Hideki Kamiya Thinks The Switch Home Menu Is A "Piece Of Crap"

Agreed . Simplistic too much

Much better than my xbox one x

Well Hopefully this will be fixed with the newest update.All I want is spotify while I play games on Nintendo Switch but maybe that's too much hardware wise idk.PS4 did it.Also I was supposed to be the first comment but I was typing too slow apparently,I was also supposed to be the 2nd comment but alas..

@sixrings
@Mgene15
Neither of you are wrong, I think. The Xbox one is a mess with loads of rubbish. But the Switch one, as much as I enjoy the clean feel, could be much much more functional. Something like the 3DS one could be utterly splendid 😊

Maybe I’m alone in this opinion but I actually really like the home menu.
The eshop on the other hand...

'All Software' is kind of like a folder. The option to create, name and fill more folders like that would be nice.

More themes would be nice too. Keep them basic if slowing things down is a concern, but colours that tie-in to the different joy-con and Switch Lite options would be a good start.

I think that they should have (on the switch home)
-themes
-folders
-adding a option to have it smaller or bigger (the icons)

I really want folders, how hard can it be?

Having some actual control over app locations, as well as other things like themes and folders would help a lot.
But after three years it's clear these updates are. not a priority...

The shop menu isn't much better. The Wii had it best, and not just because of the music.

He’s in the know!

According to Spawnwave upcoming monday we’ll see an update to the switch. Perhaps Kamiya knows that’ll have an update for the menu?

Like its been mentioned I just got a xboxone and my god it's a mess I like the switch as its simple, that says, we have to get folders at some point right? I still can't believe it wasn't at launch but hey, Nintendo will Nintendo I guess

We should reply to Kamiya in Twitter and see what happens.

They really, REALLY, need to add folders. It shouldn´t be that hard!

I. Just. Want. Folders.

It's the menu. It's the hallway between the rooms of your console that represent the different games. Sure, you can decorate it but who spends any significant time in a /hallway/?

If you’re spending most of your time staring at the Home Menu instead of playing games then you’ve missed the point of any games console.

We didn’t even need one for the NES, SNES, and N64.

All i want from the switch are folders and more background options. The 3ds had both so why the long wait nintendo? Also, the switch is a tablet so let me use it like one. More apps please! Web browser, netflix etc

That's harsh but true. It needs folders and the ability to adjust icon sizes like what they added to the 3DS. My only hope is it doesn't make the system run worse like that 3DS update did on older systems. It's still nowhere near as bad as the Xbox One though. Microsoft can't design an operating system to save their lives.

It's still far better and more intuitive than any of the other main consoles.

I don't think there's much wrong with it, it's fast and on point. It's certainly better compared to PS4's convoluted mess of a menu which sometimes feels like a game in itself.

Switch home menu is bad but I'd take it over a slow OS any day. The upcoming Xbox One dashboard could be the right balance though.

Sometimes it’s form over function with Nintendo and this is one of those cases. They’ve chosen form in a few places with switch but they needed the messaging this time around

Indeed it needs an upgrade and a big one.
Also the Nintendo games need to upgrade their online just to invite friends to play online (smash Bros, mario kart)

It is trash and what's worse is theyve done it fine on previous consoles, so why are basic modern features still missing on the Switch?

Took me 10 minutes to find a game the other day in that mess I could have easily organised with something as simple as a folder, then had to download it too.

And slightly off topic, when is the eShop getting the most basic feature of a shopping cart?

Seeing as it's lasted almost three years by now, safe to assume it's an efficiently undemanding piece of crap in Nintendo's eyes. After you equip the previous two consoles with folders, themes, blackjack and music, there's no way you'll ditch it all overnight without having your reasons. Choices were made, and these are the choices for us to deal with - possibly until the next generation with a 6+ Gb RAM successor.

Personally, I like the big icons. I opted for small ones on 3DS to have access to more of the list at once, but it takes one tap to display the fancy big greeting on the upper screen anyway. And if I can survive managing 300+ titles in my Switch's "trash can", I dare guess it's not a completely bottleneck experience.😆

Ah, a "NintendoSoup translation", meaning, partially made up... ._.
They added 'fan boys' (what?), and even TL notes trying to make sense of the mess they had.

'The Nintendo Switch’s Home Menu is a piece of crap, you just get a couple sh***y gigantic game icons lined up in a row, and the rest of the games are tossed into a trash can called ‘All Games’… Nxntendo's never actually played the Switch, have they? What, once they've sold it they don't care...?'
'Hey guys who made the Nxntendo Switch, start off actually trying to play it sometime, k?'

I disagree. The Switch home menu is great. You wanna play a different game, you press left, you press A, you press R (if they’re not already arranged by title), and then you scroll down to the game you want. Honestly it would take more time to hunt through a folder. I have over 180 games on my Switch, and I’ve never had a problem getting to the game I want almost instantly. The only change I wish they’d make is an option to arrange games in the order they came out, but aside from that? It’s perfect. I hope they never change it.

The UI in my comparison :
PS4 > Switch >>>>> Xbox One
Both PS4 & Switch has similar design but PS4 has better themes.
Xbox One UI is a big mess.

But if compared with other Nintendo machines :
3DS >>>>> Wii U > Wii > Switch

Comparing the 3DS to the Switch, it looks like Nintendo went 1 step forward in hardware, and 5 steps back in software.

Eh if you have to go digging for a game you're prob not playing it currently.

Ayup, completely agree with the man.
While the menu was OK during launch, quick, minimalistic, snappy, the bigger your library gets, the less useful the whole thing becomes.

Suddenly, the minimalist UI requires more input than others if you want to play games you haven't played in a while.

It could use a complete overhaul at this point:
Functionality:
-Folders. That's more or less a given really.
-Expanded home screen. Customizable rows like, say, the new Steam update brought would be nice (Recently played, Favorites etc)
-Search engine. The search engine from the eShop is great, especially since it actually knows/learns game titles for auto completion. Use that for the library as well.
-More sorting options. Always welcome really. Maybe in addition to a custom tag system?

Cosmetics:
-Music. I can't be the only one who misses Nintendo's menu/shop music. Heck, the Wii's was so catchy and iconic that it became meme worthy. It lost a lot of character there.
-Themes. They already have a menu for it in place, currently only filled with a light and dark theme. That could easily be expanded with other color pallets to spice things up a bit.
The UI itself doesn't really offer much for complete overhaul themes though besides music and sound effects.

It still boggles my mind that Nintendo hasn't introduced more elaborate themes to the Switch like they have for the 3DS.

Everything is too big on it. Maybe thats just because its a handheld, but on t.v. the UI makes. The system look like a cheap Chinese console.

I like the home menu. Yes, it has flaws, but to call it a piece of crap is a bit far

Doesn’t bother me

Sometimes i wonder if they rushed the release of the Switch given how crappy the Home Menu and eShop Menu are... plus they added functions to the system that they don't even use which is kinda ridiculous, when will the game invites thing will finally be usable, the system is going to be 3 years old soon for Pete's sake! 😠

Considering what they were going through with the Wii U, the Switch may have most likely had been rushed for release...

I love how brutally honest he is

Absolutely agreed.

I disagree that "its a piece of crap". Could the Switch UI use some QoL improvements like folders to better help organize things as you want? Sure. Is it a sluggish, hard to navigate "piece of crap"? Not at all. Jump to the all games folder, select a style of sorting your games (alphabetically, played time, developer, etc.), and it makes it pretty easy to find what you want down the list. It loads pretty quickly, and is quick to scroll down and find what you want. Would folders on the main menu itself make that faster? Sure. But it is far from a piece of crap menu. Other things that would be nice would be music in the background and themes to personalize my system...but I still enjoy how fast and efficient the home menu is on my day one Switch.

I just wish it was as good as the 3DS’

At this point, I don't have much hope on Switch getting folders, background or themes
It truly is utterly disappointing, considering the 3DS does it
The eShop could use some help too

If you look on Nintendos website under maintence, it seems to indicate a system update is coming monday.

It's really not that bad. It could use some improvements, but it's not horrible.

Why the hell should we listen to the guy who brags about blocking people? He's not worthy of being taken seriously

@Highlar I agree with the whole background & themes with music thing.

Let me have alphabetized folders and a pretty Zelda theme.

I wouldn't call it trash but it's not good either. I'm nearing 100 games owned and everytime I'm having a Switch gaming night with friends and family it's a hassle to go through the libary to find the local multiplayer games. Either add more options for sorting the library or give us folders already.

Ever since the DS we’ve asked Nintendo for folders and every system since then they’ve given us folders in an update...so why don’t they just give us folders at the beginning?

Smh. It's simplistic. It's quick and does what it needs to do.
I would hate for the day they add all these little things and it'll be slow. Yes 3ds is great, but it takes time for all the things to load.

It may need some QoL things, but I would take fast over features. I feel like themes can be awesome, simple color changes , And maybe folders and icon size changes.... But Ill take the switch menu as it is right now. I just organize apathetically and done.

Lol, it’s the simplistic design and fast performance that I like, regarding the Switch's Home Menu. Wish, my PS4 Pro could also be that clean and fast.

I recently got a PS Vita, and I was shocked to find out that it has such a better UI than the Switch.

let's be fair. nintendo has never been good with making an os. that being said this is the best attempt thus far. PS4 still reigns supreme. details can be found for every game on the bar, including who is playing that game. details arent hidden away. even utilities have some peek functionality to it. at the same time the ui is simple, clean, and straight forward. with themes ps4 is visually appealing.

switch is spartan. im afraid that this will never change until next gen.

Kamiya said it, so now all you guys pretend to agree.

All of the big three’s menus are good. I just think some of you are incapable of simply navigating them.

I like the system UI. Its clean and by far the fastest, with less lag compared to Xbox and PS4.

A friend of mine said to me “what’s that game you’re playing? it looks tedious as hell”.......I was actually on the PS4 home menu!

Folders and wallpapers

He's 100% correct and I bet they'll say something about saving battery life. Nintendo's department sure have a bunch of clowns working for them when it comes to online and interfaces.

Better than the PS4's crossbar or whatever the heck that is. Like, it was okay when it had fewer main sections on the PS3. But now with unique main sections, loading ad media, multiple screens, and don't even get me started on finding anything in the store, the PS4's interface is just terrible.
I get the feeling the only fix they'd implement would be to make "All Games" the default.

I've always appreciated his honesty.

@MrGawain I guess why cut your grass if you just pass by it to go inside right?

It's a super quick loading UI, I would take that over something more flashy.

@KingBowser86 the steam one is horrendous now as well. They are just trying to sell you things in your face.

Hahahaha love him. So true though, its awful.

The problem is: to reach 'All Games' you need to scroll all the way to the end. It's a waste of time when you want to see all your games. This is a flaw in the UI, there should be an 'All Games' button on the screen at all time.

@DockEllisD Exactly this, it's a console, I play games on it, the more streamlined the UI the better to be honest. Maybe I'm just old school...

@oh_no_melon I actually prefer the wiiu home screen

@Grumblevolcano agreed. I'm all for improvements, but one thing I don't want to compromise is the instant on, speed of entry kind of ui.

Well... it kinda is. Needs an update.

Needs some work like the addition of folders and themes for those who want it, but I appreciate how snappy the home menu is. There's also not like the 17 different tabs and all these screens of different stuff going on.

I guess I don't care about a flashy home menu because l usually spend less than 10 seconds on the menu per session.

It's pretty wild that we don't have folders yet. A feature that was available in both of their previous devices.

With that said, I vastly prefer the Spartan simplicity of the Switch OS to the cluttered ones on PS4/Xbone.

I think the UI needs 2 improvements:
1. As everyone else on here has stated, give us the ability to create folders to organize our games.
2. Once the game icons reach a point where they would move into "All Games" make the game and folder icons 1/4 of their size so they are 2 rows x 2 columns in the place of a single icon. This would grant you 4 times the number of games/folders on the home menu. Once this fills up begin dropping the games that are least frequently used into " All Games".

@Jacob1092 Some options like the 3ds would be awesome. Add an Internet browser, and a Chat or party's like on Xbox, and PlayStation than the switch would be pretty good.

It could be better but it is already better than the xbox one or ps4.

I’d say it’s Nintendo’s trade off to keep the OS’s footprint small in memory, to free up more when playing games.

I’m not sure in the Tegras architecture but it could be using system memory for graphics as well as for running the games. Not sure how much you’d want to sacrifice for themes in terms of performance.

When you press the home button for example it’s nice and snappy back to home, however if you use themes or additional features you’d need to either a) keep those extra resources in memory so you can get back to the home screen as quick as you do now while sacrificing memory available to games or b) dump those resources back to the SSD and load them when you press home, but you’d be swapping data to/from memory which would affect load times.

It’s a trade off at the end of the day. I still think the switch should have come with that bit much more memory like 6GB. I did read somewhere that it originally was going to have 2GB right?

Features like folders etc I wouldn’t imagine would be at all consuming on memory and would be a good idea to add

I feel the whole ui is behind a wall and misses connectivity with the rest of the community/world.
simply said, its boring and based on reading nintendo advertisement and play games, thats it.

I miss direct partychat!!!, achievements, clubs, sharing screenshots or vids, twitch(should be able to broadcast).
also player reviews are important, nintendo games are not cheap it has to be in there,

the switch is a great hybrid console, but could be so much better.

Honestly to me the switch ui is almost perfect the only thing i would like is folders, it is simple and intuitive in general

Agreed 100%. I was under the impression that it was a temporary UI when it was released, why can't they just make the menu like the Wii U menu? I thought the Wii U menu was perfect.

@idrawrobots
honest i think the xbox one has the best ui.
it has everything.
even player reviews

I kinda wish we had an option to make the icons a tad bit smaller and have the way the games are sorted in the folder as a default i.e. more vertical then horizontal.

It needs a refresh. Badly. I know some are wedded to simplicity of it. But it's just bland and boring. And sure, the games are what's most important. Won't deny that. But presentation also matters as well.

@PALversusNTSC I thought it was better at launch than it is now but hopefully I like the new dashboard coming soon.

Now that one of the big boys spoke up I hope Nintendo will finally listen and change things up a little.

Not just the home menu but the eshop too. I recently booted up my Wii U to test out an HDMI switcher I bought and the first thing I found myself surprised at was how much better the Wii U menu and Eshop are. Same with 3DS. The Switch meanwhile has no folders, a rather poor layout in general, no music, no themes, nothing. This isn't even taking the other consoles like Xbox One X or PS4 into account. What we have right now looks more like a placeholder UI and Nintendo simply realized that fans will eat up any garbage we're given. On top of that, I don't know if it's just me, but there's noticeable lag when I'm using the Switch Eshop. I don't even understand how it can be lagging when there's virtually nothing on screen but some icons. I suffer no such lag on any other Eshop but the Switch. And don't tell me the Switch "can't handle" any of that, all of the features I've been talking about were on the freakin' 3DS.

All in all, yeah. It needs work. Hopefully we'll finally get folders in 2020.

@RadioHedgeFund Anyone who's having trouble finding the right door because they have too many.

just make the system more lively, if they have to add an extra 6 gb memory, fine by me.
the system could be so much more fun, then just turning it on and to play games.
it already feels like an outdated console, and thats not because of its concept, but it lacks features wich makes you use the console more often.

@Friendly maybe you've been corrected already but it was just speculation due to an online maintenance occurring. Like usual with Nintendo, don't get your hopes up. Probably nothing

I prefer simplicity when it comes to UIs. It is lacking in the features department, though. Some organizational methods would be greatly appreciated. Themes are also curiously absent. The eShop, on the other hand, could use a complete overhaul; one that includes lagless browsing and a catchy tune.

@First_Amendment you can just use spotify on your phone I dont understand why anyone wants this

I only needs 3 Folders: Recently Played, Downloaded Titles, Downloadable Titles.

To be honest, I don't care. But on the other hand I mostly play with cartridges.

the new nintendo switch(updated version) has to be different pretty soon, otherwise the succes will not continue like the wii-u did after the wii.

The home menu is perfectly fine. I wouldn’t say no to folders but I don’t need em and it does what it’s there for well.

The eshop on the other hand... Ah who am I kidding, none of the big boys can make a good digital store.

Can't disagree with him. It is basic as hell and ...kinda lame. I love my Switch but that Home screen is just bland.

You know what was a piece of crap? Astral Chain's camera, especially during battle. It was my number one problem with that game, despite loving it.

@Gravitron it's a whole diffrent expiernce having spotify run while listening to your games own sounds with headphones.I didn't get it either until I did it on PS4

@Jacob1092 I would love it if folders can be made.

It is kinda boring and folders are a must but it doesn’t lag like my PS4 home menu does sometimes it can be an ordeal just to close an application

I mean... I don’t have a problem with it necessarily as it’s nice and clean and simple. But yes, how the other games get tossed into a can is kind of undesirable. But honestly, what is it the recent 10 games that stay visible at all times? That kind of makes sense too; I spend more time playing the games than I do looking at them in the menu. I can see an argument both ways. Maybe they can allow us to toggle between the current way and a new way they come out with?

One thing we can definitely all agree on is how much of an improvement themes would make. Now that’s what I wanna see personally.

Its crap. 2 gens behind. Not even an option for a wallpaper let alone folders etc

I don’t mind it. But it still could always be better.

Add themes
Make the icons smaller and have them showing more than one row
Folders.
All of these would make the switch home screen better

@MrGawain those consoles didn't have digital downloads iirc.

It's functional and easy. That is all that I care about. Add too much BS and it just becomes a cluster.

@Emilia if you've had a PSP before would you tell me the diffrence in quality that your seeing?

@First_Amendment Sorry, I haven't ever used a PSP.

I presume the update is coming monday?

I don't mind it. Folders and themes are massively overdue though. I doubt an achievement system is coming. As much as I personally would like one, realistically Nintendo would have done something on that front a long time ago if it was ever going to happen.

I read somewhere that the OS was purposely stripped to bare minimum to ensure the system starts quickly. Folders would be nice, but not at the expense of efficiency

Someone who talks like this guy, whoever that is, is a piece of..

The eshop can use a big revamp too!! The Wii U’s is beautiful in comparison!!

@sixrings I don't agree. On Xbox One you can pin 40 game icons in any order on home screen, and have folder support. Switch have none of this. Switch menu system is as bad as on PS4.

Oversimplifying things make things harder to use. Just look at PS4, Windows Phone 8, Windows 10, Win 8 etc.
All have useless menus.

Wii U overall had the best menu system, but as we know none of the good things from Wii U carried over to Switch.
Nintendo prefered to make things worse than Wii U instead.

I just want the UI to open with the "Library View" but with a frozen cell row across the top that has my "most recent" or "favorite" games.

I don't care about folders, or themes, or any of that stuff. I spend 99.99999% of my time on my Switch playing games, not staring at the UI screens.

@Emilia it's cool,I've recently bought a PS Vita as well and wanted to know.Hope you enjoy yours

@Expa0

Lol @ that last sentence.

All it really needs are folders, the "all programs" option is still a mess if you have lots of games and apps and of course it's not a solution. They'll probably never give us themes considering the explanation about wanting to have a seamless performance when going back and forth between tv and handheld modes, at least letting you use screenshots as background should be an option. I know all of these features took a while to arrive on 3ds but precisely for that reason folders should have arrived at release date

Folders. We need folders. Now, Nintendo !

I can't even imagine how my 3DS home menu would look like now if there was no folder system. As soon as you got more than six or seven games, folders isn't an option. It's a necessity !

Hopefully it will be announced on january 6th ? Maybe Kamiya is aware of that, and that's why he allowed himself to say such thing. Or not. Who knows, with this mad man ?! ! xD

Personally out of all home consoles, I prefer the Switches UI. Very simplistic and clean.

On the other extreme, I hate the Xbox UI. Very cluttered!

All I want is folders on the Switch. I have more than 125 titles on my Switch, would be so much easier to find stuff if I could just organise them!

@Onion I still sometimes visit the 3ds eshop and lags quite a bit and even worse it crashes out of nowhere, it's rather infrequent but it does happen. What I find more annoying is when the system stutters in the home screen if you're using a theme with a lot of effects or music

I certainly would lile folders to sort the games in, especially one for games that need cartridges since they appear even when no card is inserted. More themes would be nice too. I just hope they don't add music that can't be turned off; that was my gripe with the 3DS and Wii menus.

For me, whenever I navigate the xbox one menu, it reminds me how much I more I like the Switch menu. This article makes a decent argument, though.

@PALversusNTSC

Speak for yourself dude. The only feature I need from it they have in spades. And that's games. Any of that other bull$#!t is icing on one of the many cakes that I already have had forever. Out of the three consoles, it's the one that's played the most hands down. One's basically a doorstop, the other gets mostly PUBG runs, some Madden thrown in along with some Gears here & there & the rest is Switch. I know, crazy times we're in where you buy a games console to play games eh?

As of April 2019: "The new firmware update adds game sorting, which lets you organize your home screen by a few categories. You can order games by last played, total play time, alphabetical by title, and publisher, so all Nintendo games would be together, and all Capcom games, etc. "

@Hordak

Straight up facts! Way too busy gaming to be fretting such asinine things. Especially given how few hours there are in the day for me to actually squeeze gaming time in given all the other life things going on.

@Bon_Kurei I don't know why Nintendo did away with gift options. I actually utilized those a few times. Shopping carts would be nice too, and I think they would also be more convenient for Nintendo with having to deal with fewer credit card fees and purchase records from people who buy lots of eshop content in one visit.

Like with so many other things about the Switch, what makes this particularly annoying is that Nintendo had figured this out before. They had functional UI on the Wii U and 3DS. Now they broke it.

@Dodger Miyamoto probably thought they weren't "innovative" enough. He may be a talented game designer, but he has too much control at that company and I don't know if I'll ever forgive him for ruining Dinosaur Planet.

I wish there was an option (mimicking the Wii U and 3DS), that games you have in physical form didn't show up on the screen. I have a lot of Switch games and it would make more sense if only the digital only games displayed.

I agree. I don't even have that many games on my switch and it's still a hassle to look for them. Being able to rearrange how you want them and push back the stuff you'd rather not see along with nice themes that even come with great music is what makes the 3ds and PS4 menus so great. Doesn't matter if you're on the menu for a minute or 5 hours, it's just better to be able to personalize your console as you see fit.

I could care less. My switch can be on and in a game in less then 3 seconds, who cares what the menu looks like.
After that, it’s bright, responsive, and organized with no clutter. It puts your games in order of last played. I guess I spend more time playing a game then worrying about themes for my 3ds.

@Bon_Kurei You’re not alone. I like it. In the very least I can say that it’s not a piece of crap, and I legit don’t understand how anyone could think it is.

@sixrings x ones interface kicks the snot out of Switch’s, her outta here.

Sure all those things would be nice but I think what we need is more stability, right? They are still stabilizing the 3DS. Sometimes I don’t think full stability will ever be achieved.

I disagree, it's great.

@Judal27 Try arranging your games in alphabetical order. Makes it a lot easier to find games.

@Tao I don’t get how so many people seem to have such a hard time finding games. Just arrange them in alphabetical order. Problem solved. I have like 60+ games on my Switch and I’ve never had any trouble finding the ones I want.

I think it's "fine", not bad or good.

The games I'm currently playing are at the forefront which means switching (between digital) games I'm actively playing is quick.

It's is a bugger if I'm going looking for something in particular. Of cause I'd like extra features but I can easily live with the current home UI

I mean, I don't like the home menu that much either, but daaaamn, I think he's exaggerating, it's not the end of the world haha

Keep it simple please. If my switch broke I can get another and link my account and to the best of my knowledge not loose anything.

The 3DS is one of my favourite consoles ever but having recently just lost 10 years of street pass, puzzle swap, face raiders, AR, Friends, Mii's all tied to the complex unit and internal save. It's made me appreciate the Nintendo pre DSi/Wii era... with simplistic consoles and basic interface.

I know people are asking maybe for simple custom options but I like this back to basic approach Nintendo has with the Switch Home menu.

The Switch home menu took a major step backwards especially compared to the 3DS menu. The 3DS had resizable menu icons, folders, reorganization, themes with music and sounds and BADGES!

I 100% disagree the Switch menu is basic and simplistic. You can find ANYTHING you need within SECONDS.

On the Wii U, try to go from a cold boot into a new game downloaded from the eShop. Well, before you could actually download anything you would have to load the eshop (1-2 minutes), then find the game (really slow eShop experience), go to 4 different screens to start the download. Go back to the home menu. Wait for it to download. And then play.

On the Switch the eShop loads in < 5 seconds, finding and downloading a game is also really quick and responsive.

Or try changing a setting on the Wii U. 30 seconds! to go into the settings menu. On the Switch INSTANT.

On the 3DS wait times are even worse, and the 3DS got noticeably slower when they added themes. (You don't really notice this on the "new" systems, but on an old 3DS / 2DS the system gets really slow if you load a non-standard theme)

Folders: folders are useless, it requires going into 4-5 menu's to get to one game if you don't know in what folder it is.

I DO NOT want folders or themes slowing down the Switch.

I could see the benefit from a "live page" style (see PS4) when selecting a game on the home screen. But then it should load automatically and only after I pause after selecting a game (so it wouldn't slow anything down), also loading a game should be never more than one click.

I like it better than the other systems home screens, except 3DS. That’s what they should mirror - and it wouldn’t take much. Folders and custom organization, and themes w/ sound.

And while I worry about custom themes/sound effecting performance, there’s an easy solution to that as well - While browsing eShop/playing a game throw the custom dash into a virtual buffer on the system memory and run a minimalist dash.

i just want a search by number of players option

Couldn't possibly disagree more.

The UI is absolutely fine. What more do you need? It's a gaming device. You're not meant to be on the screen looking at your games for more than a few seconds.

I don’t see much of a difference between the one on Switch and the PS4. PS4 has more options, but I never use them.

@Dm9982 The 3DS UI is really slow compared to the Switch UI.

@Moonlessky The Switch is a games console and a handheld games console. It's not a tablet. That's only the form factor. You can't play games like Super Mario Odyssey on a tablet.

Adding Netflix is up to netflix to make a Switch app. We already have Youtube and others on the Switch. So it can already be done, they (Netflix) just doesn't want to.

Adding a browser is dangerous because it would make it easier for hackers to hack the system.

@thaimbomb

One is a physical space others will live with and see the other is a personal virtual space that is just there to label what’s inside. It isn’t the same thing at all.

My 7-year old daughter and I broke out our respective 3DS units the other day for the first time in months. She immediately remarked at how awesome it was that the 3DS home menu and eshop both had a ton of personality (her exact words were "this is so cute") and how the Switch was "boring; yuck."

Add the fact that it becomes ridiculously challenging to find games in a 512GB micro sd and the Switch UI takes barebones to the extreme. Absolutely awful.

@gangsterswedish luckily software usually isn't designed by 7-year olds. True the Switch menu is "boring" but also reliable, stable and fast.

3 things the 3DS menu are not.

Maybe Nintendo will take notice and finally do something about it.

The Switch in general basically has no personality...it's just, boring...
(meant the menu and apps, stuff like that, not the system itself. xD)

"Personality" in a menu is a weird request. Just let me get to the games faster, add folders and the menu is perfect. Maybe not the Wii, but the Wii U and especially the 3DS were super bloated and look dated.

Folders are the only thing I’d want. Themes - Pass— Unnecessary clutter. Let’s have something that doesn’t slog down the zippy switch

I like the simplicity.
What its lacking is folders to organize instead one blanket "all games" folder.

@NoTinderLife Hmmm....that sounds like it could be a glitch on your Switch if it's that slow, when I push to the right on the home page it takes no more than a second to get to All Games...

@Ventilator how is it harder to see? Its literally the same as switch but if you press down on a game you get more info about it.

@BAN I'd rather see my Xenoblade games at the front even if I'm not currently playing them which alphabetical order does not do. I love being able to turn on my PS4, and hearing aerith's theme with an FF7 theme while also seeing Persona 5, kingdom hearts, and shadow of the Colossus icons at the front, along with the games I'm currently playing: overwatch and dark cloud.
The same goes for my 3ds. If you don't care about that sorta thing, that's completely fine but that's why options is a thing. And Ninty should really be giving people more options. Not taking away.

@First_Amendment Ahh I thought it was just spotify like the hulu or youtube apps. I sorta get that I remember playing my own music in GTA on the original Xbox. I listen to audiobooks while I play games and rarely play with game sound unless it's an RPG where the narrative actually matters. I cant imagine playing rocket league listening to that horrible in game music. I guess the spotify thing just isnt something I want but I understand your point.

@DrDaisy We actually know why Nintendo removed gift options, it's because the 3DS onwards had real money as the digital currency rather than points. It seems to be the same reason why XB1 gifting is region locked.

It really sucks but the logic is that points had the exchange rates taken into account when buying points so the prices for games and DLC in points were the same everywhere. Meanwhile with real money, you had the exchange rates taken into account with the actual game prices so people could use gifting to take advantage of exchange rates.

@NoTinderLife If you push left from the first icon it goes to the All Games tab.

I think most of you have hit on the simple fixes Nintendo can and should make happen. It doesn't need a complete overhaul per se, but three things would make a huge difference:

• Folders
• Themes
• Sorting/Resizing Options

Preach it! The UI is so terrible I've actually considered selling my Switch over it, especially the lack of folders.

I think it's long past time for Switch fans to acknowledge that Nintendo is doing the bare minimum this gen. Even the hardware isn't up to Nintendo's standards.

Lol...So I must be alone. I like the Switch's simple and clean home menu. Though I definitely agree I'd like the option to see all my games by default, rather than clicking "all games". But I prefer the menu t the ones on my PS4 and X1. Just my opinion, don't raze me.

@RadioHedgeFund No one wants to spend time in 'the hallway'. But because of the current layout, that's what we have to do. The whole point of making changes like adding folders or pinning applications is so you can get out the hallway and into the games more quickly.

Yep it's awful but not half as bad as the eshop that's just a huge mess

Switch's Home Menu does need improvement. the games on the other hand are excellent so far. third party wise, i have plenty of options of buying those.

I like the simplicity of the OS, personally and find both the xbox and ps4 to be too busy. I’m able to keep the games I’m working on front and center while the other stuff is sitting in order waiting for me (much like my bookshelves of games). I like Kamiya but I don’t think he can do better.

I think the home menu is fine. The problem is there aren't any damn themes. It's boring.

After the WiiU menu, the minimalism is welcome. For some reason, the sound of the WiiU menu always made me want to turn the system off...

The entire Switch OS is garbage. Missing tons of features - UI is not the main issue. it needs tons of work.

@Tao it took you 10min to find the game you wanted to play?? Not good with your ABCs?

@Gravitron someone gave you a dislike so I gave you a like because they didn't say why

@First_Amendment assuming they think I'm pompous for saying I listen to audiobooks rather than music or maybe they like the music in rocket league and considered my take harsh. I would like to know why but it doesnt bother me

@Judal27 That’s cool I guess? I’ve never understood the obsession people have with this sort of thing. I put a game in or find it in the menu and then I play it. I don’t sit there in the menu soaking in the sights and sounds because that’s not the point of a gaming system. But maybe I’m just old. Or old fashioned 🤷‍♂️

EDIT: Lol at the whole wanting Xenoblade to show up first in your menu thing. If it’s alphabetical and Xenoblade is last in that order, just scroll down for like .25 seconds and voila. I mean, come on. And if you’re not even playing them, who cares?? This is just nitpicking of the highest order.

@Shmupsnstuff i guess I just don’t get it... if the game you want to play is a physical game, after you insert it, the icon is automatically moved to the first icon position... or if it’s a digital game, and it’s not in your most recent played games, you open up all software and all the titles are in alphabetical order (or however you have it sorted)... how does that take you anymore than 5secs to get into a game??

I just want to add that my criticism of the home menu doesn't, in any way, affect my enjoyment of the Switch. I think it's a fabulous console. I enjoy it immensely. But that doesn't mean it's above reproach.

I will say if there was one hill I had to die on, it's the eShop and how that seriously needs an overhaul. There's things about it that make absolutely no sense. The deals section being one that irks me. Why aren't the bundles coupled with the standard editions in the same areas on the list? Why is it just an endless list of stuff?

And why do I need to go into search function to access demos? That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever

I'm fine with the home menu. Themes would be very cool but whatever. Not a big deal.

THE ESHOP HOWEVER, IS A MESS. With loads of junk coming out it looks more like Steam with the added trouble of not finding things or things being label weird.

Though I do agree with sir Kamiya, I grew up when consoles don't have or need UI just as long as it plays my physical games so this doesn't bother me as much. Every physical games I own are my priority, every digital games to me are merely afterthoughts which is why I don't play games like Star Ocean, Romancing SaGa 2 & 3, and Grandia 1 & 2 that much cause they are all digital on Switch while games like Ni no Kuni, Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, Dragon's Dogma, Final Fantasy 7, 8, 10, and 12 all got my priority to play due to being physical and playable.

@C3dr4c

The Xbox 360 had a nice UI at launch, then Microsoft kept reworking it, while also making it worse and incredibly laggy and unresponsive.

The Xbox One UI? Ugh, it’s always been horrible. How Microsoft can’t get it right, being a software company and all, is dumbfounding.

The Switch’s lack of features is nice in a way, I don’t want to see the home screen cluttered with ads like on the Xbox.

I still think Sony has the best UI with the cross media bar. Sure, it’s not perfect, but it’s more simplistic, not loaded with bloat, and lets us organize things in folders nicely.

@Bon_Kurei

All Nintendo has to do is add themes, let us make our own backgrounds with our game screenshots, and for the love of all that is holy, just give us folders already!

As for the eShop, it needs a ton of work, starting with a complete redesign. To be fair, all the consoles storefronts are lacking. Still, I give the Xbox the lowest score as usual. It’s UI along with its on console store are horrid!

@able_to_think I disagree. Windows 10X looks amazing. Maybe if Microsoft did something like that for the Xbox One, it wouldn't look like such a dumpster fire.

While I agree completely that the home menu is basic and bland and in need of an update, I certainly do not agree about it being a piece of crap. It's also snappy and fast and very simple. It's got a lot of room for improvement but it's not total crap.

Someone at Nintendo soup apparently mistranslated this quote.

I just can't believe the Switch home menu hasn't been updated in the (nearly) 3 years since the console launched.

@BAN The amount of time to scroll through the games, no matter how short, was already trivialized years ago by other consoles including ones made by Ninty themselves. It's literally a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" situation.
I'm not nitpicking nor am I making it a big deal. It's a problem that a dev took issue with and i said my piece as to why I do as well.

Why do I want games im not currently playing in the front? I already said in this thread that being able to personalize your console is better than not being able to at all. I like seeing my favorite games' icons at the front/top, that's why I said I'd like to have Xenoblade in the front even though I'm not currently playing it and gave my ps4 example. It's no different than wanting to customize your phone with wallpapers and such.

Folders for it’s three year anniversary...maybe.
It’s quite outrageous when you think about it.

@Trajan I didn't say it were harder to see on Wii U.

Wii U could have like 16 folders on main screen to easily sort games, which made it easier to see.

@Judal27 So many points to touch on. One, Nintendo’s last few generations of handhelds and home consoles were perpetually ridiculed for being too silly and childish in their UX/UI designs, so with Switch they decided to pare it down to the bare minimum in response to that, and this is what we get. Is it good or bad? Obviously it’s subjective. I’m fine with it because again, I don’t really care about this sort of thing that much.

Two, this isn’t just any dev, it’s Hideki Kamiya, a guy who prides himself on being a malcontent on almost everything he ever talks about, and he talks A LOT. So it doesn’t really mean much if he complains about something, because he is constantly complaining about something.

And three, I don’t consider there to be much similarity between a game console and a cellphone, beyond a superficial level. The amount of time I spend on the home screen of my Switch is probably significantly less than 1%, whereas with my phone I am constantly swapping between various apps and websites. My engagement time with any one app is incredibly brief compared to the amount of time I’ll spend on a single game on Switch, then it’s back out to the home menu and onto the next thing. I (and presumably most people) don’t use game consoles like that, so I couldn’t care less about how pretty or customized the home screen is. The only thing I personally give a crap about is how quickly the OS can launch and run games.

The home menu is functional and fast. What more could you ask for? I love it.

It shows you nicely the recent played games. What else do you really need? Play your games, and get over it.

But some people just likes it bloated and slow like the Wii U home menu. You can't help them!

Who's this guy and why does he think his opinion has any relevance?

@Coxula His opinion does have relevance, his company Platinum Games is one of the top developers for exclusive Nintendo titles. (Bayonetta, Astral Chain) also known for their successful Nier Automata game on PS4.

At least let us use screenshots as wallpapers rather than a blank background. Literally no effect on system performance

I'd argue it's one of the better home menus I've been subjected to on a console, but I'm very aware of the problem he's mentioning.

I'm a bit of a Tetris addict, so Tetris is ALWAYS the front game, essentially egging me on to play again. If I ever convince myself to play the cartridge I have in the system, I opt for clickling it out and back in, to make it appear up front, instead of trying to look for it in "All Games".

If people then also tend to have Smash Bros. and Mario Kart in steady rotation, Kamiya is certainly right that Nintendo's own games are all you'll see whenenver you turn the system on.

Not sure what the problem is. I would rather have something that works and boots up super quick, than something like the PS4 which is just so so slow. Typical Nintendo “fans” wanting something they don’t have & as soon as they get it they’ll be whinging about something else (NES/SNES games spring to mind).

@Kalmaro the music, tho

He's not wrong. For us to be basically three years in and have no themes and folders is pretty weak.

@Bon_Kurei,

The Switch home menu is awesome, it's quick to open and shut games, it's a very easy menu to navigate, my Xbox One X is like some kind of over complicated mess just like the Ps4.

The Switch home screen menu could do with some new tweaks, not all related to the menu itself, the Nintendo e-Shop could with some better organizing, although good luck with that considering how many titles are on there, and the home menu would benefit from some themes, this I thought would already be on the way as the Switch Lite as released, and Nintendo do want to tempt the 3DS crowd over, plus there is good money to be made from downloadable Nintendo themes, we do need some sort of folder system, I know many people have been asking for that for ages, and again considering the lite's release I would be not surprised to see it coming soon, a few more apps would be nice too, internet browser was always one of the my most used things on the Wii U.

@popey1980,

I do remember people complaining how slow the Wii U's home screen was, even after updates it was still painfully slow when you wanted to switch between games and apps.

@MrGawain That's because those systems didn't let you download hundreds of games.

@Zimon,

Folders would be nice but it's not the end of the world we do not have them, and it's not some sort of right for us to expect them, Nintendo said from the off that the Home screen would be free from clutter to make it's speed a priority after the issues with the Wii U's menu screen, which had to have quite a few updates to make it bearable.

I mean... you CAN say he’s wrong... watch, it’s easy:

He’s wrong. It’s nice and clean and simple. Much better than the majority of other consoles.

@hakjie11,

So what?, he makes games for the console, any menu choices or hardware is up to Nintendo how they implement them.

I like the simplicity of the main Menu, but I do think Folders would be an amazing addition.

Heck, having an option to boot in the "All Games" menu would be a nice step forward because I am finding games I forgot I had in my library simply because I only see a few recent titles.

But Folders is the ONLY thing I want from the Main Menu.

The Switch home menu is perfect for 99% of users. It gives you really fast access to the last 10 games you played, which is almost always what you want. It's so incredibly rare that I want to go to the 'all games' menu, and when I do it works fine.

I can see why people want more configuration, but I know I'd rather have a fast menu than a configurable one.

@Metalpug79 That would make sense if it was actually ordered alphabetically. Considering the game I was looking for, Blazblue, turned up towards the end of the list among Steamworld Dig and Ori, I doubt my spelling had anything to do with it.

Or, OR, I could just have some folders so I can throw fighting games in a folder, platformers in another, so on, so fourth. Even phones have folders these days, it's an utterly basic feature for modern devices that allow you to store a plethora of software on the device itself, a basic feature that in typical Nintedno fashion they don't have.

well he is not wrong

The Switch is the worst Nintendo console when it comes to game sorting and accurate playtime options compared to Wii U, 3DS, Wii, and DS.

The Wii and DS did it better, by having you set up your own arrangement of games, and the Wii U and 3DS added folders to that.

It doesn't matter to me how the menu is compared to Xbox or PlayStation, what matters is that it's worse than the last four Nintendo consoles.

It's hard to know how deliberate a design choice it is but I think Nintendo have done Switch right in terms of designing the UX so you can easily buy and play games and do nothing else.

I play a lot more games on my Switch precisely because I'm spending less time faffing about with themes and less time organising my collection into neat little folders.

the ui looks like it was an afterthought from a bunch of amateurs

@BAN I can't speak on Wii u cause i don't own it nor do I visit threads about it. As for the 3ds, I've never once seen it get criticism over being a childish UI. About the only criticism I've seen of UIs in general is whether they're too crowded or too slow.
And even then I wouldn't consider it childish cause it pretty much comes blank right out the box. It certainly isn't crowded when you can rearrange the apps however you like. And it being slow is going to differ between people cause I've never experienced any slowness unless you count the eShop. I should mention I use the new 3ds so that is obviously a factor.

The point is that he mentioned the problem and it got others talking about it. It doesn't matter at all that he apparently complains a lot. In the end there are people that agree with him, but they arent going around petitioning to end Ninty because they don't give us the option to reduce the ".25 secs" it takes to get to games.

Of course you don't because you cant anyway lmao. There's a reason there are people calling it "barebones", and "lacking in features". I can't speak for everyone else, but I know I'm certainly not the only one that would jump back and forth between my games and miiverse back when it was still a thing. Not to mention the free little minigame they added that let you place badges to specifically decorate your menu lol. And I still do a very similar thing on ps4.
So I'd say I did some jumping around the menu. Maybe not as much as my phone, but in the end it wouldnt even matter cause my point is that you don't buy a phone to stare at your UI but you'd still like to customize it. We all buy consoles for the games (I hope lol). That doesn't mean there can't or shouldn't be complimentary features that have been almost standard these last years or so.

This is only speaking the truth. I love the Switch, but the UI is poor and looks hideous on the TV due to 720p resolution when the console supports 1080. Everything is jagged and dark gray/black or white.

@johnvboy I can’t get over how physically exhausting it is to move your thumb around for a few seconds to find a game for some people in here. Then to throw on a game and move their thumb around for hours on end. It’s like “urgh it’s on the second row!!!??!! To the comment section!” Even with folders the scrolling won’t be over. 😂

Not half as bad as scrolling through the eShop and having to wait every second for 4 icons games to load.

@HumanDog,

That sounds like a slow connection speed to me, or the servers getting a little overloaded.

Is the update acfually coming on the 6th/7th or is it coming before then? Cos it sesms weird that an update would drop at the same time as server maintence.

@johnvboy Sounds like you have no idea what you're talking about. Glassfiber internet here.You must have poor internet that you can't notice the difference. Everything must be slow at your house.

@HumanDog,

I do know what I am talking about, I have the latest internet and get good speeds, and have little issue with the e-Shop taking ages to load thumbnails, I did say it "Sounds like", not that it was your issue, you have now stated you have good internet, well done sir.

I enjoy the SPEED of the Switch's interface, and at least the all games list can be alphabetized, that's all I need. But it would be nice if we could organize into folders on the home screen, and also access all games from the start rather than the end of the most-recent list.