And Just Like That, Customer Reviews On The Nintendo Site Are No More

Were they flooded with "NO MORE WII U PORTS" comments

THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS

Was this ever a good idea? Put the star rating back on the eshop where they belong and be done with it.

Pretty appalling. The feature took a year to be added and then lasts less than a week. This is something simple, no wonder more important things like their paid for online plan, Virtual Console, apps, a web browser, etc are all taking so long.

If and when it does comes back, they should fix it so that 0 star ratings are possible.

Nintendo needs to stop thinking they can moderate everything. This is the internet for crying out loud. Spam reviews are an inevitability.

Too many Trolls

This is why Nintendo is afraid of the internet.

My issue with such reviews is that many people are quick to label a game either one of two extremes rating a game “best game evar!!” With 5 stars cos it kept them somewhat amused or giving a game 1 star (or zero stars) because a single “issue” fills them with unending disgust or ot isn’t what they wanted.

Too many bad reviews of 1-2 Switch lol.

@MoonKnight7 There's no such thing.

I think there are plenty of other sources for game reviews... the official site should focus on providing VERY accurate information regarding what the game offers (# of Players, online play, local co-op, etc), what the gameplay involves, pricing, etc.

Leave the opinions for elsewhere...

@SLIGEACH_EIRE where does it say it took a year?

Damn that was quick

Alternative: keep the reviews, add word filters, remove any "user score" function. Use those purely as feedback from people who bother writing something in.

Maybe some reviews were a bit too honest for their liking...

Way to go internet, you scared off Nintendo...it took us years to coax them out from their hole in the ground 😧

It was probably invaded by Irish trolls,just like other websites that used to be places where you could discuss your favourite hobby without someone derailing the conversation to whatever they fancied moaning about that day

@SLIGEACH_EIRE

Well sure, now there's no such thing. Haha.

I'm going to have a shot in the dark but I assume he is referring to the fact that we are a year post launch of the Switch.

They probably couldn't handle the backlash on 1-2 Switch. If they think that was bad, the Labo will take a huge beating and they'll lose their minds when that happens.

Probably got too many negative reviews...

DARN YOU TROLLS!!!

The Nintendo animal is a very gentle and easily scared creature. It only leaves its safe cave every few years in search of a mate. Here it is now, taking its first steps into the sun-

Oh gosh darnit, Jimmy the cameraman, you scared it away with your sneeze!

It's good that this is gone - too many Trolls - Don't leave the Cave door open. . ..

@faint I meant the console's a year old and it only now got a simple feature like reviews, but no sooner had it gone up than it was taken down.

I don't get how people are saying it was because of troll reviews. People had to pay for the game and play it for 2 hours at least. Just to troll?

Nintendo has NO IDEA how opinionated their adult fanbase it.

They got sick of hearing that 1-2 Swich is garbage and $60 wiiU ports are insane.

They can't even make online comment on a website in 2018.

Just as well, I cannot trust user reviews.

Did anyone read the reviews? Did people troll or be toxic?

HA! Sucks when individual opinions harm your publicity... Except this time on your own website...

Strange.

You had to have a MyNintendo account and have played at least 2 hours of the game you wanted to review in order to be able to submit a score.

So I doubt an overflow of negative reviews was the reason they shut it down.

Written reviews from random keyboard ninjas hiding behind their anonymity has never been a good idea. They tend to act and say strange junk instead of keeping it real.

So i'm glad it is gone really.

And nothing of importance was lost thisvday.

I think it's because of me. I said Zelda needs Colgate, her breath of the wild stinks.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE
It's the website that got the reviews though, not the console.

Thanks for nothing, internet users.

And nothing of value was lost. "Reviewing" a piece of fiction, let alone an interactive one like a video game after two hours? Like fans manage to study this stuff properly and motivatedly after 200. A standalone Game and Watch title might be the only kind of game to do any justice with such stuff.

And if we mean the word "reviews" in the fan-adored use as "personal resonance feedback", I've never seen the point of them being on official sites anyway. The internet is so full of it, you could google a truckload with your eyes closed.

Dernit. And I was the first person to give Shovel Knight a review too.

@19Robb92: Maybe some people found an exploit that let them review without playing 2 hours? That'd be my guess

Somebody likely spammed it. Or didn't follow the TOS for language. Individual gamers are usually pretty terrible for giving reviews (reviewers can be pretty terrible too) anyway. Most use hyperbolic language, profanity and can't articulate a point with much clarity and aren't objective. So we shall see what Nintendo does.

This all really should have been saved for April 1. Then it would have been funny.

I am guessing Nintendo might have been taking notes from Steam

@Nincompoop What a bad joke...

@FX102A Very true - you point to an increasing tread in extreme knee-jerk 'non-reviews'. Metacritic seems particularly flooded buy them.

@nhSnork I'm sure there are plenty of people who played something longer than 2 hours and gave their impression of the game. I've played BotW for at least 100 hours, certainly enjoyed playing parts of it but I can say with confidence that it's my least favorite in the franchise.

Of course the majority of reviews are probably not like this but I doubt it's mainly those that haven't had a "full" experience of said game.

Scores may not be the best idea, just a simple Thumbs Up/Down like on Steam would probably be better, along with written review.
I suppose review bombing happened.

The 3DS eShop ratings were pretty basic, and did the job fine. If they want some quotable text from the consumers, stick to the submissions from the email surveys.

Had to be trolls, even with the restrictions in place enough people hate 1 2 switch and wii u ports that they would do this, but honestly im in the camp that thinks they werent necessary on their own website

too many reviews saying “NINTENDO DIRECT NINTENDO DIRECT NINTENDO DIRECT”

When Nintendo's online service comes out, I feel it will be the same headline as this. "It's here, and now it's gone!"

I love how people are actually defending Nintendo... a company traditionally draconian and rediculously heavy-handed in it's handling of any sort of commentary or free speach it deems derogatory or off-message. Even their 'partner program' on YouTube is a sick joke, as is it's approach to anyone who doesn't bow to them on YouTube. Don't mistake the content creators who make great games for the people at corporate Nintendo. The business side of Nintendo is pretty dark and douchey and unpleasant. Heavy handed and nasty. There's a difference between curating and protecting IPs and being overbearing douche hammers. They also believe their own press almost exclusively, so negative reviews probably dented their world.

Love Nintendo's creatives and game designers, really dislike their corporate b.s.

Zelda Botw - 'It's ok, but it's not Mother 3. 2/5'
Mario Kart DX - 'It's good but it's not F-Zero. 3/5'
Doom - 'It's good but it's not Overwatch. 2/5'
etc
etc

Noone saw that coming.....really

@SneakyStyle I'm not saying I agree or even that I think that's the reason they took the reviews down, but I like your style bro. I see you stealthing in this comment section.

Doesn't bother me either way. If I want honest feedback about a game, I'm not going to seek it out on Nintendo's own website.

@bratzdoll You have to had played a game for at least 2 hours to rate it.

@GrailUK Yeah, that's the kind of stuff I expected it to be flooded with followed by at Labo launch a bunch of 1 star reviews saying "Where is Smash?"

It’s stupid, because it’s not like reviews were posted instantly. Nintendo had to approve each review before being posted, and it took 3-6 days for it to be approved. So it’s not like the reviews section was being vandalized.

Could have been a dummy run. Just saying.

aww I wrote a really nice Darkest Dungeon jibby jobby.

@Equinox Can you please not promote further societal ignorance on just how varied the personalities and symptoms of someone with autism can be by using their neurological condition as a negatively charged insult?

-Sincerely, someone who works with them.

Lol well that was short-lived.

I thought it was weird that other people could see your review. Nintendo is the only one that needs to see it

I know only allow reviews on people who actually bought the games.so if there trolls which there will be at least they were forced to buy the game lol

@gortsi. Irish? Just a racist Brit, or is there more to this?

@ALinkttPresent The reviews were supposed to be a way for people interested in buying to see what others said, so they can make a more informed decision. So how is it "weird" that others could see them?

@Slim1999 That’s how it did work. You needed to play for at least 2 hours. I suppose you could borrow a copy, but I’m sure most reviews were from people that owned the game.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE I don’t blame Nintendo for taking this feature down if this was due to negative comments. I’ve seen how obnoxious some people can be on other sites. That’s the downside to freedom of speech on the internet. People are free to post whatever they want no matter how inappropriate, so they do.

Well I guess Nintendo can't handle user's feedback yet. Like I said before, there are some honest reviews but litter throughout will be more toxic complaints and burying of the product.

People probably went on and posted complaints about how Mario Odyssey isn’t mario64-2 and therefore is a terrible game. Or anything along those lines. There are enough places out there for all us to comment on, research, watch reviews/trailers on games we want. Who goes to Nintendo.com daily looking for news? Sorry, that’s the last place I go for Nintendo news.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Appalling is the toxic comments we have to read from you every time we visit Nintendo Life.

They kept Miiverse running for years and that was a well-known sasspool so I hardly think that negative comments would be the only reason the reviews are out.

@Equinox: As another user already mentioned, I would suggest you not use the autism disorder, or any disorder, as a way to poke fun at people, or call something stupid. I'm not telling you what to do. Obviously, I'm not a mod, admin, or anything. I'm just saying, you're making fun of people, who can not help being the way they are. Also, I'm not looking for a response.

@Everyone_Else: Honestly, there are many user comments in this article, that are appalling in one way, or another: 1 comment either racist, or a poorly iterated joke/sarcasm, another poking fun at autism...

Nintendo might be implementing a newer system. Food for thought: reviews on Nintendo's own site, are kinda like reviews in Nintendo Power.

If the said game was people complaining or them giving negative reviews to a game that they've BOUGHT with their own money, I don't see why Nintendo removed this feature cause' of that. Even if that person is complaining why the game he/she bought isn't similar to the other game, it's still a valid complain since it's on topic. Unless it's off topic that isn't the game they're reviewing or swearing which still isn't acceptable since they could hire moderators. I could only see them removing it due to people not playing the game and just reviewing it. Another thing they could've done is them instilling rules for people to rate.

Why was it even an important feature? The internet has a bunch of places where you can read reviews already.

@Trajan I can see you just joined. You'll understand soon. And don't assume people's ethnicity anyway

@gortsi my bad. Usually anti-Irish people are British I have noticed.

@Trajan not that it matters, but I love the Irish and their culture. My reference was to a few on this very website, not a blanket statement for every Irish person in the world. Apologies if that wasn't exactly clear

I'd rather just see Metacritic scores on the eShop.

@gb_nes_gamer

There is no downside to freedom of speech.

@Trajan

He was referring to Sligeach, one of Nintendo Life's celebrities.

No more freedom of expression on Nintendo one day after.

Bad Ninty. More speech liberty is always better than less.

Good for Nintendo, more businesses should do this. There are far too many trolls out there to really take a customer's opinion seriously. People hate today more than ever before. Block out haters. Feedback is in sales and the Switch is selling fine.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE But, that's a negative review! Nintendo doesn't condone such things

I'm gonna guess there was some abuse of the system, which is what I suspected would happen. Some people just don't seem to be able to judge a game fairly and are blinded too much by their own bias.

My guess is that it was a testfire. I expect it will come back within the year.

@10-zx I meant on the internet with sites that allow comments, people can post some grossly inappropriate things simply because they have the freedom to. Kerrang! now uses Facebook comments integrated with their own site. There were some appalling comments left on there before.

@Drac_Mazoku Safe bet there, it probably looked like Metacritic's user reviews.

Nintendo can't take criticism.

They’ve been accepting reviews for years? Just not public.

At what point did Nintendo think this was going to go well? The point where they discontinued Miiverse, or the point where Sony disabled user reviews?

@Ryu_Niiyama "Most use hyperbolic language, profanity and can't articulate a point with much clarity and aren't objective. So we shall see what Nintendo does"

Every single internet user reviewer ever:

You can guess what happened: Troll reviews! Metacritic is full of it.

Then again they probably had a look through some of the comments and thought "Jeez! We've got a right bunch of bedwetters here! Pull the plug! These men need a life!"

I still reckon it was a test, but nah round these parts people like to read more into it, I think the word evaluation was a clue to me.

Given the state of user reviews on every single website in the world it's probably for the best.

User reviews are pretty much useless in my opinion. Too many people abuse them. Wouldn't surprise me if reviews they received were mostly just "WHERE'S THE DIRECT?!" over and over.

That being said, it's possible the feature was taken down due to some technical issue that they found and will be back up as soon as the issue is resolved.

@NEStalgia looks legit.

@gb_nes_gamer

If people have the ability to speak, which they rightly should, that's going to happen. The best route of action is for everyone to grow thicker skin and stop caring as much. They're just a couple words from random dudes.

@10-zx I agree to a certain extent but I’m not talking about mildly negative. Some people go too far by being needlessly offensive. Which is why they get banned and social features get removed.

I think that it's commendable that they managed to loose the reins a little bit for two days. Babysteps ...

@gb_nes_gamer

Well, that's why we have rules.

If they aren't followed, there will be consequences. And that may go for any side.

What!?...this can only mean one thing...

..Club Nintendo is coming back!!..
...where they give you gold coins for your reviews..
... and then display the ones they like best...

I want to read anonymous reviews of that new Mario movie...

Customer reviews are a cancer. Let the professionals who actually play the games through etc. to handle it.

@WiltonRoots

Yup, strong possibility that it was just a test run. But it can't be that, must be because Nintendo hates free speech, freedom of expression etc.

@KryptoKrunch Yep either that or because of 1-2-switch, that game a vocal minority loathes and detests because it doesn't cater to them yet has sold nearly 2 million copies worldwide....

If people are tired of ports, then there should be no virtual console, because that is made up entirely of retro ports.

@Thisismycomment it's called an opinion. I thought it was weird. That's how

@Phin68
Well, ..., in Internet, always is chaos, negativity, hate, apathy, contempt...;
and the reality, social, economic, work, family pressures...

Really no place is to be calm or with something positive, right?
...

It's the internet, I am sure they were awash with cancerous trolls and vulgarity and Nintendo just decided it wasn't worth it.

I don't blame Nintendo.

They had to do it, after all, some of them were, gasp, negative or, even more sacrilegiously, not in line with the words of the Holy Miyamoto, blessed be the ground he steps on.

Cya
Raziel-chan

@faint Yeah, it actually took them 5 years to develop it.

@ekwcll Apples to oranges. The main complaints about ports are that they're overpriced, that they're not necessary (as the original game was easily available for purchase as recently as 2016 for anyone that actually wanted to buy it), that they stop new games from coming out (Mario Kart 8 DX means the Switch is much less likely to get a Mario Kart 9, for example), and that they're a huge slap in the face to people that bought the original version (plus DLC in many cases). None of these complaints are applicable to the Virtual Console.

@Euler

"that they stop new games from coming out (Mario Kart 8 DX means the Switch is much less likely to get a Mario Kart 9,"

I'm not so sure about that. Ports take way less time and money to make opposed to full games. In Mario Kart 9's case, the Mario Kart team did ARMS and since that's been done for a while now, their next project could easily be Mk9.

@Euler Mario Kart is Nintendo's number one franchise in terms of popularity. It is highly unlikely we won't see the next entry in the series on the Switch.

@liveswired receipts?

Diminishing returns come into play. There's a reason why, despite Mario Kart's popularity, they only ever release one game per console cycle rather than one per year. The Mario Kart games are similar enough to one another to be considered substitute goods, and franchise fatigue sets in. The sales would not be high enough to justify the massive overhead (development) costs.

@euler, Nintendo Is planning on supporting the switch for a very long time. Expect more new games, even Mario kart before the switch had run it's course.

@Dom

"Nintendo.com recently offered a trial customer review feature to let users share feedback about Nintendo Switch games on our website. The response has been positive, and Nintendo appreciates the time and effort that reviewers put into their thoughtful commentary on the games. Nintendo has removed this feature as we evaluate the future of the ratings functionality on Nintendo.com. We have no estimate on when an update will be provided on the status of this initiative, but we appreciate the enthusiasm shown for the trial."

https://www.polygon.com/2018/2/28/17062248/nintendo-switch-reviews-website

So no grand conspiracy unfortunately. That's a shame.

Not surprised. I actually saw it coming. Nintendo would never tolerate negative reviews by their own customers. Typical but whatever. Not like I would have seen reviews there as well (although I did miss the fact that I could have reviewed a thing or two before it got taken down)

Nintendo fans are immature cry babies, no wonder they pulled the feature.

Someone who has spent the best part of £50 on a game is probably the best person to comment on it's value for money and entertainment value.

I do wonder if the onslaught of NL reviews we are getting; the score is based on a couple of levels and not the full game.

@NEStalgia Some user reviews are better written and more honest than the ones you can read on the popular websites. I have confirmed this fact after playing some games recently.

@SakuraHaruka It's a matter of accepting the good with the bad. I'm pretty sure there were plenty of people who wanted to write legitimate reviews. But for some reason, Nintendo wants to greatly filter the system. Even though sites like Amazon work well enough without the need for extensive moderation.

@gb_nes_gamer I agree but that's what moderators are for. On Miiverse if you said something illegal or offensive it was erased (I never did, in between). True that moderation in there was extreme not even allowing to share friend codes but that's how Nintendo rolls.

Bottom line so much hate for 1-2 switch in reviews Nintendo pulled them!
Imagine the hate if we could review voice chat and the online app! (For the public to see) (as feedback is not a review)

@IceClimbers Yes, some user reviews are useless and pointless but if a website gets money from a publisher to write positive reviews they are as useless and pointless, should be called advertising and not reviewing.

@10-zx

"@gb_nes_gamer
If people have the ability to speak, which they rightly should, that's going to happen. The best route of action is for everyone to grow thicker skin and stop caring as much"

Exactly. It is creepy how some people don't want others to express their opinions, whatever they are. It feels like going back in time to the worst period of history.

Nintendo doesn't listen to gamers nor to the gaming industry in general and that's why they shut down services early on and the online services are usually a mess. People were okay with that for a while because they were free but once Nintendo starts charging for them let's hope it's at least decent.

Also, people lashing out because of the price of third-party Switch ports is fair enough but Nintendo doesn't have to pay royalties and their ports are as expensive or more.

@KryptoKrunch scrolled past, they're still crying!

@BlueOcean

Absolutely. George Orwell's 1984 is applicable in this day and age more than ever. Blame it on Alphabet Inc., George Soros, Mainstream Media, and Mainstream Social Media. Also the millennials' complete lack of ability to accept criticism.

World's changing, in ways good and bad.

@WiltonRoots

Who's still crying?

Nintendo likes to have an absolute control over the image of their IPs, user reviews obviously go against that. It's why they've been, and still are, so against platforms like YouTube.

That said, who actually goes to the publisher's website for reviews? There couldn't be a more biased and censored place for that.

@10-zx Indeed. There's fanaticism and intolerance towards different opinions. If some people around here had any power I'd be terrified.

@ekwcll Not sure how much stock I'd put in that claim. It will come down to what the market looks like a few years down the road and what their competitors do. Though it's noteworthy that even long-lived Nintendo consoles like the DS and 3DS still only get one Mario Kart game. And a Mario Kart game released towards the end of the Switch era, whenever that might be, would still be a pretty large gap between installments.

@BlueOcean

Yup.