real experience to me, and the fact that it uses such little mobile data while tethering is a surprising vindication of it's existence on Switch.

 

[andthebeatgoeson]

Tick rate can probably be increased per need, that's likely why they had the Testfire as well. I didn't notice anything bad during play personally, bar seeing some people occasionally disconnecting. For a game like Splatoon I don't think you need as high of a tick rate as a game like Overwatch.

Splatoon on portable was a real experience to me, and the fact that it uses such little mobile data while tethering is a surprising vindication of it's existence on Switch.

Yeah, i had a great time and will probably play more Splatoon with the portability factor.

Maybe with a bigger user base and more noobs, i can actually win.

That gap between me and the dudes who played daily was too much.

 

[sixteen-bit]

I wonder how much online play I'll get out of this if it requires a pay service.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

I'm surprised this is considered a good amount? I've got a somewhat limited connection but am still able to play MMOs on it if latency isn't a big issue. If I was using half that I'd be worried.

 

[SMOK3Y]

Thats pretty good i once played resogun through my phone on Vita logged into PS4 it used 1gb for a level needless to say I never done that again lol

 

[lyrick]

Thats pretty good i once played resogun through my phone on Vita logged into PS4 it used 1gb for a level needless to say I never done that again lol

Yeah you were essentially streaming a qHD(540p) movie for that duration.

 

[Taliban Stan]

Nice. My internet bill doubled (Comcast) so I cancelled it and have been on mobile data only for a while. Totally works fine for all the games I've played it on.

 

[aygomyownroad]

Have30GB tethering on my plan from Three... Can't wait

 

[phanphare]

That inkling seems to have been actually transported from the 80s

lol, reminds me of one of those old school hornets starter jackets

 

[Velkyn]

Good news, I hope this means that the Switch online was built with mobile tethering in mind!

 

[Baleoce]

Is there any rough list of which genres tend to use up more data, or is more of a net code, polling rate issue? I guess it also depends on what data is necessary to send both there and back in general.

 

[Bluth54]

Wasn't BF4 like 10 hz when it came out? I think they've upped it since.

I found this article that says it started at 30 but they increased it to 45.

 

[Wowfunhappy]

I once tried to play the original Wii U Splatoon while tethering to my phone. Despite having a really good connection, it was laggy to the point of complete unplayability. Ink showing up too late, ink not showing up at all, characters appearing and disappearing at random, the whole deal.

 

[Diablohead]

I once tried to play the original Wii U Splatoon while tethering to my phone. Despite having a really good connection, it was laggy to the point of complete unplayability. Ink showing up too late, ink not showing up at all, characters appearing and disappearing at random, the whole deal.

Splatoon 1 needed huge packets of data for whatever reason, it was the worst thing about it because people with low end uploads were stuck or being disconnected.

 

[ryanofcall]

Calling it again:
If the App just happens to be an easy third party Hotspot setup App for your Switch (with improved battery usage for a "closed app for Nintendo devices only"), it is going through the roof...

 

[petethepanda]

Cool, about the same as the first game.

 

[Fisty]

This.

People don't want all their devices to have separate data plans. At worst, they have two mobile plans: one for their phone and the other for their dedicated hotspot device. But for most people, having the phone double up as a hotspot is more than enough.

Making a second LTE Switch SKU is a waste of time and money at a time when Nintendo wants to get as many of these into players' hands as possible for as cheap as possible.

People tend to forget that the 3G plan on Vita was locked to AT&T and almost completely goddamn useless. You couldn't play regular games online, only the rare asynchronous multiplayer game and checking PSN stuff like messages. You couldn't use the 3G for, say, playing Killzone Mercenary online.

An add-on data plan on your current cell service and LTE on the Switch would eliminate any need for tethering.