There are people who don't have a smartphone? wow.

To emphasize it more:

People have money to buy a console and several multiplayer games, but can't afford a smartphone?

Good luck with that now that the pricetag is 300 bucks without games. 

Nintendo is just like apple now, trying to sell us on useless and overcomplicated stuffs, just because they want to charge us more and not give us control over the product we paid for.

Things used to be so simple and awesome before the Wii.

Have you seen the price of the Switch?

I doubt people can afford both.

I don't care as I won't use the paid online stuff anyway. They killed all my interested when they announced they will charge for it. I'll stick to steam for my online needs and stay offline on Switch. Because of that, I don't even read about what the online stuff on Switch has to offer and I don't even noticed you need a smartphone for voice chat. Yeah, that's a pretty stupid solution, but hey, at least that way I can use my bluetooth headset which to this very day isn't possible on PS4 for reasons I can't understand one bit! Everything was fine and dandy with bluetooth on PS3, what is that bullshit?! Seriously. A Sony headset can't connect with the SONY Playstation 4. Why? Just why?

Anyway, I got a little drifted away here. It's stupid from Nintenod, but I still don't care.

And? I'm not getting a Switch at launch so I'm not allowed to talk about it? All people not preordering it have no right to say what they think of the console, is that it? That will turn out well...

You're right to say that the online is useless at launch though, because there is basically no game using it. Luckily, there are almost no third party games announced and even less third party games using online features. I'm sure it's on purpose, they surely refused a lot of third party support because their online infrastructure is not ready yet. Let's only wait for what Nintendo wants for Nintendo games, and then ask third party developers to only follow what Nintendo plans to do with their own games. Nintendo doesn't use online features in Zelda? Too bad, you can't release a game using it either. Awesome.

And why do you keep saying "we don't have the full picture". THAT'S THE POINT. The console is releasing in less than 2 months, and we don't know how much people are going to pay, and what for. And we maybe won't even know that before several month. Great launch strategy.

You'll be able to play online just fine in March. It's only the phone app that will release later. Until then, gaming online won't be any different than it is currently on the Wii U. Details for the app and how it all works and why will come later. But a free version of the app will be made avaialable this summer. Probably to test everything out. As for the rest of what you've been saying, especially that second paragraph... Gosh, seriously...

I already use chat apps to organize online plays on Splatoon / Smash Bros / Mario Kart 8 / Animal Crossing etc. with friends, so it´s no big deal, specially because everyone today has a smartphone.

I can´t imagine a single person being able to buy a Switch and not having a smartphone. Heck. My country´s average income is below the world´s average and even homeless people have smartphones...

I DON'T OWN A TABLET OR SMARTPHONE.....that is so dumb. So I can't use online at all? I mean it's going to take me a long while to save up for a Switch. I seriously do not own a smart device.

Okay so I haven't this entire thread, but here's two things;

1. If they're indeed keeping matchmaking and partychat off the console just to "protect the kiddies", it would have been smarter to just have an 'Online Features On/Off' switch in that new, shiny parental controls app. Could have kept those features on the console then.

2. If partychat solely works through this smartphone app, you're going to need headphones plugged into the phone. Since I only have one pair of ears, this means I can't use another set of headphones for the console itself, so where's my game-audio going to come from?