Nintendo Switch Online is an essential app if you want to get the most out of your Multiplayer Nintendo Switch games like Splatoon 2, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Arms or Pokémon Tournament DX. The basic principal is that it helps you to coordinate with your friends via voice chat.

The key is the voice chat

The most important feature of Nintendo Switch Online, and its reason to be, is the voice chat feature. The Nintendo Switch lacks a microphone, which makes it impossible for you to communicate with your friends when you’re playing multiplayer games. Games like Splatoon 2 require complicated strategies and improvised tactics. Without communication, you are lost.

This is where Nintendo Switch Online comes in. The app allows you to chat with whoever is in the virtual room or to create personalized chats so that only your team will know about your plans for victory.

The other features of the app include system invitations and specialized service information. These of course are only added extras as you can already invite friends to play with you from the Switch console itself. The Nintendo Switch also has a news notification system so you won’t miss any of the latest news about your favorite games. What matters most is the chat.

Some things to consider…

You have to remember that Nintendo Switch Online will be a free app until 2018. After that, if you want to access any of the Nintendo Switch Online services, you’ll have to sign up to the new subscription model that Nintendo are to introduce.

The only downside to Nintendo Switch Online is that it adds a layer of bureaucracy to the simple process of chatting with your friends whilst playing online. With PS4 or Xbox One you don’t need to download a mobile app so that you can integrate its microphone into your gaming experience, you don’t need to use your mobile at all. With other alternatives like Skype and Discord being less dynamic, however, Nintendo Switch Online definitely serves a purpose.

An essential app for the Nintendo fan and his friends

If you’re going to play Splatoon 2, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe or other multiplayer games on your Switch, there is nothing more to think about. Nintendo Switch Online isn’t just an app that you should download, it is practically a must have.