Topic: Why hasn't Nintendo implemented folders for Switch yet??????

What has been Nintendo's response to the requests for folders?

Silent treatment is in the works is what it sounds like. Maybe in 2022 we could see a change....

Whatever your preference, if it hasn't been done by now it won't be done.

I don't see what you're trying to get at here. This is literally just a random jab to try and dismiss my dismissal of the whine re folders. It really is a VERY trivial feature that doesn't really impact much at all. I genuinely don't see why people keep bringing it up as if it's the one critical feature the Switch is missing. With six question marks....

Of course, they're for organising your games. Obviously. Thanks for spelling that out. But as someone who has 60 Switch games and with the Switch putting every game in the menu even physical releases? I don't think finding games is a huge struggle. As I said the only reason I used them on Wii U/3DS was to split up VC from regular games and on NSO each classic system is it's own app so that already happens

And on Steam I have a library of 100s of games, prob ~300. I do use folders there but mostly just lean on the "most recent" list to play a game I've already been playing. Which Switch does already. The auto folders on Steam? I use them to create three categories: Unplayed, Installed and Controller compatible. Controller compatible is not needed on Switch, Unplayed I can go to all games on the far right and scroll to the bottom given I sort by playtime (which actually tells me more than the Steam folder does). And installed? Would be nice but not a huge loss

I also look at my Plex library with its ~600 movies. Do I use folders there? I have a couple but it's not a hugely useful feature. I only use them for grouping a few collections of movies together. Like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Marvel etc. But when browsing I don't really use them, I just scroll through the list until I find something I want to watch. Either random sort or sorted by release date. But again, filter and search with that size of a collection? It is useful and would be a feature people like @JaxonH would probably appreciate more than folders

With that said, I do have folders on the main screen on my phone. However apps on your phone are slightly different to games or movies. A phone is a tool, there are distinct different kinds of tools you may want to use. It's not like a movie or a game where anything will probably do. I have five folders on my phone's home screen: Music has all my music apps, health has my COVID check in thing as well as apps for my smartwatch/fitness tracking, games has games, streaming has video streaming apps and work has work related apps. The Switch doesn't really have that kind of utility, other than the YouTube app everything is a game

So yeah, "self centred" or not I don't see what the big deal is. Folders are such a non-issue. I just find it amazing that this is something people have latched onto. I mean if we're going to complain about the Switch lacking features? At least complain about things that matter to the game playing experience. Why don't they have Wii/GC titles on the Switch? Why can't we pair a WiiMote for Skyward Sword HD and Galaxy in 3D AllStars? Why doesn't the Switch support Wii U Pro controllers? Why doesn't the Switch do HDR through the new dock? Why doesn't the Switch only do PCM surround and not DD 5.1? My new annoyance, why can't I remap buttons on the N64 controller or at the very least detect I'm using it and give me a button to press to close apps on the system menu

Those are gripes I can get behind, folders? Not so much. Certainly not at the top of everyone's list of grievances with the lack of Netflix second

Folders would be a nice feature, but it's a small thing. There's probably at least 2 dozen other things I'd rather see and would get far more use out of.

Folders to me are like themes- I hear everyone want them so badly, and that's fine, ppl want what they want, but to me, themes would be so useless with the Switch UI how it is. There's no room to see anything of note. Though I would like an OLED black theme with pure black rather than dimmed grey.

Messaging friends would be my #1. Both on the system, but also via the app so you can text during any game, as well as voice chat among friends on the app at any time. We basically can do that with Discord but I dont have all my friends in my Discord, and without messaging no way to invite many of them.

While I'm OK with PCM 5.1 surround, Dolby Digital compressed codec would be good for others. Mapping button configs for specific controllers to specific games would be another I'd like. Better eShop experience is up there too. Less loading, add to cart, rating system to filter out shovelware, etc. Optional achievement system you can turn on or off so those who want it can use it and those who don't can ignore it.

So ya. I'd appreciate folders, but I kind of feel the outpouring of demand for them is a carry over from the 3DS era. The Switch basically works just like PS5. There are no folders there either, and it also has the recent list with all software to the right. Though you can at least hide games, which is nice.

I'm fine with it how it is. I'd just like an extra filter to toggle by installed and not installed. But if folders come I could make those work too.

@JaxonH
To be fair I'm probably in a minority of minorities in terms of wanting DD 5.1 rather than PCM 5.1. It basically only impacts people who have:
1. A surround setup (i.e. not a soundbar, actual rear speakers)
2. An audio system connected via ARC (i.e. not a traditional receiver, more common after ~2010/15)
3. A TV and/or audio solution that doesn't do eARC (less of an issue on stuff newer than ~2018)
4. Actually care about surround and understand why the above setup doesn't work

I just happen to have picked up a soundbar and a TV in 2018 that I only later added rears to. I wasn't at all concerned about surround when I picked them up so didn't even bother thinking about it at the time. But now I do care and don't know how I didn't care about surround for so long. But..... it's definitely a niche annoyance. Even so, significantly more impactful than not having folders even when you account for the fact that folders "impact everyone"

I do think that an option to move move games that aren't playable somewhere else would be nice. Doesn't really make sense to have games not installed, not inserted, demo expired, pre-orders not yet online etc in the same space as everything else. That would be a nice quality of life improvement they could make I'd definitely appreciate

A configurable eshop would be good.
Online chat would be excellent, but my guess is that Nintendo don't want to enable a facility for abuse.

Probably, although they did belatedly give us Bluetooth audio, so sometimes Nintendo can eventually get around to delivering what anyone else would consider the bare minimum.

Nintendo should skip folders and instead implement tags. Tags are much better than folders.

I don't see it as lazy at all. It's a clear and deliberate design decision on the part of Nintendo and probably comes from the same place in the Switch design document where they decided that they wouldn't be making the internet browser accessible or pursuing a Netflix app.

The vast majority of players won't ever have enough games on their Switch to come close to overwhelming the built in "organise by name/publisher/total playtime" searches. A few more built-in searches might be useful at this point - like "total playtime over the past 12 months" or "group by series/genre".

I'm personally not interested in the return of folders.

For me, the only reason they were useful on the Wii U / 3DS is because you otherwise didn't have any method of organising your games - they just all accumulated on main menu. And even then I really struggled to organise my collection into folders - e.g. does Pokemon Red go in my Virtual Console folder, or my Pokemon folder?

The Switch is much more organised in the sense that it only shows your most recently played games on the main menu - and, in 90% of cases, these are the games that I'm going to be selecting anyway. In the other 10% of cases where I am interested in seeing my wider collection, I don't think things are hard to find at all, and I have over 200 games. Sorting alphabetically I can usually find a game in seconds.

I do agree with @StuTwo that folders are likely absent by design, especially considering that most (if not all?) of the current gaming OSs seem to lack them, and the Switch OS in particular seems to be aiming for minimalism and simplicity.

I also agree with the idea that tags might be more useful than folders...but personally, I'm not in a hurry to be tagging my games.

To me if not folders they should give a PC transfer system software so you can backup and do migration without needing to use wifi transfer that is a load of pain in the butte to do if you have big saves and data to transfer to another Switch even if it's a Primary and Secondary that still takes time. If both can hookup and transfer on PC that would do more better.

Somewhere? Like a folder maybe? 😉

I just turned on my New 3DS XL - Majora's Mask Edition yesterday, and oh boy do I miss the themes with special music and sound effects etc 😭

No. I'm not talking about folders. If I put a physical game in my Switch and then remove it it still shows on the list. Even though with it removed I can't play it unless I physically put the game back in. Those games should be hidden from the list (or have an option to hide).

Folders would not help with this

If not folders they could at least let you make your own ‘sort by’ categories. Recipe apps do this and it’s incredibly helpful when deciding on a meal to make

@skywake Yeah, I know. I was just messing with you - just the phrasing "moving games somewhere else" does sound a lot more like folders than hiding from a list... A filter for installed/playable games would be quite useful though.

Personally not too bothered about folders, but for consoles with multiple users it would be handy I guess - My daughter would total put all "her" games in a folder (or more likely she'd shove all mine in a folder out of the way 😂) as she's always complaining that the last game she's playing isn't first on the list because I've played/bought something else. Tags/Filters would be more useful for me I think, but still don't think I'd use it all that often TBH - I'm not sure I could be bothered going back and tagging everything now anyway.