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NBA Playgrounds dev says online patch has been done for weeks, Nintendo restrictions holding it back

by rawmeatcowboy
23 June 2017
GN Version 5.0

Coming from Matthew Karch of Saber Interactive...

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...

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

When asked for an example of something holding up the approval process:

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

More on reducing file size:

[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.

Certainly interesting to hear that Nintendo has restrictions on the size a patch can be. I wonder if other platforms have something like that in place. Sounds like we might be waiting quite some time for this one, gang.

[Link]