Gaming The Switch isn't living up to its fullest potential, and here's why

[lordelan]

Lacking in first party content? Like what? We've got Breath of the Wild 2 coming, we've got Super Mario Odyssey, MK8DX, Splatoon 2, Mario Maker 2, Super Mario Party, New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe, Luigi's Mansion 3, Kirby Star Allies, Nintendo Labo, Pokken Tournament DX, Smash Bros. Ultimate, Pokemon Let's Go with Sword & Shield on the horizon...

You forgot about ARMS. Why is nobody caring about ARMS? It's a really good game!

 

[Xzi]

Removing backward compatibility from the equation, I think Switch is actually the best Nintendo console purely from a games standpoint since GCN. Wii had a lot of good stuff, but it also had a lot more shovelware. WiiU had no third-party support, and its first-party support quickly faded as well. It's true that this console generation has been slower to produce truly excellent exclusives, but that's an issue for Sony too. I own all the worthwhile exclusives for both systems, and Switch already has PS4 beat even before the release of Metroid Prime 4, Animal Crossing, and Pokemon S&S.

If you dig deep enough, there's always something to criticize about every console, but lack of backward compatibility is hardly a dealbreaker. Especially when you can get a Wii for $30 or reliably emulate GCN/Wii/WiiU on any half-decent PC. Switch has been more than on par with its competition, and as long as Nintendo keeps churning out quality titles at a steady pace, the future is looking bright. 3DS didn't become a beloved system with a deep library overnight either, it just takes time.

 

[Hardline]

NINTENDO is NINTENDO,


you buy it because it is Nintendo everything is gaming fun .. have ps4pro xbox scorpio but they collect dust but i am game collectors

 

[Quisetell]

The only thing you have a point on is the online, but with that you need to remember that Nintendo's main focus will always be kids. They will never allow that kind of access to them. I think it's fine the way it is as a parent of a 13 year old daughter.

Switch has the best first party games, period!

Backwards compatibility is a pretty recent thing, up until last gen it basically didn't exist, except from Nintendo. Seems more like entitlement to me when I see this.

I haven't seen a thing saying the Switch can run Wii U, I would really like to see a source there.

I'm sorry, but backwards compatibility has been a thing for a long time. Nintendo's handheld consoles have always had backwards compatibility with the console immediately preceding them, all of Sony's consoles had native backwards compatibility in the beginning with the exception of the PS4, as well as the 360 being naturally able to play ~99% of Xbox games. It's not that bc wasn't a thing, it's just that they all got so weird about implementing it this gen that the people that did count on it being a thing were highly let down. I know I was when I saw that I would have to keep my PS3 around if I wanted to keep playing older games.

 

[Bat420maN]

I'm sorry, but backwards compatibility has been a thing for a long time. Nintendo's handheld consoles have always had backwards compatibility with the console immediately preceding them, all of Sony's consoles had native backwards compatibility in the beginning with the exception of the PS4, as well as the 360 being naturally able to play ~99% of Xbox games. It's not that bc wasn't a thing, it's just that they all got so weird about implementing it this gen that the people that did count on it being a thing were highly let down. I know I was when I saw that I would have to keep my PS3 around if I wanted to keep playing older games.

What I said stands up fine, besides Nintendo, it wasn't really a thing till last gen. The only people that expect it are under the age of 20, cause anyone older remembers that shit not working that way.

 

[Quisetell]

What I said stands up fine, besides Nintendo, it wasn't really a thing till last gen. The only people that expect it are under the age of 20, cause anyone older remembers that shit not working that way.

Sony had bc for the PS1 on the PS2, 2 generations ago. Xbox is only 3 generations old, meaning that last gen is the first time they could have implemented it at all. Sega dropped out of the console wars with the Dreamcast, but otherwise had a habit of getting their main games on as many of their consoles as they could. Everyone did it where they could, with the exception being that the devices used incompatible physical media that made it impossible or they ran on different architectures which made it impossible to have native backwards compatibility. Even Sony kept it alive between the PSP and Vita for all of the digital games.

 

[Bat420maN]

SEGA had 18 different versions of the same fucking console, that's why those worked. My PS2 wouldn't play a PS1 game at all not sure if the other models did, but they all didn't. Not sure why you brought up XBOX, what I said stands 100% for them. BC is a newer concept, that young kids think they're entitled to. No one that owned an NES expects that shit from any console, ever.

 

[Rahkeesh]

I don't think the VC situation is that different on Switch right now. NSO gives you most of the decent NES and SNES games that Nintendo actually owns the rights for. 3rd parties have released a ton of retro games and collections on the eshop, even from Nintendo consoles like the Konami collections, not to mention Genesis, Neo Geo, and classic arcades. The only thing that's really kind of lacking is old handheld games and 3D retro emulation like N64, although there are a good number of "remasters"/ports of those too.

 

[Deleted User]

I think you're expecting the equivalent of Xbox Live on Switch and that's just not what Nintendo's aiming for.

Okay, that's not how it is at all. I'm not expecting something great where you're paying more but the perks are good. I just don't want to have to install an app on my phone and buy a separate dongle just to do voicechat. Most third-party games just let you hook up your headset and you're fine. How is something like that acceptable? It's the 9th generation of consoles. I don't expect the greatest from Nintendo, no, but I didn't expect this either.

PlayStation Plus and XBOX live Gold with Games offer current-gen games, and Nintendo offers NES games that they update once a month... Come on.

 

[Deleted User]

i was gonna make a comment on the "backwards compatability is a new concept" argument but then i realized it's an argument between a boomer and someone with common sense


for something on topic, i've had my switch for over a year now and i'm still hella disappointed, everything's so expensive, it has so much shovelware, nothing's really interesting... adding on to the fact that joycon drift exists really kills my motivation to really play on it

 

[Chrisssj2]

I agree first party support should be ALOT better, esp since this is basically the fusion of the 3ds handheld+ main console...
But I disagree on the backwards compat.. we got retroarch.. and if we really want to play those games. take a 3ds and emulate them there or something... I don't esp think this is a real addition to the system.
There are other ways to get what you want.

 

[Chary]

I'm happy with the Switch. It's obvious that things could be done better, but let's be real, Nintendo's gonna Nintendo. They've always done weird things. And it's managed to work to their favor, outside of the Wii U.

First party support is better than it's been in ages, though some of their first party content is a little lacking. Arms and Super Mario Party, Yoshi, and Kirby were bland. Mario Kart 8D had some nice additions, but could have done so much better with adding some extra courses as new DLC. Outside of that though, they're knocking it out of the park.

Wii U ports are great, because let's be real, they hardly sold at all on the original console. It's smart to bring those already made games to a console with actual players.

Nintendo Switch Online, is, even for the cost, shoddily done. A real voice chat system should be in place, but we lack that for some reason. I do think the SNES and NES online games are great, and I'm certain we'll see more in the future. But for a company that's always lagged behind with online, I'm not surprised, and I'm not really disappointed by it.