Okay, not really the games department (while we can still argue about the recent unfinished games), but I'm talking about the console department.
From the Wii all the way to the Wii U, Nintendo has been making consoles where the HOME menu was lively in some way. Okay, maybe except the DS. But the Wii had cool menu music, animated icons, and a TV-channel-like approach with calling apps "channels" & the static-like screens for empty slots. The DSi was a great upgrade from the DS, where the menu was redesigned to have box-like games and a cool little animation when opening new games as if you unpack a birthday gift. The 3DS embraced the DSi's menu and put a nice touch on it and added features like folders, or a theme shop to customize your menu and put more life to it. The Wii U came with WaraWara Plaza, which literally had life in it by putting Miis, having them walk around and pop up with random comments. True, this isn't used as much now that Miiverse is dead.
Then the Switch came out, and all those features were stripped completely. Menu music? Folders that aren't half-assed? THEMES? This all seems like foreign concepts to Nintendo, a corporation which's previous consoles had these features. It would be such a no-brainer to add a theme shop where you can earn money basically from selling images and music based on your games. We waited FIVE ENTIRE YEARS for firmware that, while finally adding at least FOLDERS, implemented them in the most half-assed way even possible. Who thought that it was a remotely good idea to put folders in a menu that only appears if you have more than X games, and to get folders in THAT menu, you have to press an extra button?
"but muh 200kB and faster boot times!"
Let's face it honestly. The 3DS had kinda slow boot times. Yet literally nobody bat an eye, because booting takes time for computers. We became used to the fact. Sure, if something doesn't boot in 3 minutes, maybe there IS a problem, but the 3DS' boot time was like what, 20 secs? And not to even mention Nintendo Badge Arcade which loaded its data for 5 minutes until you were even let in.
I would gladly sacrifice the tiny firmware size and slightly faster boot for a warmly welcoming menu, not a clone of PS4's menu with the music and the other features stripped down.
There's also other questionable decisions that Nintendo made with the switch, such as hopping on the paid online bandwagon, but that's for another time.
From the Wii all the way to the Wii U, Nintendo has been making consoles where the HOME menu was lively in some way. Okay, maybe except the DS. But the Wii had cool menu music, animated icons, and a TV-channel-like approach with calling apps "channels" & the static-like screens for empty slots. The DSi was a great upgrade from the DS, where the menu was redesigned to have box-like games and a cool little animation when opening new games as if you unpack a birthday gift. The 3DS embraced the DSi's menu and put a nice touch on it and added features like folders, or a theme shop to customize your menu and put more life to it. The Wii U came with WaraWara Plaza, which literally had life in it by putting Miis, having them walk around and pop up with random comments. True, this isn't used as much now that Miiverse is dead.
Then the Switch came out, and all those features were stripped completely. Menu music? Folders that aren't half-assed? THEMES? This all seems like foreign concepts to Nintendo, a corporation which's previous consoles had these features. It would be such a no-brainer to add a theme shop where you can earn money basically from selling images and music based on your games. We waited FIVE ENTIRE YEARS for firmware that, while finally adding at least FOLDERS, implemented them in the most half-assed way even possible. Who thought that it was a remotely good idea to put folders in a menu that only appears if you have more than X games, and to get folders in THAT menu, you have to press an extra button?
"but muh 200kB and faster boot times!"
Let's face it honestly. The 3DS had kinda slow boot times. Yet literally nobody bat an eye, because booting takes time for computers. We became used to the fact. Sure, if something doesn't boot in 3 minutes, maybe there IS a problem, but the 3DS' boot time was like what, 20 secs? And not to even mention Nintendo Badge Arcade which loaded its data for 5 minutes until you were even let in.
I would gladly sacrifice the tiny firmware size and slightly faster boot for a warmly welcoming menu, not a clone of PS4's menu with the music and the other features stripped down.
There's also other questionable decisions that Nintendo made with the switch, such as hopping on the paid online bandwagon, but that's for another time.
