The Nintendo Switch’s success may seem perplexing initially, but it actually does make quite a deal of sense. After the disaster that was the Wii U (in terms of marketing, that is,) Nintendo came around with a marketing campaign targeted at just about anyone and everyone with one of the most innovative consoles on the market. Part handheld, part home console, all Nintendo, the Nintendo Switch was Nintendo telling the world it wasn’t done innovating, but it was done playing second fiddle to Sony and Microsoft. Naturally, such a bold campaign won fans over and the Switch immediately solidified itself as a giant in gaming.
Of course, the Switch also isn’t perfect by any means. At times, it’s even truly bizarre. While the system has a fantastic roster of games with a refreshing minimalist approach to its interface, the Nintendo Switch does admittedly leave quite a lot to be desired. Some of Nintendo’s choices with the system have been questionable at best, and it’s hard to understand what exactly they’ve been trying to do with it post-launch. This will hardly hurt the Switch’s legacy, as first impressions do seem to matter when it comes to gaming, but the sheer eccentricity of the Switch will loom over it forever.
25 No Built-In Voice Chat
This is actually a Nintendoism that makes a bit of sense. Reggie doesn’t want you talking to strangers, and given Microsoft’s bad track record with online communication, can you blame him? Plus, there’s the app which lets you talk to your pals which, honestly, isn’t as bad as fans make it out to be.
What is bad, however, is the complete lack of traditional, text-based chatting. There is no way to communicate with another person on the system itself. Text can also be moderated by in-place systems preventing cursing, so its absence is honestly felt quite hard. If you find someone you like playing with online, you’ll never be able to express that attachment.
24 Virtual Console Pretty Much Doesn’t Exist Anymore
Not helping the Switch’s eShop is the surprising disappearance of Nintendo’s flagship Virtual Console. A part of their line-up since the Nintendo Wii, the Virtual Console was a way of making older games accessible to a modern audience. Both the 3DS and Wii U pushed the model further, arguably making them two of the best systems to play older games.
Sadly, the Nintendo Switch has all but abandoned the Virtual Console concept, likely in favor of pushing indie titles more prominently. Not just that, both the NES and SNES mini seem to imply that Nintendo is more or less done with chucking out their older games for cheap. If you want to play some OG platformers, you better shell out a good chunk of change.
23 No Netflix Or YouTube
Hulu is pretty good. Sincerely; it has a great selection of TV and anime, making it a fine alternative to Netflix. So long as you have Netflix or Youtube, that is. For all the good Hulu does in terms of televised streaming, it is severely lacking in original content and movies. Too bad the Switch wants nothing to do with other streaming platforms.
Hulu can only offer so much.
Because Nintendo will never take anything other than one step forward and two steps back, the Switch has Hulu, but nothing else. Mind you, both the 3DS and Wii U had access to Netflix. The former even had Youtube. Not a great version of Youtube, but Youtube nonetheless. The Switch has Hulu, but why nothing else?
22 The Distinct Lack Of An Internet Browser
Speaking of key features the Switch lacks, how about that internet browser? Both the 3DS and Wii U had internet browsers. The 3DS even made incredible use of its browser by keeping games active in the background, allowing you to look up guides or walkthroughs should you need help.
Believe it or not, the Switch actually does have a built in browser.
Naturally, the Nintendo Switch did not carry this feature over in any capacity whatsoever. It is utterly baffling how Nintendo could have refined the browser so thoroughly on the 3DS only to toss it out the window in the jump to the Nintendo Switch. It gives the impression that the Switch wasn’t ready for launch.
21 You Can’t Change Themes
Although it took Nintendo a relatively long time to add themes to the 3DS, it didn’t take so long where all hope was lost. The same cannot be said for the Switch. Outside of a dark theme, you’re basically stuck with your default look for all of eternity. Considering how many updates have come and gone, don’t expect to see themes anytime soon. Or ever.
Black or white. Pick your poison.
On that note, where are all the folders? Both the 3DS and the Wii U allowed users to make folders to better organize their hubs, but the Switch just lets everything fly loose. It’s honestly such a cluttered mess. You’d think the console would have shipped with this feature intact, but that’s simply not the case.
20 The Left Joy-Con’s Many Issues
The left Joy-Con has more or less sorted itself out since the Switch’s launch, but it never should have needed sorting in the first. For whatever reason, left Joy-Cons were very susceptible to glitches. More specifically, your left Joy-Cons were perpetually at risk of desyncing and never resyncing.
Bizarrely, this is not an issue that plagued right Joy-Cons, making it an issue entirely with the left’s hardware and architecture. Newer models lacks this problem, but be wary if you have a launch Switch. Not every left Joy-Con is destined to fail, but yours might simply be holding out longer than the others.
19 The Charging Grip Is Sold Separately
The Nintendo Switch comes with a grip and a means of charging the Joy-Cons built into the tablet itself, but the charging grip, arguably the most important accessory, is sold separately. Realistically, given the very nature of the Joy-Cons and the grip’s existence, the charging grip should have come with the Switch.
The regular grip shouldn’t even exist to be completely honest. It’s confusing at best and detrimental at work. To its credit, the Joy-Cons do hold quite the charge, but nowhere near long enough to not justify a means of charging them away from the tablet. Modern controllers demand modern ways of charging.
18 The Switch Is Actually Pretty Weak
Of all the recent consoles, the Switch is stronger than the Wii U. That’s pretty much it. It doesn’t even come close to either the PlayStation 4 or the Xbox One, let alone their stronger counterparts. That said, the fact it doesn’t come close it actually surprising. While it makes sense for the Switch to be weaker, it’s a lot weaker.
Nintendo went really light on the Switch’s specs which many assumed would doom it, but it was the right call on Nintendo’s part. Despite being the weakest system on the market, the Switch is selling both fast and well. Nintendo took a calculated risk in playing it so safe, but sometimes these things do work out.
17 Switch Ports Tend To Be Worse In Quality
The Switch is weaker than both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One so it’s only natural third party ports to the Nintendo Switch end up being a bit weaker than their modern gen counterparts. What isn’t natural is the frequency at which said third party ports just drop the ball in terms of quality all around.
Dark Souls Remastered just released for the Nintendo Switch and it was not able to bring in any of the visual changes its brethren had. Rather, it ended up being a straight up port of the PlayStation 3 version since that’s all the Switch could realistically run. Don’t hold your breath for better ports anytime soon.
16 There’s No Ambient Music In The Hub
Perhaps the most baffling feature of the Nintendo Switch, or rather lack thereof, is the distinct absence of music in the hub. For whatever reason, there is absolutely no sound whenever you boot up the system, effectively locking you in a soulless, synthetic prison designed exclusively to feed you games with only the occasional click to lead the way.
Although the Nintendo Switch is a far better console than either the Wii or Wii U, both systems made great use of sound to give their hubs their own unique identities. Both the Wii and Wii U created a homey atmosphere that was appropriately Nintendo. Without sound, the Switch lacks that identity. Speaking of the lack of identity...
15 The Eshop Has No Identity
Even if you haven’t used the Wii eShop in years which, realistically, you probably haven’t, You can likely still remember its exact layout and that whimsical beat that plays over your shopping pleasure. For as truly bizarre as the Wii ended up being, it was a console that genuinely understood what it wanted to be.
A lifeless land.
Naturally, the same praise cannot be extended to the Nintendo Switch, let alone its eShop. There is no rhyme or reason to the way it is set up. Everything seems tossed together so haphazardly, that it’s genuinely hard to care enough to browse. Both the Wii and the Wii U made shopping an experience. The Switch makes it a tedium.
14 Updates Are Never Substantial Enough
Which, let’s be real, it wasn’t. Considering how many updates we’ve gotten in the past year and a half, the Nintendo Switch was blatantly unready for its March launch. That at least sounds right conceptually, right? You’d think with all these updates that Nintendo would flesh the console out more, but…
Yeah, they haven’t. Every single update seems to be based on stability first and foremost. Granted, that’s incredibly important for a home console so props to them for recognizing that, but it seems like this truly was the Switch they wanted to launch considering how barebones updates tends to be.
13 Cartridges Taste Bad
The Cartridge epidemic of 1996 left the West in shambles. Recognizing how many households were wrecked from children mercilessly licking their Nintendo cartridges, Sony pioneered their own crusade, brings CDs into the mainstream. No child would ever lick a cartridge again. None of this happened, obviously, but could you imagine?
Real fans lick Wii U games.
On one hand, it makes sense for the Switch to effectively poison their cartridges. It’ll keep kids from eating them. On the other hand, this wasn’t really ever an issue… At no point in human history were children relentlessly licking their cartridges. This move only makes sense in a bizarro universe where cartridge eating was a genuine problem, but that’s not our universe.
12 Third Party Support Hasn’t Taken Off
The third party Nintendo cycle is a particularly cruel one, especially considering just how solid of a system the Switch is for third party support. Just the idea of playing a major AAA title handheld is enough to get fans frothing at the mouth. Third party games tend to sell on Switch faster than any other console as well. So where’s the support?
At least you can look forward to Just Dance.
Sadly, this is a trend that has followed every Nintendo console since the GameCube. Third party support comes out hard and fast when the system launches only to more or less peter out by the second year. Things seemed great for the Switch, but it’s slowly falling back into old habits as third parties develop less and less games for the console.
11 Nintendo Still Hasn’t Announced A 2D Switch Zelda
The Switch is a perfect Nintendo console in many ways as it finally represents an ideal marriage between their home consoles and handhelds. As a result, you can get mainline Pokemon games alongside your 3D Super Marios. Theoretically, this also means 3D Zelda alongside 2D Zelda.
Sadly, Nintendo has yet to commit to the goldmine they’ve stumbled upon. While Breath of the Wild opened the Switch, no follow up has been scheduled, either 2D or 3D. As the 3D titles take so long to develop, it only makes sense to develop a 2D game in the meantime. Who knows, maybe one’s already in development.
10 Mario Odyssey Never Got DLC
Considering just how all out Nintendo went with DLC for Breath of the Wild, it only seemed natural they once again show the same treatment to the Switch’s other tour du force: Super Mario Odyssey. Considering how much cut content the game had, along with how much it lends itself to DLC, it only seemed natural.
Give us Delfino Island, you cowards!
Yet here we are, roughly an entire year later, with Super Mario Odyssey left in the state it began in. To be fair, the game did receive several new downloadable costumes along with Luigi’s Balloon World, but no new worlds or moons have graced us. Hopefully this means we’re getting a sequel rather than DLC.
9 It’s Treated Like A Handheld Despite Being A Home Console
The Switch is the successor to the Wii U, not the 3DS, and that effectively means it’s a home console, not a handheld. Of course, the Switch’s main gimmick is that it doubles as a handheld, but it is not a handheld in the traditional sense nor is it part of the Game Boy/DS family. The Switch is very much its own beast.
Which also means that the gaming community should probably stop treating it like a handheld. For all intents and purposes, it’s a home console with a tablet. Kind of like the Wii U. It’s portable, sure, but that’s not the main draw; at least on a gaming level. This is another reason why the 3DS is still kicking.
8 The Switch Became An Indie Nirvana
Seemingly out of nowhere, the Nintendo Switch somehow managed to usher in the golden age of indie gaming. More specifically, the Nintendo Switch ushered in the age of porting indie games. Pretty much any high profile indie game on the Switch is guaranteed to sell gangbusters.
The new virtual console.
This is actually a huge deal as, previously, Steam was the de-facto home of indie gaming. Microsoft managed to carve a niche for a time, but it didn’t really last. With the Switch, it is truly outrageous how well indie games are selling. Don’t be surprised if the Switch’s legacy ends up tied to indie gaming.
7 All The Download Codes Bundled With Cartridges
Cartridges are nice and all, but they don’t hold a lot of space. Obviously, the workaround is to install the game using the cartridge as a base, but sometimes this workaround isn’t so simple. Whenever you buy a compilation title, chances are half the compilation will end up being download only.
This has happened with every single one of Capcom’s collection ports along with Bayonetta 1 + 2. It’s actually quite sad as this means you’re locking yourself out of getting half a game if you choose to buy these physical compilations used. Gone are the days of knowing what you’re getting.
6 The Fact Nintendo Is Using Cartridges Again
To harp on cartridges just a bit longer, isn’t it wild that we once again live in a generation where Nintendo not only actively uses cartridges, but also only uses cartridges? It’s such a power move on Nintendo’s part, harkening back to those nostalgic for the company’s supposed “glory days” while also carving an identity for the console independent of the PS4 and Xbox One.
It isn’t ideal by any means, and we’ll touch on this in just a bit, but it’s a great image move from Nintendo. For all the company’s faults, Nintendo has always been great at making sure fans understood Nintendo’s MO (except for perhaps the Wii U.) The Switch using cartridges makes no sense, but it works.