When Nintendo Switch first released I praised its barebones, games-first approach to a new console. Throughout the entirety of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild I maintained that attitude, but as time passes one can’t help but wish for added functionality and features. Switch recently bulked up its OS offering with its 3.0 software update, and according to recent leaks, the same thing may be about to happen again.
The leaks appeared yesterday in the form of the Nintendo Switch SDK, including but not limited to developer documents containing unique information. Among the information are the suggestions that Nintendo intends to bring both saved data transfers as well as something Nintendo is calling Guest Login to Switch. The respective leaked excerpts for each are below.
In the future, we plan to provide a feature to transfer account save data among multiple consoles. As a result, there is the possibility that user accounts with uninitialized account save data will be added. Note that your design must work without issue, even in this case.
We are considering a feature in the future (tentative name: Guest Login) to access existing network service account information without linking to a user account. This feature would allow temporary access to the network service account linked to the Nintendo Account by logging in to the Nintendo Account within the application. This feature would, for example, make it possible to upload a character you have raised as online data and then use that data on a friend’s NX (without creating a user account).
Given the nature of the leak there’s no timeline or expected release date for these features, but it’s nice knowing that Nintendo appears to have them in the works and that Switch isn’t going to retain its barebones style forever. Features such as these in tandem with the company’s planned online service and still-mysterious Virtual Console ought to put Switch where it needs to be in time for the holiday season. While games like Super Mario Odyssey and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 will likely be able to handle that task just fine on their own, it can’t hurt to flesh out what the Switch itself is able to do.
