Recently we have seen various Switches belonging to hackers, a device without many well developed public hacks at time of writing, be banned from Nintendo's online offerings. Such a thing then became the subject of much discussion, not only because all of Nintendo's previous efforts in the last decade or so have had next to no proper security and at the same time were often barely functional.
One thing that came up more than once was the notion that a banned Switch is if not worthless then worth a whole lot less. It is not a new concept as games go; see also the xbox 360 and its various banwaves last generation wherein banned ones could be seen at points to go for sometimes less than half that of a new charting game, at the same time equivalent setups that were unbanned would still go for more than a charting game and maybe even two.

Related to this is the notion some developers and publishers have that single player only games are at least untenable from a financial perspective. Such a thing has seen many a game have a multiplayer mode tacked on, almost invariably at a cost of development focus or budget for the single player.

For myself then local multiplayer and co-op were much enjoyed staples of my pre online days, single player was almost always where it was at though. Then they started wanting me to pay for online, something I have never done unless you count dial up costs on my dreamcast. I never once had an online 360 of my own or one readily accessible and would maintain it was probably one of the best periods of gaming ever for me. The idea that a banned device is worthless is then very odd, though I am of course more than happy to pay the pittance some consider them worth to get such a banned device if it still allows single player.

This is part of a series on GBAtemp where we consider game design, aspects of play and game industry concepts. Previously we discussed emulation vs hardware.

Spoiler: earlier editions

a favoured game style that might have become less common in recent times, skills one might have learned or honed because of a game, games on the PS4 and Xbone that will stand the test of time, games that got better after launch, cancelled games and shuttered devs, and story canon in games.

To that end you are invited once more to talk about the ideas raised in the text above and anything related to it you feel warrants mention.

 

[Xzi]

I do play a few games online on PC, but most of what I like to play online are Nintendo games (Smash, Pokemon, Mario sports games). $20/year is plenty cheap, too, so I'll be throwing in for that. Think I'll be waiting a while to use my SX Pro, since I want to see if it's safe for those who only use homebrew/emulators and not backup loading.

 

[pedro702]

i dont play games online at all so yeah nothing to me, i only play single player games or local multiplayer games tbh.

 

[Ritsuki]

It depends on the game for me. For example, games like Monster Hunter loses a significant part of gameplay without the online part. But I'm kind of old school, I like to see with whom I'm playing

 

[FAST6191]

Re PS1 era games. Do remember we were still in the middle* of the Doom clone era and looking up and down was something of a radical notion. Don't get me wrong I played Dark Forces on the PC and the PS1 and much preferred the former but it does stand to be considered in this.
*yes yes yes I know Quake 1 hit the PC in 1996.

Re: "too old and too slow reflexes"... I am old as well but I still seem to hold my own in Battlefield 4 hardcore and I don't think it can all be explained by my superior tactics.

are two consoles actually fixing the issue though? I'm kinda confused on what the CDN actually is. I just saw someone had got there "non hacked" switch banned, so i'm kinda worried about hacking my second one. I do like playing games online sometimes

CDN = content distribution network. Various websites found that if they kicked their bulk data downloads to a specialist server that it sped up everything else. Games quite happily fall under the banner of bulk data downloads so the concept was borrowed for game distribution as well.
It was found on the 3ds that Nintendo shared the download token between all 3ds devices. Someone then made a list of said download tokens and pointed it at Nintendo's CDN which in essence meant Nintendo themselves were running the best ROM site there was (fast, complete, accessible from the 3ds itself, no adverts, no nonsense...).
People tried it again for the Switch but it seems Nintendo put down the crack pipe and instead made the download tokens unique to every switch and thus they can't be shared, or at least not as easily as it all went down for the 3ds.

The unhacked thing was an early report that has since been changed. Apparently the unhacked one was possibly used to access things earlier before being left as stock. That said it would not be without precedent or even contrary to legal notions and notions of good taste for a company to ban things they can tie to a user. A simple example might be you have a bunch of access keys go walkabout, unknown what the keys are but you can tie them together so of course you revoke the lot, even more so if the person theoretically holding them is a skilled hacker (advanced persistent threat if you want the computer security term) looking to do damage to you.
Similarly the online contract most likely reads between you (the individual) and Nintendo, not your Switch and Nintendo. If they ban you then that is in line with the contract.

Online play? Very little: if this were a case of CFW vs Online Play as stated in topic title, then it's CFW for me all the way... I can happily miss out on what would otherwise just be a couple of goes on a racer and very little else.

However, in the case of recent events/bans, I am not risking my Switch getting banned for having cfw/whatever ....for purchasing games digitally through the online store. I prefer digital over physical, and as I'm not really into piracy on current gen machines (just my personal opinion, no pitchforks getting ready here from me!) so, CFW vs Buying from the Online Store? Sorry CFW, I'm not risking it..

Leaving aside the limitations of downloadable games (I still want to be able to easily buy and resell) then there are options like https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_s...nload+code&rh=n:300703,k:switch+download+code if you feel compelled to part with money for your games.

It depends on the system. On a Nintendo system, near worthless. All of my friends bought a Wii U and are extremely hesitant about getting a Switch. I basically have nobody to play with anyway. Even if they did have Switches, there's not much to do online with a Nintendo Switch. None of us liked Splatoon and you can only play Mario Kart so much.

On a PS4, equally as valuable as single player. Playing with friends online is really fun. Of course, local might be even better, but everybody has limited time so online is a very reasonable compromise.

I would probably put that to the sad state of affairs that is the PS4 and xbone library.

But as for adding online to singleplayer games it's silly. GTA V's online for example has overshadowed singleplayer while arguably they're two entirely different games.

I have not done GTA online and have no real idea how it all works so I can't say too much here but going as far back as the first then its multiplayer mode was really well liked and thus can be said to have been a component since the early days. Even when it wasn't you will find no end of people that did the pass the controller thing.

 

[tunip3]

Honestly multiplayer is one of the most important aspects of gaming to me. I love the challenge of online. There's only so much you can do with cpu's in mk8, or rocket league. Splatoon 2 wouldn't be worth it at all without multiplayer, that's the main point of the game.

I don't think a banned switch is "useless", but In my opinion, it takes away a lot of the fun of an unvannun console.

I liked the single player

 

[incidentallyscribble]

became the discussion of much discussion,

Might want to fix this

 

[tunip3]

If you are wealthy sure, yet not anyone can afford to buy two identical console. Personally the only hacked consoles I own are old ones which are way beyond their life cycle, since I don't really care about online capabilities of these oldies

That's the reason for dual nand and emu nand systems one you can go online on and one you can't but has cfw and piracy

 

[FAST6191]

Thank you. Not sure how I missed that one... read the thing multiple times and it was not even one of "sort all the problems and then make it even better" type errors.

 

[tunip3]

I do that too mostly. But there are games like mk8dx and splatoon 2 that you can't get on pc.

Ye but you can use a mouse and keyboard using adapters

 

[geodeath]

Good point, but gaming mouse also has a lot of button. Anyway mouse is a lot faster and more precise at aiming that mouse users destroy controller users easily to the point it is considered "pay to win":
https://www.pcgamer.com/mouse-and-k...ing-controller-users-in-overwatch-on-console/

No doubt at all that its more precise. I just dont feel that it has an advantage to console fps now that games are better catered for. For online competitive i guess its an edge of course.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Sounds like you don't really have much experience with WASD. Even the most basic of those configurations has 1 more available "button" compared to a standard controller, and that wouldn't even be counting a mouse with a scroll wheel.

If you're comfortable with it, that's one thing, but unless you somehow use motion controls in your controller, it's pretty indefensible otherwise.

I gamed with wasd for years man. All i am saying is that the controller was made to be a controller while the keyboard is not. So the schemes are completely open on one side and catered for on the other. Not defending anything really

 

[DarkWork0]

I buy consoles for the single player exclusives that they offer, anything multiplayer I do on PC (better controls and free online play are the biggest reason).

This guy gets it. Shouldn't have to pay for essentially internet twice, or in the case of MMOs, three times.

 

[kuwanger]

Related to this is the notion some developers and publishers have that single player only games are at least untenable from a financial perspective. Such a thing has seen many a game have a multiplayer mode tacked on, almost invariably at a cost of development focus or budget for the single player.

For myself then local multiplayer and co-op were much enjoyed staples of my pre online days, single player was almost always where it was at though. Then they started wanting me to pay for online, something I have never done unless you count dial up costs on my dreamcast.

It's pretty straightforward to me. Some games I buy and play just for multiplayer--they're pretty rare--and of those a small minority I'd play online--don't want the grief This basically excludes all consoles for online play, so local multiplayer is basically it. Paying for online play only makes sense in the context of an MMO, although even that can be done free by selling expansions. Otherwise, the cost of support infrastructure should just be a base cost of the console or the game sale.

So, at the core, I'm 99% single player gaming. There was a time when I played almost exclusively online multiplayer (RTCW some 16+ years ago). I think I just eventually got bored with it. Also, multiplayer games often feel very cheap to make and really not worth the money. Yes, back when they started, you had to do all the network code and lots of people being on dial-up made that horrible. But now, the hardest part is coming up with a unique enough idea and making the game balanced. They feel no different to me than match-3 games.

 

[gnmmarechal]

Meh, on the switch I don't particularly care about online. The games I actually play online are games on PC either way. I haven't actually cared about online play on a console for a very long time

 

[TheWolfLord]

Console online means nothing to me.

If I want to play a competitive game(Tekken 7 for PC will do), or even just COOP/Multiplayer Component(Monster Hunter World upcoming on PC/Dark Souls 1-3 on PC) I'll just use PC. I just named a few games but you got PubG/Fortnite/Overwatch/DOTA/League/Every FPS/Diabolo-esque RPG all on a better platform. I can't see any console exclusive franchises that interest me and that are superior to the point that I'd opt into paying for online access and playing on shittier overall specs.

Even Pokemon, which I like to occasionally invest in when the seasonal format isn't shit, has PS! which cuts out all the breeding and features that slow the online component down.

I just don't feel like I'm missing much.

Also, what the hell is with the way saves work on newer systems with encryption? Or needing to pay for cloud-based backups? I know this isn't directly a debate for CFW vs Online but I'd take CFW 10/10 if I had to choose so I could control my game data as I see fit.

 

[Jack Daniels]

i could live without multiplayer games, never really cared about those games.
played a bunch but it really doesn't give me any good vibes in the long run.
so shut down if you ask me.
steam like game stores however, now that i crave for.

 

[austin5623]

I really don't care about online play, as 99% of the time, I'm not even connected to the internet. And when I am connected to the internet, the only game I have that I can play online is Mario Kart 8, but I don't really care for online in that game.

 

[Y0shII]

I play a lot of rpgs and old games, so most of them do not include any multiplayer capability (some old games include cooperative or local multiplayer but no online), Also I do not pay for any online multiplayer for my consoles (I use my ps3 mostly as a bluray player and the 360 is just collecting dust along with the wiiu), most of the games that I own are only single player; I used to play wow but left the game due to content changes and the community. Regarding the ban situation, I do not own a Switch but I have an old 3ds that was banned for online play but I still have access to the eshop and my current games so the ban did not affect me at all, however that is different for other consoles and even pc. I understand that some people want to hack their consoles so they can add more features (like emulators for example) and that is ok, however there is always a risk of a ban wave like the 3ds/ps3/360 ones, so if you value online multiplayer you may want to consider to avoid any suspicious activity on your consoles or if possible get a second console (I now it is expensive and not practical but if you value online multiplayer and any digital games on your account then it makes sense).

 

[gameboy]

if theyre gonna make you pay for online it better be worth it

 

[invaderyoyo]

I would probably put that to the sad state of affairs that is the PS4 and xbone library.

Honestly, I would argue the exact opposite. Idk Xbox as I've never had one or even thought of getting one, but on PS4 there are a ton of great single player games. It's pretty much 50-50.

 

[LittleFlame]

I prefer multiplayer with my friends most the time but I can get totally lost in Fallout 4 for a week at the same time