Switch Joy-Con
Image: Nintendo Life

Epic Games and Apple are currently exchanging blows in court, as you'll no doubt be aware. Fortnite maker Epic is asserting that Apple's App Store is essentially a money-grabbing monopoly and is harming the games industry, and to prove the point, Epic founder Tim Sweeney produced a Switch console during the trial.

Why would this help Epic's case, you ask? Well, his intention was to show that smartphone gaming via an iOS device is much easier when you're out-and-about than using a console like the Nintendo Switch, which lacks its own online connection – and that means Apple holds the keys to a massive global audience. Sweeney stated that he'd often used his smartphone to play during a commute to work, but with the Switch, he would require a second device – like a smartphone – to connect to, as well as WiFi.

However, Sweeney ended up fiddling with the Switch Joy-Con during the demonstration and failing to physically connect it to the Switch itself. Oops. This rather undermined his argument, as it proved that he has had limited interaction with the Switch (the world's leading portable gaming device), and it could therefore be argued that he isn't able to give a totally accurate statement on whether console gaming is harder (or easier) than smartphone gaming when you're on the move.

As he fumbled with the console and its controller, Sweeney said, "As you can see, I’m not a Switch player," to which U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers replied, "Well, now the world knows. That’s alright, neither am I."

The case is due to run for three weeks. Sweeney has already been forced to admit that the 30 percent cut taken by Apple on the App Store is the same as the percentage taken by Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo on their digital storefronts, but Epic isn't challenging those companies because it believes in "subsidized hardware."

[source bloomberg.com]