At Least Your Play Time Counter Has Been Fixed
A new system update, firmware version 5.0.0, for the Nintendo Switch has just gone live, and with it comes some new features for the console — although they may not exactly be what fans have been clamouring for. Despite this, however, it’s worth updating your console to get all the fixes underneath the hood.
You may have heard this month that users were up in arms when they realized their play time had reset to zero in games they started playing a year ago. All of a sudden, that 120 hour play time on Breath of the Wild just disappeared. Nintendo did acknowledge the bug and stated that the console was still keeping track of your play time. This new update addresses this and puts things back to normal.
The biggest addition in the update is a new Add Friends feature that lets users add friends from their Facebook and Twitter social accounts. After you’ve linked them to your Nintendo Account, you can add specific friends and followers from Facebook and Twitter who also own a Nintendo Switch.
There’s also a big focus on improving the parental controls such as adding extra security and making the Parental Controls PIN private and restricting captured videos.
Here’s the official word from Nintendo:
- Facebook and Twitter friends that also use Nintendo Switch can now be added through Friend Suggestions
- Using the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app, add specific software titles to your whitelist to exclude them from the console’s Parental Controls Restricted Software setting
- Captured videos in the Album will be restricted by Parental Controls depending on the Restricted Software setting and Software Rating Organization
- To keep the Parental Controls PIN private, the default method for PIN entry has been changed to entering using the Control Stick and buttons instead of the on-screen number pad
- Select from 24 new ARMS and the Kirby series icons for your user
- Digital software purchases made from a PC or smart device will start downloading sooner than previously, even if the Nintendo Switch console is in Sleep Mode
- Receive notification when pre-purchased software is ready to play
- Filter News to view only unread news or news from specific channels
- Nintendo Switch Pro Controller grip colors will now display in the Controllers menu
There are some reports of the update also fixing Joy-Con syncing as well as improved support for USB wireless headsets.
While these features are certainly welcome, we’re still waiting on Nintendo to add custom themes, a folder system, and most importantly, a cloud save feature. We love Nintendo’s new machine, but no cloud saves is practically unacceptable for a device in 2018. C’mon, Nintendo. What’s the holdup?
Let us know what you think of version 5.0.0 in the comments below.