Has it been... uniformly terrible? I always lament the lack of WLAN multiplayer in stuff like the recent DOOM port, but I don't think I've ever had a good experience connecting more than two consoles wirelessly. And usually not even with just two. Smash, Splatoon 2, Pac-Man Vs (a true nightmare to set up)... Even freaking card games in Clubhouse Games! And, judging by videos, Mario Kart Home Circuit also seems to push the Switch's wireless capabilities to the limit (and sometimes beyond).

I put the Switch's LAN capabilities to the test recently, and they almost never failed to disappoint. Say what you will about Nintendo's online play, but at least it functions!

The wireless chips used in the Switch have always seemed kind of shitty. It might be those, or the WLAN protocol, or the programming implementation, but this is something that should really be improved for the Switch Pro.

If my anecdotal experience is universal, Monster Hunter Rise is going to have issues in Japan.

It's odd, I've barely used local wireless with the Switch! I think I used it a couple of times with ULTRA Street Fighter II, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and maybe some Super Smash Bros. Ultimate? But a majority of my multiplayer stuff on Switch has been either online or just playing together on the same system.

Hahaha, my only experience is with Pac-Man VS and while it wasn't super smooth, I wouldn't call it a "nightmare".

We just didn't know at first that the free app couldn't be the Pac-Man player, or vice versa, can't remember, so we had to switch which Switch was in the dock and resync all the controllers.

Well alright, it was bad.

I don't think I've tried it a single time!

Secret_Tunnel said:

I don't think I've tried it a single time!

Same.

My experiences in local wireless with 3DS were pretty rough though. I had more laggy, paused, dropped games playing Smash 3DS with my friend in local wireless than I did in online play. And sometimes Tri Force Heroes just refused to work at all.

I don't remember having too bad of an experience with DS/3DS WLAN play...

But this kind of bums me out, because I always wanted to join one of those Switch Meetup groups.

Y'know, before the apocalypse...

@Guillaume
Yeah, I should clarify. The actual connection between the systems in Pac-Man Vs. wasn't bad. Syncing a bunch of controllers in linked play was really weird and fiddly, though.

Speaking of which, the docked system told me that the number of syncable controllers was limited in linked play, so... does link play also use Bluetooth? Or 2.4 GHz Wifi, which has a similar frequency?

Anyway, once we started playing, it was super-fun! Except that one of the players was really bad at Pac-Man and ended up with zero points. So we only played once.

Also, the board should keep track of each player's progression, so they can't just camp the power pellets at the beginning of each turn. And there should be more variety in the stage visuals.

@GameDadGrant
Et tu, Grant?!

I did local wireless with Grant, DrFink, and EponaEatsCarrots back in 2018. We played Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and it worked great (from what I remember). I played local Smash with my bro-in-laws and cousins and didn't have issues.

@ludist210

Yeah, that did work pretty well, didn't it? We got some Smash 3DS in that night too, and that went smooth as well!

I played some local multiplayer Animal Crossing: New Horizons today with my son. I’m happy to report the connection was solid and we experienced no issues.

Hmm, maybe it's more of a software thing?

Or maybe my body unconsciously broadcasts 2.4 gHz frequencies?

Ooo, maybe I'm Klaw!