Topic: Is the 'there is nothing to play on switch' argument still valid when your only experience with gaming has been NIntendo?

Everyone that moans about having nothing to play on switch absolutely baffles me but I think its because I have ONLY had Nintendo consoles/handhelds throughout my whole life (minus that one sneaky PS2 shh)

But I'm guessing people who have this complaint own other consoles/are PC master race (and probably always have been)and play the Switch as a secondary console and own it just for the 1st parties which I do admit are a few and far between, but then the wait is usually worth it let's be honest.

So for me at least I have access to SO many games now. Just compare the Switch Eshop to that of the Wii U and 3DS; they were non existent. (Yes the virtual console was so, so much better and I will never not be annoyed that they continue to drip feed us with SNES/NES and obviously just want to put the minimum effort in for the most profit and starve us of N64/GC/GBA ect content and then get mad at us when we use emulators) Oh and that garbage and shovelware that ends up there too, that's not cool either but I do feel like it unfairly taints the sheer amount of variety on offer here for those with a blank slate of gaming.

People moan about ports... I love them! I am getting exposed to things that just weren't possible before, yeah I'm sure they aren't as pretty and don't run as smoothly as their PS/XBOX/PC counterparts but I don't care, I can actually play them, in bed no less!

New releases from 3rd parties and indies, they come to switch 90% of the time as well and to me that's so cool!
I'm so upset when people blame the Switch for running poorly, but devs like panic button have more than proven its damn possible to get most games running if you have the experience and expertise.

All those gems I have missed over the years because of my stubborn loyalty or whatever you want to call it ( i can't justify or even begin to explain it) the fact that it's such an amazing little indie machine and actually makes devs want to put their games on it.

So yeah, Pre Switch I just played the standard games, AC, Zelda Mario you know the drill, and suddenly I am just completely overwhelmed with how much there is to play, every genre under the sun so the problem for me is not 'there is nothing to play' but will I live long enough to play them all. Am I alone in this?

@Nintendo_Pone No I very much agree, but I'd prefer that Nintendo mixes ports with original games. Between Sept. 2019 and now there's been little in terms of massive ambitious games from Nintendo, apart from Animal Crossing, which just isn't for me.

I love ports too, seeing and experiencing games from all over the place... but if the Switch is all ports it just won't work out long term.

@Nintendo_Pone

I mean, I don't own a PC, but yes. Nintendo games are the main reason I own a Switch. For context, I also own a PS4 and Xbox One, though my PS4 easily sees more use. But if you don't own anything outside a Switch, then yes, I can understand why you would have lots to play; most of the games on Switch came from other consoles/PC first. And as first experiences, they are still pretty great. Playing Skyrim and DOOM 2016 on Switch for example is fantastic and somewhat magical having them portable. On the other hand however, as you also acknowledge, these games are normally inferior from both a graphical and performance perspective, even if Panic Button and other studios have done a fantastic job of getting the games to work in the first place. So they have little appeal to me, even if I liked the original games.

I don't normally dislike ports; in fact, I normally am either indifferent or in support. People getting a chance to play a game is not normally a bad thing, and in fact; there are some games I hope people get to play such as the Danganronpa and Zero Escape series (These not being on the Switch kind of surprises me). My gripe is there seems to be plenty of first-party ports from the Wii U. The Switch in many ways, feels like an exact repeat of the Wii U; the only difference being that the Switch is actually selling well. From a business perspective, it makes sense what Nintendo is doing, but as a longtime fan who has already owned a Wii U and played these games, it is vexing knowing dev time is going into these ports rather than new games. Third-party ports aren't so much of a problem, though I would prefer if third-parties made games for the switch rather than also porting their back catalogues, but I can't blame them for not wanting to makes games exclusively for the Switch.

I absolutely love Nintendo, and I consider myself a Nintendo fan first before being a fan of any other company or developer in the industry. But I am also feeling disillusioned with them when it comes to the Switch.

All that said though, I do hope you continue enjoying the games that are coming to switch from third-parties. There are quite a lot of games in the wild that are worth playing.

Nintendo fans just like to moan, fanboyism seems to be less about being a diehard fan but more overly critical of something and complaining about it not meeting their expectations because they heart it so much or something.

While some Ninty fans are bad I'd say it's a coin toss between Star Wars fans and regular comic book readers as the worst. Every now and then I will go onto the CBR (the biggest comics website) to talk about something I've just read and got really excited by but it's the same thing every time, it's just people pooping on everything and nothing else, it's not even in moaning in an insightful way which is the really annoying part. They have banned the entire forum multiple times now because of how toxic it is there so Ninty fans need to try harder to get to that level!

I'm mostly a PC gamer but I've never had much trouble coming up with games to play on the Switch.

In all candour, there are very few games that come out for Switch that are so inferior to the PC versions that I wouldn't recommend them at all. If a game is enjoyable enough to play, it's not like having to tone down the graphics a bit is going to ruin them. There are just a few that cross the line for me, like The Outer Worlds and Rime. Mind you, that's not to say that other people won't have different thresholds.

I'd suspect that a lot of it comes from people holding out for a new Starfox, Metroid or one of the other franchises Nintendo keeps putting on the back burner. It's hard to tell whether they're more disappointed when a lengthy period elapses without one of those games being released, or by it not being as good as they were hoping for on the rare occasions where one is.

@TheJGG I agree.

If you own a Switch just to play Nintendo's games, "there's nothing to play" is a real thing. But if you accept the Switch as the port / indie juggernaut that it is, it's a ridiculous gripe. 5,000+ games available on the eShop, more games than filthy casuals will play throughout their entire life...and folks can't find something that entertains them?

I also have a PS4, but in spite of that I don't have trouble finding stuff on Switch to play.

It also helps that I didn't have a Wii U, & am loving all the 6th gen ports/remasters (it's the generation I really got into gaming, but was still only able to get a few games a year, so there's a lot I've always wanted to play from that gen that I haven't been able to until now), which I prefer to get on Switch as it's more modest capabilities don't hinder such old games.

I don’t understand people saying there’s nothing to play on Switch either, but I too have only ever owned Nintendo consoles.

@Nintendo_Pone
I'm from the other camp. Besides the OG Game Boy and the NES mini, I only owned gaming systems that weren't branded Nintendo.
Now my main gaming machine is the Switch and somehow I'm feeling quite similar to you: It's like I'm experiencing gaming as a fresh thing since I own a Switch. I have to say I used to be a heavy MMORPG gamer, I missed quite a lot of other genres in all those years.
So no, the argument doesn't even count for me being basically a new Nintendo gamer.

Meanwhile the difference of output between the Switch and other contemporary gaming machines doesn't bother me really. Back in time I used to play on a C64 when the Amiga and the ST were the hype and I still played on a Master System when the Mega Drive and even the SNES were out for a while. Back then the difference between the generations felt bigger.
(On the other hand I don't want to upgrade to a 4K TV, my more than 12 years old HDTV works just as on the first day.)

@Nintendo_Pone what free games did nintendo give with wii and wiiU virtual console ?

It’s not that there’s nothing to play at all.... it’s just that new Nintendo content has trickled since Luigi’s Mansion.....most of us bought a Switch at least to some degree for Nintendo titles. Nintendo has been releasing ports in lieu of new content.

That said, I feel like we are due for some surprises. It sounds like we are getting some after a few comments posted by management recently. Nintendo will probably drop at least two pleasant surprises before the end of the year.

I came from PC gaming background when they were pixels and DND games and beeps for audio and that was exciting gaming days. Then came PS(original) back to PC games then to 3DS to 3DS XL then now Switch. So my gaming has evolved and reversed and back to Nintendo full circle. So for those to bemoan there isn't enough games for Switch has more then just Switch issues going on with their life.

@Nintendo_Pone I personally don't complain about a lack of stuff to play. I just want Nintendo to be a bit more creative, and spend some of that Animal Crossing money on making some new games.

Exactly! Not to mention $$$$$ from MK8D, the system itself, all the other WiiU ports.....even something like ARMS certainly turned a profit. It’s time to reward the fans who have supported the system....

I've always been multi console since the 16 bit era (I only had a Master System in the 8bit).
My biggest issue this gen is that a lot of the software available on Switch can be picked up elsewhere for a lot less and often perform better. I also had a wii-U so all of the library that has been ported over I've already completed and don't particularly want to pay full price for the minor upgrades.

The saving grace of the switch was portability - until I picked up a Series S and subscribed to game pass. Now I have many of the games available on switch Portable through my phone with either Remote Play or XCloud - I can also play these games for "free" with my GP subscription.
This means my Switch has sat in the drawer for months as there's been nothing to play on it since MHR for me.

With any console, if you ignore most of the exclusives and play all of the multiplats on other systems, then you're going to struggle to find stuff to play.

shrug

It's why my PS4 really hasn't seen a lot of use since I got it in 2014 or so. Multiplats on there generally play better and cost less on PC, and Switch is preferable for indies. What you have left is exclusives. Sony used to have some energy on that front with third parties, but now nearly all of their third party exclusives are on rival platforms.

So you're left with a smattering of third-party exclusives that refuse to port away their games and first party games, and the latter... lol, well, I hope you like third-person action-adventure titles, because you're gonna see a LOT of that on Sony's systems.

I think that logic broadly applies to Switch as well if you're more inclined to use a PS4 over it for most games.

And, in fairness, I understand some people would feel disappointed, because Nintendo's definitely leaning harder on third parties to carry their system than they did in the past. I don't really think the Switch is worth owning purely for first-party Switch exclusives (yet; it's getting there).

I've also traditionally been a multi-console owner, but I do think I'm getting closer to just going with Nintendo in the future. I prefer their exclusives, I prefer the focus on hardware versatility over 4K, and, if this level of third party support continues, then I'm not going to miss a lot of games I'm interested in by sticking with them. I'll probably upgrade my PC at some point once prices come down on GPUs, but otherwise...

I didn't even know there were people saying "there is nothing to play on Switch." That is just absurd... There's frankly too much to play on Switch! There's a lot of games I want to play, but may never even get to do so because of time and money limitations. Isn't the Switch library well into the thousands now? Like Slowdive just said, the Switch is probably the most well supported Nintendo console since the SNES. The turn around Nintendo made from the Wii U is nothing short of astonishing! For the record, I love my Wii U and cherish the many of hours of fun I had playing Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon on it, but man, those were some rough, painful years for a lifelong Nintendo fanboy like myself.

I wouldn't say there's nothing to play though I would say Nintendo hasn't captured the energy of Switch year 1 since then. It's fine for me as I like playing all these old ports and want it to get to the point where if my Wii U Gamepad or Wii U dies (don't forget the Wii U is a brick without the Gamepad), nothing of value is lost but for someone who would want to play Switch primarily for new games a lot of the past 3 years will have been rough for them.

I thought it was pretty obvious in 2017 that we weren't likely to ever get another year like it. Nintendo deliberately timed entries in most of their big franchises to come out that year because there wasn't a lot of interest from other AAA publishers, and they didn't want it to suffer from the same sort of games drought that had afflicted the Wii U.

It has meant that subsequent years have felt rather empty in terms of first party releases, although the strategy worked in making it a successful platform that's getting a lot more third party games than would otherwise have been likely.