Let’s face it, Nintendo’s online service hasn’t always been the best. Although it has always worked, it is no it has always been a completely stable experience in every game. Although we don’t name any specific titles, you probably already know those that didn’t work so well.
With that in mind, it looks like Nintendo’s online services are finally getting an update – with dataminer OatmealDome (by thomasnet_mc) detailing how Nintendo will replace its multiplayer server system, which has existed since the Wii U and the 3DS era. He is doing this by switching from ‘NEX’ to a newer system called ‘NPLN’.
The recent Monster Hunter Rise demo was apparently the “first game” to make use of the NPLN and was apparently a great way to test how it worked under pressure.
Nintendo Everything further explains how ‘NEX’ was originally created by a company called Quazal (at that time, the technology was known as Rendez-Vous), Ubisoft bought them in 2010, and that followed with Nintendo licensing and renaming it to ‘NEX’.
Nintendo has been using ‘NEX’ for “about ten years” now, but the technology itself is “about twenty years old” and the “Splatoon 2 version has an unused function to check if it’s running on Windows 98”.
So, will this make things better? According to OatmealDome, probably not. The dataminer goes on to state that Nintendo’s “main objective” in this case is to make the transition “as seamless as possible” to ensure that users don’t even notice.
“Once this is done, they can add new things or improve existing ones.”
If we hear any updates on all of this, we’ll be sure to let you know.