Mystery Nintendo Switch Online Playtest Generates Wild Speculation Over Miiverse Return, GameCube Streaming, and Other Theories

Yesterday, Nintendo announced a mysterious Nintendo Switch Online playtest program. Sign-ups went live on Thursday morning and the playtest quickly filled up. Now fans have to wait 10 days to learn what this program is all about. Speculation around the program is already running, with some jokingly (?) suggesting that it might be an Arms 2 playtest or the return of the Miiverse. Others wondered if it might have something to do with Nintendo Switch Online retro games, such as the release of GameCube games on the service. "I want to believe Miiverse could be coming back. Limited numbers, different language regions, could definately be a test for moderation strategy etc.," journalist Laura Kate Dale wrote on X/Twitter. "Test now, make it a launch day Switch 2 feature. Bring it back Nintendo!" For those who don't recall, the Miiverse is a defunct service introduced on the Wii U. It was much-loved for the wholesome creativity that it generated from fans as well as its various online hooks. The service officially went offline in 2017. What we know about the Nintendo Switch Online playtest Here's what we do know: Playest users must have have a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership as of October 9. They must be 18 years of age or older, and they have to be registered in Japan, the U.S., the UK, France, Germany, Italy, or Spain. The test download is 2.2GB. I want to believe Miiverse could be coming back Crucially, Nintendo appears to want players to play docked and with a strong Internet connection. This is leading some fans to theorize that Nintendo is testing a cloud-based streaming service for Switch games, similar to the kind offered by Xbox, PlayStation, and Nvidia. As for whether it's Switch 2 related, the playtest does take place on the anniversary of the Nintendo Switch reveal on October 20, 2016. But with Nintendo's next-gen console still remaining elusive despite heavy rumors of an October reveal, we have to take pretty much every rumor to do with the Switch 2 with a grain of salt at the moment. "Feels like if it was a thing for something known. There is not much reason to keep it as just 'new feature' or NSO," one fan speculated on Famiboards. "They’d probably just say it publicly like other stress test announcements in the past. It’s probably something new, but could range from really unexciting to something pretty hype that Nintendo announces in the week following the application closure." One way or another, Nintendo fans will just have to sit tight and wait until the playtest kicks off on October 20. Maybe they can set the time on their new Alarmo.