NBA Playgrounds is FINALLY a Good Game on the Switch

NBA Playgrounds released to all current-gen platforms on May 9th, 2017.  The game includes a pretty bare-bones single player mode and an online ranked mode that was typically regarded as the main selling point.  Switch owners had to wait 62 days until they got to play the online mode like all the other platforms did.  The publisher is offering a free Switch game (Shaq-Fu, coming later this year) to all Switch owners that bought the game during that 62 day period, but having a half-finished game for that long was a real downer.  I wanted to say the game was fun, but it lacked content and what was there felt mailed in with little creative spirit or passion.  I later found out that the developers were behind the scenes trying their hardest to get features and bug fixes to my console, but were severely delayed by Nintendo.

You have probably read this elsewhere by now, but the devs didn't sit on their hands doing nothing.  They were trying their hardest to get the patch out to Switch owners in a timely fashion.  Matthew Karch of Saber Interactive had the following to say on the official NBA Playgrounds Facebook page.
" I don't want to even talk about it. I can't talk about it publicly but I am at wits end. Online has been functional for weeks..." showing a dissatisfied feeling with the Nintendo approval process.

Reddit user /u/JackSparrowUSA found, even more, evidence of the supposed dissatisfaction when they found more quotes from Karch saying, "Unfortunately there isn't much update I can provide. There are certain elements of our patch that are absolutely essential but that are out of normal Nintendo guidelines. If Nintendo were to approve the patch it would be released immediately, but we are in the midst of a long process of back-and-forth to get small matters waived. It isn't that we aren't working on this. In fact, getting this relatively simple patch out has consumed more of our time than making further improvements in additions to the game. When I say it is entirely out of her hands I mean that. We were put in a position where we needed to get this game out at the same time as the other consoles and because the platform was so new, it suffered in certain areas. There isn't even a change log at this point - is the same patch that has been sitting there for weeks".

Karch was then asked for an example of something Nintendo was doing to hold up the approval process for the new patch.  He responded with, "The simplest one is patch size. There are certain size requirements that you can't exceed in a patch. It took us almost 3 weeks to get an exception to allow our patch to be larger than the normal size. And the reason it is larger is due to the technology we are using and is beyond our control. In fact, we proposed reducing the entire file size of the game from seven gigs to 3 1/2 gigs but because the platform is so new it doesn't support it now and that can't be done".  Later on, he followed up on the file size example, stating, "[Nintendo] won't allow it initially as their system doesn't support it. From our end it's already done.  Once it's supported we will be able to do it."  I have reached out to the team for further comment regarding how they ended up getting the update out, but I am waiting on their response.  I'll update you guys as soon as I get more information.

Keep an eye on this narrative.  Nintendo holding up devs from getting updates due to policies or other bureaucratic reasons.  We might have a real hit on our hands in the form of the Switch, but "The Big N" needs to make sure they don't chill efforts by indies to put their games out on the Switch eShop by making it a waste of time.


Now that the wait for online is over and Switch players can play ranked modes against others over the internet, the game is a must own.  That being said, it is far from perfect.  The shoving mechanic is overpowered and shooting 3-pointers with the new meter seems to be too easy.  Taking this all into account, the fact still remains. The console lacks a library of good online experiences, so for 19.99 USD, you can't go wrong.

Sources: Nintendo Switch Reddit Thread,