Nintendo faces lawsuit for patent infringement over the Switch's controller design

Gamevice, a third-party hardware developer, believes Nintendo is ripping off its design and infringing on its patent rights with the Switch's Joy-Con controllers. The company filed its patent infringement complaint with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on Wednesday claiming the design of the controllers are too similar to their own Wikipad and Gamevice controller. The company wants Nintendo to stop production of the Switch and to pay for damages. 

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Nintendo Switch Online app goes live

The Nintendo Switch Online app was scheduled to come out on July 21st but the app is now available for download for both iOS and Android Switch users. There isn’t much to see at the moment since the first game it supports, Splatoon 2, is coming out on Friday. When that launches, players will be able to use the app's voice chat feature with a special Splatoon hub. At the moment, though, it seems Nintendo is still working to stabilize the app's servers, which hopefully will help them avoid the fiasco during Pokèmon Go's launch. So don't be surprised if you can't log in yet. But when it does go fully live, you'll just need to sign in with your Nintendo account. 

Source: Polygon 

Nintendo set to launch Switch smartphone app on July 21st

The companion app for Nintendo Switch’s online play is getting its official debut this month. Simply called Nintendo Switch Online, the app will come out in time for the launch of Splatoon 2, which has a special online component within the app. The hub, which is launching on July 21^st, is basically used to communicate with Nintendo switch players online. It can be used primarily to send invites to friends via their Nintendo Account or social media handles as well as facilitate voice chat over mobile’s microphone. As mentioned, Splatoon 2 players will get support for SplatNet2—a special service in the app that will let players track things like play history, gear, and other statistics.

There isn’t any word yet if there will be other features besides those aforementioned. But with the app in its early days, we’re hoping Nintendo makes it into a more complete app and include things like in-app messaging and multiple chat channels. These online features will be free at launch but Nintendo has plans to launch its full-fledged version next year with a year-long membership that costs US$19.99 (around CA$25).

Source: Tech Radar

Nintendo brings Splatoon 2 and Arms tournaments to E3 and here are all the details

Over the course of 2 days, pros and amateurs will compete for glory in the Splatoon 2 and ARMS games on the Nintendo Switch console at this year's E3 video game trade show in Los Angeles on June 13 and June 14. 

“The 2017 Splatoon 2 World Inkling Invitational will be held on Tuesday, June 13 at approximately 2:30 pm (PT). For the first time ever, competitors from four different global regions will compete for world dominance in Splatoon 2. The four four-person teams – “Deadbeat” from the United States, “Dynameu” from Japan, “Rising Moon” from Europe and “Blue Ringed Octolings” from Australia/New Zealand – defeated their rivals in local tournaments that occurred in recent months.

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