A couple of months ago we reached out to Nintendo Life readers with our Switch Summer Survey, a chunky questionnaire designed (with your help) to assess the state of all things Nintendo and Switch as the console cruises through its eighth year - and as our thoughts inevitably turn to its successor.
This 70-question blowout covered everything from the Switch eShop to Joy-Con drift, your past Nintendo consoles to your hopes for the future, not to mention a selection of posers about your favourite Nintendo-focused website. Since summer ended, our data monkeys have been crunching the numbers and it's time for the results!
All questions were optional and not everyone who participated answered every single one - responses ranged between approximately 6,000 to 10,000 unique people, so a big thank you to everyone who took the time to answer.
Let's dive into the data, shall we? Starting with you.
You & Your Gaming Habits
In terms of location, just under 50% of you are in the US with 20% of you residing in the UK which leaves around a third of you living outside the US/UK. There were 52% of you having at least one child in the household of which 25% of you said you play Switch games together co-op, nice.
When it comes to weekly gaming time, roughly 33% of respondees play up to five hours of games a week, slightly more play between six and ten hours, with the remainder going well into double figures.
Action, Adventure, Platformer, and RPG are the preferred genres, with 61% saying they play mostly single-player Switch games. Breath of the Wild (18%), Animal Crossing (15%), and Tears of the Kingdom (12%) take the podium for Switch game with the most hours logged.
17% of respondees are rocking a gaming PC, while 15% supplement their Switch with a PS5 versus 12% with an Xbox (Xbox Series X: 7%, Series S: 5%). Only 0.3% have never owned a previous Nintendo system (the most popular were Wii and 3DS).
Switch - Games, Online, Hardware
Focusing on the Switch experience, of all the Switches you own, 56% are 'Standard Switch', compared to 16% 'Switch Lite' and 27% were 'Switch OLED's.
Which Nintendo Switch(s) does your household own? (11,463 votes)
- Standard Switch
- Switch Lite
- Switch OLED
- None 0.4%
The most popular micro SD Card was a measly 128GB with 256GB coming a very close second. Only 18% of you have a card with 1TB or more capacity. Time to upgrade when Switch 2 comes along?
Looking at the eShop, 'Adequate' is the most common description of the eShop browsing experience, followed by 'Poor', so there's definite room for improvement there, Nintendo. 99% of respondees have a Nintendo Account, with 17% having them in multiple regions.
A quarter of respondees make their own lists or spreadsheets to keep track of upcoming games, with 19% turning to good ol' Deku Deals and 16% making use of Nintendo Life's Games Collection functionality.
Turning to Nintendo Switch Online, one in five respondees don't currently subscribe to NSO. Of those who do, 23% don't play retro games via the apps at all, with just 20% playing once a week or more. People generally agree that Nintendo Switch online represents good value, though.
How strongly do you agree that Nintendo Switch Online represents good value? (6,585 votes)
- Strongly agree
- Agree
- Neutral
- Disagree
- Strongly disagree
Moving on to the hardware — and controllers specifically — a whopping 53% have had Joy-Con drift troubles, with loose Joy-Con rails affecting 16%. Just 20% said they'd had no Switch hardware issues whatsoever. Regarding pad preferences, 64% prefer the Pro Controller over Joy-Con (22%), with the remainder liking third-party alternatives better.
Over half, 51% of you, said that Switch's battery life was 'Good' with 16% saying it was 'Excellent' and only 5% rating it 'Poor'. Additionally, 55% of you play Switch mostly 'Docked' and 44% in 'Handheld'. Nintendo really did get the balance right with this one didn't they?
Apparently, between all of you lovely readers, you own a staggering 93,196 loose amiibo and 22,714 boxed amiibo. Won't somebody set them free?!
Of the 600,000+ games that you own, 58% were purchased digitally via the eShop and 42% were purchased as physical games. When asked about their preference over physical games, the highest factor was having a hard copy of a game that can't be removed from the eShop.
Which factors determine if you buy physical or not? (16,407 votes)
- Design/Artwork
- Favourite Series or Character
- Price
- Hard copy of the game (that can't be removed from the eShop)
- Resale Ability
- Special Editions
- Other
1 in 20 respondees say that they have experimented with modding their system's firmware in some way. Perhaps the biggest surprise of the survey is that only a paltry 0.6% have ever taken their Switch to a rooftop party. Scandalous!
You & Nintendo (Life)
Getting the latest news, reviews, and previews — in that order — are the three top reasons you lovely people frequent nintendolife.com for all your lovely Nintendo-related content needs, with our features just behind them. 54% of you use Nintendo Life as your primary source of Nintendo info, with YouTube taking up another 25%.
Which of the following do you consider your primary source of Nintendo info? (6,284 votes)
- Nintendo Life
- Official Nintendo Website/Social
- Other Gaming Website(s)
- Twitter/X
- YouTube
- Twitch 0.1%
- Other
With regards to the effect of our reviews, 30% of you said that our reviews 'Often' influence your buying decisions and a further 47% said 'Sometimes'. Only 8% of you said our reviews 'Never' influence you.
When it comes to your favourite Nintendo series, The Legend of Zelda (39%) won by a mile. Super Mario (14%) took silver, with Pokémon (9%) in third place and Metroid (6%) and Xenoblade (5%) — which is also people's favourite series they've been introduced to on Switch — bringing up the rear. Of course, the correct answer was F-Zero, which just 0.8% of you picked.
Star Fox, Kid Icarus, and Wario Land are the series without a Switch entry that you most want to see return, and as expected, a brand new Mario or Zelda would be most likely to make you pick up a Switch 2 on day one. Speaking of which, let's look to the future...
Switch 2 & The Future
31% would like to see Game Pass come to Switch. The same percentage of people (though not necessarily the same people, of course!) said they wouldn't be interested in having streaming apps on Switch, although Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video were the top picks for everyone else.
What is your most desired feature for Switch 2? (6,146 votes)
- Bigger screen
- Better battery life
- A new unique feature
- Better performance in handheld mode
- Better performance when docked (eg. 4K/DLSS)
- Better ports of multi-platform games
- StreetPass
- Other
Asked about your most desired feature for Switch 2, better performance in docked and handheld modes were the most common responses, with the closely related 'Better ports of multiplatform games' coming in third. 7% are hoping for the return of the glorious StreetPass, while 11% want a totally new unique feature thrown into the mix.
And Finally...
Our thanks to all who responded, especially those who answered the tough questions. Things like 'Do you play your Switch on the toilet?' to which 55% responded "Never!"... although we're not sure we believe them. A shockingly untrustworthy 71% of respondees said they hadn't ever licked a Switch game cartridge, either. How could anyone resist that delicious, bitter twang!
And there we go - an intriguing glimpse at the Switch lover's gaming history and habits as we stand on the cusp of the next generation!
Comments 71
Never licked a cartridge in my life and never played my Switch on the toilet and I'm proud of it.
My fav part is the one that says that most readers here think that the NSO is a good value.
Further proves the whole "vocal minority" argument.
"A shockingly untrustworthy 71% of respondees said they hadn't ever licked a Switch game cartridge, either."
Whenever I get a new Switch game, I "christen" it by licking the cartridge. Just once. I'm not ashamed.
(I don't do this for used games because I'm silly, not foolish!)
When you live in a house like mine and have an unfortunate amount of time on the pot, playing a single match of Master Duel is enough to make you forget the experience, assuming you aren't trying to ignore the pain that day.
Of course, getting really invested in a switch game you never want to put down is great too, since you can just undock the system and continue your business while doing your business. Perfect for RPGs and twitch action games.... or anything really
I never played video games on the toilet because I thought it was just nasty. That is, until I got into college and had pretty much no free time my first semester with 17 credit hours. I realized if I wanted to make time for gaming, I was going to have to learn to multitask. Now, I always take my Switch or 3DS to the toilet with me. If I'm about to have the runs, I hold that sucker in until I figure out which cartridge I want to put in.
Some might say this is TMI, but I say it's not enough information, if you ask me 😏😉
We’re almost there, my fellow Americans. We just need a few more of us, and we’ll have the majority needed to take over Nintendo Life. No more “blimeys” or “colours,” just bald eagles and patriotism.
Super fun read. Thanks for putting it together!
@Solomon_Rambling WHAT ON EARTH IS A KILOMETER 🔥🔥🔥🦅🦅🦅
I'm a habitual cartridge licker
Most of my answers align with what other people answered here. Nice to know we all expect better performance from the Switch 2.
I guess I'm one of the lucky ones that didn't get Joycon drift. 53% is a scary number
My most desired feature in a Switch 2 is a return of the clamshell design. The current Switch is portable in theory, but I don't find myself actually taking it many places because it's just a little too bulky.
NSO retro games are great, but online play for new games is lacking, especially in Smash. So I'm torn as to whether online is a "good value." (I've been a subscriber to the service since day 1.)
I like consuming numbers. It was a fun survey, though so long ago now that I don't recall half of my answers. XD I think I'm in with the majority for the most part.
And no, I truly have never licked a Switch cartridge (but HAVE thought about it) or played it on the toilet (Ew; do you know how many germs live in bathrooms?).
You people are using the bathroom wrong, it's obviously just to play games.
@Solomon_Rambling
“Blimey! Colour me surprised, guv’nor. The Yanks have almost got a majority! Come quick, Mary Poppins, and bring that freezer with you. Drag it along the pavement if need be as we’ll need something to keep our chips frozen while we drink room-temperature beer!”
— an English guy somewhere
Interesting. I always thought this was a very UK majority site.
I know we can fit into the boot of America though, so that probably stands to reason!
@Solomon_Rambling all I can see for miles is Americans.... and Americans against meters!
@Solomon_Rambling As an American, I vote for blimeys over bald eagles! 🇬🇧 NLife oozes Cool Britannia!
@Not_Soos
This is easily comment of the day for me 😂
@Solomon_Rambling
Well, blimey!
Star Fox, Kid Icarus, and Wario Land are the series without a Switch entry that you most want to see return. Of course, the correct answer was Wave Race.
If you've never licked a cartridge and never played on the toilet, don't ever talk to me again.
Fun survey... I would be interested to see some of the data beyond what this article summarizes.
I wonder how different the answers would be for 'typical' Switch players as opposed to ones who answer surveys on this website.
I've never played Switch on my toilet but plenty of times I've set down my Switch, picked up my phone and used that on the toilet 😆 I feel like Switch is just a bit too big for toilet usage.
The answers of the last 2 questions make me smile.
I see 55% people are not being truthful about their toilet use...
My wife licked a Switch cartridge once, to "see if it was true". I've not looked at her the same way since.
I guess many people pick up their mobile on the loo, can't see it'd be nastier with a Switch (guilty 😁)
I don't really have anywhere to rest my Switch after I have done my business on the toilet. I'm not going to balance it precariously on the edge of the bath ready to drop and take out a wayward spider on it's way to a drip from the tap near the plughole. There's always shampoo ingredients to read if I get desperate for entertainment.
I've never licked a cartridge, but I do find the bitter coating transfers to my fingers when handling a cartridge, so I have experienced the taste on more than one occasion.
Good job @Nintendolife - presenting survey results always feels like a ballache of a task to me, but you've done a good job with this.
I will feedback that I pulled out of completing the survey when being asked how many kids were in the household and what their ages were, kinda felt a bit too personal and that was just a few questions in, so I decided to cut my losses and bail, not knowing how the rest of the survey was going to turn out.
@LadyCharlie Is that an euphemism for something?
Don't answer that.
@Not_Soos Reporting your comment, because ew.
@Arkay Not everyone got this, not everyone cares to fill out 70 questions, and by what metric is 49% 'most' and makes 51% a vocal minority?
@ZZalapski Lol, did you really?
Pretty predictable and intuitive results, honestly. The distribution of switch models lines up decently with the timespan they've been available with some noise for upgrades and people who bought switch lite for pure portable use. People who buy physical games do it for pretty intuitive reasons. The chief beef with the Switch at this stage is the objectively terrible horsepower this late in the gen. The poll is on NintendoLife, where you have to have an account set up to respond and comment, so naturally the people on NintendoLife are going to say they get their news from NintendoLife.
Still, it's good to see that the player base is more or less aligned in wanting a Switch, but more powerful. That's all I want, and I think for the very first time modern Nintendo is actually going to take the obvious path of just repeating what they did last gen, but with more horsepower. Still very likely much less than competing consoles, but enough to see a huge improvement over Switch.
Love these surveys every year, keep them coming!
Some very interesting results to say the least.
I periodically lick switch cartridges when I start to doubt my memory of their insanely bad taste.
@Not_Soos Lol, of course not. I only report grossly offensive posts; yours was just gross, ha ha.
"Perhaps the biggest surprise of the survey is that only a paltry 0.6% have ever taken their Switch to a rooftop party. Scandalous!"
Well, IIRC Nintendo never released an official holder to strap Switch inside a van, so many people's trailer checklist may have ground to a halt right there.
As for memory cards, I assume all the folks who voted to have 4K on the successor have already been stocking up on those 1 Tb ones indeed.😜😅
@SabreLevant 49% beats 18%
The survey articles are my favorites!
I might be misremembering, but I thought there was a question in the survey about trophies/achievements. Was that in the data you glossed over? I would be curious about what other people'sthoughts were on that. Very interesting results overall!
Do you think I wanna game on the toilet after I see what happens when my mom and sister use their phones in the bathroom? (That is, they drop them more often than they want to admit)
I’m a proud 0.6 percenter. Rocking Minecraft buildings on top of a building is what I do best.
@ManaOwls You are missing an important part of Your life ...
I seem to remember the amiibo question being really geared towards the figures. As such I didn’t add my 400+ Animal Crossing cards to my amiibo count.
Also the physical v digital. Of that digital percentage, how many are actually available as physical? I have a lot of digital games on my Switch but they’re all small indies that aren’t available physically (or become available much later in limited runs for 8 times the cost).
Would be lovely to see some charts and graphs of this.
Digital doesn't burn in a house fire.
I'm one the 44% primarily handheld folks, and as such, I'd love a better battery life!
@LadyCharlie Good to see someone giving them the respect they deserve🫡
I voted "unique feature" for "Switch 2," but I'd be happy if Wii U-like dual screen functionality was re-introduced. It made for some great multiplayer on Wii U.
@Smackosynthesis - IDK if it’s what you were going for, but I thought about Charlie Murphy’s “habitual line stepper” LOL
@Arkay It's 49% to 51% - granted 18% of it is 'bad', but you cannot count 'neutral' as 'good' with respect to the question
That is to say, they either (strongly) agree it provides good value, but anything below that reflects neutral or worse
Edit:
Also keep in mind that from the numbers we can glean that sample size differs per question, so not everyone filled in the survey entirely, and let's be honest a sample size of ~7k is very low, especially if compared to some of the others questions
@CRB1984 that is where I learned that word yes
I’m honestly surprised drift is as low as 53%, even if that’s high, because I don’t know anyone who hasn’t had drift on at least one set of joy cons, most on multiple.
I play:
Those who haven't played on the toilet are just lying
Dat Twang tho! 😂
This was fun. It is very interesting learning Switch user's habits. Next year should make for a very interesting survey with the Switch 2 most likely being out!
I have licked a cartridge once I must admit, but I can confidently say I have never played my switch on the toilet 💪
I think a big reason so many people purchase physical over digital is the game cart can be shared between family members/played on other switches. If Nintendo ever allows shared access to digital games on multiple consoles under one account, I'll be happy to go digital for many purchases.
@themightyant I've not had drift yet. Don't know anyone who has as of yet and a few of us have had a Switch since day one.
@rta It does if the place housing the servers goes up in flames!
It's been a while since I've licked a cartridge, since the bittering agent was more of a story in the console's first year. I wonder if those early cartridges have maintained their taste over time. I'd better go check.
NintendoEverything is a better source for Nintendo news. Just saying.
UGH playing on the toilet is so gross. Get in there do your business and get out. The amount of germs flying around in the air there are just disgusting.
Arkay wrote:
What? You don't like all the "NSO IS A SCAM! THEY'RE NOT GETTING MY MONEY! I WANT TO OWN MY GAMES NOT RENT THEM!" comments? Under every. single. NSO. article?
"New games added to the NSO today!"
"SCAM! OUTRAGE! SCREW YOU NINTENDO!"
I'm curious the age breakdown of your readers. Am I an outlier being in my mid-50s or are there still lots of us around that have been gaming since the days of Atari and ColecoVision?
@Arkay I think we’ve know that for ages just looking at the subscriber counts! It’s a decent value proposition for the cost.
It’s fine for that vocal minority not to want it and say so of course, but the endless OTT yelling about how awful it is clearly over the top; and probably won’t stop sadly!
@Enigk Nice to hear some of you have had more success.
Mine’s drifted at least 4 times, after getting it fixed by Nintendo twice, I ended up just buying a repair kit and have repaired many of my friends and families too. It’s one of my biggest hopes for Swirch 2 that they fix the drifting sticks.
Love to finally see the results of this survey!
@trcsf
Touche'! 😋
never thought so many people would want gamepass on switch. i don’t get why, it would be anyways streaming only.
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