Nintendo hardware often has interesting little features that go massively under used, or used only for pointless gimmicks.

As far back as the GBC there was an infra red port, the SNES had the super game boy, the N64 had the expansion port which led to the stillborn DD as well as the GB transfer pak, the DS had its touch screen which became shovelware, card games, menus and name entry after an initial burst of bad features (recall Castlevania ice sections and seals), the Wii had its remote dubbed waggle controls for a reason, the 3d of the 3ds ceased to be mentioned after about a year and "the Wii u".

Now that we have seen a few Switch games, got a feel for the hardware and can look to what is to come what then do you think the Switch will have as its equivalent? Will its joy cons be controls that can be detached to go into another holder, never to experience "HD rumble" or tilt sensors? Will handheld and docked mode be slightly different clocked versions of each other? Will its online services be the domain of score boards and DLC?

Edit. As many have mentioned the infra red camera is most likely to be the main one, if you want to skip that in favour of the second or third place ones then feel free.

 

[jt_1258]

The IR camera would probably be used more, if it was in front of the Jon Con. Speaking of IR, too bad you can't change channels with the Switch.

You mean you don't want Fire Emblem Heroes on the Switch?

or use the joycon as an nfc adapter on 3ds

 

[Jayro]

The NES, SNES, N64, AND GameCube all had unused expansion ports on the bottom. (I'm aware the N64 in Japan got the 64DD and the GameCube used some of them for modems, broadband, and Gameboy Player). Even the Wii U had an unused expansion port under the gamepad. I'm sort of glad the Switch doesn't have one, but USB C is definitely a game changer and more universal.

 

[T3GZdev]

the themes section, the option to change your friend code in the friends list. who uses that?, the inverted & grayscale color mode lol.
the ir camera on joycon i would list but its atleast used in some games.
the switch online app needs to support more games tho.

 

[jt_1258]

the themes section, the option to change your friend code in the friends list. who uses that?, the inverted & grayscale color mode lol

the friend code change is useful for folks like streamers incase they slip up and everyone sees there friend code and spams them with friend requests, also, it's disappointing that themes are being neglected :/

 

[T3GZdev]

the friend code change is useful for folks like streamers in case they slip up and everyone sees there friend code and spams them with friend requests, also, it's disappointing that themes are being neglected :/

so true although i still see alot of youtubers & streamers just make separate profiles for personal or public/show profiles

 

[Deleted User]

I think that the super gameboy was useful... I like it very much.. best way to play authentically GB games (if you dont wanna get blind after a few hours or do hardmod) and you didnt mention the sawing machine with gameboy...
on topic - ir camera is the only thing that I see not used. tilt sensor has some use in games and also rumble vibration thing... they are used on other platforms too dont they? tilt sensor is as close as you get to mouse on consoles imo
I dont see the detachable controllers become unused. I enjoy them too much. maybe the multiplayer aspect of it may become less popular tho its too early to say. what else does the switch have? now that I think about it - it only differs from traditional gaming machines by the hybrid console thing and if you only play it docked (which you shouldn't) it behaves like downgraded ps4. so I cant even think of other features it has...

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

This is absolutely wrong! Games like Theme Park, Advance Wars, Age of Empires, Anno, Locks Quest, Ninjatown, Sim City Creator or Civilization Revolution would be impossible without the Touchscreen. Or what is with Hotel Dusk, Professor Layton, Another Code or LifeSigns? Or all these cool Music games? Or the Mario vs. Donkey Kong games? Or the Crazy Machine games? Or Puzzle Quest?

All these games would be impossible for the DS! Specially all the strategy games on a handheld was mindblowing back in time! Plus: The DS was the very first gaming device with Touchscreen. I think: Without the DS we would have no Smartphones today.

what about ds zelda's lol... and other games that thought that bringing touch functionality will be a great idea while everybody would have been way happier with more... traditional controls.
its not the ds's designers' problem ofc

 

[DarthDub]

Fast enjoying a video game for a change.

 

[RedBlueGreen]

Mobile game.. Ewwwwww

There are a quite a few good mobile games now. They just don't get much attention because they're not super casual games like those city building games or puzzle games.

 

[Oakmontowls]

I have to wonder why nintendo put in the IR camera in the first place. Like what plans did/do they have for it. One game doesn't seem worth putting an entire feature into a console/controller. Even the touchscreen is still very useful at the very least to navigate menus in tablet form and could possibly have games that use it like Human Resource Machine or mobile ports. I just don't see any applications for having the IR Camera being a feature.

 

[Kioku]

There are a quite a few good mobile games now. They just don't get much attention because they're not super casual games like those city building games or puzzle games.

I agree with this. I just don't like how congested the mobile market is. My opinion is that the console and phone markets should stay separate. That's where it ends.. As my opinion.

 

[DJ-Yoshiman]

Two words for an answer to not only the Switch, but has been underused on Nintendo consoles since the Wii:

USB Ports




... except for the homebrew scene

 

[Psionic Roshambo]

Online connectivity? Although being a home and portable I guess that's going to be one of those features that is up to the developer if they want it.

I would also say the whole motion control thing too, kind of hard to use motion controls on a bus or back seat of a car.... So I think developers will avoid that feature unless it truly adds something to the game play.

 

[FAST6191]

but USB C is definitely a game changer and more universal.

More so than bluetooth and USB2.0? Both allow for almost any control system the dev wants to cook up and bulk storage and while homebrew had a whale of a time with such things their other uses were a bit thin on the ground.

the themes section, the option to change your friend code in the friends list. who uses that?, the inverted & grayscale color mode lol.

While I am generally of the opinion that any menu system you are not using for itself (like your phone or tablet or something) and in 90% of cases should not spend more than 30 seconds considering does not matter as long as it is readable (though if someone wants to customise then we all have our hobbies), the greyscale one probably is there for those somewhat hard of sight.

Fast enjoying a video game for a change.

When do I not enjoy computer games? Indeed I occasionally get called too soft on them as I managed to enjoy them for what they were -- I still maintain I had a great time with Escape Dead Island.

I think that the super gameboy was useful... I like it very much.. best way to play authentically GB games (if you dont wanna get blind after a few hours or do hardmod)

what about ds zelda's lol... and other games that thought that bringing touch functionality will be a great idea while everybody would have been way happier with more... traditional controls.
its not the ds's designers' problem ofc

If you just wanted a TV out for your GB games then sure, however the articles linked on that ( http://loveconquersallgam.es/post/2350461718/fuck-the-super-game-boy-introduction ) enlightened me somewhat on how under utilised it was and were part of the reason for this topic.

People were happier -- hacks to turn it back to the dpad were made I think before the NA/EU releases of the game.
Now said patches but the more refined modern ones
https://gbatemp.net/threads/legend-of-zelda-phantom-hourglass-d-pad-patch.375388/
https://gbatemp.net/threads/legend-of-zelda-spirit-track-d-pad-patch.374773/

Used to call those games bloatware.

Seems we have very different definitions of bloatware, shovelware and such.
Bloatware for me had always been needlessly inflated programs, commonly tied to printer drivers and such like such that you would go clean someone's machine up and every printer they ever owned (which with the price of cartridges could be one a year as it was cheaper to buy a new printer at times) would have such a thing to point them at manufacturer's online shop. Only 25 or so megs a piece but when 512 RAM was just about still doable it posed a problem, especially if they still had factory norton AV or something on there as well as a good one.
That was also before I heard these guys and how they define shovelware (specifically doing the tie in/licensed stuff as opposed to the million and one pet hospital games we got when nintendogs took off).

 

[Kioku]

More so than bluetooth and USB2.0? Both allow for almost any control system the dev wants to cook up and bulk storage and while homebrew had a whale of a time with such things their other uses were a bit thin on the ground.


While I am generally of the opinion that any menu system you are not using for itself (like your phone or tablet or something) and in 90% of cases should not spend more than 30 seconds considering does not matter as long as it is readable (though if someone wants to customise then we all have our hobbies), the greyscale one probably is there for those somewhat hard of sight.


When do I not enjoy computer games? Indeed I occasionally get called too soft on them as I managed to enjoy them for what they were -- I still maintain I had a great time with Escape Dead Island.


If you just wanted a TV out for your GB games then sure, however the articles linked on that ( http://loveconquersallgam.es/post/2350461718/fuck-the-super-game-boy-introduction ) enlightened me somewhat on how under utilised it was and were part of the reason for this topic.

People were happier -- hacks to turn it back to the dpad were made I think before the NA/EU releases of the game.
Now said patches but the more refined modern ones
https://gbatemp.net/threads/legend-of-zelda-phantom-hourglass-d-pad-patch.375388/
https://gbatemp.net/threads/legend-of-zelda-spirit-track-d-pad-patch.374773/


Seems we have very different definitions of bloatware, shovelware and such.
Bloatware for me had always been needlessly inflated programs, commonly tied to printer drivers and such like such that you would go clean someone's machine up and every printer they ever owned (which with the price of cartridges could be one a year as it was cheaper to buy a new printer at times) would have such a thing to point them at manufacturer's online shop. Only 25 or so megs a piece but when 512 RAM was just about still doable it posed a problem, especially if they still had factory norton AV or something on there as well as a good one.
That was also before I heard these guys and how they define shovelware (specifically doing the tie in/licensed stuff as opposed to the million and one pet hospital games we got when nintendogs took off).

No, I definitely mean bloatware. When a lot of the more popular mobile games come pre-installed on most phones on certain carriers? It's bloatware. That's how I view most of the mobile gaming market. Is it also shovelware? Of course. I said what I meant and meant what I said.

 

[FAST6191]

I have not set up the most phones lately but I seldom saw games on them from factory, certainly not the nice microtransaction laden nonsense. That said I don't think I have ever set up a vaguely modern iphone or android intended for the US market. Just whatever crappy alternative media players, contact books, alternative application store, email client, office program, online/cloud storage, media selling portal and something that might work marginally better than stock but will be abandoned before a couple of cycles and thus not worth investing in. All distasteful in their own way but nothing I feel especially concerned about, mainly as most would be weaker versions of what is out there (I had people thinking the kindle store was the same as the google offering).

 

[rileysrjay]

it's probably just a simple flick up of the controller, it can't be that bad, stop complaining and enjoy that it's not like galaxy where you had to stay aimed at the screen the whole game for certain stars or simply constantly shaking the remote just to get around, at least in oddessy it's much easier on the arms, though you can kiss my ass if you try to call galaxy bad cause of motion controls, it was great

Its not bad when your using a pro controller or detached joycons, as you said it's a simple flick. But in handheld mode I had to shake my switch like crazy to get it to work, which got old real fast. Also, I agree the motion controls were fun in super Mario Galaxy.

IIRC press Y

Didn't work for me when I tried it a while back. I tried every button combo possible, nothing seemed to work. However, they did put out that patch recently, so who knows, they might've fixed that.

 

[Xzi]

I'm betting the Switch can be used as a sensor bar for Wiimotes, in addition to all the other controllers it's currently compatible with. Nintendo's probably just holding on to that one for Wii VC in a couple years.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

Its not bad when your using a pro controller or detached joycons, as you said it's a simple flick. But in handheld mode I had to shake my switch like crazy to get it to work, which got old real fast. Also, I agree the motion controls were fun in super Mario Galaxy.

It's a bit more manageable when you remember that the Joycon are looking for a particular motion - a circle throw == swing Switch sideways, upward throw == flick top upward, downward throw == flick top downward, etc.

It just feels REALLY clunky because you have a 7" tablet stuck between two controllers that should be moving independently for the motions to feel natural

 

[Foxi4]

This is absolutely wrong! Games like Theme Park, Advance Wars, Age of Empires, Anno, Locks Quest, Ninjatown, Sim City Creator or Civilization Revolution would be impossible without the Touchscreen. Or what is with Hotel Dusk, Professor Layton, Another Code or LifeSigns? Or all these cool Music games? Or the Mario vs. Donkey Kong games? Or the Crazy Machine games? Or Puzzle Quest?

All these games would be impossible for the DS! Specially all the strategy games on a handheld was mindblowing back in time! Plus: The DS was the very first gaming device with Touchscreen. I think: Without the DS we would have no Smartphones today.

The DS was far from the first gaming console to utilise a touchscreen - Game.com and Tapwave Zodiac immediately come to mind, but I'm sure there were plenty more.

 

[duffmmann]

Infrared camera on the right joy-con. There's only one game that uses it and we do not speak of that game.

Edit: Ninja'd by @Memoir

At least 3 games: 1,2, Switch, and Resident Evil Revelations 1 and 2 optionally for reloading (which really is a clever use of the feature for a game where you're pointing your joy-con like a gun, even still you don't have to reload this way if you'd prefer to just press a button).