The Nintendo Switch’s first big online multiplayer game has arrived, and while many people are enjoying the upgraded version of Mario Kart 8, others are also enjoying frequent disconnects and lag.
Despite upgrading and tweaking several aspects of Mario Kart 8 for the largely excellent Switch port, online multiplayer is one area that hasn’t seen much love. Getting together with friends requires coordinating somewhere other than the console, peer-to-peer connections without the ability to choose the best possible connection manually… it’s less than ideal.
Lag’s been an issue in the past, but the Deluxe version seems to have changed up the way it’s handled during online races. As pointed out in a post over at the MK Boards, while the original game required the player see an item hit them on screen in order for it to register, that doesn’t seem to be the case with Deluxe, leading to players being hit by things they just don’t see coming.
Another issue that stems from connection problems is hit detection, as told by Redditor NicholasNSane in the Nintendo Switch subreddit.
Far too often I will land a hit on an opponent, usually with a visual cue that it landed, like my character cheering, only for the player to continue on like nothing happened and, in battle mode, no points being given to me. In races I will see coins fly out of a character alongside my cheer, but the driver will continue ahead and win a race that should be secured for me, yet it seems like everything always hits me with no issues. I don’t know what my hits look like on their end, but I doubt they have any idea that I’m even attacking them.
Lag is frustrating, but not quite as frustrating as being disconnected in the middle of a race.
From Redditor Dill3652, commenting in the same thread as above:
I was watching streamers last night and basically every second game had them disconnected, seems like the servers might be overloaded.
Since the game uses a peer-to-peer connection for online multiplayer, one possible culprit is a large influx of new players with less than stellar connections. The connection error problem has been around since the Wii U release, but Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the fastest selling entry in the series ever, and with more people comes more problems. I had no problems connecting to the game early on day one, before many players had the game, but I’ve gotten this screen twice this morning alone.
Maybe when Nintendo transitions to a paid online service later this year, some of that money will go towards dedicated servers. I reached out to the company for comment on the connection issues, but had not heard back at time of writing.
In the meantime, how’s your Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Online experience been?
Comments
9 responses to “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Has Connection Issues”
I’ve had both these issues more and more since launch. Battle mode was the reason I bought this game again and nothing makes it less fun than not being able to hit anything ever but then constantly being hit by items I had no idea were even aimed in my direction. I’d been worried it was my internet connection so it’s a relief to see I’m not the only one.
The switch’s Wi-Fi connection seems pathetic. I have it line of sight to my router, maybe 6 meters, and I only get 2 bars. All my other devices have full bars from the back yard and that’s 4 times the distance and through 5 walls.
Don’t worry, Nintendo will call it ‘manufacturing variation’ and tell you to suck it up 🙂
not true – i had to get repair for fault and they repaired it very quickly.
and then they said the new one they quality checked it, and it was also fautly! and the replaced the reaplcement….seriously haha.
and they replaced the console, but the transferred my save data over 😀
I haven’t had any online issues (haven’t played since the weekend though so maybe it’s gotten worse as more people got the the game) but the switch wi fi is pretty lame. Mine always shows 1-2 bars even when right next to my router. Speed tests from it’s wi fi menu aren’t much below my other devices on full strength though and I haven’t had any drop outs so it may just be a switch display issue.
I’ve only been disconnected I think twice playing it over five sessions – it’s been pretty good, don’t see the lag that people are seeing (although I suck, and can’t finish higher than 4th). I’ve only been playing ‘Regional’ with other fellow Australians though.
The WiFi on my switch seems fine, im able to connect to my 5GHZ connection and my router is the floor above, and speed test show a good 60ish down and 30ish up, so speed’s not an issue. I am yet to be able to connect to a single Regional match (Aus, obviously). IF I happen to get past the “searching for players” screen, I usually end up spectating a race for a very short period, and then there’s a connection error. Strangely, almost any time I play a Global match, I’ve been completely fine??
As far as lag goes, I’ve only played races and haven’t noticed anything too bad – usually I notice it’s a slower game if I drive over a box and it takes a longer-than-usual time for the game to select which power-up I get.
Thank god I thought it was just me with the disconnects, can only get two to three consecutive races without it failing. Oddly enough I’ve not had any issues with me hitting others, but have been hit/spun out at least once or twice a race by something invisible.
My partner has been playing against friends online and I don’t think he has any connection issues. But i haven’t been paying much attention.
Haven’t really had issues with the disconnects that much, but I’ve found it a little frustrating to try and play with friends. Rooms seem to fill up too quickly and it tells me there’s no space. That was never an issue for me on Wii U.