Nintendo America president Reggie Fils-Aime reveals the smartphone app coming with the Nintendo Switch will be used for online matchmaking for the console.

Nintendo is taking quite a few risks with its upcoming console, the Nintendo Switch. One of the most unique features and biggest risks is the smartphone app that will accompany the Nintendo Switch. The smartphone app will handle quite a few aspects of the gaming experience for Nintendo Switch users, including chat capabilities.

Turns out, the Nintendo Switch smartphone app will also be used for matchmaking in games. According to recent comments from Nintendo America president Reggie Fils-Aime, gamers will use the online smartphone app for several services, which will be especially useful when gamers are on-the-go with the Nintendo Switch.

Fils-Aime’s comments came in response to questions from GameSpot, which quizzed the Nintendo America boss on key features of the app. Fils-Aime said this about the smartphone app:

The smart phone app that we’re creating, that will be part of our online service, we believe is going to be a very compelling part of the overall proposition because that’s how you’ll voice chat, that’s how you’ll do your matchmaking, and create your lobby. We also think it’s a very elegant solution because if you’ve taken your switch on the go, you’ve put yourself in a hotspot, you’re looking at get a quick match of Mario Kart in, to whip out some sort of bulky, gamer headset is a bit of a challenge. So we think we’ve got an elegant solution.

Gamers seem pretty split online about the role the Nintendo smartphone app will play with the online capabilities of the Nintendo Switch. Some are frustrated with the setup, saying the use of two separate devices when they could use one doesn’t sound “elegant” to them. On the other side of the fence are those that feel this gives them the freedom to better handle the potential gaming interface, since the smartphone app will give them extra screen space beyond that of the Nintendo Switch.

Gamers are hopeful the system works properly and with very few hiccups. There are numerous potential problems that may crop up with the chat and matchmaking separate from the Nintendo Switch. For instance, if Nintendo experiences issues with the app, it could hamper gamers’ experiences on the console. Similarly, it may become cumbersome for players to have to pull out their phones in order to matchmake games on the Switch. Despite the potential challenges, it seems gamers are still very excited for the Nintendo Switch to release.

Hopefully the final solution will work smoothly, with Nintendo ironing out any potential issues before the March 3rd launch. It’ll be interesting to see how the system works once all the details and console are available.

What do you think about Nintendo’s solution to matchmaking for the Nintendo Switch using the smartphone app?

Nintendo Switch launches March 3, 2017.