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Mobile Syrup

Nintendo Switch Online mobile app finally gets basic features like online friends lists

The Nintendo Switch Online mobile app has received a major ‘2.0.0’ update that finally adds a number of basic features.

Most notably, this includes friends lists, so you can now see who’s online and what they’re playing. The update also lets you change your online status and view your own friend code. These are all features that were previously only available on the Switch itself.

It’s unclear why it took this long for the nearly five-year-old app to receive these updates, especially considering the official PlayStation and Xbox mobile apps have offered such functionality for quite some time. That said, Switch Online in general has always lagged behind its peers, as the mobile app is the only official way to chat with friends while playing Switch games online.

The Switch Online update also refreshes the app’s design, per Nintendo’s official notes.

You can download the Switch Online app on iOS and Android.

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Mobile Syrup

Is the Steam Deck here to stay? [SyrupCast 254]

On this week’s SyrupCast, the team ditches the usual two-week release cadence to drop an emergency episode focused on Valve’s new Steam Deck.

Patrick O’Rourke spends roughly an hour telling Brad Bennett about his experience with the Steam Deck so far — and yes, we now know that Proton is just the Linux translation layer and not the handheld’s OS.

As always, you can listen to the show on your favourite podcast platform or watch the video version on our YouTube channel.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

Direct download link

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Mobile Syrup

Kirby and the Forgotten Land demo is now available

If you want to play Kirby and the Forgotten Land before the game launches on March 25th, a new demo that features three levels from the game’s first world is now available.

In this world, you can try out the new Mouthful Mode that allows Kirby to swallow objects like cars, water balloons, a scissor lift, a pylon and more.

In the demo, players can take on the game’s first boss and at the end, you’ll get a ‘Present Code’ upon completion. When Kirby and the Forgotten Land is officially released, this code unlocks in-game items.

Like other Kirby games, you’ll be able to copy enemy abilities as you travel across an unknown world. The title also features a local co-op where the second player takes control of Bandana Waddle Dee.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land releases on March 25th. MobileSyrup will have more on the game in the coming weeks.

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Mobile Syrup

Here are Nvidia’s GeForce Now additions for March

Nvidia has announced the 27 new games it will be adding to its GeForce Now cloud streaming service over the course of March 2022.

Check out games releasing this week below and scroll further to check titles releasing later in March:

Released or releasing this week

  • ELEX II (New release on Steam)
  • FAR: Changing Tides (New release on Steam)
  • Shadow Warrior 3 (New release on Steam)
  • AWAY: The Survival Series (Epic Games Store)
  • Labyrinthine Dreams (Steam)
  • Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion (Steam)
  • TROUBLESHOOTER: Abandoned Children (Steam)
  • The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (Epic Games Store)

Releasing later in March

  • Buccaneers! (New release on Steam, March 7)
  • Ironsmith Medieval Simulator (New release on Steam, March 9)
  • Distant Worlds 2 (New release on Steam, March 10)
  • Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame 5 (New release on Steam, March 17)
  • The Settlers (New release on Ubisoft Connect, March 17)
  • Syberia: The World Before (New release on Steam and Epic Games Store, March 18)
  • Lumote: The Mastermote Chronicles (New release on Steam, March 24)
  • Turbo Sloths (New release on Steam, March 30)
  • Blood West (Steam)
  • Bus Driver Simulator (Steam)
  • Conan Chop Chop (Steam)
  • Dread Hunger (Steam)
  • Fury Unleashed (Steam)
  • Hundred Days – Winemaking Simulator (Steam)
  • The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II (Steam)
  • Martha is Dead (Steam and Epic Games Store)
  • Power to the People (Steam)
  • Project Zomboid (Steam)
  • Rugby 22 (Steam)

Nvidia’s cloud gaming service offers two membership options. The first is the free route that gives you standard access to the platform with a one-hour limit per session. Once the hour passes, you can queue again to get another hour of free gaming in, although you may have to wait a while.

The paid membership option gives you priority access to gaming servers without any session length limit. This subscription costs $12.99/month or $64.99 for six months.

Learn more about Nvidia GeForce Now and its subscription options here.

Image credit: Nvidia

Source: Nvidia

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Mobile Syrup

Destiny 2 will probably never natively run on Valve’s Steam Deck

Destiny 2 players hoping that Bungie’s shooter would eventually be updated with Steam Deck compatibility are about to be disappointed.

It looks like the now Sony-owned company has no plans to ever bring native compatibility with Valve’s recently released handheld. According to the game’s ‘help page,’ as first reported by The Verge (via Wario64), Destiny 2 doesn’t support the Steam Deck and players could even be outright banned.

The full statement from the help page reads as follows:

“Destiny 2 is not supported for play on the Steam Deck or on any system utilizing Steam Play’s Proton unless Windows is installed and running. Players who attempt to launch Destiny 2 on the Steam Deck through SteamOS or Proton will be unable to enter the game and will be returned to their game library after a short time.

Players who attempt to bypass Destiny 2 incompatibility will be met with a game ban.”

It’s unclear why Bungie has taken this stance given the developer already ported Destiny 2 to Linux to get the game running on Google’s Stadia streaming service. The Steam Deck’s Proton operating system is based on Linux.

There’s a possibility that the handheld could run Destiny 2 once Windows is available for the portable, which Valve says it’s currently working on. That said, this will likely entail a complicated, multi-step process.

In a series of recent tweets, Epic Games’ CEO Tim Sweeney says that his company has no plans to bring Fortnite to the Steam Deck either despite the Linux porting process likely being a relatively straightforward process. Sweeney says Epic has concerns regarding Fortnite’s anti-cheating software running on the Steam Deck.

On the more positive side, Elden Ring plays great on the Steam Deck and features an anti-cheat system. That said, the trend of major titles not being updated with Steam Deck compatibility doesn’t bode well for thehandheld’s future.

Image credit: Bungie

Source: Bungie, Wario64 Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Nvidia’s recent data leak hints at Nintendo’s Switch Pro

Last year, several rumours and reports indicated that Nintendo’s fabled Switch Pro will release before March 2022. March 2022 is here, and the Switch Pro isn’t, though a new leak has revealed new information about the rumoured handheld.

According to Tech Power Up, which analyzed the leak and called it the “mother of all cyberattacks,” the breach put out critical driver source code, the ability to disable LHR (Lite Hash Rate) for mining cryptocurrencies, and offers a look into future Nvidia hardware.

Game modder @NWPlayer123 and coder @LuigiBlood pointed out on Twitter how some of the leaked code might include references to a next-gen Nintendo Switch.

The leaked data shows files and folders marked as “nvn2,” whereas the original Switch’s graphics API (application programming interface) has historically been called nvn, and was made by Nvidia for the original Nintendo Switch.

This is the only piece of speculative evidence that was found which may prove the existence of a Switch Pro or a Switch 2, and hence, it should be taken with a grain of salt until confirmed by Nvidia or Nintendo. However, the leak didn’t fail to cause a stir in the Nintendo community.

If true, the upcoming Switch Pro/Switch 2 would feature Nvidia’s DLSS super sampling, ray tracing, improved CPU performance and a 4K resolution (likely when docked), giving the regular Switch and Switch OLED users a compelling reason to upgrade.

Source: @NWPlayer123 @LuigiBlood Via: Tech Power Up

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Mobile Syrup

Valve’s Gabe Newell is delivering Steam Decks to some customers

The best part of this video is how confused some Steam Deck buyers are when Valve co-founder and president Gabe Newell shows up at their house to deliver the company’s recently released handheld gaming device.

That said, several of the Steam Deck buyers featured in the video below recognize Newell when he shows up at the doorstep to drop off their Steam Deck. However, there are instances where other people living in the house accept the order, leading to even more confusion. This makes sense because while Newell is a famous video game developer, he is only well-known amongst a specific group of people.

Amusingly, Newell also seems a little embarrassed that he signed some of these Steam Decks and even says, “Hopefully, people won’t get mad that I’m signing them.” The entire video is extremely awkward in a very endearing way, but it’s also a great promotional video for the Steam Deck given its focus on collaborating with owners to improve the device.

In an interview with PC Gamer, Newell said that Valve has no plans to build a game subscription service and that it wants to find a way to bring Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass platform to its new handheld console. On another Steam Deck-related note, Elden Ring runs surprisingly well on the powerful handheld following an upcoming update that’s currently available in beta.

I’ll have more on the Steam Deck in the coming days, including a review of the portable.

Image credit: OnDeak (Screenshot)

Source: OnDeak Via: The Verge 

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Mobile Syrup

Elden Ring’s Steam Deck stability issues could soon be fixed

This past weekend I spent a lot of time playing FromSoftware’s Elden Ring on Valve’s Steam Deck.

While it’s undeniably cool to be able to play a recently released game with PS4/Xbox One level graphics on a dedicated handheld, the experience has been far from flawless even when Elden Ring’s graphics settings are turned down.

However, that could soon change.

Regardless of how low the graphics are set, I found myself encountering bouts of lag while playing Elden Ring on the Steam Deck, mainly when there are multiple enemies on the screen at once or when fighting on my faithful Spectral Steed, Torrent. Though this doesn’t happen all the time, I’d describe these parts of the game as nearly unplayable at times.

After a particularly frustrating fight where two mounted enemies disappeared from the screen only to reappear and kill me immediately, I almost pulled the trigger on buying the Xbox Series X version of Elden Ring and abandoning playing on the Steam Deck altogether.

According to a tweet from Valve coder Pierre-Loup Griffais, the company is already working on a fix for this issue.

“The graphics team has been hard at work on optimizing Elden Ring for Steam Deck,” said Valve employee Griffais in a recent tweet. “Fixes for heavy stutter during background streaming of assets will be available in a Proton release next week, but are available to test now on the bleeding-edge branch of Experimental.”

Given only developers and the media have the Steam Deck, Valve and FromSoftware have a short window to improve Elden Ring’s compatibility with the Steam Deck before it gets into the hands of consumers. The first batch of Steam Deck units started shipping out to customers last week.

Given how much fun I’ve had diving into Elden Ring on the Steam Deck, I’m really hoping this update solves the game’s problems on the handheld (I may even give the ‘experimental’ update a shot). In fact, I’m surprised I’m enjoying Elden Ring at all given my usual distaste for soulsborne titles and their extreme difficulty level. Thankfully, FromSoftware has added several quality of live improvements to Elden Ring that make the title easier for newcomers to get into, including simple fast travel, an overall slower pace and frequent save points (Sites of Grace).

For more on Elden Ring, check out Dean Daley’s in-depth look at the game. Also, be on the lookout for my Steam Deck review on MobileSyrup in the coming days.

Source: @Plagman2 Via: IGN

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Mobile Syrup

Here are the games hitting PlayStation Now in March 2022

PlayStation has revealed the new batch of games coming to its PlayStation Now streaming service in March.

As previously confirmed, Shadow Warrior 3 is debuting on PlayStation Now on March 1st, the same day it releases for standalone purchase on PlayStation and other platforms. The game will be available through PS Now until July 4th.

Meanwhile, the other three titles joining the PS Now catalogue on March 1st are Chicken Police: Paint It Red, Crysis Remastered and Relicta.

PlayStation Now is available on PS4, PS5 and PC at a cost of $12.99/month, $34.99/three months or $79.99/12 months.

Find out what hit PlayStation Now in February here.

Image credit: Crytek

Source: PlayStation

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Mobile Syrup

Valve’s Gabe Newell ‘more than happy’ to bring Microsoft’s Game Pass to Steam

Valve co-founder and president Gabe Newell isn’t interested in doing a Steam game subscription service but is open to bringing Microsoft’s Game Pass to Steam.

Newell did an interview with PC Gamer about the recent Steam Deck release. However, the publication also asked him whether Valve wanted to make its own subscription service like Microsoft’s Game Pass.

“I don’t think it’s something that we think we need to do ourselves, building a subscription service at this time. But for their customers it’s clearly a popular option, and we’d be more than happy to work with them to get that on Steam,” Newell said.

“We’ve talked to people there quite a bit about that topic. If your customers want it, then you should figure out how to make it happen. That’s where we’re at.”

So, it sounds like we won’t see a “Steam Pass” subscription (or whatever Valve would call it). However, Microsoft’s Game Pass on Steam is also quite intriguing. Some people have had issues with how the service handles installing and managing games on PC, while other games have had issues or missing features on Game Pass. If people were able to use Steam to handle game installs instead, it might make Game Pass more popular.

Moreover, as PC Gamer points out, there is precedent for Steam hosting other subscription services. EA added its EA Play subscription to Steam in 2020. Moreover, Steam support for Game Pass could open the subscription up to Steam Deck owners. Currently, Steam Deck runs Linux, which means Game Pass isn’t available — it uses Microsoft’s Xbox app, which doesn’t exist for Linux.

That said, PC Gamer notes that Steam Deck owners may be able to play Game Pass without the need for Linux support in the future. Valve and AMD are reportedly still working on driver compatibility to allow installing Windows on Steam Deck — once that’s sorted out, Steam Deck owners may be able to install Windows and access Game Pass that way.

Regardless, Game Pass on Steam depends on Microsoft too. Valve is clearly open to the idea, but it remains to be seen if Microsoft is — judging by previous comments, it might be. In August 2021, Xbox boss Phil Spencer said there were “no plans to bring [Game Pass] to any other kind of closed platforms right now” in response to questions about putting the subscription service on the Nintendo Switch.

Instead, Spencer said the team was focussing on “open platforms” but acknowledged that Xbox was open to discussions about bringing the “full experience to a device that players want.” Maybe that sentiment includes game distribution platforms like Steam too.

Source: PC Gamer Via: VGC News