Let’s speculate about Nintendo’s mysterious online playtest

Nintendo’s next move has never been more difficult to predict. Just when you think all it has up its sleeve is the impending Switch 2 reveal, it faked out fans this week with new hardware… in the form of a surprisingly innovative alarm clock called Alarmo. The same day, Nintendo followed up with a vague announcement that’s driving the internet wild. It’s hosting a mysterious playtest in late October exclusively for 10,000 lucky Nintendo Switch Online subscribers who subscribe to the Expansion Pack tier of service. They’ll get to test out a new feature for the service, which will require a download.

All of the playtest spots have already been reserved in the U.S. X user @OatmealDome said in a tweet that the software download is 2.2 GB in size, and that Nintendo recommends using TV mode and having a wired internet connection. Other than that, we don’t know much.

We’re now left waiting until Oct. 21 — when the playtest goes live — to see what exactly these players will get the first crack at. So, what better way to pass the time than for the Polygon staff to throw some ideas at the wall? We welcome your theories in the comments.

I think it’s going to be Nintendo’s first major battle royale game (outside of Tetris 99 and F-Zero 99) and it will be entirely Toad-focused. Just you and 99 other mushroom heads bumping against each other in a giant toilet bowl arena. —Ana Diaz

Nintendo specifying that it recommends using a wired internet connection means that it’s something where latency matters. With that in mind, it could be some sort of software related to cloud gaming or, perhaps, a multiplayer experience. Cloud gaming feels less likely, given the 2.2 GB of space needed. My ideal scenario (aside from Ana’s Toad battle royale idea) is that Nintendo is bringing back Miiverse. —Nicole Carpenter

Participants will get to be the first to test the upcoming Switch update, which, in keeping with previous release notes, will offer “General system stability improvements to enhance the user’s experience.” —Cameron Faulkner

The Expansion Pack tier already offers a fleet of retro games for the Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, and more consoles. The introduction of Gamecube titles would make it even better. This console’s titles haven’t appeared on current Nintendo hardware yet, presumably because its consoles haven’t been powerful enough to emulate them (and because Nintendo likes to occasionally brush them up to sell again, i.e. Metroid Prime: Remastered). —C.F.

Just when people thought that the Switch launch window game Arms would never get a sequel, Nintendo is going to give players early access to Arms 2 online multiplayer. Similar to Valve’s Deadlock, it will politely ask players not to discuss the existence of Arms 2. —C.F.