diablo2

Unfortunately, a few games are a bit overpriced — with Link's Awakening being one of them. $35 to $50 would have been much more appropriate.

@DockEllisD This game just put Capcom to shame with Resident Evil 4's efforts on Switch.

Oh good, Nintendo has decided to only screw us over with overpriced controllers, Switch docks, and games that rarely go on sale.

I applaud those saints!

Nah but in all seriousness, people are much more prone to mindless spending when it comes to microtransactions. The Switch products, on the other hand, require more thought / effort. Good on Nintendo for doing this.

@Daldra I love how you get downvoted for stating a fact.
Yes, a lot of developers are just too lazy to make a game work on Switch. But let's not kid ourselves either, people: More power tends to lead to more modern / intensive games (combined with console popularity, obviously). But of course fanboys choose to downvote instead.

@sword_9mm But thats the mistake a lot of studios make, though. They see one particular franchise selling poorly on Switch, and automatically assume all other franchises will also sell poorly. They love comparing apples and oranges, which is very strange.

They might also give the excuse that "Wii U games didn't sell well either." But we all know that console had an abysmal install-base.

Studios need to experiment a bit more and not just assume that a certain game won't sell.

That being said, i DO agree that a lot of gamers have a Switch in addition to another console or powerful PC. Why would I buy a lesser experience for the same price when i could get it on a different console instead? (unless i cared about portability). But this is more of the console's fault, rather than a studio fault (no analog triggers, less power, etc). This is the only thing I can definitely agree on, as far as them skipping the Switch. So in a big way, i can't fault them either.

This is where you're wrong, NintendoLife:

"this didn't go down well with owners of hybrid device. In an attempt to improve relations...."

They're looking to improve relations with the investors that pushed back last month, not with the gamers.

@AlternateButtons People are just weirdly subjective at times. Not every game needs to be amazingly innovative; sometimes developers make simpler creations by choice, for the mere fun of run-n-gun action.

"Joys" and "Cons"
It took waaaay too long to come up with that glorious wording goodness. Nice.

@MrVariant Best comment on this entire thread, hands down. A meme that will never truly die.

@Dog Yes, of course there were titles that did well. The question is, what overall percentage? Because "plenty" is likely not enough in the grand scheme of things, and i think we both know about the Wii's general reputation for collecting dust and being used largely for Wii Sports and a select few titles on occasion.

There were success stories for sure, as you say, but just not nearly enough. So i wouldn't exactly refer to my discussion as entirely nonsensical.

@Dirty0814 Yes, this is all standard info, so what was your point? Maybe i missed something.

@Dog That's simply not true, but you're entitled to your opinion, so I won't keep going back and forth about it.

@Caryslan Exactly. I said this in a recent comment (in the article about the new Rabbids).

Part of the issue is that most companies never saw a single sale during the Wii and Wii U days (and partly from the Gamecube days, due to the PS2 overshadowing it). But the lack of sales was more prominent with the Wii / Wii U due to those consoles targeting a casual audience that never bought many games and a console that just didn't sell much to begin with.

Now these companies have some misguided notion that their games would never sell on a Nintendo console, although the Wii and Wii U era are long gone (along with those awful audiences that Nintendo had once targeted).

Simply put: Those past consoles left a bad, long-lasting taste on game studios — but they need to acknowledge this newest console is far different, and so is its audience. Once they acknowledge this fact, they can finally start releasing high quality content and subsequently see good results.

I wish Ubisoft (and other companies) would focus on mature entries more often, instead of assuming we always and primarily want family-friendly experiences.

Yes, they tried mature themes in the past, but they were on a lackluster console (Wii U) and a console full of non-gamers (Wii). Then we had the GameCube with its limited-capacity discs that was largely overshadowed by the PS2 and its DVD playback. This inevitably resulted in a lack of sales for many titles.

As a result, there is this misguided notion that suggests this is all we ever want — but thankfully the Switch is slowly proving this misconception wrong, as many mature games have actually done pretty well for themselves.

Hell, someone at NintendoLife should probably write a feature on this very topic, because I feel it's genuinely worth exploring.

@JasmineDragon On a related note, what pisses me off about most interviews is that people hardly ever ask the tough / brutally honest questions.

For example:
"Many Switch owners suggest the reason they go to other systems is because the Switch version is often of lesser value. And as you know, there is objective data to prove this (with the lack of game features on Switch, etc). What are your thoughts?"

But nope, interviewers just stay away from this sort of questioning. Im guessing they're afraid to lose their darn jobs, so the interviewers' employers are just as awful for not calling out these CEOs.

@impurekind And this is why I personally prefer Doom 3 over the new / modern titles. There's just something "off" about them. Maybe too much lighting and 'Serious Sam' vibes. Those games are great in their own right — but they just aren't for me.

A lot of indies now try to follow this 'frantic action' formula with YouTube speedrunning in mind, judging by the fast movements and mid-air dashing/jumping.

That said, it looks mildly interesting.

What could possibly go wrong?

• grabs popcorn

"Contestant randomly LINKS words four years early..."

Classy.

Sadly, Nintendo was faaaaar from competent when choosing the official colors.

I often wonder how decision-making works within that company.

This is such a corporate-type answer, and somewhat naive. This guy has neglected the simple fact that waaaaaay too many games are (and will always be) missing on their platform simply due to how advanced they are.

Four out of five AAA titles don't make it to Nintendo consoles, and let's face it, this really is a big loss.

There's no amount of "confidence" or "install base" or "friendly engines" that can really resolve this in most cases — unless the compromise is too great or the studio works particularly hard (which would contradict the whole friendly-environment statement).

Anyway, good answer, but a very corporate answer nonetheless.

"Retro-inspired Metroidvania" .....
There's a phrase 99% of gamers are tired of hearing.

That old, tired "BWOOommm" sound should be considered a crime and banned from videos effective immediately.

Other than that, great game.

Another game with performance issues on Switch?

Gasp! Shocker.

@KnightWolf Screw it....Happy birthday dude

Cheers, from a fellow 90s kid.

Another game with a tiny vertical screen. Other similar titles look great in full screen; at the very least they could have given us a bit more real estate or made it optional from the main Settings.

Most of these games won't sell, all thanks to MMaker2 (let's face it). Maybe the ones that are exceptionally cheap, but that's about it. Not everyone is a Mario fan, but i'd like to believe many Switch owners are.

Been playing it since yesterday, and there are a few minor issues here and there (particularly with the interface and the handling of certain elements).

I'd personally give it a 9/10.... but it IS a darn excellent game nevertheless. A must-buy.

"Too much construction"

• IGN

@Ventilator Quiet!! I cant take the nostalgia!!
I still play that game to this very day. Hardcore DOS enthusiast here <3

Lots of streaming services are only fragmenting the market. Between TV/movie services and now video games, the future might get a bit too expensive / cumbersome for those with multiple needs.

And knowing how half-assed Nintendo is with anything online-based, I really dont want to know what kind of mediocrity they come up with.

It's kinda sad that the crappy New Super Mario Bros keeps selling just because it's a Mario game.

There are so many great titles that could (and should) take its place on this list....

I hate this trend of releasing games in such a broken state and just fixing them later.

No game has ever been perfect upon release, but now it's become acceptable to launch in a deeply mediocre state. That's the sad part.

@Milton_Burle Watch it.... or you'll sound like a politician or a soccer mom. Just enjoy it; games don't affect anyone regardless of concept

This list should contain some honorable mentions (including Sky Force Reloaded).

As it is, the article feels a tad incomplete.

...........instead of addressing the more glaring issues first and foremost. But okay, Nintendo, keep being 100% anti-consumer and 100% pro-investor.

This list is pretty diverse, which is good to see. For once it's not overcrowded with first-party titles from top to bottom.

It's amazing how so many games release on Switch with fewer features, yet cost the same as other platforms.

No wonder third-party titles don't sell as well on Nintendo consoles. It's not the Nintendo demographic; it's the developers doing an awful job.

Yet another game that will (hopefully) put the Xenon Racer devs to shame.

So what do you call those Adobe Flash-type animations? I hate them with a passion. Reminds me of cheap browser content from the early 2000s.

Can't speak about the game itself, though, so I hope it's decent.

@waluigifan1 ARMS got a 9??! Holy crap. I bet it would have received a 6-7 if it wasn't made by Nintendo.

@John_Deacon I agree. And the reviewer calls the presentation "bland" — but this is no better or worse than other games in the genre (presentation-wise), and those games have been received more positively.

It goes to show that reviews are highly subjective. I have no doubt that hardcore fans will enjoy this to a satisfactory degree, so don't let the score fool you. The game isn't great, but it's not "AVOID!" level of bad either.

I feel Nintendo should revive certain franchises, even if only as medium-budget titles.

For example, F-Zero and Wave Race sold digitally for $39. I assume they don't have a huge audience, so something like this would scratch the itch and still be decently profitable.

Sadly, it's all about extremely huge profits or no profits at all. They choose the latter, since they have unreasonably hungry investors / shareholders to constantly satisfy — as Jim Sterling always says.

@NEStalgia Serious question: What's your IQ level? You seem to be lacking a basic understanding of the main discussion here. Anyway nevermind, don't answer that. Im out.

@Zuljaras You missed the point entirely. I didnt mean abandon the Switch, but rather abandon their current business model for future consoles (5-6 years from now).

This is why Nintendo needs to abandon their underpowered-hardware BS. It was cute during the Wii Days, but those days are long gone.

Where the heck is Xenon Racer, WWE2k18 and Vroom in the Sky?!

No offense to the devs, but they should have just skipped the Switch. Why release it at all when it's so unplayable?

Thumbs up for effort, but this should have been a skip.

P.S. And Nintendo, please get back to the days of GameCube when it comes to horsepower. Being underpowered was cute with the Wii, but those days are over.

Nobody gonna say it??? No? Okay fine, i'll say it:

Power Rangers: Battle for the Greed

There. I'm going home.

For those who didn't read the article:
"Shareholders want to be extremely filthy rich, but so far we've only managed to make them ever-so-slightly less extremely filthy rich. Therefore, we're forced to fire hundreds of employees and give the money to our true customers — the shareholders.

And no, don't expect our CEO to pull an Iwata move; he needs his yearly multi millions to support his family."

• EA